By Ramona Houston, Ph.D., National Center for Civil and Human Rights This 2014, each of the participating sites in the National Dialogues on Immigration project will be contributing to our blog post series, “Immigration: Our Stories.”  Immigration has become a contentious issue among people and communities across the United States. The increased fear of new arrivals to America has caused a rise in xenophobia as well as a rise in tensions among diverse groups, especially since the immigration debate also has racial …
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Sponsored by New York Immigration Coalition, the #ALLin4RELIEF campaign has New Yorkers and friends taking selfie instavideos, expressing why they support administrative relief from deportations. The campaign builds momentum for a Town Hall today on immigration reform. “New Yorkers for Real Immigration Reform, a campaign coordinated by the New York Immigration Coalition, is gearing up for a big town hall on Tuesday, August 26th at Baruch College where immigrant New Yorkers, their families, friends and allies, joined by advocates and elected …
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By Kate Betz, Head of Education, Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum This 2014, each of the participating sites in the National Dialogues on Immigration project will be contributing to our blog post series, “Immigration: Our Stories.”  Since 2009, the Bullock Texas State History Museum has been privileged to partner with the Austin Refugee Roundtable to sponsor Austin’s annual commemoration of the United Nations World Refugee Day (June 20th each year). As these pictures can attest, it is a truly fantastic …
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“As cases for unaccompanied minors make their way through immigration courts, the question of who qualifies for asylum is a big one. Judge Dana Leigh Marks has been an immigration judge in San Francisco for 27 years and is the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. She talks about the decisions that immigration judges have to make and what the law says about who qualifies.” This week, WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer’s Show featured, “Asylum on the Immigration Court …
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In immigration in the news this week: Barack Obama’s immigration moves could be unstoppable via Politico Criticism arises after children are rushed to see immigration judges via Los Angeles Times Immigrant Mothers Released From Holding Centers, but With Ankle Monitors via The New York Times Immigration Crisis: Photographing the Violence Behind the Honduras Exodus via Time National Latino Organizations Release Final Congressional Report Cards Ranking Immigration Reform Progress via Latin Post Survey | Nearly 7-in-10 Americans See Unaccompanied Children at Border as Refugees, Not Illegal …
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By Linda S. Blanshay Director, Program Development, Museum of Tolerance This 2014, each of the participating sites in the National Dialogues on Immigration project will be contributing to our blog post series, “Immigration: Our Stories.”  I’m an immigrant—a white one from Canada. When I tell this to people in California they find it interesting or quaint. With that kind of reaction it’s easy for me to discuss my native land: the cold, the healthcare system, or a favorite singer that …
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Listen to differing political views on how to handle the unaccompanied children arriving at the US borders in this NPR report, “To Cope With Child Immigrants, Competing Plans Emerge From Congress” here. In immigration in the news this week: Obama Eyes Major Immigration Move via Time Americans’ Immigration Concerns Jump, as Economic Worries Decline via The Wall Street Journal American-Born Gangs Helping Drive Immigrant Crisis at U.S. Border via National Geopgraphic With Surge in Child Migrants, New York Forms Task Force on Aiding …
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In immigration in the news this week: Immigration Advocate, Detained on Texas Border, Is Released in Visa Case via The New York Times 57,000 Reasons Immigration Overhaul May Be Stalled for Now via The New York Times Why Our Immigration Courts Can’t Handle the Child Migrant Crisis via Mother Jones The Children of the Drug Wars, A Refugee Crisis, Not an Immigration Crisis via The New York Times Patrick, Van de Putte Hone Their Immigration Messages via The Texas Tribune Public attitudes toward immigration: Research review …
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By Barbara Lau, Pauli Murray Project at the Duke Human Rights Center/Franklin Humanities Institute This 2014, each of the participating sites in the National Dialogues on Immigration project will be contributing to our blog post series, “Immigration: Our Stories.”  “The costly lesson of American history,” Pauli Murray wrote, “is that human rights are indivisible. They cannot be affirmed for one social group and ignored in the case of another without tragic consequences.” Fifty years ago Murray was arguing for the inclusion …
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Children are crossing the borders as unaccompanied minors in unprecedented numbers: “But once they get here, what happens? Do they just get to stay, as the president’s critics charge?”  Listen here to the NPR report, “Influx Of Children Creates New Strain On Beleaguered Immigration Courts” In immigration in the news: Protesters of undocumented immigrants vow to block new arrivals via Los Angeles Times When is a little kid a ‘detainee’? When he’s an immigrant, and the AP says so via The Huffington …
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