MetaFilter posts tagged with immigration

Chicago Welcomes You

ocherdraco — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:44:16 -0800

Chicago Welcomes You "How to redesign a resettlement process for immigrants who may never have seen a streetlight, cooked on a stove, used a toilet that isn’t a hole in the ground or handled any type of currency." More about the project.

Sister Ping and the Golden Venture

reenum — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:11:13 -0800

Cheng Chui Ping came to the US like many others from the Fujian province in China. Through hard work and determination, she rose in the ranks of New York City's Chinatown business community. But, "Sister Ping" was not one to follow laws if it didn't suit her. Among the snakeheads who engaged in human trafficking, none were better than her. Working with notorious gangsters, Sister Ping set up a global network to help smuggle Fujianese immigrants into the US. Sean Chen and others were among those who were on the ill fated trip that ultimately sent Sister Ping to prison. Their ordeals were not over either. Many spent years in immigration detention centers, waiting to enter the country they had endured so much to get to. Sister Ping is due to be released from prison in 2030.

Remittances reversed

Forktine — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:01:32 -0800

“We send something whenever we have a little extra, at least enough so he can eat." Remittances, the small money transfers a previous FPP called "the most important antipoverty program in the world", are now flowing the opposite direction. Yes, poor families in southern Mexico are having scramble to find money to send north to their out of work relatives in the US.

The new faces of day labor

Joe Beese — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:34:52 -0800

It sounds like a George Lopez joke. “Times are so bad that I saw an Anglo day laborer standing outside Home Depot the other day.” Except it’s true.

Illegal Samoan

sycophant — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:32:51 -0800

Samoan government Minister Hans Joachim "Joe" Keil is suing US immigration agents and the State Department. In September 2008, while visiting relatives in Branson, Missouri Keil was arrested for being an illegal alien in what appeared to be a fairly well planned operation. He was charged with falsely representing himself to be a US citizen, and falsely using a US passport. Keil, a US Air Force veteran, has held a US Passport since 1967, which had been renewed seven times. After the his initial 8-days of imprisonment Joe detailed his experiences and bail conditions prevented Keil from returning to Samoa while the case was before the court. There was a very strong response in Samoa, with hundreds marching on the US embassy, many more signing a petition in support of Keil. The event also caused concern for others holding dual-citizenship betwen the US and Samoa. In December 2008 all the charges against keil were dropped and his US Citizenship reinstated. None of the agencies involved have made any statements about the initial prosecution or the lawsuit.

Goodbye, "Leih Hou Ma," Hello "Ni Hao Ma!"

zarq — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:57:09 -0800

"Chinatown" communities across the United States (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco) are undergoing a shift in linguistic identity, as recent immigrants are more likely to natively speak Mandarin (the official spoken language of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan,) instead of Cantonese. Also see these anecdotal reports about similar changes in Vancouver and Oakland, CA. Good news for the tri-literate: signs like this may soon become commonplace. :) The Language Atlas of China The PopUp Chinese Podcast and Arch Chinese site provide basic Mandarin lessons. Also see: Mango, ZhongWen and LiveMocha

Obama gets tough with Arpaio

urbanwhaleshark — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:02:20 -0800

"America's Toughest Sheriff", Joe Arpaio, has been stripped of his federal authority to make immigration arrests. (Previously)

Falta unas cuantas horas para el despegue! Que bonito se siente!!!

desjardins — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:11:44 -0800

José Hernández was a migrant worker when he first started to dream about becoming an astronaut. He is the first astronaut to Twitter in Spanish from space on shuttle mission STS-128. NASA wasn't happy about the controversy he caused when he advocated for the legalization of undocumented immigrants. He is not the first Hispanic-American to fly on the space shuttle. Hernández is a national hero in Mexico and has been invited to dine with President Calderon.

Immigration or Robots?

Extopalopaketle — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:50:53 -0800

Japan is facing a demographic crisis that will shrink the population dramatically. The Japanese aren't having babies, and the country won't accept immigrants to help bolster the population. Japan: Robot Nation looks at a uniquely Japanese solution. Cheat: Robots come in at the 15 minute mark.

The Flickr Page of the UN Refugee Agency

Kattullus — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:23:33 -0800

The United Nations Refugee Agency has a Flickr page with nearly 3000 photos neatly sorted into over 150 sets, most often by country, though sometimes by other themes, such as photos taken by refugee children, life in a refugee camp and mixed migration. There are also news sets, sorted by month. Some of the countries featured are ones that many associate with humanitarian disasters, Timor-Leste, Iraq and The Democratic Republic of Congo, but there are also photosets from countries that few associate with refugees, Panama, Hungary and France.

Elderly and foreign born in the USA

Kattullus — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:45:21 -0800

The lives of transplanted elders are largely untracked, unknown outside their ethnic or religious communities. “They never win spelling bees,” said Judith Treas, a sociology professor and demographer at the University of California, Irvine. “They do not join criminal gangs. And nobody worries about Americans losing jobs to Korean grandmothers.”

Older Immigrants, Invisible and With ‘Nobody to Talk To’ in the New York Times. Elderly immigrants, the US's fastest growing immigrant population [pdf], have been hit hard by the rough economic climate. Changes in welfare law in the mid-90s made it harder for immigrants to receive benefits. Long resisting the trend towards nursing homes, elderly immigrants have enrolled in greater numbers in recent years.

Coffee or tea?

Artw — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:17:48 -0800

Do you qualify to be a UK Citizen? From the looks of Twitter it seems that many UK Citizens don’t.

The headscarf martyr

melissam — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:47:28 -0800

Marwa el-Sherbini testified in court against a neighbor who had called her a "terrorist" because she wore the hijab. As she spoke, the man she had accused walked across the courtroom and stabbed her 18 times. In the Muslim world, she is now being referred to as "the headscarf martyr." Marwa el-Sherbini had been pregnant at the time. When her husband rushed to her side, he was also shot. Marwa died soon after. Her husband remains in critical condition. There have been protests in countries such as Egypt and Iran against what they perceive as European racism. The attacker was also an immigrant. There has been little press coverage of the murder in the Western media.

I would tell you the story myself if I could.

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:21:53 -0800

"Growing up, I never told anyone about not having my papers, but one day, just when I finished high school, I just had to tell people." The bi-partisan DREAM Act creates a path to citizenship for the estimated 65,000 undocumented youth who graduate high school each year. "Papers is the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status" (trailer). Alienated: Undocumented Immigrant Youth (video, 8 minutes). House bill on THOMAS. Senate bill on THOMAS. College Board press release on the DREAM Act. Wikipedia.

"This is an imaginary land"

Kattullus — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:27:04 -0800

Border Stories is a series of short documentaries about life on the US-Mexican border, none longer than 6 minutes. The subjects are: drug addicts on the border (warning: graphic images), electronic music group Nortec Collective, hospital costs of fence jumpers, lonesome Minuteman, Mexican emigrant safety patrolman, ranchowners whose land is an immigration throughway, US-raised 18 year-old sent back to Mexico, virtual vigilantes, two old men provide water in the desert, dangers of journalism in Ciudad Juarez, graveyard of US tires in Mexico, drug ballads, hardened border policy hurts cross-border community, another cross-border community fears closing of footbridge, working illegally in Laredo, mayors of the two Laredos, migrants' safe house, hand-pulled ferry, dentistry in Nuevo Progreso, Brownsville high school teacher protests border fence, golf course with the border on three sides & fishermen on the mouth of the Rio Bravo. Border Stories also has a blog about immigration issues.

Thin ICE

Pope Guilty — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:37:19 -0800

"ICE does not keep records on cases in which detainees claim to be US citizens. If larger trends are consistent with the pattern in Hartzler's caseload, since 2004 ICE has held between 3,500 and 10,000 US citizens in detention facilities and deported about half. US citizens are a small percentage of ICE detentions for this period, which totaled around 1 million, but in absolute terms the figure is staggering. "

Ayo Ghurkali

Happy Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:30:19 -0800

In a landmark defeat for the UK Government, the House of Commons has voted to allow all former and existing Ghurkas the right to live in the UK. The Ghurkas are Nepalese soldiers who fight for the United Kingdom, a legacy of officers of the East India Company impressed by their tenacity in battle during the 1800s. Designated a Martial Race (along with Scottish Highlanders) by colonial administrators, the Ghurkas have been involved in nearly every conflict and military action by Britain of the past 150 years. Previous to today's vote, Ghurkas who completed service before the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 were denied the right to live in the UK. Following a long-running campaign, fronted by Joanna Lumley of Absolutely Fabulous fame, a coalition of Liberal Democrat, Conservative and even a few Labour back-benchers won the vote today 267 to 246, recognising the fundamental right that "a person who has pledged to defend a country with their life deserves the right to live in it." The campaigners await a government statement on their victory.

The sins of the fathers

Joe Beese — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:52:02 -0800

Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre has seen hunger strikes and rioting. Now the British government has issued a report finding that its children "are being denied urgent medical treatment, handled violently and left at risk of serious harm". The Border and Immigration Minister replies, "If people refuse to go home then detention becomes a necessity." Plans have been approved to double the size of the facility. Of course, the right-wing feels that the detainees have it too good already.

On This Ground

Miko — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:48:32 -0800

The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience is a directory of historic sites that interpret themes related to ethical, political, and social issues worldwide.

Sociology papers online

lunit — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:38:04 -0800

Harvard Sociologist Robert Samson, known for his work challenging the Broken Window hypothesis (previously on Metafilter), has a number of publications on neighborhoods, race and immigration, crime, and spatial dynamics posted publicly online. Here are just a few recent publications (all pdfs):

*Moving to Inequality: Neighborhood Effects and Experiences Meet Social Structure
*Durable effects of concentrated disadvantage on verbal ability of African American children
*Rethinking crime and immigration
*Neighborhood Selection and the Social Reproduction of Concentrated Racial Inequality
*"After School" Chicago: Space and the City

The Complicated Relationship Between Bailarinas And Their Clients

jason's_planet — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:32:05 -0800

Rosa is a bailarina. For a couple of dollars per song, she dances with strangers in a bailarina bar. It’s a job held by many immigrant women in Spanish-speaking New York, filling a need created by many immigrant men. The man on the phone is typical of her clients. He’s in his twenties, doesn’t speak English, and immigrated to the United States by himself—no mother, no girlfriend, no wife. He works six days a week at a restaurant and sends his money back home to Ecuador. Most of all, he’s lonely.

There he was with his immigration face giving me a paper chase

Smedleyman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:25:38 -0800

Remember Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie Myers , the immigration chief who had some controversy during her tenure and introduced “operation scheduled departure” where illegal immigrants would turn themselves in and who’s organization was refered to (in so many words) as the gestapo by (Dem) Illinois Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez? Yeah, she resigned. Speculation abounds as to why. Statement by Chertoff

Aboot time those hoosers let us in EH!

afu — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:02:34 -0800

Are you a Democrat who drinks lattes? eats arugula? Does the thought of another Republican president fill you with dread? Canada's E.L.I.T.E. immigration plan is right for you! Check this out if you actually want to immigrate to Canada.

Texas requires proof of legal status for a driver's license

marble — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:59:31 -0800

As of October 1, 2008, the state of Texas now requires that driver's license applicants show proof of legal immigration status when getting an original, renewal, or duplicate license. For those who are not citizens or permanent residents, the license will have on its face an indication of the expiration date of legal status.

Public Safety Commission Chairman Allan Polunsky, of San Antonio, said he initiated the policy change after learning of a taxi driver in Dallas who had imported undocumented workers into Texas from other states so they could obtain Texas driver's licenses. He said he didn't know the taxi driver's motives but found it disconcerting that illegal immigrants could easily obtain driver's licenses in Texas. He said the new restrictions also bring Texas into closer compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, which requires states to create specially marked licenses for some immigrants. [Governor] Perry, who appointed the commission members and announced the policy change, said terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had expired visas but valid driver's licenses and identification cards issued by other states.

from here because unfortunately I cannot access the news story directly at chron.com, and the Google cache is not working either.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me... on the other hand, don't.

Pope Guilty — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:39:24 -0800

Both Barack Obama and John McCain have made public their views on immigration, but it's helpful to understand how the system actually works. To that end, Reason presents this flowchart which illustrates exactly how rough it is to immigrate to America.