By Valeria Fernández, New America Media Phoenix, AZ — Maria Del Rosario Rodríguez first heard the good news via a text message from her husband. She rushed to tell her co-workers — there might be a chance for her to reunite with her family on U.S. soil for the first time since she [...]
Young activists reflect on the historic intersection of the LGBTQ and immigrant rights movements By Sofía Campos, Catherine Eusebio, and Jorge Gutiérrez, New America Media The undocumented immigrant youth movement has gone through a powerful evolution since its genesis. In the beginning, the ever-present risk of deportation forced only the bravest of us to [...]
By Richard Jones, El Hispanic News Some 8.5 million immigrants in the United States currently hold green cards, according to Joshua Hoyt, but he says many cannot afford to take the next step — citizenship. The fees needed to complete the paper work for full citizenship are beyond the reach of many. Hoyt, co-chair of [...]
By Khalil Abdullah, New America Media Washington, D.C. — Kilmichael, a small town in northern Mississippi, is known to blues aficionados as the place where blues artist B.B. King first began his love affair with the guitar. To voting rights advocates, it’s a place that helps spotlight the ongoing need for Section 5 of the [...]
By Marcia Facundo, Latino Print Network “It is impossible not to recognize that the vestiges of discrimination take a long time to erase,” Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice to sit on the United States Supreme Court, writes in “My Beloved World” (“Mi mundo adorado,” Vintage, $27.95). In her memoirs, she reveals details of her [...]
The White House and Congress must move quickly to enact just and humane comprehensive immigration reform. In the wake of the 2012 elections, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have expressed the need to act on the issue. The window for bipartisan legislation is now open. Ethnic media have a high stake in the future [...]
Here is the text of Richard Blanco’s poem, “One Today,” which he read today at the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Courtesy of the Presidential Inaugural Committee: “One Today” One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the Great [...]
By New America Media Washington, D.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton announced Dec. 21 that the agency had deported 409,849 individuals in 2012. ICE has also decided not to renew any of its agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that operate task forces under the 287(g) program. ICE [...]
As of Jan. 1, Oregon’s minimum wage is now $8.95, up from $8.80. By state law, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) must adjust the minimum wage for inflation annually. Employers with questions about compliance, or employees who feel their rights have been violated, should contact BOLI at 971-673-0761, or visit oregon.gov/boli. [...]
By Valeria Fernández, New America Media Phoenix, AZ — Arisbeth Meza came to Phoenix from Mexico City, following the path of her older sister. She was 13 and has been working ever since cleaning the homes of the wealthy. In Mexico, she studied until the 7th grade. She never got a chance to go to [...]
