New York is in an absurd situation. New Yorkers are desperately in need of affordable housing while huge spaces are standing empty.

VIDEO :: In July, Speaker Christine C. Quinn announced a $20 million commitment to fund a pilot program that will turn unsold condominiums, market-rate rental buildings and stalled construction sites into affordable housing opportunities for moderate and middle-income families.

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The number of New Yorkers forced to spend the night in homeless shelters has reached 39,000, the highest number in 25 years. The main reasons for this are the economic crisis, unemployment, and Mayor Bloomberg's nonchalant attitude towards the problem. more>

The author opines that the enthusiasm at the recent signing by Governor Paterson of the bill that will make all election materials available in Russian may be misplaced. By embracing the bill, he says, Russian-speaking voters – U.S. citizens with a minimum of five or six years in the country – have admitted to their own illiteracy. more>

According to the Human & Civil Rights Organizations of America (HCROA), the majority of police officers adhere to the long-standing stereotype that "all blacks and Hispanics are potential criminals."  more>

Lawyers have varying attitudes towards undocumented immigrants. Some really do feel for them and support them. Others believe illegal immigrants are criminals and must therefore be sent back to their native countries.

VIDEO :: Conservative Law Professor Kris W. Kobach speaks with Glen Beck about illegal immigration.

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The prominent case of the up-scale Lemongrass Restaurant in Manhattan, whose owner owes over $1 million in wages to his employees, is just one of many complaints filed daily with city agencies by people who have been exploited and cheated by their employers.

AUDIO :: In May NPR's "All Things Considered" reported on New York State's efforts to tackle wage theft against immigrants.

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"We can only guess at the number of immigrants who enter the United States by crossing the Bering Strait in fishing schooners, inflatable rafts, and motor boats," said Charles Kosick from the Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII).

VIDEO :: Crossing the Bering Strait overland is a grueling endeavor.  However, an international team attempts the journey. more>

Under a proposal made by the influential chair of the Senate's Finance Committee, all cities in the state with a population of over one million will be required to translate all ballots and other election materials into Russian.

VIDEO :: New York State Senator Carl Kruger debates the Russian language bill on Senate Floor. more>

VIDEO :: Last year the NYPD decided to send new rookie police officers to high crime areas of the city dubbed "impact zones." more>

The conservative-leaning population of the United States that relentlessly criticizes undocumented immigrants often defends itself with arguments that have absolutely no basis in reality. more>

Faced with federal and local government budget cuts to English-language programs, immigrant and immigrant-rights organizations agree that the need to know the country's official language increases notably during an economic crisis.

AUDIO :: WNYC's Siddhartha Mitter reported on how the possibility of budget cuts presents a risk to ESL programs more>

"Even a small thing like buying a new shirt became something of a holiday for everyone in my family," recalled 33-year-old undocumented immigrant Alfredo Rames, a former resident of Irapuato. more>


Chasing the American Dream - A brief look at Mexicans who risk everything for the chance of a better life in the United States.

Research shows that immigrants who are represented in court by a lawyer are three to four times more likely to win their cases, but in the United States, only 35 percent of immigrants have lawyers. more>

“Our company is full of foreigners: Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis,” a young Russian-speaking programmer who was educated in the United States and works at a reputable Manhattan company complained to me in a conversation. more>

The growing number of American families dependent on food stamps is having an effect on the most varied branches of the economy, as well as the health of all who survive on the high-calorie, low-quality food the stamps buy. more>

Two years after the opening of a public school that specializes in Arabic culture, New York City awaits the inauguration of a public school dedicated to the Hebrew language, raising the issue of whether a public school should focus on specific cultures. more>

Early Feb. was marked by large demonstrations in support of immigration reform, the main participants, not Mexican laborers, but small business owners. more>

In New York, Russian residents with Section 8 housing vouchers aren’t guaranteed a place to live. more>

Opponents of illegal immigration have cause for celebration: data from law-enforcement agencies show that the number of people trying to enter the United States without documents by crossing the border with Mexico has fallen sharply. more>

This week, dozens of Catholic dioceses across the United States stood up for the rights of undocumented immigrants. more>

“The country is going through an economic crisis and the appearance of legal workers that do not need to be deported is a very good beginning,” Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano said this week. more>

In examining the problem of illegal immigration – the topic which provokes the greatest number of comments from readers – I have never hidden my skepticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on American businesses. more>

As one of my colleagues joked gloomily, America’s economic crisis may have solved the illegal immigration problem that neither Capitol Hill nor the White House has had any success solving. Now the question is what effect will the mass exodus of people without papers have on the economic crisis? more>

When a self-confident person holding a senior position of responsibility admits to making a mistake in front of reporters, we can state with certainty that we are witnesses to a rare event. The meeting between NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and correspondents from New York’s ethnic and community papers was just such an extraordinary event. more>

At a recent job fair in NYC, upstate employers tried to draw immigrant doctors on J-1 visas, with glossy flyers with picturesque photographs and descriptions of life in small towns in the state’s Lake Ontario region, along the St. Lawrence River and next to the Adirondack mountains. more>

Seven years have passed since that tragic date whose transcription in American English looks like the phone number to call in an emergency: 9/11. As a social services employee at the Federation of Employment and Guidance Services (FEGS) for almost three years, I helped those who lost their jobs, housing, business or health after the terrorist attacks. more>

The Brooklyn-based Agriprocessors is again in a bind, trying to explain to the U.S. Supreme Court why they can deny their workers the right to unionize based on their undocumented status, when hiring them, in the first place, is illegal. more>

The nearly 40,000 immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union in the northern Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties will take a hard look at the two candidates in the Democratic primaries for District 13. Both have strong ties to Georgia. more>

The economic downturn and surging food prices are haunting the poor Russian-American immigrants in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Is food aid enough to provide a safety net? more>

“Why should an illegal immigrant run the risk of being arrested?” Undocumented immigrants now have the opportunity to voluntarily choose deportation. Immigrant rights advocates think the measure won’t be successful, and they might have good reason. more>

Thanks to the introduction of new rules requiring both city and private hospitals to provide experienced interpreters for patients and to make various medical forms available in different languages, significant progress has been made since 2006 to help non-English speaking hospital patients. more>

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the U.S. legal system is overflowing with all sorts of paradoxes. Using green cards as the main way of rewarding cooperation with the authorities has been a practice with district attorneys and criminal investigators for over 10 years. more>

Moses investigates government programs set up to give health care to undocumented immigrants and to incarcerate undocumented immigrants who have committed a crime, and looks at the cost to taxpayers. more>

According to the Census Bureau and recent demographic studies, the immigrant population in American suburbs is growing faster than in the cities that traditionally have been a draw fro immigrants. more>

According to Amnesty International, 70 percent of those arrested because of their immigration status await deportation in real prisons, where their cellmates are real criminals, like rapists, murders, and robbers. Unwieldy machine that it is, ICE works so unpredictably that a Mexican dishwasher at a restaurant in New York could be sent to Pelican Bay – one of the most terrible prisons in California. A resident of Los Angeles could end up at a prison in Florida, several thousand kilometers from his residence. more>

In bad news for immigrant families, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget for the upcoming year proposes significant cuts to educational programs, contradicting the warm words he had for immigrants in his recent State of the City address. more>

The City Council of Farmers Branch, a Dallas suburb, voted unanimously to adopt a new ordinance on renting houses or apartments under which future residents must present landlords with special licenses issued by city authorities. If it turns out that the applicant is an illegal immigrant, he will not be able to rent housing. more>

There are many causes of the anti-immigration feelings that have recently swept across America. First of all, the majority of immigrants (both legal and illegal) are from Spanish-speaking countries. Many of our fellow citizens believe that they are changing the face of the country, giving it a "Latin" flavor. more>

The author suggests Congress can improve the condition of the U.S. labor market by taking specific actions, like giving the Department of Labor permission to determine on its own the number of work permits and temporary visas issued each quarter. Such a move would help address the visa backlogs now plaguing immigration authorities. more>

New U.S. citizens have been required to demonstrate "the ability to read, write and speak elementary English" since 1906. One century later, the pursuit of assimilation remains just as popular. more>

A recent report claims that among homeowners whose mortgage payments are over 90 days in arrears, 0.5 percent holds ITIN mortgages – or loans issued to undocumented immigrants. more>

The counterterrorism bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department plans to create a city map showing predominantly Muslim enclaves. According to Deputy Chief and bureau head Michael Downing, these enclaves could become “isolated and susceptible to violent, ideologically-based extremism.” more>

The U.S. investment visa program offers foreign entrepreneurs a green card and the right to become a U.S. citizen in return for their investment in the creation of new jobs in the United States. more>

“As future voters, they [children of undocumented immigrants] will probably not forgive politicians who wanted to kick their parents out of the country," writes Richard Nadler. more>

Critics of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act and U visas are upset. “I would prefer if illegal immigrants who are crime victims and have agreed to testify were granted temporary visas, not visas that lead directly to green cards," said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies. more>

The reactions to the more difficult naturalization test have been mixed in New York City’s Russian-American community. While some despair that the elderly will not pass, others say the difficulty will test the mettle of those who really want U.S. citizenship. more>

The rules of the game changed this past September 14. “Employers who do not obey the new rules [regarding hiring if undocumented workers] will have to pay fines of up to $12,500 for each violation, and they will also be subject to criminal prosecution," said Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. more>

The Dream Act, which would grant legal status to young undocumented high school graduates, is seen as a threat by some. They fear that people granted amnesty under this Act will become legal permanent residents, will file applications for their family members adding to the already long immigration queues. more>

Many Russian-speaking Jews living in Brighton Beach and other neighborhoods densely populated by Russian speakers complain that the atmosphere in these areas has come to resemble the atmosphere in the Soviet Union. Specifically, people have begun to sense that half-forgotten anti-Semitism in the air. more>

While members of Congress were debating immigration reform, officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were busy developing their own policy towards undocumented immigrants. more>

With President Bush’s push to dramatically increase the number of border patrol officers, experienced officials believe it will bring with it a sharp increase in corruption and incompetence. more>

A National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) report shows that, from January to April this year alone, a record of 1,169 bills concerning immigrants were proposed in all 50 states. Most of these bills greatly limit the ability of immigrants to find work, receive public assistance, and get driver's licenses. more>

The recent slow flow of illegal immigrants has been attributed, in part, to tighter security measures across the U.S borders, but a whole range of other reasons exists outside of this realm. more>

Human rights advocates have uncovered the shocking truth about the inhuman conditions in which immigrant detainees are held and the hundreds of crimes, ranging from bribery to sexual violence, inflicted upon them. more>

A recent amendment to New York State election law allows the Russian-speaking immigrant community to participate more fully in the democratic process by providing voting materials printed in Russian. more>

“The dramatic economic success that New York has experienced over the past 40 years has been due to immigrant families,” said Professor Gary Gerstle of Vanderbilt University. more>

It is estimated that undocumented immigrants purchase 5 to 10 percent of all lottery tickets sold in the United States; however, lottery companies and government officials neglect to advertise that only legal residents are permitted to claim their winnings. more>

“The chorus of voices opposed to the immigration reform bill is growing stronger by the day,” writes Yevgeny Novitsky. Hailed as a solution to the problem of illegal immigration, the proposed bill is said to make the prospect of citizenship for the undocumented even more unfeasible. more>

“Buying a house is part of the American Dream," said Timothy Sandos, president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). "Unlike borrowers who were born in the United States, these people will bend over backwards to make sure that they do not lose their property." more>

The press has reported widely on the campaign instigated by authorities in Hazelton, PA to toughen local laws against illegal immigration. But there is another trend that is also gaining momentum: More and more cities, including large ones like Seattle and Cambridge, MA, are passing legislation to ease the lives of undocumented residents. more>

Is it possible for undocumented immigrants to take domestic flights in the United States without risking arrest by immigration authorities? According to specialists I interviewed, “Some are lucky and others are not. There’s about a 50 percent chance of being arrested.” more>

"I have no idea how to escape from this trap. It's a no-win situation. It's easier for the undocumented in this respect. At least they're not tied to a specific company. If their bosses harass them, they can look for another job," said Yuri Turkin, a Russian who came to the United States on a guest worker visa. more>

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez expressed doubt that all undocumented immigrants want to become permanent residents. "Since they have no intention of becoming Americans, they don't need green cards or passports." more>

“Undocumented workers represent a nice chunk of business for banks," commented Chane Peterson, executive vice-president at the Banco Popular. more>

Well-educated, financially independent, ambitious and bilingual, these representatives of the new generation of post-Soviet Jewish immigrants are finally asserting themselves and asking each other questions about who they are, the nature of their culture and its future, what their Jewish faith means to them, and how they fit into the American Jewish landscape. more>

Anderson and other senior officials at the New York Building Congress admit that they have already experienced a shortage of workers. They are nervously following events on Capitol Hill, where the issue of comprehensive immigration reform is being debated. more>

Two years ago the Bush Administration promised to assume the responsibility of paying Social Security pensions to former undocumented immigrants who have become permanent residents or citizens, for the entire time that they worked in the country illegally. The promise has not become law yet, but many who worry about the stability of Social Security are speaking out against the plan. more>

America’s ambiguous, paradoxical immigration policy received special attention at the National Immigration Forum briefing. “Our president is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” said Marshall Fritz, who represented the American Immigration Association. “He wants to create a working program for foreigners, but at the same time he allows these workers to be hunted down and deported. more>

New York politicians and even its mayor take pride in the ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity of our city. However, leaders of immigrant communities like David Chan are not optimistic, believing that the city government and immigrants themselves must put forth more effort into Americanizing the latter. more>

The tragedy that occurred this past November 25 in Queens (when police officers unloaded 50 bullets into three unarmed men) was entirely predictable to the community, despite government efforts to conceal the numbers of casualties of such incidence. more>

In 2001, U.S. Border Patrol officers detained 98,000 undocumented minors. Last year that number reached 115,000. One can only guess how many children slipped through their hands more>

An interview with an immigration judge has always been akin to Judgment Day for political asylum applicants. The 218 U.S. immigration judges handle almost 350,000 cases annually – over half of these concern political asylum more>

"Every day people who despise illegal immigrants with all their hearts treat me with contempt and abhorrence. And many of these same people have themselves had problems with their documents,” said Aleks, 29, who has been undocumented for six years now. more>

Now that the Abramoff scandal has exposed the enormous influence of lobbyists in Washington, there is finally talk on Capitol Hill about the need to carry out fundamental reforms to limit the power of the Fifth Estate. But, asks the author, will congressmen and senators really use their own hands to slaughter the goose that lays the golden egg? more>

Unlike Latinos and Asians, the large Russian immigrant community has shown little interest in fighting for their rights. But now Russians, Jews, Ukrainians, Georgians and Kazakh immigrants want to form a non-profit organization and fight for their rights. more>

Operators of childcare facilities believe that the new regulations set by the fire safety code in November 2005 are unreasonable, since they do not take the realities of city life into account. more>

“All Americans should be drowned in the Neva. They are encroaching on our national identity. We want to remain Russian,” said a Leningrad teenager to an American of Russian descent. more>

Advertisements for work in massage parlors, night clubs and spas in immigrant papers often target vulnerable newly arrived immigrants, who find out, after being hired, that they will be working as modern-day sex slaves. more>

Critics of the recent crackdown policy point out that not only are considerable funds needed to run immigration detention centers, but that laws regulating prisoner care are imperfect. more>

Although the demand for English classes for immigrants increasingly exceeds supply, the government has decided to reduce funding for several programs. more>

After the arrest of an undocumented youth in a shooting incident, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has stated, "I don't want them here, period." more>

“What is the point of these grand, twenty-first century feats of engineering if millions of potential illegal immigrants will reach us if not through the back door, then through the front?” asks the author. more>

The U.S. government is reluctantly admitting that an estimated five million undocumented immigrants did not enter the country illegally; they just forgot to go home. more>

In the past, highly educated undocumented immigrants came to America and found that few companies would employ their skills. Today, the non-profit Upwardly Global is helping to change that. more>

The author contends that illegal immigration is indirectly encouraged, not only by private companies, but also by government agencies. more>

Politicians usually collect a wad of donations during “crackdown” campaigns. After an avalanche of loud proclamations and frenetic chest beating – “Now we’ll show them!” – inactivity returns fairly quickly. more>

Why should tenants pay the superintendent or workers to do work that the landlords are required by law to do for free? A new agreement by city agencies and banks now hold landlords accountable. more>

According to Steven Camarota, an expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, the vast majority of positions for unskilled workers are still held by Americans. more>

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-NY) thinks it is unfair when the state is forced to cover medical expenses for workers employed by rich companies like Wal-Mart. more>

Reversing a previous court ruling, undocumented immigrant workers in New York State can now receive disability compensation equal to lost U.S. wages. more>

New York City’s legislation Local Law 1 mandates the removal of wall coverings and window frames containing lead; however, if the residents did not make the request, then landlords are able to wash their hands of their responsibility. more>

In the United States, a federal government-funded system of child care centers has gotten little chance to take root. This is why child care centers in our country are largely privately-owned. Their monopoly is a result of policies put in place more than half a century ago by conservative groups. more>

There are up to 150 different fraudulent insurance plans and discount cards disguised as medical insurance, deceiving hundreds of thousands of people into paying for phony insurance. But legitimate insurance companies are now beginning to take on the phoneys. more>

The campaign in the United States against prostitution has grown so much that, at the end of last year, the House of Representatives amended a law directed at intensifying the fight against this social evil. According to the author, however, prosecution is uneven, leaving women most vulnerable. more>

The Deficit Reduction Act will certainly spoil the mood of millions of Americans, especially the access to medical care for poor, low-income people and senior citizens. But it seems that Republicans have taken it too far, and this will return to haunt them in the 2006 elections, because the elderly electorate, as noted in the past, does not forgive a wrong. more>

Undocumented female immigrants frequently portray themselves as victims of domestic violence in order to legalize their stay in the United States. Yet, female immigrants living in the country legally and who are victims of domestic violence do not always receive the benefits to which they are entitled by law. A new lawsuit filed against the Human Resources Administration in Manhattan seeks to address this situation. more>

The findings of the Center for Immigration Studies, which were corroborated by the 9/11 Commission, show that out of 94 terrorists, 20 were able to become U.S. citizens. more>

To date, only a small fraction of employers have been tried for violating U.S. immigration laws; most have escaped with paltry fines. But Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff says the U.S. government will no longer tolerate such employers. more>