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Month March 2011

Entries 10 Total

A brief timeline of US Policy on Immigration

Mar 23, ’11 8:59 AM

A brief timeline of US Policy on Immigration

For many thousands of years people have been settling the Americas. The earliest hunted, gathered, fished, and raised families in small communities. The old tradition holds that people first entered the Americas over a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska about 14,000 years ago. Recent finds, however, put the date of the oldest human remains somewhere between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago. These earliest people were not really migrants in a strict sense because they simply widened their hunting areas over many generations, gradually moving into new territory as the population expanded and the animals they were tracking moved into new habitat.

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Dream Act

Mar 23, ’11 8:56 AM

Dream Act, an act that would provide permanent residency to illegal alien students who graduate form U.S. high schools

This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal and deportable alien students who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, arrived in the U.S. illegally as minors, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment, if they complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning. The students would obtain temporary residency for a six year period. Within the six year period, a qualified student must have “acquired a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States or [have] completed at least 2 years, in good standing, in a program for a bachelor’s degree or higher degree in the United States,” or have “served in the armed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, [have] received an honorable discharge.”[2] Military enlistment contracts require an eight year commitment, with active duty commitments typically between four and six years, but as low as two years.[3][4] “Any alien whose permanent resident status is terminated [according to the terms of the Act] shall return to the immigration status the alien had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status under this Act.”[5]

Image via: http://luckybogey.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/senate-amnesty-cloture-vote-dream-act/

 

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Wikipedia Entry on Immigration Reform

Mar 23, ’11 8:54 AM

Wikipedia Entry on Immigration Reform

Immigration reform is a term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, “reform ” means to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses.[1] In the political sense, immigration reform may include promoted, expanded, or open immigration, as well as reduced or eliminated immigration.

 

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ICE and “Secure Communities”

Mar 23, ’11 8:51 AM

ICE and “Secure Communities”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation’s border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security. The largest components within DHS are Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement & Removal Operations (ERO). Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ICE is charged with the investigation and enforcement of over 400 federal statutes within the United States, and maintains attachés at major U.S. embassies overseas.

ICE is led by a director, who is appointed at the sub-Cabinet level by the President of the United States, confirmed by the Senate, and reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security.[3] The mission of ICE is to protect the United States and uphold public safety by enforcing immigration and customs laws.

 

 

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Queens7.com (News Site for Immigrant Communities in Queens)

Mar 23, ’11 8:47 AM

Queens7.com

Queens7.com is a hyperlocal online news site for immigrant communities in Queens. It covers the neighborhoods along several stations of the 7 Train from 61st Street to 82nd Street.

Queens7.com’s objective is to provide relevant news and information to the immigrant communities in Woodside, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.

Specifically, Queens7.com aims to:

  1. Make the immigrant communities aware of what’s happening in their neighborhoods to enable them to make informed decisions;
  2. Help explain issues affecting the immigrant communities;
  3. Advocate for immigrant rights and immigration reforms; and
  4. Help forge solidarity among various immigrant groups in the neighborhoods.

Leading the project is the Philippine Forum, a not-for-profit organization providing advocacy and direct service to Filipino-Americans and people of Filipino heritage. Several other not-for-profit organizations serving immigrant communities in the three Queens neighborhoods have been invited to take active roles in Queens7.com.

 

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Demographics of a Changing New York

Mar 23, ’11 8:44 AM

Demographics of a Changing New York

What does it mean to have a dynamic population in New York? Why is immigration vital to our city? How do we compare to other urban environments regionally and nationally? Demographics of a Changing New York will address these questions and look at what the statistics mean to New York’s neighborhoods. The panel will be moderated by New York Times Journalist Sam Roberts. Joseph Salvo, a well known demographics expert and director of the Population Division at the New York City Department of City Planning, will present findings on population shifts and trends in the city. Panelist Gordon Campbell, president & CEO of United Way of New York City, will talk about New York’s senior population. Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, will respond from the perspective of New York’s diverse immigrant communities. Caron Nazario, a MAS CITI Youth student, will discuss livability from the youth perspective. And Vicki Been, Boxer Family professor of Law, affiliated professor of Public Policy, and faculty director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University, will address what these needs mean for the questions that the city faces in terms of land use policy and economic development.

*photo credit: Giles Ashford

 

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On Immigrant Entrepreneurialism

Mar 23, ’11 8:41 AM

On Immigrant Entrepreneurialism

With New York City’s financial sector expected to lose 65,000 jobs in the current economic downturn, it’s more apparent than ever that the city needs to diversify its economy and nurture new sources of job growth. While it’s difficult to predict which industries will give the city the economic jolt it needs, it’s a good bet that immigrant entrepreneurs will provide a key spark to the city’s recovery.

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VIDEO: Slavoj Zizek on Alarming Anti-immigrant Rhetoric in Europe

Mar 23, ’11 8:37 AM

Slavoj Zizek on Alarming Anti-immigrant Rhetoric in Europe

Slavoj Zizek: Far Right and Anti-Immigrant Politicians on the Rise in Europe
We turn now to Europe, where many are concerned about the growing acceptability of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Far from just being expressed by the extreme right wing, the anti-immigrant trend has entered the mainstream. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a gathering of young members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union party this weekend that multiculturalism has utterly failed. A recent German poll found 13 percent of Germans would welcome the arrival of a new “Führer,” and more than a third of Germans feel the country is “overrun by foreigners.” We speak to the world-renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who has the been called “the Elvis of cultural theory.” [includes rush transcript]


 

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Make the Road

Mar 23, ’11 8:29 AM

Make the Road

Make the Road New York* promotes economic justice, equity and opportunity for all New Yorkers through community and electoral organizing, strategic policy advocacy, leadership development, youth and adult education, and high quality legal and support services.

*Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace el camino al andar. Searcher, there is no road. We make the road by walking. –Antonio Machado, Selected Poems, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982).

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NY New Immigrant Community Empowerment

Mar 23, ’11 8:26 AM

NY New Immigrant Community Empowerment

New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) is a community-based, non-profit organization that works to ensure that new immigrants can build social, political and economic power in their communities and beyond.

NICE envisions a world where all people -regardless of status- live and work with dignity and justice.

 

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