This week’s roundup covers Friday’s May Day happenings and some state news.
This year’s May Day activities are expected to have a bigger turnout than in previous years. There are activities planned in Orlando’s Lake Eola Park, Washington DC’s Malcolm X Park, and New York City’s Union Square. Standing FIRM has a list of events here.
Last Friday, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick held a press conference with ethnic media journalists. He stated that "we need immigration laws that are consistent with our values" and answered other questions about driver’s licenses for immigrants, bilingual education, and race relations.
At a Family Unity rally in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Senator Robert Menendez stated that comprehensive immigration reform will nullify the need for the 287(g) program. And here are additional remarks from Rep. Michael Honda at the Family Unity tour stop in San Jose, California.
Some California counties forced to slash budgets are cutting nonemergency services for undocumented immigrants to save $9.6 million in three counties.
In Pennsylvania, Temple University has announced its support of the DREAM Act.
David Wilson reviews David Bacon’s Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants. He writes "If we’re planning to expand enforcement, wouldn’t it make sense to ask what results we’ve gotten from the billions of dollars we’ve already spent on enforcement over the last two decades? And why do we so rarely hear the views of the people most directly affected — the 12 million undocumented immigrants themselves?"
Change.org has a story on a U.S. citizen who was deported by ICE. The New York Times reported on an Ecuadorian family who migrated to the United States and is in limbo due to their different statuses as undocumented immigrants or U.S. born citizens.
Lastly, on the day before May Day, Senator Schumer will hold his first hearing as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees to address comprehensive immigration reform. Speakers will include Alan Greenspan.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda’s blog.
