March 15, 2024 | Vol. 53, Issue 5

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

immigration

Migrant Crisis Update

The Massachusetts Commonwealth finds itself at a crossroads. An influx of migrants, primarily originating from Central and South America, has strained resources and are igniting a complex and multifaceted challenge to shelter them. Current shelters are overflowing, budgets are being stretched to support emergency housing, and Boston communities are split between compassion and concern. Massachusetts is currently facing a large-scale humanitarian crisis and needs to find a solution that prioritizes both the well-being of migrants as well as its community. […]

Immigration Update 1/12/24

According to government estimates, it takes three to four months for federal immigration authorities to process temporary employment authorization for most legal applicants. Many immigrants in Massachusetts have been waiting much longer. In an article published just before the end of the year, The Boston Globe spoke to a number of immigrants in Massachusetts who applied for work authorization. Some have been waiting six months, others nine. This is despite Massachusetts lawmakers’ attempts to improve waiting times by expanding legal […]

Biweekly Immigration News, 12/22/23: Federal and State Updates

It has been a difficult few months for immigrants in Massachusetts, but there is finally some good news. Lawmakers have approved millions of dollars in funding under a supplemental budget that allows immigrants in the state to access SNAP benefits. The legislation covers residents who are not citizens but are in the immigration process or have legal status. Massachusetts used to provide SNAP benefits to immigrants in the late 90s, but the state halted funding for this aspect of the […]

Biweekly Immigration News: Federal and State Updates

Migrant families continue to arrive in Massachusetts. They are sheltering at Logan Airport because they have nowhere else to go. Just before Thanksgiving, state officials announced a plan to house k in need of shelter in the second-floor conference rooms of the State Transportation Building in Boston. The Massachusetts House has discussed using Hynes Convention Center as another site. Few details have emerged regarding new overflow shelters however, as the weather gets colder the calls for action will grow more […]

Immigration News: Federal and State Updates

As Congress works to avoid yet another government shutdown, immigration funding and legislation have been top of mind. Multiple states, including Massachusetts, have experienced the strain of a lack of funding and emergency shelter space for an unprecedented number of individuals and families traveling to the U.S. from Central and South America, India, China, and other countries. Last week, multiple immigration advocacy groups jointly released a memo demanding that Congress pass “common sense, bipartisan measures” to address the immigration system […]

Massachusetts Confronts Surge in Migrant Arrivals: A Maze of Challenges and Actions

As more and more migrant families arrive in Massachusetts, community response is strong, bringing out the best and worst in all of us. Managing emergency shelters is burning through about $45 million every month. Massachusetts is hoping for some federal help, while local nonprofits, like the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project and the Family Health Center of Worcester, are desperately seeking more donations and more volunteers. Recent news stories are also reporting that migrant families are now getting harassed by extremist […]

DIGNIDAD Act: The First Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Seen in Years

With the nation bogged down in partisan, polarized debate surrounding immigration, the DIGNIDAD Act provides the first bipartisan effort at reform effectively transcends party lines with seemingly practical solutions and works to address security, documentation, and humanitarian aid. The system currently faces a backlog of 1.6 million cases and unprecedented humanitarian displacement in Latin America. The situation shows no signs of slowing. The evenly divided Congress could prove a barrier to this bill’s eventual enactment. For now, the results remain very uncertain, […]

New Immigration Uncertainty with Title 42’s Expiration

Title 42 expired last Thursday, May 11th, at 11:59 pm EDT. As new migrants flooded the US-Mexico border following this development, many questions have been raised about Title 42, its provisions, and the consequences its expiration could have nationally and in the greater Boston area. Here is a look at the new immigration legislation developments. What was Title 42?             The restrictions known as Title 42 derive their name and authority from Title 42 of a 1944 public health law. […]

A Bridge Towards Tomorrow: Sampan speaks with Monique Tú Nguyen – Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement 

Government policies and mission statements are always driven by terms and phrases. Whether they exist beyond looking good on paper and sounding strong in stump speeches is the dream that isn’t always realized. For Boston’s MOIA (Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Advancement), the driving motivation rests in that final word: advancement. What does it mean? How is it measured? Can immigrants advance without successfully integrating themselves within the social fabric of their chosen land? What measures need to be taken in […]

Women’s Rights are Threatened; Immigrant Women Especially Vulnerable

Abortion rights in the United States are under threat. At the beginning of this month a draft of a majority opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito leaked to Politico. The draft suggests that the Supreme Court will overturn the decisions it made in Roe vs. Wade nearly fifty years ago and in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey thirty years ago. In 1973, the Supreme Court decided that criminal abortion statutes, which excepted from criminality only those procedures that would […]

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