World's Richest Historian Newt Gingrich visited a South Carolina radio station yesterday and began taking shots at the GOP's consistently milquetoast champion Mitt Romney, saying, “it’s wrong to go around and adopt radically different positions based on your need of any one electorate, because then people have to ask themselves, what will you tell me next time?” Gingrich should take his own advice, because what he told a deeply conservative crowd last night regarding illegal immigration sounded a lot different than his flirtation with "mercy" in front of a bunch of DC thinktank suits last week. more ›

A Queens woman and her 19-year-old daughter are hoping that lawmakers can save the day and prevent their deportation to Bangladesh. Nazim Habib and Nadia Habib, who is a student at SUNY Stony Brook, are supposed to report to Federal Plaza for departure today, but their lawyer has filed to block the deportation—on the grounds that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement deports illegal immigrants with criminal records first—as they try to sort out the issue. Nadia Habib, who arrived in New York as a baby, said, "I’m scared…I don’t want to be like arrested and put on a random plane and then like deported to a country that I don’t consider my own.": more ›

Sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn were dismissed yesterday because, as the prosecution put it, "If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so." Now, because of her lies to a grand jury, the prosecution, and the federal government, it's possible that Nafissatou Diallo will face deportation hearings. "Lying on sworn statements is almost a guarantee the case will be reopened," one lawyer tells the Daily News. Another immigration attorney says, "With all the press attention, my educated guess is that they are going to look at her case again." more ›

The Brooklyn teenager who set his landlord's cat on fire because he was "bored" has been sentenced to six years in prison—and may also be deported. Angelo Monderoy, who was convicted of killing Tommy Two Times in March, also was denied the chance to have his record sealed by the furious Judge: "To torture and kill an animal because you were bored? There's no way the world should not know what Mr. Monderoy did here." more ›

Emily Ruiz, the 4-year-old U.S. citizen who was sent back to Guatemala earlier this month, is back with her family on American soil. Her family's lawyer, David Sperling, even tweeted photos of the reunion with the caption "mission accomplished." Meanwhile, lawmakers and lawyers are still trying to figure out exactly how, in the words of LI congressman Steve Israel, “This bureaucratic overreach and utter failure of commonsense left a little girl, a U.S. citizen no less, stranded thousands of miles from her parents.” more ›

Emily Ruiz, the 4-year-old U.S. citizen who was de facto deported from the country earlier this month will be back in the States by the end of the week, according to her lawyer David Sperling. And what's more, she'll be flying back to the States in style. "Immigration treated her like a second-class citizen, but we're going to bring her here and she's going to come first class," Sperling quipped to reporters. more ›

The immigrant who nearly deported back to China until he was pardoned by Governor Paterson earlier this year is now an official U.S. citizen. Qing Hong Wu was naturalized yesterday and he showed off his citizenship papers to NY1, "This is the most important document for me. I feel complete happiness now that I have this.... It's traveling to hell and back, almost -- complete change, complete sadness, complete shock to complete happiness." more ›

At least 30 Haitian survivors who had been sent to the U.S. in the aftermath of the earthquake have been locked up in detention centers in Florida since their arrival. They were all evacuated too quickly for immigration processing, but have been kept in immigration custody as deportations back to Haiti have been indefinitely suspended. The New York Times reports that dealings with Haitian refugees have been varied and random, with some receiving "humanitarian parole" status, some getting tourist visas that prevent them from working, and others being kept in detention. more ›

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Honduran native Jose Padilla in Padilla v. Kentucky today [pdf], deciding that his right to counsel was violated when his lawyer told him pleading guilty to drug possession would not lead to deportation. Previously, two convictions for drug possession were the equivalent of drug trafficking if you're not a natural born citizen, and could lead to deportation even for legal residents. The law also prohibited courts from granting any exceptions. This interpretation of the law had already been rejected by four judicial circuits, including New York's, but approved by courts in Louisiana and Texas. more ›

A Richmond Hill man is accused of pretending to be an immigration officer so he could pull off $1.75 million of green card and real estate scams that exploited 19 West Indian immigrants. Shane Ramsundar, 50, allegedly dressed like an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer—armed with an air gun and a fake badge—and convinced immigrants he could help them buy property or become legal residents. more ›

A Queens man is accused of ripping out a woman's heart and lungs after she turned down his romantic advances and didn't find him a job, according to investigators. After harassing 46-year-old victim Qian Wu for years, 47-year-old suspect Huang Chen is accused of bludgeoning and stabbing her to death and removing her organs, which have not been recovered. more ›

Shortly after 5 p.m., during the rush hour commute at the 21st Street and 41st Avenue subway station in Queens, two plainclothes police officers were shot while struggling with a man illegally using a student Metrocard. more ›

Governor David Paterson announced that he was pardoning Ricky Walters, aka hip-hop artist "Slick Rick," for his 1991 attempted murder and weapons convictions. Walters, who was born in the U.K. moved to the Bronx when he was 11 (he lives in the Bronx now), served more than five years in prison but has been threatened with deportation in recent years. more ›

Many hundreds of people marched yesterday to push immigration reform into the election year spotlight. With rallies being held in other cities in the country and world, the marchers gathered at Union Square and then headed down Broadway to the the Jacob Javits Federal Office Building, where immigrations officials have offices. more ›

Though a long-time custom in West African countries, a federal appeals court in NYC will rule whether genital mutilation is grounds for granting women asylum in the United States. According to the NY Sun, three women will be serving as a test case regarding whether the cultural custom--and their opposition to such a practice--is sufficient grounds for asylum in front of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. more ›