This excellent 20-minute video "America, I Too" gives a vivid lived sense of the deportation process. Produced by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
NPR tells the story of a couple from the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas (Oscar and Irma Sanchez) who decided to bring their two-month old child to Driscoll Children's Hospital, in Corpus Christi, Texas, because the child was in need of surgery for pyloric stenosis, a condition that causes vomiting, dehydration and weight loss [...]
Donald Trump's presidential campaign capitalized and succeeded off the fear of "others," Chris Welzenbach, the author of this article defines "the other" as those who speak a different language, have a different religion, or look differently. These individuals have long been labeled as un-American, and Trump's campaign reached out to those in fear of people [...]
The Needham Free Public Library partnered with several community organizations, including the Needham Diversity Initiative, to present "One Book One Community." The book chosen was In The Country We Love, My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero. The short video below, from The Needham Channel, discusses the book, its implications, and the book discussions being hosted [...]
This heartbreaking Slate article features stories of detainees who have been targeted by Trump's harsh immigration enforcement but are not connected to crimes of violence. In fact, "fewer than 9 percent of the detainees whom ICE calls "criminal aliens" have been connected to crimes of violence. The Columbia Journalism School's Global Migration Project has been [...]
This video shown on Democracy Now shows San Diego CBP agents encouraging and allowing Mexican teen, Cruz Velazquez, to drink from a bottle of liquid methamphetamine, which caused his death. In 2013, the teen crossed the border with two bottles of liquid meth which he claimed to be apple juice. The agents, who suspected the [...]
Since 2014, these families and thousands of others were locked up in Texas prisons Family detention comes to Massachusetts -The consequence of family detention is now touching Massachusetts: 100 Central American women and their children have successfully migrated to Massachusetts since last November, after being released from Texas prisons. Local advocacy groups, e.g., the Needham [...]
If your town or city is considering becoming a “sanctuary city”, in Massachusetts you are not alone in this pursuit. Since the presidential election more than a half-dozen towns and cities have already voted on the matter. "Once the new administration took office, we saw this trend where a lot of cities and towns wanted [...]
Jay Gonzalez, a Needham Democrat, announced he will run for governor next year. Admirably, he has started his campaign by emphasizing diversity and sanctuary, including support for the Safe Communities Act. From his recent interview with the Needham Times: "I’m convinced that fear about different people, differences among people, are usually a function of a [...]
Pedro Pirez of Tara Construction Do employers now feel that they have free reign to abuse and steal wages from undocumented workers? It appears that may now be the case. Jose Flores, a thirty-seven year old immigrant from Honduras, was working for Tara Construction, when his leg was broken on a job site. [...]