It's back. Though Governor Andrew Cuomo tried to drop New York out of the Department of Homeland Security's controversial, creepily-named Secure Communities program last summer, officials say we'll be back in the game next week. According to Homeland Security the not-at-all flawed Secure Communities program, which weeds through local police fingerprint information sent to the FBI to find illegal immigrants and deport them, is mandatory. more ›

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is no stranger to being on the front lines of both Arizona's border with Mexico and GOP politicking. Babeu is running for Congress, had previously appeared with John McCain in a 2008 campaign ad, and used to be the co-chair of Mitt Romney's Arizona campaign. But the hard-line, anti-immigrant Sheriff was recently outed by his boyfriend, an immigrant, for threatening him with deportation if he didn't keep quiet about his homosexuality. Mexican Mitt Romney wants Babeu to know that he's fully in support of "Operation Gaykeeper," in which Babeu “keeps out the harmful straight illegals and keeps in the desirable and precious gayliens.” 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 ›

The US Border Patrol is supposed to keep us safe from wars of Canadian aggression started by John Candy, but for the last several years they've been boarding buses and trains, arresting anyone who doesn't have proper "papers." more ›

While other states continue a disgraceful race to the bottom when it comes to their immigrants, Mayor Bloomberg has repeatedly supported progressive immigration reform and denounced unnecessary and cruel deportations. In this spirit, the mayor's office recently reversed positions on a law sponsored by councilmember Christine Quinn that will make it harder for federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants in custody at Rikers Island. "Our goal is always to protest public safety and maintain national security, while ensuring New York remains the most immigrant-friendly city in the nation," Bloomberg's chief policy advisor tells the Times. 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 ›

Police have released a new sketch of the man who is suspected of raping one woman and targeting four others in Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, this latest rendering comes from the description of a woman who narrowly broke free from him after he attacked her at Prospect and Sixth Avenues on August 26th. 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 ›

In a move that will no doubt have a far-reaching impact, federal officials have decided to cancel the deportation of Henry Velandia, a 27-year-old immigrant from Venezuela, who is married to another man, 30-year-old Josh Vandiver. more ›

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York's participation in the federal government's immigration checking initiative, Secure Communities, is making many immigrants' rights advocates very happy. While the program is supposed to "quickly and accurately identify aliens who are arrested for a crime and booked into local law enforcement custody," a statement from Cuomo's office said, "Based on evidence to date, it appears the program in New York is failing in this regard and is actually undermining law enforcement." Cuomo added, "There are concerns about the implementation of the program as well as its impact on families, immigrant communities and law enforcement in New York." more ›

Fewer Korean-Americans are running delis these days, and those still left in the game are being squeezed out of business by lower-priced chain stores, online ordering, obscene rent, and tougher enforcement by city inspection agencies. But you already knew all this. Still, today's Times article about the Korean deli crisis is nothing to shrug off: Chong Sik Lee, president of The Korean-American Grocers Association of New York, says he as just half the members as he did a decade ago, when they numbered 600. He tells the Times, "In 10 years, there will be no more Korean mom-and-pop stores." more ›

Lawmakers in Albany sent Governor Cuomo a letter on Monday imploring him to cease participation in a controversial immigration enforcement program, the Times reports. Run by the Department of Homeland Security, the Orwellian-sounding Secure Communities was implemented under President Bush in 2008, and checks the "fingerprints of everyone arrested and booked…against Department of Homeland Security immigration records," so illegal immigrants convicted of a crime are swiftly deported. 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 ›

Mayor Bloomberg was on Meet the Press this morning, and proposed a unique solution to the nation's ongoing immigration debate: let immigrants come...but make them live in Detroit. "If I were the federal government, assuming we could wave a magic wand and pull everybody together, you pass a law letting immigrants come in as long as they agree to go to Detroit and live there for five to 10 years, start businesses, take jobs or whatever," he said. Kill two birds with one implausible policy! 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 ›

It is not a bad day to be a homosexual in a bi-national marriage! In the wake of President Obama's decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices have decided to stop automatically denying green card and immigration applications from gays and lesbians married to U.S. citizens. This comes a week after a Queens court agreed to delay the deportation of an Argentinian woman while the status of her marriage to an American woman from Queens was figured out in light of the sketchy future of DOMA. 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 hot-button issue of granting citizenship to the children of immigrants that are born in the U.S. has a new poster child. Everybody meet four-year-old Emily Samantha Ruiz, a Long Island girl who was deported to Guatemala by the U.S. on March 11—despite being a totally legal citizen of the United States. more ›

A woman who has claimed China has persecuted her because she removed a government-required intrauterine device is continuing her fight for asylum in the United State. While an immigration judge and immigration appeals panel believed she and her 9-year-old son should be deported, the Daily News reports, "The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the lower courts to take another look and explain why China's policy of forcing women to get the devices doesn't amount to persecution." more ›

Earlier today, the GOP successfully filibustered the Department of Defense authorization bill, with the Senate voting 56-43 mostly party lines, with Democrats voting for the bill which included the repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and offering young immigrants a path to citizenship with the Dream Act. The NY Times explains, "Senate Republicans voted unanimously to block debate on the bill — the huge, annual authorization of military programs — after the majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said he would attach a number of the Democrats’ election-year priorities to it while also moving to limit the amendments offered by Republicans." more ›

According to a 1982 Supreme Court decision, all children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to attend public school in America. That's why the State Education Department sent out a memo reminding public schools to adhere to a bit of a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy when it comes to student immigration status. The memo [PDF] states, "school districts may not deny resident students a free public education on the basis of their immigration status..., at the time of registration, schools should avoid asking questions related to immigration status or that may reveal a child’s immigration status, such as asking for a Social Security number." more ›

New Yorkers of all kinds have been protesting Arizona's new immigration law pretty much since it was announced, and with good reason; the melting pot of America has a reputation for accepting immigrants. A new survey confirms that tradition, with New Yorkers opposing the law by a 2-1 margin. However, the percentage among white people polled was 49-47 for the law. Were guessing they make up a majority of the 52% who want the law here. more ›

With heightened police presence and weekly community rallies, Staten Island residents seem to be trying everything to ease the tensions that have arisen from a streak of hate crimes in the borough. Unfortunately, the tensions are still there. The Staten Island Advance chronicles some of the locals' feelings about the incidents: 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 ›

Mayor Bloomberg appeared on Meet the Press this morning in a segment with former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Of course, because there's a little over two years until the next presidential election—and he's flirted with running in the past—Mayor Bloomberg was asked if he's going to saddle up. And, yet again, he had to insist that being mayor of New York is the coolest job ever, "I will rule out a run. I've got the best job that I could possibly have. I've got 1251 days more to do it. I'm looking forward to every single one of them." more ›

With Arizona's controversial immigration-enforcement law taking effect yesterday, hundreds participated in a New York City march and rally. According to City Room, the rally started with "about 30 people. But the crowd grew quickly as local groups like Vamos Unidos from the Bronx, and DRUM, a Southeast Asian group based in Jackson Heights, Queens, gathered their ranks and found additional support among grandmothers dressed in skirts and sneakers, church groups, women in hijabs, and a former Arizona border patrol agent." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg continues to express his dismay over Arizona's controversial immigration-enforcement law. In an interview with MyFoxNY, he said, "The solution to our problems is more immigration, more immigrants. That's been true since the Pilgrims settled here. And will continue to be true even more so in the future as we continue to live in a more global technological world." more ›

Even though Mayor Bloomberg signed an executive order requiring city agencies to provide interpreters for "limited-English-proficient" (LEP) New Yorkers two years ago, not many people have been listening. According to a new study from Make the Road [PDF], many agencies fail to provide language assistance, there are huge disparities between agencies and boroughs, and many LEP New Yorkers don't even know the services exist. more ›

Before it goes into effect on July 29th, the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally, and requires anyone whom police reasonably suspect to be an illegal alien (i.e. Mexicans) to produce documents of proof that they are citizens or legal residents. They say the federal government has "preeminent authority" over immigration, and that the law is "invalid." The suit claims, "The United States Constitution forbids Arizona from supplanting the federal government's immigration regime with its own state-specific immigration policy. A policy that, in purpose and effect, interferes with the numerous interests the federal government must balance." more ›