Last Week: In Our Community

Immigration Priorities Questioned
As the Obama administration sets up shop, they have a lot of work to do re-examining the immigration policies set up by the Bush administration. This article outlines some of the areas that it will be most pertinent to review, including immigrant detention, workplace and residential raids, family separation, and other human rights abuses.

NEW! Report: The Nativist Lobby: Three Faces of Intolerance
This new report put out by the Southern Poverty Law Center, "The Nativist Lobby: Three Faces of Intolerance" outlines how three well-known DC based organizations--the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), and NumbersUSA--stand at the center of the American nativist movement. As it turns out, all three have white supremicist roots even though the first (FAIR) puts itself forward as an anti-immigrant lobbying group, the second (CIS) as an independent think tank, and the third (NumbersUSA) as a grassroots organizer. To read the full report, click here.

US Faces Challenges in the Protection of Unaccompanied Children
A recent report, "Halfway Home: Unaccompanied Children in Immigration Custody," put out by the Women's Refugee Commission has determined that while the conditions and care of unaccompanied immigrant children in detention has improved markedly over the last six years, the U.S. still has a long way to go. To read the full report, click here.

Target of Immigrant Raids Shifted
This NY Times article discusses how, without consulting Congress, Immigration and Customs Enforcement switched its focus from apprehending dangerous criminal and terrorist suspects to finding and deporting "ordinary status violators."

Books: Julia Alvarez embodies the human problems hidden in the politics>>Book gives voice to families caught up in immigration fights
Julia Alvarez's new young adult book, Return to Sender, relates the complexity of global migration, in particular undocumented migration into the United States, through the eyes of a child. Getting rid of the usual bitter and angry politics of the immigration debate, this story humanizes immigration without simplifying the issue.

As the Global Economy Sinks, Tensions Over Immigration Rise
This TIME article discusses how the current economic crisis has sparked further tensions over immigration. As the article indicates, even though migrants typically do not compete for the same jobs as the native population, the current unemployment rate can create a ficitonal friction between working populations.

Immigration raid spotlights rift among the have-nots: The competition for jobs during a recession pits have-nots against have-nots
This article discusses how the current recession has deepened divides between immigrant and minority communities in the United States, as well as enboldened the work of white supremecist groups like the KKK.