Results tagged “immigrants”

                            

Since the Chicago Haymarket riot of 1886, May 1 has long been an internationally recognized day to celebrate and demand workers rights, with May Day demonstrators marching from Paris to Iraq to the U.S.

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,...

"She-kaa-go's gat it." More than 20 people were arrested at O'Hare today for having fraudulent security badges. Investigators discovered a suburban staffing agency told its employees, many of them illegal immigrants, that they needed ID to work at O'Hare, but that it didn't need to be legit. Mayor Daley's "bothered" by police officers Tasering an 82-year-old woman. A 10-year-old boy has an extremely rare form of anemia and will die unless a bone-marrow donor...

A request for a street named in honor of Chicago author Saul Bellow was denied due to controversial remarks and writing by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Bellow's University of Chicago colleague and friend, Richard Stern, made the request to Ald. Toni Preckwinkle. Stern told the Chicago Tribune that Preckwinkle sent him a letter saying she had heard Bellow made racist comments and so would not endorse a memorial to him. Raised in Humboldt Park from...

Amid criticism and sermons, the Cook County Board voted 9-7 this afternoon to defer until mid-October any further action on theproposed two percent sales tax increase. So while the tax hike isn't off the table yet, the deadline for first-quarter tax increases was today under state law — which means any increase that may happen won't take effect until April 1, 2008, at the earliest. (The county's fiscal year ends November 30.) County Commissioner Roberto...

That's how many people are working illegally in this country, at least according to some estimates. Others put it closer to seven, depending on who you ask, and when. It's hard to get a handle on the actual number because most undocumented workers aren't too keen on standing up and being counted. Yesterday afternoon Elvira Arellano was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency charged with, among other things, keeping people from washing...

Here are some things in the news while we do spit takes at the ticket prices for the upcoming Van Halen tour. A $300-a-year parking permit created for realtors, home health care providers, and social workers to plug a $2.4 million hole in the city's 2007 budget only generated $15,900 in revenue. Facing increasing criticism in allowing BP to increase the amount of pollution it can discharge into Lake Michigan, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels...

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,...

In one of his rare stops in the US, Spanish-born Parisian Latin folk singer cum punk rocker Manu Chao played to a sold-out crowd at the Aragon Ballroom last night. Wildly popular in both Europe and Latin America, Manu Chao has had less mainstream success in the US, although his fan base here is large and loyal. Heavily influenced by the UK punk scene during his formative years in the suburbs of Paris, Manu Chao's...

We here at Chicagoist like to keep it local (since that's our name and all). With that in mind, here's all the news — or at least three stories we found that we wanted to bring to your attention but couldn't really get a whole post out of. So let's get on those chaps, buckaroos, and head on down to the old roundup: Dick Durbin Seeks Review of Tribune Sale. Expressing concern that federal regulators...

OK, you got us here: Ricci & Company really isn’t a market per se. Unless you’re a squirrel and this small River North spot specializing in hand-roasted nuts has everything you need for your daily intake and then some. But just because Ricci doesn’t stock edibles from all the food groups — who can keep up with that ever-changing list anyways? — that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a mention here. First off, there’s...

As you read this, thousands of people are preparing to march from Union Park to Grant Park, past the Federal Center in the Loop, hoping that they can impress upon the rest of the nation the importance not only of their struggle, but the impact and significance that their lives have had upon our nation. Around the US today, immigration rights activists, immigrants, and yes, natural born Americans, will be carrying American flags in marches...

As immigration rights activists around the nation prepare for marches marking the one year anniversary of the massive protests that took place on May 1 last year, federal agents stormed into a shopping mall yesterday in Little Village, serving a warrant to dismantle a counterfeiting operation that was allegedly producing fake work identifications. As of midnight last night there was no official confirmation of the number arrested, but witnesses have told the local media that as many as 160 people were arrested. Witnesses told CBS2 news that they had let most of the people they detained go, holding between 16 and 18 people in custody. After U.S. immigration authorities locked down the Little Village Plaza strip mall and parking lot, searching customers and businesses, anger and frustration spilled out into the corner of 26th and Albany in a protest of around 300 people.

As we mentioned in Extra, Extra yesterday, the Chicagoland area increased its population by approximately 400,000 in the past 6 years, a 4.5 percent increase. This increase is the 10th largest in the nation and puts the census area population at 9.5 million.

On Saturday an immigration rally at Federal Plaza marked the anniversary of the huge march a year ago. Organizers are gearing up for a two month onslaught of rallies leading up to another large march on May 1 through the Loop. The Chicago area has become a hotbed on the issue of immigration, taking part in the driving force that may one day force Congress to provide coherent legislation that doesn't allow for so much...

We previously wrote on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (UCIS) updated test questions and increase in prices for the citizenship exam. One company, First Hospitality Groups, is taking steps to reduce some of the burden on those looking to become legal in the country. As the Sun-Times reports, the hotel chain, which has 12 hotels in the Chicago area, is offering a reimbursement of the $400 it costs for the naturalization process and gives workers a day off.

The guy who's accused of killing Tank Johnson's friend/bodyguard is pleading not guilty. This is silly. "The Sun-Times is putting the Tribune on trial. The charge: The Trib has ruined the Cubs." Would the Sun-Times be attacking the Trib so virulently if they weren't a major competitor? We think not. In CTA news: Two more downtown Metra stations will get CTA transit-card vending machines. Also, the CTA said they're going to start flooding the...

Dick Durbin popped up in the news again this weekend (no tough feat for the Majority Whip), suggesting that the new Democratic majority in congress will work to pass some sort of immigration bill this term. "I think prospects are good," said Durbin, referring to discussions going on over a comprehensive bill that would offer more visas for highly skilled workers, toughen border enforcement, and could offer a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants...

Food pantries are seeing a rise in use in the Chicago area this year. Sister Donna Preston of the Chicago Anti-Hunger Federation says a big reason for the spike is the the use of the facilities by illegal immigrants, who are eligible for food stamps but neglect to apply due to fear of deportation.

En route to Milwaukee to visit relatives, a 42-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl on a Mexicana Airlines flight from Guadalajara, Mexico. The plane landed at O'Hare, and officials say the 7-pound, 8-ounce baby was delivered on the aircraft by an obstetrician. Obstetricians on a Plane is currently in the works.

Chicagoist's dad always told us than when people work together they can get anything done. Monday night, ol' Dad's words rang true. A coalition of county commisioners sent a resolution to the general council forbidding county agencies from asking people about their immigrations status when receiving county services. Citing previous allegations of questionable behavior, Roberto Maldonado, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said that the Council would be sending a "moral message" of solidarity to undocumented...

Chicagoist hopes you’re busy celebrating Labor Day the way most folks do: by sitting around on your fat ass and drinking some beer (BBQ called on account of rain). Admit it: you deserve a break. Even though Federal, state, city and county offices will be closed along with banks and the post office, many people are spending the day working in our fair city, so it’s only right that we take a brief look at...

Today the “One Book, One Chicago” book was announced, and honestly; this is the most excitement we’ve seen come out of the Harold Washington Library in a long time.

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. Bostonist sees Boston and Somerville each whip out their art and face off. A plagiarized novel is the...

Somewhere between 400,000 and 700,000 people took place in Chicago's rally to loosen immigration restrictions yesterday. It was just one of many rallies across the country for which an estimated one million immigrants missed work and school.

Last month the March for Immigrant Rights brought around 100,000 people downtown to protest the unfair treatment of illegal immigrants. Officials are expecting at least three times as many people at this Monday's march due to growing support and the participation of a wider range of immigrant groups, which is making conservatives cringe.

The easy story told about the artists opening galleries in Pilsen is: white north side art students are forcing Latino and Latina residents out of the neighborhood. There might be some truth to that, but gentrification, like art, is rarely so simple. That story assumes Latinos have no interest in new galleries, and vice versa, and that Important Art requires the approval of rich white folks. Thankfully, those assumptions are way, way off.

Washington lawmakers are currently trying to figure out how to deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who currently reside in the United States, as well as those who will enter the country illegally in the future, and the deliberations are not pretty. The whole debate has left a sour taste in the mouths of many on both sides and set off large immigrant rallies in Chicago and Los Angeles that were quickly and unfairly ridiculed by right wingers.

The Maxwell Street blues scene is a shadow of its former self. So it’s with sadness and worry that we read this piece in the Sun-Times this morning about Piano C. Red, one of the men who’s worked tirelessly to keep this part of Chicago’s history alive. Red, whose real name is James Wheeler, is known as one of the last remaining bluesmen in the Maxwell Street market, which is now located on Canal St....

Just so you know, there's going to be a big rally in Chicago tomorrow—and it's not about the war. In a relatively under-reported effort for its expected size, people will be taking to the streets for the March for Immigrant Rights.