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Posts Tagged ‘immigrants’

Immigrants mistreated at detention centers

7:50 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Immigration · 2 Comments

18 Jan 2007

Ah, detention centers. Many will have you believe that immigrants who are caught coming into the country without papers are housed, fed, clothed, given great medical attention and sent safely back to their homelands. In fact, that does happen in some countries, or, better still, they are invited to stay. Here, however, we do things a little differently:

Migrants confined to detention centers run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are subject to abuses that range from denying speedy medical attention to being served raw meat as a meal.

Queens, NYC Latino Bebe named 300,000,000th U.S. Resident

12:30 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Events| Immigration| New York City · 5 Comments

18 Oct 2006

Born of Mexican immigrant parents at 7:46 yesterday morning in Elmhurst, Queens, NYC, Emanuel Plata was declared by El Diario/La Prensa as the 300,000,000th U.S. resident.

“Me siento muy orgulloso”, dijo el padre Armando Jiménez, de 25 años, originario de Puebla. “Para nosotros los inmigrantes es muy importante que un niño latino sea el número 300 millones, por el debate de inmigración en que estamos”.

Emanuel, que pesó 3 kilos y 140 gramos, midió 47 centímetros y nació por cesárea, es el tercer hijo de la pareja formada por Armando y Gricelda Plata, de 22 años de edad y también originaria de Puebla.

Little Emanuel bwas born at the time resident number three hundred million would be born according to the the U.S. Census Bureau.

Via / El Diario/La Prensa

Elvira Arellano : Illegal, Alien, Activist?

9:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Immigration| Justice| chicago · 71 Comments

17 Aug 2006

By now you should know that 31 year old single Mexican mami Elvira Arellano has been inside Aldalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago with her 7 year old son for three days now. She is not keeping her promise to a santo. she is keeping her promise to her child that she will stay with him and be a mami and confronting the U.S. government that seeks to deport her. Her son Saul was born in the United States and because of that is a U.S. citizen. Earlier this week Elvira was ordered to appear at an immigration office but instead she invoked an old school idea, taken by many activists before her, that churches are sanctuaries and went inside with her child. Elvira knows what’s up. She’s the President of United Latino Family, which lobbies for families that could be split by deportation. She is now one of those families.

Immigrants (and those that hire them) are No Longer Safe

6:52 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Immigration| Labor · Comments Off

31 Jul 2006

Among the immigrants here in the NYC area, labor raids have never been taken for granted as an article in today’s New York Times suggests. What may be more true, is that those in search of low cost workers, employers and business owners have been taking intervention by Homeland Security for granted, after all they are not the ones being sent back to their home countries, they are not the ones having their families destroyed and there always seems to be an unending flow of more workers to chose from. But now thanks to a new campaign, the focus is on those who hire undocumented workers, slapping them with felony charges that could lead to huge financial penalties and the seizing of assets.The focus of this article of course is not on the workers, but the employers and doesn’t even attempt to touch on the reasons why people want to work here at any cost and why employers hire at low cost.

Via / The New York Times (Registration required)

Who are the Immigrant Women?

9:06 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Women · Comments Off

15 Jun 2006

A report released by the Immigration Policy Center provides a clearer portrait of what the feminine face of immigration looks like in the United States. The report reveals not just where immigrant women come from and what they do when they arrive in the U.S., but also the disparities that exist between immigrant women and women born in the United States. According to the report:

As of 2004, the proportion of the adult foreign-born population comprised of women was largest among Germans (65 percent), Filipinos (59 percent), and South Koreans (56 percent) and lowest among Mexicans (44 percent), Salvadorans (46 percent), and Indians (47 percent).

In FY 2004, 31.6 percent of all employed, adult women who legally immigrated to the United States worked in “professional and technical fields,” followed by “service” (19.9 percent) and “operators,fabricators, and laborers” (13 percent).

Foreign-born women earn lower wages than native-born women. Among the recipients of employment-based visas, women are far more likely than men to be
“dependent” visa holders (the spouses or children of workers receiving visas) as opposed to “principal” visa holders (the workers themselves).

You can access the entire report here (PDF file).

“Catch an Immigrant” nixed on Penn campus

2:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration · 1 Comment

14 Apr 2006

What do young Republicans at Penn State do for fun? They play a friendly game of “Catch an Illegal Immigrant”. Nice.

The College Republicans at Penn State University wanted to enter the debate about the nation’s borders by playing a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game.”

People would be invited to “catch” group members wearing orange shirts symbolizing illegal aliens.

Amid the student outcry that ensued, they softened their plan to an illegal immigration awareness day in which leafleting and speech-making would let both sides air their views on immigration policies.

School officials supposedly nipped that in the bud, though the undertones remain:

Some who registered complaints with the administration said they saw uncomfortable likenesses to the original game, down to participants designated to discuss illegal immigration wearing orange shirts.

This “game” is apparently not new. Similar acts were staged last year in North Texas while students at UT Austin held a counter event against it.

Read the opinions from Penn State’s newspaper.

Via / KnoxNews.com

Photo via Slapnose.com

Eva Longoria to produce farm worker doc

5:41 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Celebrities| Immigration| Labor · 1 Comment

12 Apr 2006

Eva Longoria, everyone’s favorite ama de casa is getting political. She plans to broach the controversial topics of immigration and slavery in a new documentary to be produced by Eva herself:

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is tackling America’s controversial immigration issues head on in a new film after learning that fellow Latinos are being roped into slavery.

The actress accepts she has become a role model for the Latin community and she wants to affect change in the lives of immigrants living well below the poverty line in the US.

She says: “I work a lot with the National Council of La Raza, which is the largest Latino civil rights organisation in the country and I work a lot with the United Farm Workers.

“I’ve been in the fields with these people and I’ve tried to experience a day in the life of these people. I’m producing a documentary on the labour workers.”

Say what you will about a rich Hollywood star “spending the day” with laborers, the fact is Eva seems to be standing up (like other celebs) for the oppressed, voiceless immigrant population whose labor keeps this country’s economy chugging along. Bravo, Eva!

Via / Ireland Online

6 out of 10 Californians say ‘yes’ to legalization

4:33 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Immigration · Comments Off

3 Apr 2006

From the San Jose Mercury News, a new San Jose State University poll has found that 6 out of 10 California residents favor legalization for undocumented immigrants currently residing in the country:

Nearly six out of 10 Californians support allowing illegal immigrants to become legal residents and continue living and working in the state, according to a new poll released Sunday by a San Jose State University research center.

With the issue of illegal immigration roiling the nation and Congress, a broad spectrum of California residents backs legal status for undocumented workers — 59 percent of all adults polled support the controversial idea, the Survey and Policy Research Institute found. Registered voters also support allowing illegal immigrants to become legal, 54 percent to 36 percent.

According to the Mercury News, the strong opposition to legalization was found on the part of Republican voters, which is no surprise. Meanwhile, in the “real world” (as George Clooney puts it) or the rest of the country, nationwide polls showed:

…support across the country for the narrower — but equally explosive — proposal to give undocumented workers temporary legal status to remain in the United States. But that Associated Press poll also found Americans divided over whether illegal immigrants help or hurt the country.

Via / MercuryNews.com

The Language of the Immigration Issue

8:40 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Media · 3 Comments

31 Mar 2006

When you hear the word “Alien”, do you think little green men from mars or do you think of Mexicans and other Latinos? According to the National Association of Hispanic Journalist (NAHJ), the language being used in the mainstream media to detail the current immigration debate dehumanizes and stereotypes. NAHJ, a 2,300-member organization of reporters, editors and other journalists, is calling the mainstream media out on their use of language and the impact it has in framing the immigration. The NAHJ is giving a historical context for the words being used in the media and offering alternative word choices. Their Resource Guide for Journalists states for example :

While Webster’s first definition of the term “alien” is in accordance with the government’s interpretation, the dictionary also includes other, darker, meanings for the word, such as “a non-terrestrial being,” “strange,” “not belonging to one,” “adverse,” “hostile.” And the Encyclopedia Britannica points out that “in early times, the tendency was to look upon the alien as an enemy and to treat him as a criminal or an outlaw.” It is not surprising then that in 1798, in anticipation of a possible war with France, the U.S. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which restricted “aliens” and curtailed press freedoms. By 1800 the laws had been repealed or had expired but they still cast a negative shadow over the word. In modern times, with science-fiction growing in popularity, “alien” has come to mean a creature from outer space, and is considered pejorative by most immigrants.

Via / NAHJ

Immigration, blogging and the power of media

3:25 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Blogs| Immigration| Movies| New York City · 1 Comment

21 Mar 2006

My friend Oso pointed me in the direction of a very intriguing documentary project being developed in the Bronx which proposes to explore how using social mediums such as blogs affects the lives of new immigrants:

What happens when immigrants in the Bronx start blogging? Can social media help people communicate better with friends and family back home? Can it help communities sustain themselves? The Bronx Blog Project is a multimedia documentary about community, immigration, homesickness, and technology. Focusing on the experiences of a handful of ESL students and utilizing video and the Internet, the project documents the effects of new communication technologies on people looking for better, cheaper ways to communicate to friends and family both in the United States and their home countries, and wishing to develop and maintain new communities in the U.S.

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