Category Archives: Migration

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‘Nuns on the Bus’ will hit the road for immigration reform

Religious News Service

Reprinted by Washington Post

By David Gibson
migNEW YORK — The “Nuns on the Bus” are revving up their engines for another national campaign, only this time the Catholic sisters are taking their mobile platform for social justice along the country’s Southern border to push Congress to pass immigration reform.

“The’Nuns on the Bus’ is going on the road again!” Sister Simone Campbell, head of the social justice lobby Network, told an enthusiastic gathering of faith leaders and charity activists at a Manhattan awards ceremony Wednesday (May 1). Continue reading →

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U.S. Reforms Could Slash African Immigration Levels

Carey L. Biron
WASHINGTON, May 6 2013 (IPS) – Advocates for the African diaspora in the United States have stepped up a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress not to end a longstanding visa programme aimed at boosting immigration from “underrepresented countries”.

The programme, known as the diversity visa lottery, has in recent years been sharply tilted towards African immigration. Since 2008, immigrants from African countries have made up nearly half of the 55,000 randomly awarded U.S. work visas annually awarded.

Yet under a landmark bipartisan proposal to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, released in mid-April and currently being debated in the U.S. Senate, the so-called DV lottery would be eliminated (see Section 2303 of the [ http://www.schumer.senate.gov/forms/immigration.pdf ]draft bill). Instead, it would be replaced with “merit-based” visas aimed at opening U.S doors to higher-skilled workers, particularly in the science, technology and engineering fields. Continue reading →

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Queen’s Speech: Migrants to face NHS restrictions

BBC
britain3A fresh attempt to curb immigration is the centre piece of the government’s legislative programme for the year ahead, set out in the Queen’s Speech.

Migrants will pay for some NHS services and landlords will have to check the immigration status of tenants.

Other measures include a cap on social care costs, a £144 flat-rate state pension and more consumer protection. Continue reading →

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LCWR Statement on S-744 the Immigration Modernization Act of 2013

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) welcomes the release of S-744, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013  and thanks  Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ)  for their efforts to craft bi-partisan legislation  to fix our nation’s broken immigration system.

The Senate bill provides hope to our immigrant brothers and sisters and the promise that values that are the bedrock of our national identity will flourish. Continue reading →

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Brazilian state of Acre in illegal immigration alert

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Immigrants in a shelter in Brasileia, Acre state Officials in Acre say they need more money to help house the immigrants coming into shelters such as this one in Brasileia

BBC

The Brazilian state of Acre has declared a state of emergency after a surge of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bolivia and Peru.

Officials said most of the immigrants originally came from Haiti but others had come from as far afield as Bangladesh, Senegal and Nigeria.

They said about 1,700 illegal migrants had arrived during the past two weeks.

Acre, in the Amazon region, has asked for additional funding from the federal government to cope with the influx.

More than 5,000 Haitians have arrived in Acre since 2010, but in recent months there has been an increase in immigration from Senegal, Nigeria, the Dominican Republic and Bangladesh. Continue reading →

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U.S. Looks to Overhaul Massive Immigration Detention System

By Carey L. Biron
WASHINGTON, Mar 21 2013 (IPS) – Rights groups and government officials here have been testifying in a string of hearings, before both bodies of the U.S. Congress, on how to overhaul the United States’ huge immigration detention system, the scope of which has expanded massively in recent years in ways that some suggest impinge on civil and human rights.

According to official estimates, the federal government will detain some 400,000 people on immigration charges this year, at a cost of around two billion dollars. Activists say the size and functioning of the immigration detention system are out of alignment with “U.S. values” – and, increasingly, Washington politicians appear to agree.
If these people are not public safety risks … why are they detained at all? Continue reading →

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New Study Sheds Light on Mistreatment of Migrants Crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border

Jesuits

By Doris Yu
migApprehended while attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, a young Mexican man surrenders peacefully to U.S. Border Patrol agents, but the agents violently shove him to the pavement, knee him in the back and handcuff him forcefully. His story is just one of many incidents of abuse and excessive use of force brought to light in a new study, “Documented Failures: The Consequences of Immigration Policy on the U.S.-Mexico Border,” released today by the Jesuit Conference, the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. Continue reading →

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LCWR Statement on Immigration Reform Proposals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Sister Annmarie Sanders, IHM –

LCWR Director of Communications
301-588-4955 (office)   –  asanders@lcwr.org
301-672-3043 (cell)
January 31, 2013

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) welcomes the release of the bipartisan proposal by Senators Schumer (D-NY), McCain (R-AZ), Durbin (D-IL), Graham (R-SC), Menendez (D-NJ), Rubio (R-FL),Bennet (D-CO) and Flake (R-AZ) and President Obama’s pledge to work with Congress to fix our nation’s broken immigration system.

The Senate framework and the principles laid out in the President’s speech in Las Vegas provide hope to our immigrant brothers and sisters and the promise that values that are the bedrock of our national identity will flourish.

We applaud plans, which we hope will quickly become law, that would create a clear and achievable pathway to citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are currently undocumented, including undocumented ‘DREAMers’; fix the immigration visa system and reunite separated families; protect the rights of all workers; and promote the integration of newcomers. Continue reading →

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FACT SHEET: Fixing our Broken Immigration System so Everyone Plays by the Rules

White House

America’s immigration system is broken. Too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers and there are 11 million people living in the shadows.  Neither is good for the economy or the country.

It is time to act to fix the broken immigration system in a way that requires responsibility from everyone —both from the workers here illegally and those who hire them—and guarantees that everyone is playing by the same rules.

President Obama’s commonsense immigration reform proposal has four parts. First, continue to strengthen our borders. Second, crack down on companies that hire undocumented workers. Third, hold undocumented immigrants accountable before they can earn their citizenship; this means requiring undocumented workers to pay their taxes and a penalty, move to the back of the line, learn English, and pass background checks. Fourth, streamline the legal immigration system for families, workers, and employers.

Together we can build a fair, effective and commonsense immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
Continue reading →