The day after the storm, s Manuel Sinchi, help like some other New Yorkers, ed gathered a few friends, hopped on his bicycle and headed down to badly stricken Coney Island to volunteer his services. The next day, however, he started offering his services at his usual rate of $15 an hour. A day laborer for whom making a living in recent years has meant
DetailsThe laborers meet in Gompers Park, at Pulaski and Foster each morning, s trying to get hired for construction jobs. On a recent day, activist Eric Rodriguez says Chicago Police and immigration raided the park and hauled off seven workers. One was freed and the other six are being deported. “What we’re afraid of is that it’s a new attitude that the
DetailsIn 2007, when Virginia’s Prince William County ordered police to check the immigration status of anyone they had “probable cause” to suspect was in the U.S. unlawfully, the impact was swift at family restaurant Ricos Tacos Moya. “Suddenly nobody showed up,” says Stacey Moya, an employee, and daughter of the owner. “Nobody was around. Not one soul. We would go hours without any customers, any clients. Nothing.” After community protests, the policy was soon watered down. In fact, police only check the status of those they arrest for a crime. Still, the stigma around the resolution stuck. Moya says one of her family’s restaurants went under. And while business at this one has picked up, it’s not the same. “Not even on weekends after church,” she says. “Nowhere near what it was before. I guess nobody likes to be around in the public that much.” Next year Congress is expected to again take up immigration reform, something it tried, but failed, to pass in 2006 and 2007. The collapse…
DetailsDay laborers and their supporters gathered Friday morning at Gompers Park on the Northwest Side to call for an end to immigration raids. They said they are not going to sit back as the raids go on. Instead, they plan to get organized. One step is to offer training classes explaining workers’ rights and what to do in case of a raid. “This is not
DetailsDay laborers and their supporters gathered Friday morning at Gompers Park on the Northwest Side to call for an end to immigration raids. They said they are not going to sit back as the raids go on. Instead, they plan to get organized. One step is to offer training classes explaining workers’ rights and what to do in case of a raid. “This is not
DetailsA part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) enforcement program is coming to an end. It’s become less relevant as the federal government rolls out the broader – and cheaper – Se Communities program around the country. It’s not being scrapped entirely, at least not yet. But there’s a possibility that the agency could phase out more 287(g) contracts with local agencies, including in California, in the months ahead. Last week, in an ICE memo announcing another record year of deportations, the agency also announced that it would not renew any of its agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies operating 287(g) task forces. These are federal-local partnerships under which local cops receive immigration enforcement training from ICE and are authorized to carry out related duties, including immigration status checks. On Dec. 31, 287(g) contracts will expire for 25 local law enforcement agencies around the country. So far, that doesn’t affect any…
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