Filter
Two Border Patrol Agents Charged with Murder Highlights the Need for Robust Hiring Standards
For the second time this year, a Border Patrol agent has been charged with murdering multiple people in Texas. Both agents were hired nearly a decade ago amidst a surge in staffing that backfired on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in many ways, resulting in Congress passing an act to improve hiring practices. However, […]
Read MoreTrump Administration Justifies Lowest Refugee Admission Target Ever, Arguing That America’s Generosity Remains Boundless
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday evening that the Trump administration intends to limit refugee admissions to no more than 30,000 people in Fiscal Year 2019. In an effort to soften the blow, Pompeo noted the United States also intends to process 280,000 asylum cases, arguing that refugee admissions and asylum grants must be […]
Read MoreThai Immigrant Brings Years of Restaurant Experience to St. Paul
Yuwadee Poophakumpanart first visited the United States in 2005. Her brother, also from Thailand, had married an American woman and was living in St. Paul, as was her sister. She liked the city, and, after spending some time walking neighborhoods peppered with immigrant businesses, decided that not only did she want to move to America, […]
Read MoreAfter a Career in Computer Science, Cambodian Immigrant Focuses on Community
In 1978, after receiving a computer science degree from American University in Washington, D.C., Pasin Chanou knew that he could not return to his native Cambodia. Three years earlier, the Khmer Rouge had brutally gained power and threatened his family’s gemstone business. His parents feared for their lives and fled to Thailand. “There was no […]
Read MoreRural Communities Get Boost From Growing Immigrant Population
In rural communities throughout the United States, immigration has been a demographic lifeline that offsets—at least in part—the dwindling number of native-born Americans. In fact, as a report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) explains, there are many rural areas in which schools, hospitals, and businesses would have shut their doors if not for […]
Read MoreForeign-Born Residents Contributed $3.3 Billion to Kent County GDP in 2016
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Immigrants in Kent County contributed $3.3 billion to the county’s GDP in 2016 and paid $214 million in federal taxes and $102 million in state and local taxes, according to a new report by New American Economy (NAE), in partnership with Samaritas, the City of Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Chamber, […]
Read MoreNew Americans in Kent County
A new report from NAE shows that immigrants in Kent County contributed $3.3 billion to the county’s GDP in 2016 and paid $214 million in federal taxes and $102 million in state and local taxes. The report, New Americans in Kent County, was prepared in partnership with Samaritas, the City of Grand Rapids, the Grand […]
Read MoreGrocery Business Started by Indian Immigrants Thrives in Grand Rapids
When Sonal and Ramesh Patel built a house in Cascade, in southeast Grand Rapids, in 2011, they quickly noticed something missing: an Asian grocer on that side of town. The couple, from a small town in Gujarat, in western India, had been in West Michigan since 2004, when Ramesh was hired by a rural clinic […]
Read MoreLegal Orientation Program Overview
The Legal Orientation Program (LOP) offers legal education, as well as referrals for free and low-cost legal counsel, to noncitizens in immigration detention.
Read MoreBrett Kavanaugh’s Record on Immigration Raises Questions
President Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court—D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh—appears in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week to answer questions about his judicial record and temperament. During multiple days of hearings, senators are expected to ask him about his position on everything from abortion to gun rights, […]
Read MoreMake a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
