Phila. rally decries Ariz. immigrant crackdown

Marchers demonstrated in the "From Philly to Phoenix" rally, getting ready for the rally in Arizona. - - Donna Poisl

By Michael Matza, Inquirer Staff Writer

Marching for immigrant rights outside Independence Hall on Wednesday, about 100 placard-carrying demonstrators denounced Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration and called on President Obama to honor his campaign pledge to bring about comprehensive reform.

The rally was also a launchpad for several Philadelphia area activists headed to Arizona to take part in protests this week.

Clergy, union members, students, and pro-immigrant groups came together Wednesday under banners with such slogans as "European Descendants for Immigrant Rights" and "Democracia Ahora," or "Democracy Now."
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Faith Coalition Stands with 2nd Grader Who Spoke Up for Families to Michelle Obama

PRESS RELEASE

Religious Leaders Call for President, Congress to Put Families Ahead of Politics, Pass Immigration Reform

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is standing today with the seven-year-old girl who gave voice to the reality of our broken immigration system yesterday by asking First Lady Michelle Obama if her undocumented mother will be deported.

At First Lady Obama's and Mexico's First Lady Margarita Zavala's visit to an elementary school in Silver Spring, MD yesterday, the second-grade student's simple yet powerful question to Mrs. Obama about "Barack Obama... taking everybody away that doesn't have papers" and how her mom "doesn't have any [papers]" revealed the tragedy that parents are torn away from their children as America waits for Congress to pass immigration reform.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this PRESS RELEASE! This is only a small part of it.

NILC and Civil Rights Groups File Legal Challenge to Arizona Racial Profiling Law

Click on the headline here to read the press release from the NILC. - - Donna Poisl

Opposition to Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law Grows

sent by HIAS/JTA

Last week, the Reform Rabbis in Arizona and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern Arizona issued statements condemning the harsh anti-immigrant law that was enacted in Arizona at the end of April.

Also last week, the National Immigration Law Center and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Arizona legislation on the grounds that it violates the Constitution, interferes with federal law, invites racial profiling, and infringes on free speech rights.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Have your own immigration story?

While this website is hosted by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and most of the stories there are from Jewish immigrants, you should all sign up. This society is very active in the whole immigration reform movement and they work with all immigrant and refugee issues. They would welcome stories from people from all countries and beliefs.

Immigrants hurdle language barrier with help of Cuban-Americans

This couple, who came here from Cuba, remember how difficult it was for them to learn English and learn how to live here. They are helping other immigrants who are going through the same things. - - Donna Poisl

By Sarah Einselen

Holed up in an office in the Diamond District of Manhattan, Luis Iza laid aside his work with a diamond engagement ring to fill in the blanks on a worksheet of English vocabulary. He chatted and laughed with a client, as he got ready to leave his office, carrying the worksheet in his briefcase. But he was not ready to go home yet. He was headed for a small Spanish-speaking church in Dumont, New Jersey.

Luis Iza and his wife, Maggie, volunteer their time to teach English as a second language (ESL) to Bergen County immigrants, where Luis was going to use the worksheet as an answer key for language exercises. One Anglo lawyer joins the Izas and several other Latinos to teach classes at the Iglesia Bautista Resurreción on Washington Avenue twice a week. The Izas learned English as their second language and are helping fresher immigrants do the same.
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Immigration Case Backlog Is Still Growing

There is a backlog of 242,776 cases waiting for resolution at the Executive Office for Immigration Review. And this is after the immigrants have waited years to get to this point. This article has some fascinating figures and graphs. - - Donna Poisl

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

Much has been said about immigration reform, in particular the need find ways to close American borders and bring undocumented immigrants already here out of the shadows.

But little attention has been paid to the hundreds of thousands of aliens who have already been brought out of the shadows — but who remain in legislative limbo.
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Senate GOP: Border troops could lead to immigration compromise

Maybe the new order for troops to the border will turn into a compromise and can get some Republican backing for immigration reform this year. - - Donna Poisl

By David Weigel

I wrote earlier about how today's surprising immigration politics were good for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but I was struck by the seeming readiness for compromise from Republicans who, at the start of the day, were beseeching the Obama administration to send troops to the border.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

To read the piece Mr. Weigel refers to: (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/05/mccain_gets_political_win_on_b.html)

Two live global broadcasts - Literacy Crisis

Log onto this website and listen to the live broadcasts. Very important topics. - - Donna Poisl

LatinoGraduate.net Web Broadcasting

Two live global broadcasts

June 1st:
Understanding the Literacy Crisis:

How Success in Schools Depends on Reading Proficiency by the 3rd Grade
Tuesday, June 1st, 8 AM - 12:30 PM
View at: www.livestream.com/lsacnational

June 3rd:
Issues Facing Native Americans in Corrections
Thursday, June 3, 2010 6:00-7:00 program (PT)
View at: www.livestream.com/lsacnational

Hispanic Business Community Supports H.R. 4818 'Not too Small to Succeed in Business Act of 2010'

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, May 24 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), which represents the interests of nearly 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses and over 200 local Hispanic chambers of commerce nationwide, announced today its support for H.R. 4818 "Not too Small to Succeed in Business Act of 2010" sponsored by Rep. Laura Richardson (CA-37). H.R. 4818 "Not too Small to Succeed in Business Act of 2010" seeks to update the metrics of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program to better meet the needs of small businesses operated by individuals who are socially and/or economically disadvantaged. President and CEO Javier Palomarez stated that "this is exactly the kind of legislation that Hispanic entrepreneurs need to continue to grow and prosper during this tough economic climate."

If enacted, H.R. 4818 "Not too Small to Succeed in Business Act of 2010" will:

-- Extend the maximum program participation period from the current 9-years to 11-years;
-- Increase by 300% the personal income limits currently used by the SBA to determine whether the applicant meets the "economically disadvantaged" requirement;
-- Specifically increase the net worth limits of individual applicants to $750,000 to qualify as "economically disadvantaged;" and
-- Not allow the SBA to "graduate" a business from the 8(a) program prior to the expiration of its contract unless the applicant's net worth exceeds $2.25 million (triple of what is currently used by the SBA).

The USHCC applauds Rep. Richardson's leadership in addressing the needs of small businesses as they prepare to compete against larger businesses and looks forward to the passage of this legislation.

About the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1979, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests of nearly 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States that generate nearly $400 billion annually. It also serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200 local Hispanic chambers in the United States and Puerto Rico.

http://www.ushcc.com
SOURCE United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
-0- 05/24/2010
/CONTACT: DeVere Kutscher, +1-202-715-0497, dkutscher@ushcc.com, http://www.ushcc.com /

Immigration activists killed in automobile accident

Sent by Rich Stolz, Reform Immigration FOR America

In Remembrance
Last weekend, our movement lost two incredible young women in a tragic car accident. Tam Tran and Cinthya Felix were both enormously active in immigration activism, were alumni of UCLA and working on advanced degrees at Ivy League universities. Despite their busy academic lives they found time to travel to Washington, DC to lobby for the DREAM Act and lead the student movement on immigration and the DREAM Act during their undergraduate years. We have all lost two passionate and inspirational lives and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends.

If you would like to donate to their memorial fund, you can do so here. http://www.dreamactivist.org/tam-tran-cinthya-felix-memorial-fund/

Join a Festival of Human Rights - Friday, May 28

Click on the headline to go to the website and find ALL the information about the march and discussions. - - Donna Poisl

Info sent by Pablo Alvarado, National Day Laborer Organizing Network

We are 5 days away from making history.
In the last month, local, national, and international pressure has grown with vigils, fasts, protests, high school walkouts, boycotts, and civil disobedience -all in repudiation of SB1070, a law that creates 21st century apartheid in the United States. From Phoenix to Mexico to South Africa-the eyes of the world are watching the atrocious human rights crisis while President Obama and his administration fail to act.

The Weekend of May 29, 2010, will be monumental. On Friday the 28th, we'll hold a Festival for Human Rights with Olmeca, Outernational, and more performs. On May 29th, people of conscience from throughout the United States and Phoenix will march in the tens of thousands to demand an end to the criminalization of our communities. On May 30th, we'll host a movement assembly to share strategy and visions for what's next.

At the same time, cities all across the country are planning actions to stand in solidarity with Arizona and to push back against the wave of police/immigration collaboration in all our communities. Together, we demand that President Obama stand on the right side of history and take immediate and concrete action to stop SB1070.

What can you do?
Join us in making history in Phoenix, Arizona on May 29th! March with tens of thousands of people from throughout the country as we collectively raise our voices to say: "We are All Arizona."
Can't make it to Arizona?
Create or Join a Solidarity Action.
Organize or search for a solidarity action in your city.
Donate a dollar per mile to make the march a success.

Moving deeper into Arizona's shadows

Here is an inside look at the life of a family in Arizona with one member who is not here legally. Pretty scary. - - Donna Poisl

Maria, a U.S. citizen, and Salvador, an illegal immigrant, have learned to take precautions every day: No driving at night, staying at home more and speaking English.

By Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Phoenix — The day Arizona's governor signed the strictest immigration law in the country — tasking police with checking the immigration status of those they stop and suspect to be in the country illegally — Maria thought it might be the last straw for her family.

For six years Maria, a U.S. citizen, and her husband, Salvador, who is in the country illegally, have tried to make sure he isn't caught up in a raid or sweep or traffic enforcement operation. To avoid his deportation, the couple takes precautions that, when synthesized, go something like this:

Avoid driving at night. Avoid unnecessary trips — grocery shopping once a week is best.
The rules for driving are clear: Check the truck — make sure the signals and lights work. A friend was once pulled over by deputies for having a broken light on his license plate. He was deported shortly after.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Pay to stay: Visa program offers green cards to immigrants -- for a price

This is a good plan, let's hope more take advantage of it. These people have to start a business or invest in one that is struggling or in an area with high unemployment. Certainly a win-win. Other countries do this with much success. - - Donna Poisl

By Matt O'Brien, Contra Costa Times

OAKLAND -- In bustling Oakland Chinatown, an office full of empty cubicles sits ready to greet executives -- all of them newly arrived immigrants who have paid as much as $500,000 for the privilege of living here.

Blocks away at Jack London Square, local developers have transformed a harbormaster building into a meeting place where they hope to channel foreign investments into new hotel construction.

In Napa and Sonoma counties, another venture hopes to woo would-be investors with wine tours, and convince them to buy some vineyards in the process.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Head of U.S. legal immigration system wins high marks from advocates for immigrants

The director of USCIS is a Cuban immigrant and is being praised for the work he is doing in the agency. Someone who understands the system is definitely needed. - - Donna Poisl

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Alejandro Mayorkas has brought greater openness and transparency to the agency and ordered a review of all agency policies to make sure they are fair.

by Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times

On a recent afternoon, the head of the nation's legal immigration system opened himself to a cascade of complaints from more than 300 attorneys, immigrant advocates and others at a teleconference based at the Western regional headquarters of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Laguna Niguel.

Agency director Alejandro Mayorkas listened intently, with nary a twitch of annoyance.
"I have articulated within the agency that we should not shirk from criticism," he said. "We should just work very, very hard not to deserve it."
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Opinion: Ruben Navarrette Jr.: One Arizonan to another: What Napolitano should have said to McCain

Sen. McCain should remember the stand he took in previous years and admit the issue is not as simple as he is making it sound now. - - Donna Poisl

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., San Diego Union-Tribune

Appearing recently before a Senate committee, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was grilled by a fellow Arizonan, Sen. John McCain.

The 2008 Republican presidential nominee wanted to know if the Obama administration planned to honor his request to deploy 3,000 National Guard troops to the Arizona-Mexico border and whether Napolitano had reviewed the new Arizona statute that enlists state and local police in the enforcement of federal immigration law. McCain got the better of the exchange, but that's only because Napolitano missed the chance to knock him off his high horse.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Trenton Gets It Right

This editorial shows the reasons why the city ID cards make a better, safer community. - - Donna Poisl

EDITORIAL nytimes.com

A coalition of community groups in Trenton is issuing photo identification cards to illegal immigrants. The cards are not government IDs, though they are accepted by many check-cashing companies, libraries, stores, and medical clinics, and at public parks and pools.

They see the difference in Trenton — and in Princeton, New Haven, San Francisco and other cities. The Trenton police and the Mercer County sheriff and prosecutor’s office have endorsed the cards. Trenton’s coalition — a project of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund — includes churches, civic associations, the Fire Department and public schools.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Maryland girl's comments to Michelle Obama revive debate over mixed-status families

The televised question from the little girl to Mrs. Obama may help show more people the real story. Citizen children afraid their parents may be deported. - - Donna Poisl

By Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post Staff Writer

Even as immigration authorities promised they would not try to deport the mother of a Silver Spring second-grader, the girl's conversation with Michelle Obama reverberated through the family's community and the country Thursday, reviving a debate about mixed-status families.

As of 2008, 4 million U.S.-born Hispanic children had at least one parent who was an illegal immigrant, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The number is growing, with 300,000 to 400,000 children born to illegal immigrants each year, said Jeffrey S. Passel, a senior demographer at the center, who said that families are often neglected in the immigration debate.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

UCLA student leader, daughter of immigrants, bridges gulf between two worlds

This young woman will always remember her life before she was a student at UCLA. She is graduating now as UCLA student body president. - - Donna Poisl

By Hector Tobar

The No. 2 bus is packed each weekday morning for the journey westward. In East Hollywood and Echo Park, many of those getting on are hotel workers, janitors, domestics and nannies headed for jobs in Bel-Air and Westwood.

Cinthia Flores knows that bus well. When she was around 14, she sometimes took it on Saturdays with her Salvadoran mother to Beverly Hills. They would get off on Doheny Drive and go clean houses together. Esperanza Monterrosa says her daughter would do the "easier" jobs: cleaning windows and scrubbing stoves.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

ROB WOUTAT | Assimilation and Acceptance of Immigrants

Few articles about immigration start with our origins in East Africa. This is interesting. - - Donna Poisl

by ROB WOUTAT

Before reading this column, it will help to remember that for about 100,000 years, ever since our origins in East Africa, we humans have been on the move.

We spread first into the Middle East, then Central Asia and Southeast Asia, crossing rivers, deserts, and mountains, and eventually oceans to find food, to flee from droughts and floods, to escape from hostile neighbors or oppressive societies. It has always been a move from poverty toward plenty, from danger toward safety, from constraint toward freedom.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Hispanic High School Dropouts Less Likely to Pursue GED

Only 10% of Hispanic dropouts has a GED. This is the bare minimum they will need to get a job. This has to be corrected. - - Donna Poisl

by Jazmine Ulloa

Hispanic high school dropouts are far less likely to receive a GED than their white or black counterparts, according to a report released last week by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The study's statistics, which detail the low levels of education attainment for Latinos, are grim news for the nation's largest minority group.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

47 immigrants become U.S. citizens at swearing-in ceremony in Springfield

After many years of waiting, 47 people from 27 countries are sworn in as new citizens. Welcome. - - Donna Poisl

By Stephanie Barry, The Republican

SPRINGFIELD - While a national furor over illegal immigrants rages, legal immigrants continue to pursue American citizenship in great numbers, judging from a swearing-in ceremony at the city’s federal courthouse on Wednesday.

Nearly 50 immigrants from a myriad of nations - Portugal, Japan, Russia, Barbados, Vietnam and beyond - took the Oath of Allegiance in the atrium of the building.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Attracting the Next Generation

This explains another very important reason we need reform: foreign students who get their advanced degrees in our universities and then are forced to leave when their student visas expire. They go home and start companies. We need these people HERE. - - Donna Poisl

by Bill George - Professor of management practice at Harvard Business School

America finds itself confronting a host of problems -- from environmental crises to reform on Wall Street, Congress has no shortage of pressing issues to tackle. One issue stands out to me, however, as particularly important in the effort to attract America's next generation of global leaders: America needs immigration reform for legal immigrants.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

ID Cards for Illegal Immigrants: A Good Thing?

This tells what a city ID card can do to help residents regardless of their legal status, within their community. - - Donna Poisl

by Mark Scheerer, Public News Service - NY

President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday criticized Arizona's law that makes failure to carry immigration documents a crime. But in contrast to Arizona, a growing number of cities around the country are taking a different approach: They are issuing identification cards (ID) designed to help illegal immigrants function within society. Government-issued ID is necessary to cash checks, pick up packages from mail centers or access clinics, doctor's offices, recreation centers or pools.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Becoming (Mexican) American, Sacramento Conference

Notice of discussion on Immigration, Identity and Integration in Sacramento.

Go to http://www.newamerica.net/events/2010/becoming_mexican_american
to see details and sign up.

EVENT TIME AND LOCATION
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm
CSAC Conference Room
1020 11th Street 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA, 95814

A TakePart Guide to the Schumer-Graham Immigration Overhaul

The Schumer-Graham Immigration Overhaul draft framework was presented to the President last month. This guide explains it and shows where it has to add details. (click on the headline)

A first draft usually does not have many details, so we must hope and assume the next draft will be more complete.

Upwardly Global helps immigrants with degrees land professional jobs

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has awarded a grant to this company to help skilled immigrants get professional white-collar jobs. We need these people in those jobs, earning good wages and paying higher taxes. - - Donna Poisl

By: Tom Abate

Upwardly Global, which has offices in San Francisco, New York and Chicago, is an entrepreneurial non-profit that provides job training, career counseling, placement services and mentoring to skilled immigrants and refugees. In the last three years it has directly placed more than 450 jobseekers in full-time, white-collar jobs with an average starting salary of more than $40,000.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

A Generation Gap Over Immigration

Several surveys lately are showing that older Americans are against immigration and younger ones are in favor. I think older Americans should think about Social Security and the need for more younger workers to keep it going. - - Donna Poisl

By DAMIEN CAVE

MIAMI — Meaghan Patrick, a junior at New College of Florida, a tiny liberal arts college in Sarasota, says discussing immigration with her older relatives is like “hitting your head against a brick wall.”

Cathleen McCarthy, a senior at the University of Arizona, says immigration is the rare, radioactive topic that sparks arguments with her liberal mother and her grandmother.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Untangling Immigration's Double Helix

This article explains the immigration problem from feelings in 1751 about "aliens" (Germans then), to Arizona's new law about different aliens. - - Donna Poisl

Arizona's new immigration law is only the latest in our nation's long history of conflicted feelings about the undocumented among us

By PETER SCHRAG

In 1751, Benjamin Franklin described the influx of German immigrants who were moving into Pennsylvania as "a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them and will never adopt our Language or Customs any more than they can acquire our Complexion." The effect, he warned, was that "even our Government will become precarious." Those words could have been written yesterday about Hispanics.

The issue of immigration has long troubled Americans. Arizona's new law, which gives police the power to detain those they suspect of being illegal aliens, is only the latest chapter in centuries of intermittent efforts to slow immigration, or stop it altogether.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

The Truth About Immigration, the Border and Jobs

I hope you will all read this whole article, MANY good points are made here. - - Donna Poisl

By: David Dayen

Former half-term Governor Sarah Palin defended Arizona’s immigration law today. That sentence is about as much attention to her views as is deserved.

I would rather point to a series of new studies showing that the law was birthed in and supported by ignorance of the reality at the border and the facts behind immigration. First, on the border, where crime has not increased in any way, despite claims to the contrary. It’s not for nothing that the sheriff in that ridiculous John McCain “Complete the Danged Fence” commercial was from an interior Arizona county; the sheriffs at the border aren’t seeing a problem:
Click on the headline to read the examples and the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

In Trenton, Issuing IDs for Illegal Immigrants

Community identification cards are issued in several cities, Trenton NJ is the newest one. This is good. - - Donna Poisl

By KIRK SEMPLE

TRENTON, N.J. — Since moving to this city from her native Guatemala a decade ago, Herlinda, an illegal immigrant, has supported her family with restaurant work, but has had no way of proving that she lives here. Without government-issued photo identification, like a driver’s license or a passport, she said, she could not get treatment at most medical clinics, borrow a book from the library, pick up a package from a mail center or cash a check.

But this month she discovered a solution: a community identification card issued by a coalition of civic groups and endorsed by Trenton and Mercer County officials.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Local advocates say immigrants becoming afraid

Immigration reform is needed NOW. States must have federal help with this problem or every state will pass their own laws and there could be a bigger problem before long. - - Donna Poisl

By Keith Goldberg, Times Herald-Record

KINGSTON — Milan Bhatt heard a couple of tales of substandard housing conditions, of troubling interactions with police.

But Bhatt didn't hear much else at the Workers' Rights Law Center's community forum last Monday — attendance was sparse.

And Bhatt, executive director of the Kingston-based organization that advocates on behalf of low-wage and immigrant workers, believes the current atmosphere over immigration is keeping people away.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

A border-only immigration bill?

from Gabe Gonzalez, Reform Immigration FOR America

For months, Republican obstruction has slowed work on immigration reform in the Senate. And now we know why. Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl have been working on a bill that ignores real immigration reform so they can continue to use immigrants as a political punching bag.

The Senators from Arizona have concocted a bill that does nothing to fix our broken immigration system. Their “border-only” bill focuses merely on enforcement and security - it doesn’t help our families, our communities, or our economy. It’s what you’d expect from senators who agree with their state’s decision to legalize racial profiling.

Tell Senator Jon Kyl:
"We need real reform, not more grandstanding about the border. Vote “NO!” on the McCain-Kyl “Border-Only Bill” and get to work fixing our immigration system."

Click on the headline to sign your name and send a fax

The border-only bill does nothing to move the debate forward. All it does is provide political cover for people trying to stop real comprehensive immigration reform. We need a real debate on the floor of the Senate, not partisan posturing.

Send a message to your Senator: we need debate, not false solutions.

Thank you,
Gabe Gonzalez
Reform Immigration FOR America

Participate in live global broadcast May 20

from Armando Sanchez, LatinoGraduate.net

Web Broadcasting

Live global broadcast program on "Ethnic Studies in the class room"

Thursday, May 20, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM (PT)
http://www.livestream.com/LSACNational

Inviting viewers on the World Wide Web to join in on the live discussion

In Arizona schools Ethnic Studies are now banned. Other states are considering implementing similar educational legislation.

What does this mean for the rest of the nation?

· Does this mean that African American, Asian American, Native American and Latino history, literature and philosophy courses are outlawed in Arizona?

· Does this mean a teacher could be arrested for teaching Ethnic studies?

· Does this mean that ethnic subject teachers are no longer necessary?

· Does this mean that programs like this one would be banned in Arizona schools?

Have other ethnic groups in the nation faced similar circumstances and if so, how were their children affected?

The live web broadcast conference highlights educational civil rights discussion analyzing what is happening to Latino learners in Arizona and beyond. The discussion will focus on identifying the similarities between these current events and historical record in other cultures. Discussion is also directed to identifying how these events in Arizona could be implemented in other states and what effect they would have on the future education opportunities for Latino children.

To view and participate in the Q/A session visit:
http://www.livestream.com/LSACNational

Panelists (partial list)
Michael Booker
Educator
BA, MA Whittier College

Dr. Carolyn Dunn, Ph.D.
USC

Show Host

Armando Sanchez

Contact:
Armando Sanchez
Exec. Dir. & Producer
LSACNational@hotmail.com
562.652.1169


Extending our web broadcasting services to organizations serving the communities.

Our on-demand web broadcast programs are available at www.livestream.com/LSACNational

Coming Summer 2010, LatinoGraduate.net Web Broadcasting Webinars

LatinoGraduate.net is the web site of the Latino Scholastic Achievement Corporation, a 501.c.3 national non-profit organization.

Partner
White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans

http://www.LatinoGraduate.net is the designated on-line site for Latinos to obtain their high school diploma and issues related to complete a college degree program. Offering live and recorded bilingual educational web broadcast programming world wide.

The LatinoGraduate.net broadband was made possible by the support of The Walt Disney Company, La Agencia de Orci & Asociados, Batanga.com, Sedano Media Group and Sensis. Studio at the Pan American Bank in East Los Angeles.

Immigrant job woes: Highly educated, minimum wage

Immigrants who do not speak English very well always have a hard time working in their own field here, but when people are bilingual, they have different problems. There should be groups that can help them, we need these skilled, educated workers doing what they were trained to do, not park cars or be a waitress. - - Donna Poisl

Bilingual Iraqi who parks cars is one of many immigrants on refugee visas who face difficulties in getting ahead

BY CAROLINE KYUNGAE SMITH Staff Reporter

Allen Hirmiz earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Technology, the third-best engineering school in Iraq. By the end of 2005, he was working as a project manager for North Oil Co., the second-largest oil company in the country.

But after immigrating to the United States, Hirmiz, 28, now works as a valet parker for the Hampton Inn downtown. He gets paid minimum wage and sometimes works six days a week.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

In Tampa, U.S. Agriculture secretary talks immigration

Secretary Vilsack pointed out that since all of our food is touched at some point by immigrant workers, the prices will rise if they are not allowed to work. Immigration reform is needed for many reasons, including this one. - - Donna Poisl

By TAMARA LUSH - Associated Press Writer

TAMPA — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Friday that immigration reform and Americans’ food prices are linked, and said citizens should urge their members of Congress to enact reform soon.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Who profits from our broken immigration system?

Click on the headline and read this surprising report.

And sign the petition, which says:
“We’re calling on CCA to stop profiting off of the broken system and join us in our fight to see that Congress passes smart immigration solutions that will eliminate the underground economy, lift wages for all workers, and help us build an economy that works for working families.”

CHCI Announces its 2010 Hispanic Heritage Month Events, Launches Registration

CHCI today announces "Celebrating History, Heritage and the American Dream," as the unifying theme for its 2010 Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in Washington, D.C. on September 12-15, 2010. CHCI hosts the nation's premier events commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month, drawing more than 3,000 Latino leaders from across the country to its Public Policy Conference, Reyes of Comedy, and 33rd Annual Awards Gala.

Click on the headline to go to the website and register.

Immigration's tough complexities

This article shows all the challenges that immigration reform faces and also has some interesting graphs and figures to look at. - - Donna Poisl

Patchwork attempts to fix broken system

By Elaine Thompson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

As the grandson of Italian and Portuguese immigrants, state Rep. John V. Fernandes has seen the great contributions made in Milford by immigrants who have come here legally as they pursue the American dream of a better life.

But during the past several years while working in local government and as a lawyer, he has also seen the stress on his community from overcrowded housing, non-English-speaking students unexpectedly showing up in schools, accidents involving people driving without licenses, and injured workers afraid to pursue their right to workers' compensation because they are in this country illegally.
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Immigration Fears Are Back on the Front Burner for More Americans

More Americans are interested in immigration and reform lately, though it is not more important to them than jobs and the economy. - - Donna Poisl

By JONATHAN BERR

Americans are increasingly worried about immigration, a new poll shows, but it remains to be seen how their rising anxiety will affect the midterm elections.

According to a Gallup poll conducted between May 3 and May 6, 10% of Americans viewed immigration as the most important problem facing the country today, up from just 2% in April. Though the big news was that the economy in general jumped ahead of unemployment to top the problems list, Gallup notes that this is the first time immigration has shown a double-digit reading since January 2008. Not surprisingly, most of the concern about illegal immigration came from respondents in Western states.
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Evangelicals Favor Immigration Policy of Just Assimilation

This group of religious leaders is calling for immigration reform and immigrants to apply for citizenship and worker visas. - - Donna Poisl

posted by jeff kunerth

The Liberty Counsel issued a statement by a group of evangelical leaders advocating an immigration policy that calls for securing the borders, but also allowing illegal immigrants to gain citizenship or remain in the country on temporary residence or worker visas.
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Immigration Reform: What about taxes or fees?

This opinion piece lists many values that the two sides believe and barriers to each side and perhaps a middle ground. - - Donna Poisl

By: Max Borders, Special to Examiner

Immigration is a complicated issue. I wish I felt securer about reform one way or the other. But there are all sorts of considerations that cloud the issue -- not least of which are conflicting values that each side fairly sees as fundamental:
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Report: 90 Percent of Minority Seniors on Verge of Financial Collapse

The results of this report are disturbing, minority seniors are suffering more than other groups with high costs of living and inadequate income. - - Donna Poisl

from hispanicbusiness.com

About 90 percent of Latino and African-American seniors live on the edge of financial collapse, accelerated by the economic downturn, a new study has found.

The report, by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University, found that a combination of inadequate pensions and savings, high housing costs and increasing healthcare costs have left about three-quarters of minority senior households unable to cover essential expenses.
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Take footwear quiz, can you spot the immigrant?

from Gabe Gonzalez, Reform Immigration FOR America

Do you want police officers to work as fashion police? That’s what might happen in Arizona.

Since Arizona passed a law legalizing racial profiling, anti-immigrant officials have made some interesting statements about how you can tell whether someone is undocumented. Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray, for instance, thinks that footwear is a good way to tell whether people are undocumented: "[Police] will look at the kind of dress you wear, there is a different type of attire, there is a different type of -- right down to the shoes," Bilbray said in an interview1.

We’re taking Congressman Bilbray at his word and putting the challenge to you: can you tell if people are undocumented by their shoes?

Take the quiz and find out.

We’ve assembled a collection of shoes from near and far. Click on the headline to take our quiz and see if Congressman Bilbray is right, and fashion choices should lead to deportation.

Hispanic Immigrants Eager for Civic Engagement, Report Says

This report shows that Latinos are excited to take part in politics here. Everyone should do this and especially immigrants. This is the best way to learn about the country and how it works. Or doesn't. - - Donna Poisl

WASHINGTON – Latino immigrants, both legal and undocumented, far from isolating themselves – as their detractors accuse them of doing – are increasingly engaged in the political and civic life of the United States, due in part to the immigration debate, according to a study released Monday.

"Context Matters: Latino Immigrant Civic Engagement in Nine U.S. Cities", a report prepared by the Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute, seeks to debunk the myths about immigrants’ refusal to integrate into U.S. society.
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U.S. not cracking down on immigrants with expired visas

Almost half of all people here illegally, came in legally and overstayed their visas. Immigration reform can help solve this problem. Securing the borders will not. - - Donna Poisl

by Daniel González - The Arizona Republic

Not every illegal immigrant in the United States snuck across the border. A very large number, perhaps as many as 5.5 million, entered legally with visas and then never left.

But unlike the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border every year, very few visa violators are ever caught.

The Border Patrol's Tucson sector, the busiest in the nation, logged 241,673 apprehensions last fiscal year. In comparison, federal agents in Arizona tracked down and arrested 27 people who had overstayed their visas.
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Byron Williams: Trip to Ellis Island a surreal reminder of immigration debate

This piece compares the experience of visiting Ellis Island and the immigration debate going on in this country now. - - Donna Poisl

By Byron Williams, Contributing columnist

IT WAS surreal to be in New York City 48 hours after a failed terrorist plot, even more so when our plane inexplicably circled for 45 minutes before landing.

But my primary reason for being in the Big Apple offered an even more dreamlike experience. As a member of the African American Ministers Leadership Council with People for the American Way, I attended a signing statement for progressive immigration reform that was held on Ellis Island.

The ferry ride over gave me pause, so many ethnicities, so many languages spoken simultaneously all came to what felt like choreographed silence in reverence, as we passed the Statute of Liberty. It was simultaneously a breathtaking and paradoxical moment.
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Immigrants Drive Growth in U.S. Metro Areas as Wage Gap Widens

The population of suburbs of certain cities is growing as immigrants shift to them. And other cities are losing their population as wages go down. - - Donna Poisl

By John McCormick

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Population growth in far-flung U.S. suburbs pushed the largest metropolitan areas up 10.5 percent from 2000 through 2008, a study by the Washington-based Brookings Institution found.

Communities along the edge of metropolitan areas grew the most, with their populations surging at a rate more than three times faster than their cities and inner suburbs.

Immigrants and their children continue to fuel much of the metropolitan growth, with almost a quarter of U.S. children having at least one immigrant parent, the “State of Metropolitan America” report said.
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The overwhelming support of immigration reform

Support for immigration reform is huge and across all lines. Democrats, Republicans, independents, almost everyone supports it. Everyone knows it is a problem for the country. - - Donna Poisl

by kos

Question: Does the country agree on anything else, the way they agree on immigration?
Click on the headline to read the results of the survey.

They're Not Illegal, They're Heroes: Why Immigrants Are Right to Chase the American Dream

Here is a very strong opinion piece applauding immigrants who come here to work, even illegally. - - Donna Poisl

We shouldn't condemn individuals for trying to seek a better life here. More often than not, they're working harder than us

By Sally Kohn

We need to stop calling undocumented immigrants in the United States “illegal”. A more appropriate term is: New American Heroes.

Why are undocumented immigrants heroes?

Millions of Americans, immigrants and citizens, work incredibly hard every single day in ridiculously low paying jobs that are the life-blood of our economy but are barely life-sustaining in return. I think every person who gets up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night to work one or two or even three jobs so they can pay the rent and put food on the table are heroes. But as hard as it is for every low-wage worker in the United States (and increasingly, middle class folks too) undocumented immigrants face additional, greater obstacles. These undocumented immigrants are heroes, too.
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Immigration Status of Army Spouses Often Leads to Snags

Immigration reform will help our military personnel who are married to undocumented immigrants. We need these soldiers, let's hope reform hurries for all our sakes. - - Donna Poisl

By JULIA PRESTON

Lt. Kenneth Tenebro enlisted in the armed forces after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, signing up even before he became an American citizen.

He served one tour of duty in Iraq, dodging roadside bombs, and he would like to do another. But throughout that first mission, he harbored a fear he did not share with anyone in the military. Lieutenant Tenebro worried that his wife, Wilma, back home in New York with their infant daughter, would be deported.
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Time to reclaim our decency

This ESL teacher tells how badly her students are treated by the general public. I wish all Americans had learned a second language, they would realize how hard it is and have some compassion and not derision. - - Donna Poisl

by Laurie Rigelhaupt

I teach English as a second language to adults who are immigrants. They all tell stories of insensitivity, insult and uncalled-for cruelty in local stores, and even in a doctor's office in Westchester, my home for over 50 years.

I am saddened and embarrassed by their stories. Here are samples:
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Beyond the Spin: The politics of immigration

This column shows all the political difficulties that will be faced around reform. But the country should come first. Voters will just have to step up and back the people working on reform so they are voted back in, then everyone wins. - - Donna Poisl

Both parties are seeking an electoral edge instead of the right policy.

By George Curry, Inquirer Columnist

After intense sparring over the stimulus plan and a protracted debate over health-care reform, the U.S. Senate was poised to see the introduction of a bipartisan energy and climate bill by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Democrat-turned-independent Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

But what was almost a rare kumbaya moment was crushed by a familiar Washington interloper: politics.
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Senator chides Obama as pressure rises on immigration

Maybe if enough leaders ask the President to work hard on immigrant reform this year, he will do it. - - Donna Poisl

A Democratic leader says the president must treat the overhaul with more urgency. Schumer writes to the Arizona governor, hoping to delay a controversial state law.

By Peter Nicholas, Tribune Washington Bureau

A key Senate Democratic leader said President Obama must treat the immigration crisis with far more urgency, as pressure over the issue intensified across the country Thursday.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, an Obama ally and one of a handful of Democratic senators shaping an immigration proposal presented last week, faulted the president for suggesting on Wednesday that an immigration bill won't be finished until 2011 at the earliest.
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Nearly 90 Jewish Organizations And Individuals Condemn Arizona Immigration Law

A letter was delivered to Congress calling for the federal government to enact reform quickly. Read the letter at http://www.hias.org/uploaded/file/SB1070_Letter.pdf - - Donna Poisl

Nearly 90 Jewish Organizations And Individuals Condemn Arizona Immigration Law: Sign-On Letter Forwarded To Congressional Leaders Today

Posted by Genever McBain

(New York, NY) – Nearly 90 prominent organizations and individuals in the American Jewish community delivered a letter this morning to congressional leaders strongly condemning the recently passed Arizona immigration law and calling upon Congress “to immediately introduce comprehensive immigration reform legislations with bi-partisan support that will provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented residents of our country and transform the current enforcement system into one that is both effective and humane.”
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Free sticker, protest Arizona immigration law

Do you want to get a FREE sticker to show your frustration about the new Arizona immigration law SB 1070? Presente.org is giving them away (even free shipping) to spread the word that we won't stand for racial profiling.

Click on the headline or go to http://presente.org/ref/162523/sticker/az?im=mp

Send a fax to support immigration reform

from Gabe Gonzalez, Reform Immigration FOR America

Last Saturday, over 500,000 people stood up for immigration reform at marches and rallies all over the country. They told our leaders that we need them to stand up for families and workers and stop hatred and discrimination. And Congress listened – the Democratic leadership introduced an outline for a bi-partisan bill that will pave the way for real reform.

The outline contains a lot of policies that we support, such as family unification and protection for workers. There are also some provisions that we’re going to work to reform. But we can’t do that until Republicans allow the debate over immigration reform to begin.

We can turn the traction we gained this Saturday to show Congress that the need for reform is real. Send a fax to your congressional leaders with this message:

We cannot wait any longer for immigration reform. Start the debate on the Reid-Schumer-Menendez proposal!

While Senators Reid, Menendez, Schumer and others have stepped up and made it clear that they’re ready to start work on reform, many others remain silent or opposed. We need the Senate, and particularly Republican Senators, to know that their constituents are watching, and want to see this bill come to the Senate floor for debate.

Click on the headline above to send a fax to your elected leaders.

Or go to: http://act.reformimmigrationforamerica.org/cms/sign/start_the_debate/?akid=384.21513.Q2a6Jc&rd=1&t=3&utm_campaign=Tell%2BRepublicans+to+Stop+Obstructing+Immigration+Reform&utm_content=E100506ANXX&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email&utm_term=action_link_2

A Reminder About American Values

Gov. Paterson has reminded us of what America stands for. Nice to hear this after the AZ law made us forget for a moment. - - Donna Poisl

EDITORIAL, NY TIMES.com

Gov. David Paterson of New York made a brave — and startling — move on Monday to create a board to consider pardons for immigrant New Yorkers who are on a fast-track to deportation because of old or minor criminal convictions. He said he wanted to inject fairness into an “embarrassingly and wrongly inflexible” system that expels immigrants without discretion, without considering the circumstances of a person’s life or family, or even holding hearings to consider the possibility that deportation might be unwise or unjust.
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On immigration, it's up to Washington

This article ran this morning, perhaps it helped hurry the announcement today saying the government is going to start working on reform this year. - - Donna Poisl

Laws such as Arizona's new statute show the need for comprehensive reform at the federal level.

By Tim Rutten

The people behind Arizona's new anti-immigrant statute have at least one thing right: This mean-spirited law was enacted because the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to address the immigration system's moral and functional failures.

On Sunday, the state's largest newspaper, the Arizona Republic, took the unprecedented step of giving its entire front page over to an editorial making exactly that point. "The federal government is abdicating its duty on the border. Arizona politicians are pandering to public fear," the Republic wrote. "The result is a state law that intimidates Latinos while doing nothing to curb illegal immigration."
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For Hilda Solis, a Chance Encounter with Former Teacher Changed Everything (EXCLUSIVE)

This is a very interesting history of our Secretary of Labor and how close she came to skipping college and being content in a receptionist job. A former teacher helped her see that she had more important things to do. - - Donna Poisl

Rob Kuznia -- HispanicBusiness.com

When Hilda Solis was a senior in high school, just a few weeks away from graduation, she wasn't thinking about college.

Instead, the daughter of immigrant parents who met in citizenship class wanted to be a receptionist, or -- if she was really lucky -- a county clerk, like her older sister.

But one day, a chance encounter changed everything. Walking through the halls at La Puente High School in her native Los Angeles County, the teenage Solis bumped into her former seventh-grade history teacher.
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Immigration Reform this year!

President Obama announced today at a Cinco de Mayo event that he wants to begin work on immigration reform this year. He wants Democrats and Republicans to work together on it.

We must hope it is more bipartisan than health care ended up being.

Immigrant Families Leave Arizona, Fearing Law

This is very sad, I am afraid it will happen a lot more too. - - Donna Poisl

At Least 100,000 Illegal Immigrants Flee the State Fearing Legislation; Some Citizens Angered by Financial Impact

By Kelly Cobiella

(CBS) On a dusty block in Phoenix, 15 years of the Quintana family's possessions are for sale.

Manuela Quintana said that they decided to leave when the Arizona governor signed the new immigration law.

She said that her biggest fear is being put in jail and having her children taken away from her. Just the thought of moving scares their 12-year-old daughter Graciela.
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Poll: Sympathy on immigration, desire for secure borders

This poll has somewhat different numbers than the other polls, although the numbers will always change if the questions are even slightly different. - - Donna Poisl

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY
Two-thirds of Americans want the government to do a better job of securing the borders, but they are sympathetic to illegal immigrants who have been working hard and staying out of trouble, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

Eight in 10 Americans are concerned that illegal immigrants burden schools, hospitals and other government services, and 77% worry that they drive down wages, the poll finds.

Yet 77% are concerned that stricter laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the USA for years would be forced to leave.
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Poll Shows Most in U.S. Want Overhaul of Immigration Laws

People are deeply divided on what they think should be done about immigration. Let's watch the polls and see if and how they change in the coming weeks. - - Donna Poisl

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN

LOS ANGELES — The overwhelming majority of Americans think the country’s immigration policies need to be seriously overhauled. And despite protests against Arizona’s stringent new immigration enforcement law, a majority of Americans support it, even though they say it may lead to racial profiling.

These are the findings of the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

With the signing of the Arizona law on April 23 and reports of renewed efforts in Washington to rethink immigration, there has been an uptick in the number of Americans who describe illegal immigration as a serious problem.
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Trail of Dreams

from Rich Stolz. Reform Immigration FOR America

On May 1st, after a five-month journey by foot from Florida, the Trail of DREAMs arrived in Washington, DC. Their persistence, perseverance and passion continue to serve as an inspiration to the movement for immigration reform. To commemorate their journey, and to signal their commitment to continue the fight, the DREAMers presented the shoes they wore on January 1st when they set out from Florida for Washington.

You can read their statements on the shoes, their last act on the Trail of DREAMs, at http://trail2010.org/press/mayday/

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Outline

from Rich Stolz, Reform Immigration FOR America

Last Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) released an outline for a comprehensive immigration reform bill. This outline was designed to invite Republican Senators to come to the table and make this a bipartisan, productive effort for reform.

You can read Rep. Luis Gutierrez’s response to the outline at http://luisgutierrez.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1430

and a summary of the bill (in both Spanish and English) from the National Immigration Forum at http://www.immigrationforum.org/policy/update-display/democrats-unveil-conceptual-proposal-for-immigration-reform/.

Could immigration furor create positive evolution?

Bad occurrences often trigger discussions and debates and laws being enacted that are good for everyone. Hopefully, this Arizona law can turn out to help in the end. - - Donna Poisl

By JESSE WASHINGTON, The Associated Press

-- Two decades ago, when Arizona voters rejected a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the NFL yanked the Super Bowl from suburban Phoenix. The boycott marked a major turning point in the journey to nationwide acceptance of the King holiday.

Today, Arizona, a state full of travelers from across the Americas, is being boycotted again over a new immigration law said to encourage racial profiling.
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Arizona: the Other as Enemy

A very interesting opinion piece by a NY professor who has a U.S. green card and an Italian passport. He compares his travel experiences with people from less "desirable" countries. - - Donna Poisl

by Aldo Civico, Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia Univeristy

On the day the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed an outrageous immigration law, I was at the JFK airport in New York about to embark on a one-month long trip to Colombia, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain.

At the check-in, handing over my papers to the airline officer, I could not help but thinking about the privilege for being white, European, with an Italian passport and a green card. Every time I travel abroad, either for business or for pleasure, I do not have to face the ordeal citizens of the South of the world have to go through when they want to travel beyond the borders of their country.

No long lines at European or U.S. embassies, no need to provide the details of my bank account, and a letter by my employer with the particularities of my contract and of my salary, and proof of my interest to come back. I do not have to proof my decency. I am a citizen of the first world, therefore by default I am decent and I have the right to enjoy the opportunities of our globalized world.
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Arizona, pay attention: Citizenship Now! helps immigrants get legal instead of throwing them in jail

This CUNY professor talks about the assistance his program is giving to immigrants in New York. They understand how important immigrants are to their city. - - Donna Poisl

by ALLAN WERNICK

Here in New York, we like immigrants.

If they are here legally, great. If not, we help them get legal.

In Arizona, they put them in jail. That's silly. Twelve million undocumented immigrants are working, studying and living among us. Many of them are top students in high schools and colleges throughout the country.

As a CUNY professor, I have seen how young people from around the world, through struggle and perseverance, can achieve great things. But we need to treat them with respect and dignity.
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CUNY Citizenship Now! Immigration Assistance

Check this website to read about free immigration assistance for New York residents.
http://www.cuny.edu/about/resources/citizenship.html

Information about the nine centers around the city and phone numbers to call. They are also looking for more volunteers to help during their weekend events.

Arizona's immigration law must inspire President Obama on reform

The new law signed in Arizona may force the federal government to get started on immigration reform. Even if it starts, I wonder when it will be finished. - - Donna Poisl

by ALBOR RUIZ - NY LOCAL

Say what you will about the Arizona law, but without it, Senate Democrats would still be dragging their feet on immigration reform.

The Senate Democratic leadership last Thursday rushed to present the outline of a comprehensive plan that, even without Republican support, is plagued with pages of concessions to those more interested in punishing immigrants than in incorporating them as tax-paying members of society.
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L.A.'s May Day immigration rally is nation's largest

This huge peaceful march and other smaller ones throughout the country may help us get immigration reform soon. - - Donna Poisl

As many as 60,000 immigrants and their supporters join a peaceful but boisterous march through downtown to City Hall, waving flags and holding signs blasting the new immigration law in Arizona.

by Teresa Watanabe and Patrick McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

Galvanized by Arizona's tough new law against illegal immigrants, tens of thousands of marchers took to the streets in Los Angeles on Saturday as the city led the nation in May Day turnout to press for federal immigration reform.

As many as 60,000 immigrants and their supporters joined a peaceful but boisterous march through downtown Los Angeles to City Hall, waving American flags, tooting horns and holding signs that blasted the Arizona law. The legislation, which is set to take effect in midsummer, makes it a crime to be in Arizona without legal status and requires police to check for immigration papers.
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Recession, enforcement driving illegal immigrants to leave U.S.

This article tells what has been happening with illegal immigrants who worked here, as the recession progressed. And what is left after the workers leave here. - - Donna Poisl

By MARISA TAYLOR, McClatchy Newspapers

For 10 years, Ezequiel Gonzalez and his wife, Lupe, feared that their lives as illegal immigrants in America would be discovered.

One spring evening two years ago, it finally happened. Immigration agents detected Ezequiel working illegally at a local glass company here and ordered him deported to Mexico. Left on her own, Lupe packed up their few belongings and prepared their four children, ages 8 through 15, for the journey to a country they barely knew.

Back in their colonial town in central Mexico, the couple now struggle to support themselves.
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