According to the prognosis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it will be difficult for foreign students to find a seasonal job. "J-1 visa holders will have to compete with many unemployed Americans and undocumented immigrants for work in diners and hotels," said Greg Chinarski. more>

According to immigration activists, tens of thousands of applicants for political asylum receive residence permits fraudulently, by telling fictional stories of harassment and discrimination in their home countries. more>

Russian parents' dreams and desires for their children are well-intentioned, but are often both physically and psychologically harmful to their children. This situation is aggravated by immigration: the sacrifices and the hardships endured make it difficult for children to satisfy their parents and more difficult for parents to be satisfied. more>

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>

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>

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>

In my opinion, a J-1 visa holder convicted of attempting to falsely claim refugee status is just as "dangerous a criminal to society" as Jean Valjean, the hero of Les Miserables, who was sentenced to 19 years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread for hungry children.  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.

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>

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

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

“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>

“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>

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>

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>