Fed up with the federal government's inaction on behalf of undocumented youth, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has penned an impassioned editorial for the Daily News, calling for New York to lead the way on immigration reform. "It is shameful that Congress can’t even come together to do the bare minimum and pass the DREAM Act, which opens the door to permanent residency through military service and higher education for thousands of immigrant young people whose parents brought them to this country as children," she writes. In December 2010, the DREAM Act was killed at the federal level as senate votes were cast largely along party lines resulting in a 55-41 split. In a change of pace, Gillibrand's appeal is aimed at local constituencies: more ›

If your life is threatened by renal failure, you may receive a kidney transplant thanks to Medicare. Except if you're an illegal immigrant. The Times profiles the struggles of Angel, a waiter with failing kidneys who is "so well liked at the Manhattan restaurant where he had worked for a decade that everyone from the customers to the dishwasher was donating money" to help. His siblings are donor matches, and the government will pay for the $75K/year dialysis but not a $100K transplant. “The ultimate irony is it’s cheaper to put in a transplant than to dialyze someone for the rest of their life," Bellevue medical director Dr. Eric Manheimer says. more ›

New York State is poised to pass a legislative agenda that focuses on granting illegal immigrants access to financial assistance for public universities, a step that California took a few days ago. John King Jr., the state's education commissioner to the Board of Regents, tells the Times that, "It's about making sure that students are able to fulfill their aspirations after their graduate from high school." New York allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition, but the move is part of a larger strategy to lobby Congress to pass a version of the Dream Act, which would give students who completed two years of college or military service a path to citizenship. 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 ›

Despite the impending dismissal of charges of rape and robbery against him and his marriage to a US citizen, a Brooklyn livery driver is facing deportation for overstaying a one-year visa issued in 1999. "They made a huge mistake and stopped my life for no reason," 24-year-old William Geraldo tells the Post. more ›

Another day, another ridiculous performance art piece brought to our attention by the New York Times. Today, we're introduced to Tania Bruguera, a Guggenheim-fellowed artist who has taken it upon herself to spend a year living like an illegal immigrant in Queens, setting up shop in a cramped apartment in Corona where her real-life illegal immigrant roommates "just don't get it." more ›

People will take extreme measures to illegally immigrate into America—but riding a luxury cruise ship is a new one to us. Yet that is exactly how a group of Chinese immigrants tried to smuggle themselves into the country last month. Cunard Line has confirmed that "12 Chinese passengers arrived in New York on 26 April on Queen Mary 2 and were found by Customs and Border Patrol to be traveling with invalid (false) passports. Cunard has supported CBP in their investigations, and the 12 disembarked passengers were turned over to their custody." more ›

Don't say illegal immigrants never did anything for you. According to an estimate from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, households headed by "unauthorized immigrants" paid $662.4 million in taxes to New York state in 2010. Nationally, they paid about $11.2 billion in state and local taxes. It's probably because they're such hard workers. more ›

Did all the protesting and demonstrating in NYC against Arizona's immigration-enforcement law give you a warm fuzzy feeling that blue state New Yorkers are quite the progressive bunch? Well, it's time to reevaluate. A new poll [pdf] by the Siena Research Institute—the same one that noted 61% opposition to the "Ground Zero" mosque—has more disillusioning news in store for any liberal New Yorker who feels sure that what happened in Arizona could never happen here. more ›

Federal officials at the Dept. of Homeland Security have agreed not to use information supplied by the spouses and children of 9/11 attack victims to deport them. The number of people this will affect numbers less than two dozen widows, widowers and orphans--all in the country illegally--who have feared cooperating with federal officials, or even lawyers and lawmakers fighting to give them asylum in the U.S., would lead to their deportation. more ›