Rutgers plans to launch N.J. 'immigration infrastructure map' online

Rutgers plans to launch N.J. 'immigration infrastructure map' online
By Jeff Diamant/The Star-Ledger
March 21, 2010, 12:15PM

From Ukraine, Mexico, Korea, Liberia — indeed, from virtually every nation on the map — the nearly 2 million immigrants living in New Jersey have made their presence known from the state’s urban north to its rural south.
Where they have settled and, more importantly, how they have been helped in acclimating to their new surroundings are the focus of an unusual effort at the Eagleton Institute of Politics in New Brunswick.
The Rutgers Immigration Infrastructure Map, a work in progress since last June, will identify and describe each of the 650-plus social-service agencies in New Jersey that support immigrants, and will map them on a website.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/interactive_map_catering_to_nj.html

[Posted by Ida Micaily]

Huérfanos de la migra marchan por sus padres

NEWARK, N. J. — Josanny Castro, a sus cinco años, tiene claro la importancia de participar en la marcha del domingo en Washington, a donde llevará un cartel pidiendo en sus propias palabras: “que se apruebe la migratoria”.

Mientras abre sus enormes ojos cafés y con una soltura muy poco usual para los de su edad, la niña expresa que así como no quiere que su mamá sea deportada a Honduras, tampoco quiere “que otros papás sean llevados a los países de donde son”.

“A mi mamá le pusieron un grillete inmigración”, recuerda Josanny, que cursa el primer grado, refiriéndose al arresto de su mamá Paola Leiva, ocurrido en enero del año pasado y al brazalete que le fue puesto por inmigración para dejarla salir bajo monitoreo.

http://www.impre.com/noticias/2010/3/20/huerfanos-de-la-migra-marchan--178884-1.html

[Posted by: Gloria J]

Rising Muslim militancy causing unease in Europe

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

Associated Press

LONDON - With the West locked in conflicts across the Muslim world, why would anyone throw fuel on the fire?

A small group of Europeans have been doing just that - provoking death plots and at least one murder by turning out art that derides the prophet Muhammad and the Quran in the name of Western values.

Behind the scenes is something bigger: a rising European unease with a rapidly growing Muslim minority, and the spreading sense that the continent has become a front in a clash of civilizations.

Swedish artist Lars Vilks says he was defending freedom of speech when he produced a crude black-and-white drawing of Muhammad with a dog's body in 2007. Authorities say that set him in the crosshairs of an assassination plot by extremists including Colleen LaRose, 46, a Muslim convert from Pennsylvania who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane."

"I'm actually not interested in offending the prophet. The point is actually to show that you can," Vilks said in a recent interview. "There is nothing so holy you can't offend it."

The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten also said it was defending free speech in 2005 when it printed 12 cartoons of Muhammad, one in a bomb-shaped turban, setting off protests and the torching of Western embassies in several Muslim countries. And Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders said he was promoting European values by producing Fitna, a 15-minute film that lays images of 9/11 attacks alongside verses from the Quran. The film was shown in Britain's House of Lords this month.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/national/87636647.html

[Posted by Ida Micaily]

Stu Bykofsky: Immigration reform should ease legal efforts

tu Bykofsky: Immigration reform should ease legal efforts

By Stu Bykofsky

Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Columnist

IF SUCCESSFUL Indian immigrant Vincent Emmanuel wanted to sponsor his brother to bring him to America today, he says, the process would take 15 years.

Fortunately, Vincent brought his brother Paul over in 1997. It took only 11 years. Paul is now a supervisor with the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

When it comes to immigration reform, I'd put the needs of U.S. citizens who guarantee that their close relatives will not become a burden on taxpayers ahead of bailing out those who are here illegally.

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services spokesman Bill Wright couldn't address the 15-year wait, saying that that was a function of the State Department, where John Echard Jr. said it was impossible to determine.

I'll take Vincent's word for it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/87636597.html

[Posted by: Ida Micaily]

Suit: Mass. immigrant health cuts unconstitutional

Immigrant advocates are asking the state's highest court to strike down a decision last year by lawmakers to deny tens of thousands of legal immigrants access to subsidized insurance under Massachusetts' health care law.

Health Law Advocates filed the lawsuit Thursday, calling the cut a violation of the equal protection clause of both the Massachusetts and federal constitutions.

The state budget approved by lawmakers last June ended health care funding for about 30,000 legal immigrants enrolled in Commonwealth Care, the subsidized plan that is the core of the 2006 law. Commonwealth Care provides subsidized insurance to those earning up to three times the federal poverty level.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9E3RLC80.htm

Posted by Julio Navarro

Inmigrantes llaman a presionar

• CATALINA JARAMILLO/EDLP |
• 2010-03-10

NUEVA YORK — Representantes de distintas organizaciones de inmigrantes se dieron cita ayer en las escalinatas de la alcaldía para movilizar a la comunidad a participar en la marcha nacional pro reforma migratoria el próximo 21 de marzo en Washington, DC.

En la marcha organizada por la campaña Reform Immigration for America, se esperan más de 20 mil personas de todo el país. La Coalición de Inmigrantes de Nueva York (NYIC, por sus siglas en inglés), que coordina a 200 grupos del estado de Nueva York, anunció que 10 mil personas viajaran por el día a Washington en 200 buses.

“¿Quién hubiera pensado que miles de inmigrantes tendrían que marchar a Washington para protestar por las políticas destructivas de inmigración tomadas por el gobierno de Obama?”, se preguntó Chung-Wha Hong, directora ejecutiva de NYIC.

http://www.impre.com/inmigracion/2010/3/10/inmigrantes-llaman-a-presionar-177238-1.html

[Posted by: Gloria J]

NJ judge scolded for mocking defendant's English

March 9, 2010

The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. -- The New Jersey Supreme Court's disciplinary committee has publicly reprimanded a lower-court judge who belittled an immigrant defendant's poor English skills and compared another defendant to O.J Simpson.

Ocean County Superior Court Judge James N. Citta (SIT'-uh) made the remarks during two sentencings. He disparaged a Mexican immigrant's inability to speak English after six years in the United States and compared a man being sentenced for attempted murder to Simpson, who famously was acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife and her friend.

Posted By: Ayanna Spikes

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/10/1523170/nj-judge-scolded-for-mocking-defendants.html

Helping more children reach for a dream

Congress should pass a bill that would give good students who were brought into this country illegally as children by their parents a better chance for success as citizens.

Under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, a path to citizenship would be provided to these children after they graduate from high school and enroll in college or the military for two years, steps that would help them become productive members of society.

Critics argue such action condones or encourages illegal immigration, but that’s a narrow-minded view of a much bigger problem. There are at least 12 million illegal immigrants who live and work in the United States. Since most are not returning to their homelands, this country must find a good way to move them to permanent-residency status.

Short of a comprehensive national policy on immigration, the DREAM Act bill provides lawmakers with an opportunity to pass one segment of the sweeping reform that’s needed.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq_ed_board/86677447.html

[Posted by Ida Micaily]

Report Cites Culture of Ethnic Hatred in Suffolk County

The report said Latinos’ fears were fed by nativist groups like Sachem Quality of Life, a local organization that has disbanded.

After Mr. Lucero’s death, many immigrants in the county stepped forward to describe their attacks to the police and media. In some of the cases, the allegations were reported to the police at the time the assaults occurred, but no arrests were made, in part because language barriers made communication difficult, the authorities have said.

Law center officials said that according to immigrants they interviewed, there may have been another reason for the inaction: police indifference.

Many immigrants told center investigators that the “police did not take their reports of attacks seriously, often blaming the victim,” the report said. “They said there’s little point in going to the police, who are often not interested in their plight and instead demand to know their immigration status.”

The Suffolk County police commissioner, Richard Dormer, said in a statement, “Some of the report had concrete ideas, most of which we are already implementing, but other parts were rife with inaccuracies due to the law center’s failure to interview the Police Department, the district attorney or elected officials.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/nyregion/03suffolk.html?scp=1&sq=anti%20immigration&st=cse

[Posted by Yoori Chung]

Sick undocumented 9/11 cleanup workers demand health coverage, legal status for work at Ground Zero

Nearly a decade ago, Liliana Sanchez stood knee-deep in dust at an office building near Ground Zero, vacuuming for $60 a day with only a paper mask to protect her.

These days, the undocumented Colombian immigrant struggles to breathe while climbing a flight of subway stairs and worried about the future of her medical care.

"They called us heroes while we were working and we also felt like heroes. Now they have pushed us aside," said the 40-year-old from Medellin.

Sanchez will join 200 other undocumented 9/11 cleanup workers Tuesday at a rally to push for continued health coverage and legal immigration status.

Read more.

[posted by Maria Rohani]