PHOENIX, Ariz. – Isela Meraz was among the thousands who gathered outside the Arizona State Legislature last week to protest the right-to-refuse service bill now on the governor’s desk. For Latinos, the bill stirs up painful memories of SB 1070, the state law that criminalized undocumented immigrants four years ago.
Meraz, who is both gay and undocumented, now finds herself fighting on two fronts.
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PHOENIX, Ariz. — It was tough to convince Viridiana Hernández to call the Phoenix police when her house was broken into. She now has a work permit, under Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) plan, which temporarily protects her from deportation.
But when someone broke into her house in 2012, her only form of identification was a matrícula consular (a Mexican consular ID card), and she was afraid it might raise suspicions that she was an undocumented immigrant.
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In a recent New Yorker cartoon, a dog is shown lounging by a pool and saying to a pup: “Youtube’s one thing, but cats will never make it on the big screen.” A funny commentary, surely, but in America that statement could just as easily be applied to ethnic minorities, especially Asian Americans.
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India’s Supreme Court yesterday upheld its December ruling that criminalizes gay sex. But civil rights attorneys and LGBT activists say the announcement could actually be an unexpected boon for Indians fleeing the country to seek asylum in the United States.
On Jan. 28, the Indian Supreme Court upheld its decision to reinstate a 153-year-old colonial law prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.”
DetailsSAN JOSE, Calif. – Adrian Avila plans to apply for citizenship for one major reason.
“I’m doing it for my mother,” says Avila.
Avila, a content producer at the bilingual magazine Silicon Valley De-Bug in San Jose, came to the United States with his mother when he was six years old.
Now 29, he is one year younger than his mother was when she decided to leave everything behind in Mexico to build a better life for her son in the United States.
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Every year, millions of immigrants celebrate the New Year with their own traditions. For our family, it is a ham, kielbasa, horseradish, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut and pierogis, which are a traditional Polish dishes. And each year, like billions of people around the world, we look forward to the new year with a list of hopes, dreams and resolutions.
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The image of Dreamers portrayed in the media is most often one of valedictorians, proud “undocuqueers” or brave protesters. But for many young people who are undocumented and gay, everyday reality is defined by struggle, uncertainty, and hardship. That was the case for Diego Sandoval, who after living for a year in Florida, moved with his family to Merced, Calif. Since the fourth grade, Diego has attended five different grade schools and four different high schools. After being kicked out of his last high school for having too many absences, he is now working with his mother at a local motel and pursuing his GED. Diego wrote the following letter to his 15-year-old younger brother, who like himself is undocumented.
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The chances for a comprehensive immigration reform bill passing Congress are looking increasingly dim.
The Senate passed its bill last summer. But House Republicans are pushing a piecemeal approach in the lower chamber. Some young, unauthorized immigrants could personally benefit from this strategy, but many are conflicted about whether that’s a good thing.
If there’s one thing many conservatives and liberals agree on when it comes to unauthorized immigrants, it’s that people like 18-year-old Susana shouldn’t be kicked out of the United States. She’s been a good student, never had trouble with the law, and is now attending college in Denver.
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Every year on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, my partner Richi dons an impeccable Cat in the Hat outfit he made himself and drives 40 miles to work, the same drive he makes every school day. He could work closer to home, but the kids in the impoverished Hispanic neighborhoods where he has taught for 10 years need him, and their responses to his innovative teaching prove that. He spends extra hours tutoring those most in need, and he sheds happy tears when his students excel on exams. More than just a school hero, he’s also a community hero. When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi, he purchased groceries with his own money and delivered them to families arriving at lonely Houston motels, and he was a regular Astrodome volunteer.
DetailsNEW YORK – For Clara Yoon, there was never any question in her mind about helping her daughter when she came out as transgender in 2010. Yoon, who is Korean American, quickly joined a local support group for parents of LGBT children.
She soon discovered, however, that she was the only Asian parent in the group.
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