Immigration

Thousands March In Uptown Charlotte In Support Of Immigrants

... an estimated 250 Latino businesses remained closed for the day in solidarity. [READ MORE: Here are the Charlotte area stores, restaurants and businesses closed for immigrants protest]. In the park, some held signs that read “We are not criminals,” “Give us a chance for a better life,” and “Don’t separate my family.” In English and Spanish people chanted “People united will never be defeated” and “Yes we can.”. Charlotte resident Roberto Mendoza said he came to “support the community we love and to show we are not criminals. We are here to work and do the best we can together.”. Communidad Collectiva asked that city leaders do more to stand up for the immigrant community, a sentiment summed up by one of the numerous signs at the rally: “ICE out of Charlotte. Mayor Roberts step up.”. Many expressed disappointment in how immigrants are perceived. “Why do they treat us like garbage when we are here to help the community?” asked Gerardo Ojeda, an undocumented Charlotte resident from ...

Trump Plans To Issue A New Immigration Executive Order Next Week

... order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said, adding: "We had a bad court.". Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the U. S. legally. The original order, issued on Jan. 27, triggered chaos at some U. S. and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from U. S. businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges. In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9 th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the U. S. Constitution played out. The Justice Department asked the court to ...

Parents Lash Out As Daycare Closes In Support Of Immigration Strike

... to action on social media and has no apparent central organizer, urges immigrants of all backgrounds to close their businesses, stay home from work, spend no money and keep their children out of school for the day in an effort to show the economic role they play in the nation. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reported to be in the area, Bluffton immigration lawyer Aimee Deverall describes, in English and Spanish on Feb. 10, 2017, the rights a person has when confronted by immigration enforcement officials. Jay Karr The Island Packet. Information about the boycott was widely circulated on local Facebook pages Wednesday and included a message to Trump: “To the president: Without us and our contribution this country is paralyzed.”. However, it was not known how many local businesses planned to close, how many people planned to stay home from work or how many Beaufort County children might be kept out of school. Jim Foster, spokesman for the Beaufort County School District, said he expects to know by 3 p.m. today whether attendance was affected by the strike. The strike comes one week after Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested ...

Federal Immigration Raids Net Many Without Criminal Records, Sowing Fear

... who have been detained. When he arrived last Thursday, he found 14 Mexican nationals in custody. On Friday, there were 30. “There are cases of mistaken identity, cases of people who were passengers in cars that were pulled over, cases of people who are married to U. S. citizens and who have children who are born and live in this country,” said Gutiérrez, who has spoken with many of those detained in Austin. “It is pretty devastating what happens to the families that were caught in these nets. The destruction that comes after one of these operations is astounding.”. A government social worker for Durham County, N. C., said that the number of Hispanic residents seeking assistance had dropped off rapidly in recent days amid swirling rumors about an ICE checkpoint at a Durham intersection and ICE agents making arrests in a supermarket parking lot. “Today, I haven’t gotten one Hispanic client in the entire check-in today,” said the social worker, a ...

Day Without Immigrants Resonates Across Los Angeles, Even If Many Still Go To Work

... documentation. In Los Angeles, traffic felt lighter, some restaurants closed and several thousand students stayed home from school. But overall, life seemed to tick along as usual, even in neighborhoods made up entirely of immigrants. It was a lukewarm response from the country’s second-largest city, compared to places such as Detroit, Washington, D. C. and Texas, where protesters emptied out bustling business corridors and marched in the streets. Many immigrant organizations in Los Angeles did not help organize the boycott, said Angela Sanbrano, executive director of the Mexican Network. She didn’t feel comfortable endorsing it because it would have put immigrants at risk. “If we make the call and ask people to risk possibly losing their job, we have a responsibility to help them,” Sanbrano said. Some groups such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles kept their doors open because people are in dire need of their services, given recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps, said spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera. Families, anxious and afraid, ...

Hispanic Democrats Barred From Meeting With Ice Director Amid Increased Raids

... around the country, though caucus members said they left the meeting with many questions unanswered. Ten Democrats were allowed into the meeting, including Pelosi, but members who were removed were left fuming outside the closed doors. “I’m really shocked, bewildered, that the speaker of the House would act as a gatekeeper for the president of the United States and deny fellow members of the House the ability to attend meetings that they called for,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. “I know that there’s a dictatorial spirit at the White House. Apparently it’s infected the speaker’s office here in the Capitol, and I think it’s really, really sad.”. The Trump administration — either the White House or Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly — was given authority over which Democrats would be able to attend the meeting, said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N. M. Homan told the members that ...

Supermarket Closes Doors And Students Stay Home For ‘day Without Immigrants’ Protest

... who immigrated to the United States 11 years ago from Guadalajara, Jalisco, said most of his co-workers also come from different countries. “We are all immigrants, we all come from another country,” he said. “When things like this happen, we come together and we value each other.”. Nearly 1,670 students missed school Thursday in the Woodland Joint Unified School District, many in apparent support of the national protest. District spokeswoman Callie Lutz said administrators anticipated an increase in absences. “We were monitoring it all day,” Lutz said. She said the 1,669 students who missed school represented about three times the normal number of absences. That translates to 15.4 percent of the approximately 10,800 students enrolled in the district. “We are aware it was happening and we knew it was coming,” Lutz said. “Our community has a strong voice on some of these issues. So we knew we might be affected more than some other Sacramento communities.”. She said the ...

Immigration Executive Order Causes Anxiety In Vp Mike Pence's Hometown

... President Donald Trump's inauguration because of harassment she says her friends have experienced. Annie Ropeik/Indiana Public Broadcasting hide caption. toggle caption. Annie Ropeik/Indiana Public Broadcasting. Dalia Mohamed says she doesn't go out much since President Donald Trump's inauguration because of harassment she says her friends have experienced. Annie Ropeik/Indiana Public Broadcasting. In Indiana, Vice President Pence's hometown has one of the top concentrations of skilled immigrant workers in the country. In Columbus, Ind., manufacturers and residents depend on open borders to move both products and people, but continued uncertainty over the Trump administration's immigration policies is leading to some anxiety there. The first thing to know about Columbus, about 45 miles south of Indianapolis, is that it's a company town — the headquarters of Cummins, a big global engine-maker. Its local staff represents a fifth of the Bartholomew County's entire labor force. The second thing to know is that this town has the lowest unemployment rate in Indiana. Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce president Cindy Frey that says when jobs do ...

How Immigration Will Change The Electoral Power Of States Trump Needed To Win Election

... California would lose five seats and Texas two seats. Another way of saying all this is that three of the four Upper Midwest states that swung to Trump in 2016 would gain political power — electoral votes, too — if the number of illegal immigrants were reduced or not counted for census purposes in states such as Texas. For years, rural and Rust Belt America have seen that their numbers, power and influence in Washington wane. Pennsylvania had 36 House seats in 1933, twice the number it holds today; Nevada had only one at-large seat back then. When most people discuss the impact of illegal immigration, they generally become agitated over security risks and job losses. They rarely consider how population shifts occurring hundreds of miles away can dramatically alter political bases, alliances and power among the states. Candidate Trump turned illegal immigration into a winning issue in November and, as president, he hinted of expanding the issue by ...

Dozens Of Businesses Across Chicago Close To Support Immigrants

... in several cities across the country that could represent the first salvo in a long fight. High-profile restaurants including The Berghoff and four establishments owned by Chicago chef Rick Bayless were among those that closed. "This is to make them hear us," said Jose Ruiz, 38, at a pro-immigrant rally at Union Park. Ruiz, who moved to Chicago from Mexico 20 years ago, said his employer, Pizza Nova, closed for the day after multiple workers asked to join the protest. He brought his 8-year-old daughter, Jessica, who took the day off from school. Thursday's action sent "a clear message that the immigrant community is ready to use its labor and consumer power to fight and begin a new chapter in the immigrant rights movement," said a statement from Movimiento Cosecha, a national immigrant rights advocacy group that plans a similar one-day action May 1 as well as a ...

Nc Lawmakers Seek Immigration Crackdown

... all of our citizens. We want to be business-friendly, which we always have been. We want our families to prosper.". Rep. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, who represents Carrboro and Chapel Hill, pointed out that there are no sanctuary cities in North Carolina due to the 2015 law. Law enforcement agencies in his district are concerned that immigration crackdown bills could make it harder for them to enforce existing laws, he said. "In my community, we have a lot of immigrants and a lot of people who are concerned about immigrants and a lot of people who are trying to defend immigrants as good, contributing community members," Meyer said, "[Police] worry that, if immigrants are afraid of seeking support from law enforcement, then it just becomes more difficult for them to do their jobs.". Another bill sponsored by Cleveland, House Bill 113 , would allow a private citizen to take legal action against cities, counties or even law enforcement agencies if he or she believes they are not enforcing immigration laws. That legal action could include fines of up to $10,000 per day if a judge agrees with the citizen. Sovereign immunity ...