Immigration

Immigration

Who is My Neighbor in the Era of Caged Children?

Who is My Neighbor in the Era of Caged Children?

I periodically get asked if I have a favorite verse in Scripture. A few do come to mind, including: Micah 6:8, II Corinthians 12:9, John 14:27, Hosea 6:6, Romans 12:21, and Romans 15:13. The reality, though, is that “favorite verses” are like favorite movie quotes. They’re great lines, but they don’t express why I love the work as a whole.

Full Article

Chicago

Chicago

I was raised on the Southside of Chicago - 79th and Hermitage to be exact, in a community called Auburn Gresham. Over the weekend of August 3rd, 2018, 74 people were shot in Chicago. Two weeks later, 58 more. Many of these victims were shot in my old neighborhood. This great city is the victim of many social injustices. It

Full Article

Immigration

Immigration

The United States President continues to persist on having his wall, even if it cost the taxpayers 5 billion dollars. Many inhumane incidents have been happening south of the border since Trump presidency began, for example separating children from families and locking them up in cages. Border agents throwing tear gas at families with kids, and the last incident a

Full Article

National Rolling Hunger Strike for Family Reunification Kicks Off in Oakland, CA

National Rolling Hunger Strike for Family Reunification Kicks Off in Oakland, CA

After Trump Administration Fails to Meet Deadline, Moms and Allies Begin Wave of Fasts Demanding Justice for Migrant Families Oakland — After the government failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunite immigrant families Thursday, Bay Area parents and grandparents began a three-day hunger strike—the first in a series of fasts across the country calling for separated parents and children

Full Article

SHATTERED RAINBOWS

SHATTERED RAINBOWS

Some of my most salient memories from my childhood are of time spent with close family friends. In this family, there are four daughters; the two eldest are close in age with me, and the two youngest are close in age with my sister, so throughout our lives, the six of us have always greatly enjoyed each other's company. In

Full Article

Trauma at the Border

Trauma at the Border

The Trump administration’s cruel immigration policy has created a humanitarian crisis at our border. Trauma at the Border, a new short video by Brave New Films, exposes the emotional, psychological and physical damage that can be done when children are imprisoned – even with their families. Childhood trauma, like imprisonment and family separation, provokes long-lasting implications caused by high levels

Full Article

Immigrant Prisons

Immigrant Prisons

Immigrant Prisons Few Americans know about our nation's system of immigrant detention centers. Each year, the U.S. government locks up roughly 440,000 immigrants in over 200 immigrant prisons. Companies like the CCA and Geo Group, got started in the 1980s, and have since made over $12 billion in profits, largely from immigrant detention. These facilities have grown into a highly

Full Article

I’m Done

I’m Done

I’m done. I have spent the last week debating the morality of placing children or anyone for that matter in warehouses and tent camps. I’m done appealing to the better nature of people who approve of such behavior from our government. It has mattered little to them that these are people acting in desperation. It matters little to point out

Full Article

The Muslim Ban Will Likely Be Upheld – Here’s What Must Be Done

The Muslim Ban Will Likely Be Upheld – Here’s What Must Be Done

The Muslim Ban (known also as the travel ban) will likely be upheld, at least in substantial part. Full disclosure: I've been pessimistic about the case since early on. There are legal doctrines and precedent that give a decisive advantage to the government in matters relating to exclusion of foreign nationals. One: plenary power over immigration, and two, deference in

Full Article

Trump Administration Deals Another Cruel Blow to Immigrants with Termination of TPS for Nepalese Community

Trump Administration Deals Another Cruel Blow to Immigrants with Termination of TPS for Nepalese Community

Trump is systematically disappearing millions of people of color — all people of conscience must rise up and resist! Washington, D.C. - Today, the Trump administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 9,000 Nepalese immigrants living and working in the United States. The Nepalese community joins Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador as the latest target in

Full Article

Yet Another Court Says Trump’s Killing of DACA is Unlawful

Yet Another Court Says Trump’s Killing of DACA is Unlawful

Ruling does not allow for any new DACA applicants but those who have had DACA already can renew their applications now. Washington, DC – Yesterday, a Federal district court judge said that Trump’s decision to kill DACA was unlawful and ordered Trump to justify why he did it within 90 days. The decision orders the government to accept new applications

Full Article

5 financial moves DREAMers should make now

5 financial moves DREAMers should make now

If you’re a DREAMer, you face a difficult financial situation. In February 2018, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Trump Administration’s appeal challenging the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program — better known as DACA. And in March, Congress failed to develop a permanent solution to protect DREAMers from deportation. With the future of DACA still uncertain, many dreamers

Full Article

Immigrants Are the New Negros

Immigrants Are the New Negros

Immigrants are the backbone of our country. This country was literally built on the backs of African slaves. Slaves built railroads, presidential estates, Wall Street, the White House, and everything in between. I will make a distinction early on in this article, though: slaves were not immigrants. I am merely mentioning the work that the “Negro” did in America right

Full Article

Immigrant Stories: Doctors and Nurses

Immigrant Stories: Doctors and Nurses

Keep Hospitals Safe From ICE   Since Trump has taken office, the Department of Homeland of Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have aggressively targeted undocumented immigrants. With increasing reports of ICE roundups and arrests near and inside hospitals, more and more undocumented immigrants must choose between remaining with their families or risking deportation for medical care -

Full Article

TPS Holders and Their Children File Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

TPS Holders and Their Children File Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

200,000 People Could Be Forced Out of the Country by Trump Action SAN FRANCISCO - Nine people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and five United States citizen children of TPS holders today filed a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the unlawful termination of TPS for more than 200,000 people living in the U.S. and to protect the tens

Full Article

Jeff Sessions Is Rewriting The Immigration Law…By Himself

Jeff Sessions Is Rewriting The Immigration Law…By Himself

War is deception, wrote Sun Tzu in The Art of War, and the general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth. The word "war" is perhaps overused in modern parlance. We are conditioned to think of war on ideas and things (terror, drugs) rather than people. But that doesn't mean the analogy doesn't

Full Article

Suffering in Silence: Sexual Abuse in Immigrant Detention Centers – Support Laura Monterrosa

Suffering in Silence: Sexual Abuse in Immigrant Detention Centers – Support Laura Monterrosa

#LauraMonterrosa spoke out about sexual abuse and ICE put her in solitary confinement to cover up what happened. Take action right now by signing the petition and making a call! #EndDetention #MeToo #EllaHabla SIGN THE PETITION NOW On Wednesday, Feb. 14, a group of about 50 people gathered outside the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas, to protest

Full Article

Why Can’t They Come Legally?

Why Can’t They Come Legally?

One of the oft-heard retorts in the current debate over the fate of Dreamers - immigrants brought to the United States at a young age - is "why don't they come legally?" Those who are unfamiliar with the immigration system frequently presume that Dreamers are simply lazy and never bothered to file for citizenship. Of course, they could not be

Full Article

More Than My DACA Status As Shared with Hassan Ahmad, Esq.

More Than My DACA Status As Shared with Hassan Ahmad, Esq.

In response to a Twitter thread on the hurdles placed in the way of Dreamers and other immigrants seeking to get right with the law, I received this story from someone who didn't make the cut for DACA. Legal hurdles are no stranger to her - but as she says so eloquently, she is more than her status - HMA I’m 22

Full Article

Foul Language

Foul Language

"The New York Times recently released a list of all people, places, and things that President Donald Trump insulted in the last year over Twitter. The list consists of 425 people, places, and things. The lists includes names like Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and Steven Bannon. Even most mainstream news networks, such as ABC, CNN, and the New York Times - all

Full Article

#FreeSyedJamal

#FreeSyedJamal

Meet Syed Ahmed Jamal, a 55-year-old chemistry instructor from Bangladesh. He has been residing in the Kansas City, MO area for over 30 years, originally coming to America on a student visa. Jamal obtained graduate degrees in molecular sciences and pharmaceutical engineering. At that point he was issued an H1-B visa for highly skilled workers. Entering a doctoral program, he

Full Article

Nearly 100 Arrested and Over 700 Rally for the Dream Act

Nearly 100 Arrested and Over 700 Rally for the Dream Act

Nearly 100 Arrested and Over 700 Rally for the Dream Act Progressive Leaders from the Healthcare, Labor and Women’s Rights Movement Join Immigrant Youth; Call on Congress to Reject Trump Deportation Plan and to Pass Dream Act Now Washington, D.C. - Today, the National Day of Action for the Dream Act brought together hundreds of progressive allies from the healthcare, labor,

Full Article

Four Immigrants: Two Trumps, Two “Shithole” Nationals

Four Immigrants: Two Trumps, Two “Shithole” Nationals

Donald Trump steamrolled into office on a platform of anti-immigrant nationalism. He’s largely held to that nationalism as President – at least for immigrants from his self-identified “shithole countries.” However, he has also married two immigrants who have gone on to live lives of luxury and wealth with no fear of deportation. The difference? They are Caucasians from Europe. Amer

Full Article

#SchumerShutdown

#SchumerShutdown

#SchumerShutdown - the hashtag that GOP leaders are using to accuse Democrats of causing the shutdown became the trending hashtag. As the hashtag continues to boom, republicans are gaining a boost in efforts to blame Democrats. We should move forward with consideration for solution and compromise, not pointing fingers to blame. Contributing Editor: Jamie Domnick Twitter: @JNick9456 Instagram:JNick9456 Currently a

Full Article

What you need to know about the partial  DACA reinstatement:

What you need to know about the partial DACA reinstatement:

DACA was shut down on September 5, 2017, and USCIS has not accepted any renewal applications since October 5, 2017. On January 9, 2018 a federal judge ordered USCIS to resume accepting DACA renewal applications. WHO CAN FILE Any person who meets all the DACA requirements, and has held DACA at some point in the past may now prepare a

Full Article

I am A refugee

I am A refugee

INTRODUCTION The global refugee migration is at a record high. I wrote this poem in response to the global refugee politics that is often harsh and dehumanizing. I was a child when my family and I fled the civil war in Somalia. No one should ever have to go through what a refugee experiences. I just wanted to write a

Full Article

Kinds of Hunger

Kinds of Hunger

I’ve been teaching writing classes at a local university for well over a decade now. The quick math in my head tells me I’ve had thousands of students. I have to admit – I don’t remember them all. He was a forgettable kid when he walked in, but he didn’t remain that way for long. The first thing that caught

Full Article

Alt-Reich: The Reemergence of an Old Enemy

Alt-Reich: The Reemergence of an Old Enemy

It did not begin in Charlottesville, but did not end there, either.  In August, 2017, self-described White nationalists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, carrying Tiki torches and swastikas, chanting “Jews will not replace us”, and “blood and soil”.  Any student of history knows from whence these phrases came.  Our country fought a war to defeat this very ideology, and here it

Full Article

Termination of TPS for El Salvador

Termination of TPS for El Salvador

TPS for El Salvador was ended on January 8, 2018. Over 200,000 people, with 193,000 US citizen children, here legally since 2001, faithfully renewing their statuses, paying taxes, and virtually free of criminal records. (You are allowed only one misdemeanor conviction to have TPS). Salvadorans constitute over 60% of the entire TPS population in the United States. TPS, or Temporary

Full Article

The Top 10 Immigration Developments of 2017

The Top 10 Immigration Developments of 2017

That 2017 has been a tumultuous year for immigration in the United States is not exactly a revelation. President Trump campaigned on this issue and has sought to deliver on many of his campaign promises. If you’re pro-immigration, there are not many positives to report this year except that public opinion remains strongly pro-immigration and resistance to the President’s immigration

Full Article

Make America Hate Again

Make America Hate Again

Jonathan Swift famously said, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” I am Jewish, as are both my parents, and as were my four grandparents.  They instilled in me the concepts of Tzedukah, (charity) and Mitzvot (good deeds).   As with Christianity, I was taught the Golden Rules: do unto

Full Article

Not Fair

Not Fair

When I was about six years old, I was visiting with my grandmother.  She was driving one of her out of proportionally large Cadillacs.  Miles away, in the front passenger seat, sinking in the overly plush leather upholstery, I gazed out the window.  I don't recall whether a conversation or something I saw outside prompted me, but I was protesting,

Full Article

Frozen: The Story Of A Deportee Who Couldn’t Talk

Frozen: The Story Of A Deportee Who Couldn’t Talk

My name is Ella. I am from Uganda. I identify as lesbian, and I have been in a long term relationship with my girlfriend. Uganda is not tolerant of such relationships so we had to keep things secret. Things were okay until the night of 23rd October 2016. We were in a lodge making love and people in the city

Full Article

Donald Trump’s Useless Eaters: #FreeRosa in the era of ascendant Fascism

Donald Trump’s Useless Eaters: #FreeRosa in the era of ascendant Fascism

In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. In the same year, his National Socialist (Nazi) Party began a systematic campaign of public ridicule and private sterilization, isolation and murder of the disabled in Germany. When the Nazis were not stopped from claiming these first of their victims, the most vulnerable population among their citizens, the way was paved for

Full Article

#FreeRosa

#FreeRosa

Imagine a ten-year-old girl is suffering from critical gall bladder pain.  She’s been nauseated, maybe vomiting. Oh, and she has cerebral palsy. Her family takes her to the hospital, she’s changed into a hospital gown, and as the doctors place her under the fog of general anesthesia, a nurse reassures her everything will be okay. Now imagine that same little

Full Article

#MuslimBan3 Blocked: FAQ

#MuslimBan3 Blocked: FAQ

What does this mean? On 24 Sept Trump announced the third version of his travel ban, EO-3, affecting nationals of 8 countries. Part of it went into effect that day, but was to be fully effective on 18 Oct. This ban was swiftly challenged in court, both in Hawai'i and Maryland, and both courts agreed that an injunction (an order

Full Article

HOW TO ENTER TRUMP’S UNITED STATES

HOW TO ENTER TRUMP’S UNITED STATES

On October 18, the new travel ban - aka "Muslim Ban 3.0" - will be fully effective (unless recently-filed court challenges are successful.) Trump's third try to ban Muslims works like this: 1. The affected countries are Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Each country has their own restrictions - but no new immigrant visas (green

Full Article

Remembering What The Anthem Stands For

Remembering What The Anthem Stands For

We all have memories that stick with us. Some are happy, some are sad, and some are our proudest moments. This past week's focus on kneeling NFL players and the national anthem has brought back some of these memories for me. In watching the games and the news coverage, I was reminded of my first anthem. I learned my first

Full Article

Using Immigrant Policy To Create Solidarity

Using Immigrant Policy To Create Solidarity

As an immigration lawyer, I have proudly served immigrants from over 115 countries and counting. But two of these groups have been very visibly targeted for years, and certainly under the current administration: Muslims and Latinos. As I wrote over a year ago when the divisive 2016 campaign was still heating up, the time for a strong alliance between these

Full Article

A Paper-Thin Line Separates Us;  We Are All Dreamers

A Paper-Thin Line Separates Us; We Are All Dreamers

One of my favorite teachers in high school had a great saying that I still use today as a reminder of our choices in life. He would mention some aspect of our lives we had no say in-our parents' wealth, for example - and he would say, "if you're not happy with it blame yourself, you chose the wrong parents."

Full Article

#DACApolypse: What Dreamers Can Do After The Demise Of DACA

#DACApolypse: What Dreamers Can Do After The Demise Of DACA

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of #DACA on September 5. DACA was never more than a band-aid. It's time to start talking about a cure. I preface this by saying don't let up advocacy and working with allies on the ground, and in the halls of Congress. Ultimately we need our leaders to act. But as a lawyer,

Full Article

Why America Needs “Dreamers”

Why America Needs “Dreamers”

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an administrative program designed to protect immigrant youth that came to America when they were under the age of 16. These immigrants are called "Dreamers". This program was started in June of 2012 by the Obama administration. In addition to the age requirement, you must also be currently studying or a graduate of

Full Article

FROM THE FRONTLINE

FROM THE FRONTLINE

Today, participants in the 118-mile-long March to Confront White Supremacy made a previously unscheduled stop at the Loudon County office of Representative Barbara Comstock to demand that Rep. Comstock publicly oppose the end of DACA, the deferred action program for immigrants who came to the United States, and to Section 287(g), which deputizes local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal

Full Article

Trump Set to Kill Dreams

Trump Set to Kill Dreams

Diego watched his teenage brother murdered with a machete in Honduras when he was 12-years-old. Their father belonged to the wrong political faction in the Central American nation and his son died at the hands of a police sponsored 'death squad' that roamed Honduras in the early 2000s. Diego hid with his mother's family in a small village after the

Full Article

DACA and The American Dream

DACA and The American Dream

800,000. Eight hundred thousand fellow humans and young adults, living the American dream just as you and I. Eight hundred thousand immigrants who came here illegally as children, but not through their own action. Who were brought over America's borders by their parents at a young age. They did not deliberately defy our laws. They did not try to pull

Full Article

Our Next Step, Our Choice, Our Time to Take A Side

Our Next Step, Our Choice, Our Time to Take A Side

I watched a bride and groom exchanging vows in view of the sun setting on their life apart. The groomsmen entering the reception to a song by The Weeknd. The bridesmaids dancing in to a Bollywood classic. And the bride and groom slowly slipping into their new life to a traditional processional. I danced on a dance floor filled with

Full Article

Why You Need To Know Dr. John Tanton, Grandfather Of The Anti-Immigrant Movement

Why You Need To Know Dr. John Tanton, Grandfather Of The Anti-Immigrant Movement

Have you ever stopped to wonder where the Trump administration is getting its ideas on ramped up deportations, banning Muslims, and vilifying refugees? Trump didn't come up with them on his own. There is a purposeful and intentional anti-immigrant movement that has been working to spread these ideas for a long time. Now they have a sympathetic ear in the

Full Article

Us vs Them: How To Stay Friends While Trump is On Top

Us vs Them: How To Stay Friends While Trump is On Top

I'm a left-leaning immigrant who has recently graduated from UC Berkeley. And, to the surprise of many, I now live harmoniously with a Trump supporter. I know; everyone makes that face when I tell them. But it's actually not as heart wrenching as you may imagine. For either of us. In fact, there's been some really eye opening and faith-in-humanity-restoring

Full Article

Tired of politics? You may want to check your privilege

Tired of politics? You may want to check your privilege

Let's go back to November 9th, 2016. Liberal or conservative, I think we can all agree that it was a pretty crazy day and most of us were feeling very passionate. Some were ecstatic, some were devastated but there was also an overwhelming amount of people that either "didn't care" or expressed how they wished everyone would stop posting about

Full Article

The Need For Immigration Lawyers is Now Playing Out in Tragic Ways During the Trump Administration

The Need For Immigration Lawyers is Now Playing Out in Tragic Ways During the Trump Administration

Immigration lawyers generally fly under the radar. But despite many who are heroes in the truest sense, how many of us know the names of any of them? You don’t see them on television dramas or the silver screen. Maybe its because there aren’t that many - there are 15,000 members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association versus 1.3 million

Full Article

The Conversations I Can’t Believe I’m Having with My Son Thanks to Donald Trump

The Conversations I Can’t Believe I’m Having with My Son Thanks to Donald Trump

Dad, I know Trump is bad but I was talking with my friends and when the illegal people come to the wall, we really should shoot them because that means they’re terrorists. Perhaps the most insidious thing about Donald Trump’s presidency is the sheer pervasiveness of the hate, ignorance, and mean-spiritedness that is choking our country. And if you think

Full Article