Missouri, District 3
Austin Daily Herald: Community conversation for building a more inclusive community
The Austin Human Rights Commission, in partnership with the city of Austin, Austin Area Chamber of Commerce, and Riverland Community College has announced a community conversation on “Building a More Inclusive Austin” from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17, at the Hormel Historic Home. The goal of the conversation is… Read More
Dreamer Could Help Ease South Carolina’s Shortage of Healthcare Providers
Jacqueline Mayorga was born in Hidalgo, Mexico, to poor but hardworking parents. Her mother was a maid in Mexico City, and her father was a migrant farmworker in the United States who sent money home to the family. When Mayorga was 3 years old, her parents decided to reunite the… Read More
DACA Recipient Dreams of Buying His Mother a House
Shortly after Jesus Perez began working as a social science research assistant at Johns Hopkins University, his 10-year-old brother asked for an ice-cream cone. Perez felt deep gratitude that he could say yes. As the undocumented son of Mexican immigrants, he didn’t have such luxuries when he was young. “Having… Read More
Post Independent: Editorial: The smart, American thing to do: Protect Dreamers
First, we offer thanks and praise to Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, Colorado’s U.S. senators, for signing on as co-sponsors of the latest version of the Dream Act. The bill, backed by four Republican and six Democratic senators, would establish permanent residency and a path… Read More
Retiree to Immigrants: Prescott, Arizona, is ‘Everybody’s Home Town’
Every Friday in Prescott, Arizona, retiree Dennis Duvall stands in the town center holding an 8-foot-long red banner that proclaims “Immigrants and Refugees Are Welcome.” “Immigration has been a big issue here in Arizona,” Duvall explains. “Because of our border here with Mexico, it has been virtually divisive. Arizona is… Read More
Immigrant from South India Helps Walmart Thrive
Zakir Syed would never have imagined that by age 37, he would be working at a high-level job at Walmart, one of the largest employers in Arkansas. Growing up in Karnataka, a state in southwestern India, he lived with his family in a small home without running water or a… Read More
The Dividends of Citizenship: Why Legalization Must Lead to Citizenship
The most concrete proposals for immigration reform thus far in 2013 include earned legalization with a path to U.S. citizenship for unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States. This is a process that essentially permits unauthorized immigrants to come forward and receive a provisional legal status that—after paying taxes, proving they understand English and civics, passing all criminal and other background checks, and showing they are committed to the United States—allows them to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs). From there, like other LPRs before them, they will have to decide whether or not to make the final commitment to their adopted country by becoming American citizens. Some critics of the new proposals argue that citizenship is too good for unauthorized immigrants, or that legal status is really all they need to thrive in this country. But that kind of short-sighted thinking ignores some very important facts: more than half a century ago the U.S. finally abandoned the idea that there should be a second-class status for any group by denying them citizenship and, in fact, today the vast majority of Americans support a path to citizenship. The integration of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants now living in the United States into full citizenship is not only good for those individuals, but the country as a whole. Citizenship, and the quest for citizenship, facilitates integration in myriad ways that legal status alone does not. From the learning of English and U.S. civics to the earning of higher incomes, serving jury duty, and voting in elections, citizens and would-be citizens benefit from a deeper form of incorporation into U.S. society than do legal immigrants who have no hope of ever applying for naturalization. Read More
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