Immigration
How some Michigan Muslims united with extremist Republicans against LGBTQ+ rights
Standing at a microphone inside a packed school board meeting in Dearborn in October 2022, Brian Stone wasn’t sure he’d make it out alive. The 36-year-old wrote a will, put an emergency contact card in his pocket, and told his partner he loved him. Behind him, a furious mob of conservative Muslims shouted gay slurs, […]
Column: New policy makes Michigan a more welcoming — and healthy — place for immigrants
Almost 30 years ago, my mom was overjoyed that she was approved to work in the United States. Though it was difficult to move halfway across the world and be apart from her parents, her siblings and her friends, she was grateful for this new chapter. Her story echoes the experiences of many immigrants: she […]
Menendez, other U.S. Senate Democrats vent frustrations after new ruling against DACA
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday declared illegal the Biden administration’s revised version of a program that protects hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country as children from deportation, and U.S. Senate Democrats, advocates and the White House on Thursday decried the decision. “I think that Congress should act, but it has been […]
Column: White Christian nationalism threatens U.S. democracy
You may be among the 35% of Americans who have never heard the term “white Christian nationalism.” But of those citizens who are knowledgeable of the concept, it carries a decidedly negative view. The belief is becoming more and more important to understand as cultural diversity, racism, immigration issues, political divisiveness and political candidate pandering […]
Nearly half the states now allow in-state tuition for immigrant students
When Cristian Dubon Solis was getting ready to graduate from a Boston high school in 2020, he started planning to apply to college. It was only then he realized that as an immigrant lacking permanent legal status, he wouldn’t qualify for in-state tuition at Massachusetts state universities, nor for state-sponsored financial aid. With no way to […]
‘People are losing hope’: Advocates call on Democrats to back legislation supporting immigrants
Following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “What’s Next” address on Wednesday, advocates praised the Democrat’s call for paid family leave, increasing access to abortion care, boosting election security, and codifying measures in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), among other initiatives – but called on the state’s elected officials to do more to protect immigrants and communities of […]
‘Who’s going to work there?’: Lawmakers grapple with labor shortages
INDIANAPOLIS — For years, Indiana’s GOP-controlled legislature has focused on creating a business-friendly climate by pushing favorable tax rates and regulations, aiming to foster the creation of good-paying jobs across the state. The way Republican state Sen. Michael Crider sees it, those moves have worked: Companies such as Amazon and Walmart have built new warehouses […]
Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. stuck in legal limbo, two years after Kabul’s fall
WASHINGTON — Two years ago, Farzana Jamalzada and her husband made the difficult decision to separately flee Afghanistan, after U.S. troops withdrew from the country and the Taliban took over. It took days for the couple to be reunited at an airport in Qatar, where Jamalzada would show people a picture of her husband on […]
Court allows Biden rule limiting asylum at the border to be kept in place for now
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday decided to allow the Biden administration to keep in place a temporary two-year rule that restricts asylum at the U.S. border, while the legal challenges to a lower court’s ruling play out. The decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals aids the Biden administration, which […]
More than 100 advocacy groups urge Congress to denounce anti-immigrant rhetoric
WASHINGTON — On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which 23 people were murdered, more than 160 religious, civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups called on congressional leaders to denounce lawmakers who use white supremacist, anti-immigrant rhetoric, arguing that it can lead to violence for marginalized […]
In Michigan, immigrants have to wait years for public health insurance. That’s about to change.
A few years ago, Susan Reed, the director of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, was working with an immigrant family who had a child with Type 1 diabetes. The family was struggling. They were navigating life in an entirely new country and were trying to access health care for their child while uninsured. No matter […]
Biden border policies ripped by U.S. House GOP as impeachment threats ramp up
WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday faced off with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who did not directly call for his impeachment but strongly criticized his oversight of the agency. “I know that today Secretary Mayorkas is going to try to paint a rosy picture of this disastrous […]