Clara and Josefina, sisters in their early 30s who lived together in a small northern New Mexico town, had done nothing to harm their children or to elicit the attention of the child welfare department. Yet one morning last year, their family was shattered when federal immigration authorities detained both sisters.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It's no mystery that since the beginning of the recession the number one topic on voters’ minds has been job creation. But what happens when politicians fail miserably in reaching this goal? For North Carolina legislator Frank Iler, the answer is simple: create a smoke screen of anti-immigrant laws.
José Antonio Castro, program director for La Jefa Radio station and radio personality Orlando Rosa, will walk along “Route 56” for six hours each day through 14 cities over 14 days to conduct interviews and to broadcast a three-hour live program which will be heard by listeners in up to 85 cities throughout Alabama and the United States, as well as listeners in Mexico, Colombia, and Puerto Rico.
One day the youthful Palafox’s anger gave way to fear as he watched his father pack a few belongings and “a bit of money,” as he prepared to cross the border into the United States to risk securing a better economic future. “I was young, but I knew that might be the last time I ever saw him,” he said. The family was reunited years later in America and eventually prospered. Like many immigrants, documented or not, Palafox, now 19, calls the U.S. “my country.” He adds, “I fell in love with the South.”
There is plenty of evidence that immigration helps to fuel the U.S. economy, just as it has throughout our history.
In response, a group of some of the nation’s leading immigrant advocacy organizations released a statement Monday in support of Muñoz. The controversy may reveal a difference of opinion within the immigrant rights movement over which strategy to take when advocating for the rights of immigrants in the United States.
Senate resolution 201 passed by unanimous consent on Oct. 6. The bill now heads to the House where it will have a more difficult time with Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, saying that he will not bring the issue to the floor for discussion.
Since 2007, Solalinde has taken charge of the Catholic Pastoral Care Centre for Migrants, one the largest networks of immigrant assistance shelters in Latin America -- 57 to be exact. In the process, he has become persona non-grata to Mexican government officials, immigrant smugglers, drug lords and even residents of the small towns where the shelters operate.
A court of appeals decision Friday blocking several controversial portions of the law -- including requirements that schools check the immigrations status of students and the criminalization of immigrants who do not carry proper identification -- is a victory for opponents of the bill, who have rallied across both ethnic and religious lines in a movement reminiscent of the Civil Rights era.
The national flags of Guatemala and Mexico hang in the window, inviting customers to enter. Yet the store is completely empty, and its owner, a Dominican who opened the store 15 years ago, is considering a move out of state.
