My friend Morgan Smith wrote this note about the Rio Grande in July 2024. Learn more about Morgan here , here and here .
J.A.M. v. USA "The Court holds that Oscar is entitled to a much lower, but still notable award of $175,000 because he was somewhat older at the time of the incident, was detained for about half...
Path2Papers, July 17, 2024 " What are the policy changes the Biden administration is implementing regarding temporary work visas? On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced a policy...
DOJ, July 18, 2024 "The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs Inc. (Southwest Key), a Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing to unaccompanied children who are...
Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters, July 18, 2024 "Even with all the industries where Californians went on strike during last year’s “hot labor summer,” some of the most active sites of...
"Exactly how these “mixed-status” families will be included in any type of immigration reform is still up for debate. Nevertheless, they are a byproduct of our broken and byzantine immigration system. Consider my story: My grandparents emigrated legally from the Philippines after my grandpa’s sister, who married a Filipino-American in the military, petitioned for them. The process took 12 years. Once they finally arrived, they petitioned for their children to follow them. It turned out, however, that residents cannot petition for their married children, so while my uncle, who was single, packed his bags, my married mother remained at home. This is where I come in. Grandparents cannot petition for their grandchildren, either, but my family didn’t see a future for me in the Philippines. They made a decision to send me, alone and without papers, to live with my grandparents. They assumed I would find a woman and get my legal residence through marriage. But I came out as gay in high school, which considerably complicated matters. Since gay marriage is not recognized by the federal government, which oversees visas, and since I am not eligible for other relief programs, I am the only T.N.T. — “Tago Ng Tago,” or “hiding and hiding,” the Filipino equivalent of undocumented — in the family. Most immigrants know someone who is undocumented, and that person is most likely a relative. This often-forgotten fact underscores the reality that undocumented immigrants are integrated not only in our communities — in classrooms and churches across America — but also in our nuclear and extended families." - Jose Antonio Vargas, Feb. 12, 2013.