Immigration in Suffolk County, NY

Read and hear a two part report focusing on immigration issues in Suffolk county produced by and aired on NPR's Morning Edition program on November 19, 2009.

Part 1 - Flood of Immigrants to LI Sparks Tension.
Part 2 - Do LI Police Ignore Hate Crimes?

CLICK HERE!

Strengthening the Middle Class

As Congress again prepares to debate comprehensive immigration reform before the end of 2009, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy releases “Principles for an Immigration Policy to Strengthen and Expand the American Middle Class: 2009 Edition,” building on our earlier immigration research.

In the depths of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Americans have nevertheless rejected the impulse to blame immigrants for their economic woes and instead show strong and growing support for legalizing undocumented immigrants. This report was written to encourage a new immigration reform package driven by the needs of the nation’s middle class and low-income American workers striving to stay afloat through the economic crisis and earn a middle-class standard of living.

We reveal that the American middle class relies on the economic contributions of immigrants both authorized and undocumented, but also that the exploitation of undocumented immigrant workers threatens to drive labor standards down for current and aspiring middle-class workers. Based on these findings, we propose a two-fold litmus test for evaluating immigration policy.

READ REPORT

Climate of Fear - Can it be Changed?

The Southern Poverty Law Center recently published a report describing and documenting the climate of fear that exists in Suffolk County on Long Island in New York.

READ THE REPORT

You may also be interested in reading Suffolk County Executive Levy's response to this report that appeared in The Southampton Press on Sept 17, 2009.

MR. LEVY'S RESPONSE

WHAT IS OUR ROLE?

The challenge to our organization and to our communtiy as a whole is how can we play a role is bringing the end points of the continuum defined by this report at one end and by Mr. Levy's response at the other closer together?

Immigrants Buy Into American Dream

Immigrants worldwide “are overwhelmingly choosing to stay put in their adopted countries, rather than return home,” in the face of the economic crisis, and those in the U.S. continue to “strongly buy into the American Dream,” said a couple of reports released this week.

READ MORE...

Volunteers Needed !!!

Feeding the Mind is seeking volunteers.

Feeding the Mind is an ESL program offering basic English language classes to the migrant-worker population. We target skills to help our students assimilate into the American culture.

The classes will be held at the First Congregational Church of Riverhead on Monday and Thursday evenings from 6:00 PM until 7:45 PM, and will run from November 2nd until March 1, 2010.

Knowledge of Spanish is helpful, but is definitely NOT a requirement. Teaching/tutoring experience also helps, but is not mandatory. Those with enthusiasm and compassion please call for an exciting opportunity.

For further information call: 631 369 3236

Restrictions vs Legalizaion

New Cato Report Highlights Economic Benefits of Legalizing Immigrants
Reform that Includes Legalization Would Yield a Net Benefit of $180 Billion Over 10 Years, While Enforcement Efforts Alone Would Incur $80 Billion in Losses.

READ ENTIRE REPORT.

NURSES NEEDED

One of the important findings of the study done by the Council on Foreign Relations is the role immigrants will play and are playing in filling the void for both skilled and unskilled workers. This article, written by a registered nurse, explains why it is important to begin granting visas so that foreign trained nurses can be recruited to work in the U.S.

NEED MORE NURSES

Petition to Secretary of Homeland Security

Add you name to a petition to Secretary Janet Napolitano protesting the unconstitutional activities of ICE.

SIGN PETITION

CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

According to a recent report published by the Cardozo School of Law, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has engaged in widespread constitutional violations while conducting its home raid operations.

READ ENTIRE REPORT

SEE REFORMS Proposed by
Sen. Menendez (NJ) & Gillibrand (NY)

IMPORTANT ACTION

What happens next with Comprehensive Immigration Reform? Secretary Napolitano is convening a policy working group on immigration reform and Senator Schumer, Chair of the Senate subcommittee on immigration, announced that he'll have a bill ready by Labor Day. What do advocates need to do next? How does immigration reform fit into the debate on health care, Sotomayor, and the rest of the Obama agenda?. What is happening with other legislation that directly connects to immigrants and immigration? What are the implications for the timing of an immigration bill?


CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Interview with Jeb Bush

The changing demographics of the United States, with fewer workers and more retirees, should compel Washington to make comprehensive immigration reform a top policy priority, says former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, co-chair of the Council of Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. immigration policy.


READ MORE

IMMIGRANTS: The Pride of America

The United States of America remains a land of immigrants.
Andrew Carnegie, who founded Carnegie Corporation
of New York in 1911, was an immigrant from Scotland.
We at Carnegie Corporation salute his legacy, along with
the contributions of the millions of other immigrants who
have made, and continue to make, our nation strong and
vibrant. We are committed to helping immigrants become
integrated into the civic fabric of our nation because
enlightened citizenship is the everlasting strength of our
democracy. Our national motto, E pluribus unum —
“out of many, one” — continues to be an ideal we can all
aspire to and a true guiding light for our nation.
The Carnegie Corporation, June 2009

THE NEW AMERICANS

The popular PBS program "Independent Lens" has aired a series of film shorts entitled The New Americans. Below is a link to the entire compelling and insightful series.

The New Americans

Ant-Bias Program Announced

On Tuesday, June 30, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy announced an anti-bias program for Suffolk County. To view the press conference at which he made this announcement, please click on the link below.

ANTI-BIAS PROGRAM FOR Suffolk County

Lobbying for Change

NISI is organizing to meet with Senators Gillibrand and Schumer, and Congressman Bishop to lobby for immediate action on comprehensive immigration reform. NISI is creating a lobbying subcommittee that will be developing a set of talking points both for meeting with these elected officials and for supporters to use when discussing comprehensive immigration reform and/or writing letters to elected officials or to newpapers in support of this much needed reform. This subcommittee has a tentative meeting with Sen Gillibrand for mid-August. We will use this site and email to keep all of our members informed. Below is a link to an article reporting on Sen. Schumer's efforts.

Sen. Schumer

We the people

NBC's Today Show has produced a series of features on various aspects of the growth and impact of the Latino population in the United States. These features cover topics ranging from the separation of families, to the growth of dual language education,to the life of Justice Sotomayor, to the rise in breast cancer in Latino women. Click on the link below to view these programs and many more.

WE THE PEOPLE

PUBLIC FORUM HELD ON IMMIGRATION

Too often public discussion of controversial issues results in little more than a shouting match. Only the loudest of voices are heard and substantive, thoughtful comments are in short supply. It is rare when public meetings of this kind affect changes of opinion or create new understandings. Volume and vitriol seem to be the order of the day rather than respect and reason. In these situations, the bravado of the few creates the impression that they speak for the many. Unfortunately, this has been the case when the topic of immigration has been the focus of these public discussions. Nonetheless, several local eastern Long Island politicians and community leaders believe that despite this troubling history public discussion can be a good thing producing good results. MORE