In 2005, Manuel Bravo, 35, walked to a stairwell of the Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Center carrying a bedsheet. He hung himself.
The note he left indicated that he had done it so that his son, Antonio Bravo, 13, could remain in the United Kingdom to be educated. The pair were to be deported back to war-torn Angola the next day, where they alleged that they had been victims of abuse by the ruling party.
Now, Antonio is 19, training to be an electrician, speaking in Yorkshire dialect, no longer speaks his native Porteguese, and will be deported back to Angola if his humanitarian visa is not extended. "My family, they're English," he said, referring to the Beaumonts (his adoptive family). "Britain, that's my culture." [more inside]
posted by guster4lovers
on Aug 27, 2011 -
32 comments
This year Georgia (US state) passed an Arizona-style law to make life and employment harder on its undocumented immigrants, including about 425,000 agricultural workers. In the spring,
farmers argued that they would be unable to recruit new workers on time for the summer harvest with a sudden change in policy. Surprisingly, the Obama administration
did not step in to block the law taking effect.
The result is an estimated 46% of farms without enough workers and $300M of crops rotting in the fields. Georgia's govenor is
shocked.
posted by a robot made out of meat
on Jun 23, 2011 -
215 comments
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently decided that the state would not participate in a federal program to deport illegal immigrants accused of crimes. Several Republican state Representatives have been very vocal about opposing Patrick's decision. One is
Ryan Fattman (really), who says that
all illegal immigrants should be deported. When asked if a woman who was raped and beaten on the street should fear deportation, Fattman
replied, "“My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward."
[more inside]
posted by waitingtoderail
on Jun 11, 2011 -
47 comments
Handwritten 1961 memo in father's immigration file notes Obama born in Hawaii. "Documents obtained from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service through a Freedom of Information Act request offer evidence that President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. A memo dated Aug. 31, 1961 from William Wood of Immigration and Naturalization Services indicates that Barack Obama, Sr., was attending the University of Hawaii on a student visa and that a son, Barack Obama, II, was born in Honolulu on Aug, 8, 1961."
[Image of Memo]
posted by Fizz
on Apr 27, 2011 -
719 comments
Interactive map of international adoptions, from the superlative Schuster Institute
for Investigative Journalism. The site contains an amazing amount of information about corruption in international adoption in countries like
Nepal and
Vietnam.
posted by the young rope-rider
on Apr 19, 2011 -
18 comments
Texas Republicans have been turning against the
ideas on immigration supported by George W. Bush, who actively courted Latino voters in his
1998 gubenertorial election campaign (
cached), and in his
two presidential election campaigns. In 2010,
some 12,000 Republican delegates came together, many proposing new directions on immigration reform. By January 2011, there were
more than three dozen immigration-related bills filed, a number of them creating heated debates. By the of March, there were
nearly 100 immigration bills written or filed, some with
serious loopholes. (Rep. Debbie Riddle,
previously.)
posted by filthy light thief
on Mar 30, 2011 -
57 comments
Copycat of Arizona's immigration status bill has passed the Mississippi Senate by a vote of 34-15. The difference here is that there is a precondition with the immigration status check. Though selection cannot be based on race, color, or country of origin but ability to English can cast enough suspicion to warrant a check on immigration status.
posted by azileretsis
on Jan 20, 2011 -
73 comments
What does it mean to be Canadian? It isn't about an ethnicity, a religion, a language, or a shared heritage or history. From
CBC's Ideas comes the two-part radio documentary,
Being Canadian. "From east to west, public intellectuals and private citizens (both new and old Canadians), tell film-maker Sun-Kyung (Sunny) Yi about the concerns, the questions, and the challenges of living together in a multicultural and diverse society." It is also the story of how and why a Korean family became Canadian, first in the law, and then in their hearts.
posted by Hildegarde
on Dec 29, 2010 -
120 comments
Objects Through Time tells the story of immigration and the changing ethnic diversity of New South Wales, Australia through "
movable heritage" - that is, artifacts and objects with historical resonance. While almost ignoring 50,000 years of aboriginal occupation, the site does a nice job of both familiar topics through a fresh lens (e.g., Captain Cook's "
secret instructions"), but also takes pains to look at those lesser known topics which may be more accessible through material culture than through texts.
[more inside]
posted by Rumple
on Sep 14, 2010 -
7 comments
On July 28, Federal District Court
Judge Susan Bolton issued an
injunction (link to pdf of court order) blocking
several portions of the recent immigration bill
SB1070, which was passed on April 23.
(Previously on Metafilter.)
Among other provisions, the bill would have allowed Arizona police officers to demand proof of immigration status of people suspected of being in the country illegally pursuant to a legal police stop.
Most importantly, the federal ruling blocked the portion of the law that would have allowed police officers to demand proof of legal status.
Opponents of the law, who had already planned demonstrations yesterday, the first day the law was set to take effect, reportedly view the ruling as a victory, though partial and perhaps temporary.
Proponents of the law are predictably
unhappy with the ruling, and react with
disappointment.
posted by diocletian
on Jul 30, 2010 -
127 comments
"In our need to restore our sense of self-control are we actually going to reward politicians who are not working to bring us together, but instead are forsaking America's beautiful 234-year history of diversity?" Another Op-Ed from a national newspaper? No, it's the
note from Bill in this month's
Penzeys Spices catalog (.pdf), introducing a new blend called
Arizona Dreaming, which combines the flavors of South of the Border "in ways Americans love so much."
posted by JoanArkham
on Jul 22, 2010 -
35 comments
Tucson's own
Calexico has made one of their concerts
available (Nuremberg 2009) for streaming and downloading. Calexico's Joey Burns has also been very busy lately with
Artists For Action, an Arizona organization that is actively speaking out
against AZ's controversial SB 1070. Calexico has a
history of hosting benefit concerts in support of various border issues.
[via]
posted by .kobayashi.
on Jul 20, 2010 -
18 comments
