Results tagged “immigration”

Taking the reins from Hispanic-focused immigration rallies, hundreds of Asian and Pacific Islander immigration advocates will gather for a “town hall meeting” in North Park today, Chicago Breaking News reports.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were busy in Chicagoland this past week, rounding up people with known gang ties in the city and various suburbs. 19 arrests were made in Chicago, Addison, Bensenville, Blue Island, Carpentersville, and Hanover Park. The majority arrested reportedly are in the U.S. illegally from Mexico, with one person from Guatemala, another from El Salvador. All 19 are facing deportation. ICE also tagged for deportation 6 known gang members already sitting in various county jails, who will be turned over to the federal agency after they serve their time.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case of Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, an illegal immigrant and worker at an East Moline steel plant who earlier this year was convicted of aggravated identity theft and sentenced to 75 months in the federal pokie. (That's a lot of tax dollars going to incarcerate another country's citizen. Just saying.) The issue in this case involves the federal charge of aggravated identity theft and intent: i.e., must the government show that a defendant knew that the identification he or she used, owned or transferred belonged to somebody else in order to score a conviction?

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran says rising crime is due to Chicago's role as a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants. He says there's only so much he can do to stop "the terror inflicted by many of these illegal aliens." And then the fun started.

As promised, the city council's Human Rights Committee held a hearing Tuesday to investigate who has been "tipping off" the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, leading to the arrest of nearly 60 people with Spanish surnames. "We will not tolerate this in Chicago...We want to know where it's coming from and who is filing these reports," said 26th Ward Alderman Billy Ocasio, chairman of the City Council's Human Relations Committee.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a new self-deportation program Tuesday. Chicago, along with four other cities, has been chosen for the pilot program, known as "Scheduled Departure". The program asks illegal aliens who have already been ordered by a court to leave the country, but have stayed illegally, to voluntarily to report to ICE to coordinate their departure. According to ICE, the program is designed "for fugitives with no criminal record, who pose no danger to the community and who have the ability to verify their departure from the United States." Fugitives are aliens who were previously ordered removed from the US but stayed illegally.

Led by 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, immigration rights activists and several aldermen announced that they will hold hearings next week to investigate claims that city and county officials allegedly violated immigrants civil rights. "We understand the value that immigrants hold in our society, whether documented or undocumented," said Solis. The allegations include charges that undocumented immigrants are being held in custody longer than the 48 hours required by law, and that city police have been pulling over Latino drivers to inquire about their immigration status. Such profiling is prohibited by a 2006 city ordinance. "This is a very serious issue," said County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado.

        

Yesterday's protests brought together thousands of immigrant-rights supporters and activists and included performances by Tom Morello, Perry Farrell and Ben Harper, plus a speech from Mayor Daley. [S-T]

Today's immigration-reform march downtown is drawing thousands of protesters calling for immigrant rights and the opportunity for millions of undocumented residents to become US citizens. While the rally is thus far much smaller than the 2006 and 2007 protests, officials are still expecting around 50,000 people to gather near Federal Plaza.

The Adalberto United Methodist Church and its leader Reverend "Slim" Coleman have returned to the forefront of the immigration debate. You might remember them as the church who gave refuge for a year to Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant facing deportation for falsifying documents in order to secure employment at O'Hare. Arellano left the church last August and was subsequently arrested in Los Angeles and escorted to the Mexico border.

Here’s what you missed while you were sneezing and burning: Guest #18, your comments are hilarious, but how do you fare with a live audience? If you think you’ve got the chops, submit a 1-2 minute video to Time Out Chicago by September 20. Best entries will be screened online for their discerning website visitors. The top four will compete live for the chance to be crowned “Chicago’s Funniest Person.” (... at least according to...

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked...

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...

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take...

One year after she took refuge inside a Humboldt Park storefront United Methodist church, immigration fugitive, mother, and unlikely activist for immigration reform Elvira Arellano announced that she would risk deportation by leaving the church to head to Washington, DC to lobby Congress for immigration reform. "If this government would separate me from my son, let them do it in front of the men and women who have the responsibility to fix this broken law...

While most of the city was partying down at Lollapalooza this weekend, a different type of party was going on just a few blocks south of Grant Park: YearlyKos, the annual convention hosted by DailyKos, the netroots weblog started by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, and filled with content, news and views by a motley crew of bloggers from around the nation (including Dick Durbin!). Saturday was a big day for the bloggers by the lake, with...

We completely forgot to mention that this weekend is the annual Fiesta del Sol in Pilsen. Now in its 35th year, proceeds from Fiesta del Sol benefit the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council. Over the course of the PNCC's history, they've helped in the formation of Benito Juarez High School, Alivio Medical Center, and today is a major lobby for immigration reform and provides college scholarships for deserving students. Fiesta del Sol is the largest non-smoking,...

If the kid living with you joins a gang, gets a gun, and shoots a thirteen year old girl, you might look to yourself and try to determine what went wrong. You might. Or, you might take that anger and frustration and send it right back to Mayor Daley for calling suspect Tony Serrano a "nineteen year old punk." Serrano is accused of firing the shots that killed Schanna Gayden on the orders of gang...

Yesterday was a big day in national news. The Supreme Court struck down voluntary programs adopted in Seattle and Louisville to attain racial diversity in public schools. The conservative court also determined that it is unconstitutional to execute a prisoner that is mentally ill (adding to a previous ruling that the mentally retarded cannot be executed).

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...

Qannik, a six-year-old beluga whale arrived at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium early Sunday after a flight on a chartered military transport plane from his previous home at Chicago's John G. Shedd Aquarium. A deadly shooting on a CTA bus is now the inspiration for a new proposed federal law to create a national database of all gun owners to keep guns out of the wrong hands. He didn't have a peg leg. There's...

We're not sure what to dedicate this week's round up to: Rudy Guiliani salivating as he was "asked" about a fictional terrorist attack in last night's debate, Tom Tancredo's vow to double the size of Guantanamo Bay if elected, or Tommy Thompson's large ears and no neck. Ah screw it, this one is dedicated to Rod Blagojevich's hair. Here we go: Mayor Daley Is a Funny Guy. No, really, he is. Go read Mick Dumke's...

Immigration protest image via Time Out Chicago.

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 Luis Gutierrez makes the rounds for Barack Obama, Latino politicians around the city are jockeying for the opportunity to run for his soon-to-be vacated Congressional seat. Gutierrez has announced that he will "retire" in 2008, but makes no mention of what he will do after that. Last week, Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado (D - 8th) announced that he had created a campaign committee to raise funds for an '08 congressional bid. City Alderman...

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.

It isn't just the folks living in the 12 Wards that are holding Aldermanic runoff elections that are thinking about outcomes today. The aftermath of the vote that is going on as you read this will impact the city for years to come. By the time the polls close tonight, there will be some new aldermen, and others will have held onto their seats. Some will coast to victory, and others will squeak in by...

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.

We all know that perpetrators of the Nazi regime are still alive. Some of them even have positions of power and/or influence. For example, a few years ago, the U.S. Justice Department tracked down an accused Nazi who has been living and working in Chicago since the end of the war — and now it is attempting to assure that he won't live out his days here. After several years of tracking former Ukrainian national...

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...