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The Citizen

The Citizen /Jun 01, 2007

A Life-Size Homemade Greencard

New Yorkers Assess Immigration Bills
From Gotham Gazette
While some New Yorker think proposed changes in immigration law could help them, a number of advocacy groups have major criticisms of the bills now in Congress.

Call For Undocumented Immigrants To Trepare In Case Of Legalization
From El Diario / La Prensa
Nothing has been decided yet, but while the White House and Senate immigration reform proposal is debated, various advisers say, immigrants can take measures to prepare themselves in case something does get approved.

Going Backward On Immigration Reform
From El Diario / La Prensa
Congress left aside common sense when it reached a compromise for a bipartisan immigration deal, said an El Diario columnist.

Immigration reform is, once again, back in the news. The Senate is considering, yet another version of a bill to address the limbo status of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. The new measure will create a point system that places more emphasis on skills and education than family ties. "The proposed law certainly would not end the flow of legal immigration to New York," said The New York Times. "But it could profoundly alter the currents that have long fed the city's mom and pop entrepreneurship, its kaleidoscopic diversity, and family networks that nurture and help assimilate newcomers."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised part of the plan than will give the undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. But the mayor called provision that require guest workers to return to their countries of origin and re-enter a joke."

Many immigrant advocates and other public officials also voiced their opposition. "[The proposal] ... will create a large temporary workforce devoid of worker rights," said Sonia Ivany, president of the NY Chapter of the Labor Council on Latin American Advancement.

"The new legislation reform bill that no one is very happy with has raised many questions," said the Gothamist. Some wonder whether it will ever pass.

These stories and others from the Chinese, Korea, Russian and Spanish language press via our partner, Voices That Must Be Heard.

Undocumented Chinese Immigrants via Ecuador
From Ecuador News
Some Chinese citizens are using the routes of Ecuadorian migrants to try to reach the United States.

Surge In Demand for Illegal Chinatown Apartments
From World Journal
A Chinese real estate agent said that the widespread illegal subdivisions of Chinatown apartments is a result of more Fujianese immigrants moving to the city.

English-Only at the Workplace
From Novoye Russkoye Slovo
Many immigrants sue employers who prohibit workers from speaking languages other than English at work and even during lunch breaks.

MTA Sued for Racial Discrimination
From El Diario / La Prensa
A lawsuit is filed in the name of 10 transportation authority agents who said that the agency discriminated against them, as blocking their promotions, denying them the opportunity to earn the same salary as white agents in the same position, and imposing more disciplinary measures on them than on other agents.

Transgender Marriage Poses Immigration Glitch
From New York Blade
A fully transitioned New York transgender woman was denied a request for a reissued a naturalization certificate with her female name and gender identity.

Elderly Koreans Want to Return to Work
From Korea Times New York
Many lower-income elderly Koreans are enrolling in recruitment programs for people who want to return to the work force. Adult education classes that instruct the elderly in computer or English skills are hugely popular.