Undocumented and college educated: Mexican student hopes for passage of the DREAM Act
Risking exposure and possible deportation, an undocumented college student tells his immigration story to spread awareness of his and the plight of other undocumented youth in the United States and encourage the passage of the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform.
November 7, 2010
Why Jose jumped the fence: A story of illegal immigration
Jose Montes says he jumped the fence when he came to the U.S. illegally 30 years ago. He then went back to Mexico a year later to play in his band. When he returned to the U.S., he got caught by U.S. Border Patrol, but was able to get back into the U.S. on a subsequent trip. He is now a U.S. citizen.
October 26, 2010
Refilling water jugs in the Arizona desert
Check out the following video, which documents my travels with Humane Borders, a group that sends weekly volunteers to the Sonoran Desert to refill water jugs. Their mission is to prevent deaths in the desert. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9uLY1ehjog
October 16, 2010
Not the Land of Opportunity she expected: An Iranian refugee loses her father in a taxicab robbery
When it comes to crime and immigration, I usually hear about immigrants coming to the United States and committing crimes. To take a look at the other side of this equation, I decided to explore the story of an immigrant family whose taxicab-driving father was allegedly killed by Americans last year.
Stephen Colbert testifies before Congress about immigration
Today Stephen Colbert's congressional testimony shed light on the complexities of having migrant agricultural workers in the United States and some of the issues in the bipartisan AgJOBS bill. Referring to free market capitalism, he said, "Even the Invisible Hand doesn't want to pick beans." He advocated offering more visas to immigrants because he said he now understands why Americans aren't applying for these jobs.
Crime, immigration laws and a father’s anger
“Russell, this is really going to make you mad, but Sean was shot by an illegal alien.” The words of an Arizona state senator’s wife in December 2004, as quoted in a Reuters article, could be credited with inspiring the legislation behind Arizona’s newest and very controversial immigration law SB 1070, which was partially blocked by a federal judge on Wednesday.
Will Arizona’s new immigration law increase hit-and-run accidents?
My first reaction when I heard about Arizona’s immigration law SB 1070 was to think about hit-and-run drivers. I had recently been in an office where the receptionist was wearing a massive neck brace. She explained that two days earlier, she had been the victim of a hit-and-run accident.