Immigration: Videos About Immigration: Current Issues // Current

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1 day ago

Theatregoers pay to get locked inside a freight container

A 40ft freight container, the sort you see trundling around on the backs of lorries, will be plonked outside the Young Vic theatre... more

slagface
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Mexico Builds Border Wall to Keep Out US Assholes

Several Mexican industries will suffer.

Progresshiv
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Like a Shame

The rejections keep going on the high seas but the media dont' speak about them, perhaps because they are ashamed. Yesterday... more

hyperion74
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Welcome to an inhuman country

The italian security decree that makes illegal immigrants automatically criminals receives strong criticism from the Catholic... more

hyperion74
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Humand and not. Racial laws back in Italy

Being an illegal immigrant in Italy is a crime now, thanks to the security decree approved by the Senate. A law whose utility,... more

hyperion74
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MIGHTY MOVIE PODCAST on HuffPo: Amat Escalante on LOS BASTARDOS

You might think that for the inaugural entry on the Huffington Post, Mighty Movie Podcast might feature something that would serve... more

DanPersons
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Time for Immigration Reform is Now

The White House and members of Congress must move quickly on enacting a just and humane immigration reform package that will... more

YouthOutlookMultimedia
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American Apparel: Illegal Workers Make Up A Third Of Workforce

LOS ANGELES (AP) — American Apparel(APP), no stranger to controversial headlines, said Wednesday that the government has found that 1,800 of its employees are either illegally working in the U.S. or potentially illegal to work.

Those employees comprise about one-third of the clothier's Los Angeles manufacturing operation.

The disclosure came as a result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Of the 1,800 workers identified, 1,600 were deemed to be unauthorized to work while Immigration had been unable to verify the status of the remaining 200. The company said it was not found to have willingly hired illegal workers.

If the workers are unable to provide proof of eligibility, they will be forced to leave the company, American Apparel said in a statement. The company said the departures aren't expected to hurt its financial results and noted it has a surplus of inventory and production capacity.

KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Edward Yruma said the immigration notice "thankfully led to no mass arrest or deportation of employees." He said that although the company has one of the highest risk profiles among those it covers, it also represents "some of the strongest upside on an absolute basis."

American Apparel has touted its "sweatshop-free" operation and says it pays some of the highest wages in the industry.

"The company remains very proud of its track record as an advocate for the comprehensive reform of the country's immigration laws," company founder Dov Charney said in a statement.

Yruma said the company has strengthened its screening process for potential employees over the past year.

"We remain comfortable that the immigration issue is more an unfortunate byproduct of its domestic garment production rather than systemic issues," he told investors in a research report.

Charney has been at the center of other controversies, most recently a $5 million settlement with filmmaker Woody Allen over the use of Allen's image in a billboard. American Apparel depicted Allen as a Hasidic Jew with a long beard, side curls and black hat. The billboard featured Yiddish text meaning the holy rabbi.

American Apparel shares have fallen 45% in the past year.LOS ANGELES (AP) — American Apparel(APP), no stranger to controversial headlines, said Wednesday that the government has... more

MichelleSun
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2 responses

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9 days ago

Not so American Apparel

Not just news, but a very suggestive headline as well: "Probe fingers 1,800 American Apparel workers" 1,600... more

Writeminded
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2 responses

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13 days ago

U.S. relents in 11 year-old girl's deportation case

Eleven-year-old Ewelina Bledniak was looking at a year split from her parents, friends, and everything she loves about living in America. The federal government was ready to deport Ewelina to her native Poland because when she was 3 years old, the family missed a deadline to file a key immigration document.

"I love going to school here, and my friends, I'm going to miss them," Ewelina said as she worried about being deported. "I like living here."

But things are looking up. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney last week asked the U.S. Immigration Court in Atlanta, Georgia, to reopen Ewelina's case and terminate the deportation proceeding ICE had initiated. The motion asks the court to send the case back to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for resolution.

"They seem to be willing to find a favorable solution to this matter," said Ewelina's attorney, Maria Odom of Atlanta. "... It's good news for the child, absolutely."

Her father, Hubert, came to the United States legally and is a naturalized U.S. citizen; and her mother, Agnieszka (Agnes), also arrived legally and is a legal resident. Ewelina is neither.

Under a temporary amnesty program at the turn of the 21st century, illegal immigrants could seek legal status without returning to their home countries. However, a previous lawyer for the Bledniak family missed an April 2001 deadline to file the petition, the Bledniaks say.

Years later, when it authorities realized Ewelina had never achieved her legal status, ICE ordered her to return to Poland to apply for legal U.S. residency through the U.S. Embassy there. "That process could have taken a year," Odom said.

"The government gave Ewelina until July 23 to leave the country voluntarily; after that date, she would be deported and ineligible to return to the United States for 10 years," Odom said. The family has booked a July 20 flight to Warsaw, Poland, where the parents planned to stay for a few weeks before leaving the girl with her maternal grandmother while the immigration process played out.Eleven-year-old Ewelina Bledniak was looking at a year split from her parents, friends, and everything she loves about living in... more

retro_Syl
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5 responses

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15 days ago

BOLIVIAN DREAM

Single mom Bolivian immigrant Ana Luisa Cornejo shares her thoughts about winning over poverty and rising from a janitor to a... more

rconcep1
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0 responses

added
17 days ago

Still Human, Still Here

Protest in London at the end of Refugee Week underlines the stupidity and inhumane meanness of the UK's racist policy towards... more

petermarshall
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2 responses

added
18 days ago

Word is on the streets that Serco is letting women and children suffer

A mass hunger strike by families detained at Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire has been met with violent assaults... more

PostFactMedia
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18 days ago

Women on hunger strike against the conditions they and their children sufffer in detention

Mothers and Fathers at the SERCO-run Yarl's Wood detention centre near Bedford are in the second day of a hunger strike against inadequate medical care, problems over food provision and the continued detention of children there. Since opening in 2001, the Bedfordshire detention centre has been plagued by hunger strikes, self-harm incidents, a suicide and riots. It was severely damaged by fire during disturbances in 2002.

The provision of health care at Yarl's Wood has been the subject of concern and criticism for many years. In 2006 a report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons found that "systems were inadequate and the healthcare service was not geared to meet the needs of those with serious health problems or ... detainees held for longer periods for whom prolonged and uncertain detention was itself likely to be detrimental to their well being." And that "the delivery of healthcare was undermined by a lack of needs assessment, weak audit and clinical governance systems, inadequate staff training in relation to trauma. Mental health care provision was also insufficient."

At that time Yarl's Wood was managed by GSL and health care was sub-contracted out to another private company, Veritas, who were not registered with the Healthcare Commission unlike all public sector health care providers. GSL subsequently lost their contract to run the detention centre to SERCO, with the health care to be provided by a subsidiary SERCO Health. Following the change over, health care provision was again criticised by the Prison's Inspector in 2008 as patchy and that there were no specialist health services for children.

In a report entitled The Arrest and Detention of Children Subject to Immigration Control, written by the Children's Commissioner for England Alan Aynsley-Green, one of the key findings was "substantial evidence that detention is harmful and damaging to children and young people" and that children held at Yarl's Wood regarded it as little more than a prison. Health care provision for minors was again criticised with "particular areas of concern are: the recording and availability of patient information; provision of follow-up care; delivery of immunisations; inadequacy of clinical care; poor care provided to children and adults with mental health needs; and consideration before removal of healthcare needs thereafter." Also criticised was the service to pregnant women.

The main conclusion of the report was that the UK should end the practice of detaining children in immigration prisons in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet the practice continues, as does the criticisms of heath care provision at the detention centre. In yesterday's Daily Mail (of all places!) an article blew the story of the latest protests inside Yarl's Wood, with numerous detainees willing to go on the record with their complaints: a mass outbreak of a virus amongst the children; an epileptic woman who suffers multiple seizures (up to 6 a day) who only has a 14 year old son to look after her who was accused of 'faking it' by staff; pregnant women, some with complications, detained with a total disregard of their well-being; the list goes on. (See also)

One woman was even forced to dial 999 when her five-month old son's temperature shot up and the medical staff at the centre ignored her requests for medical care. "He was really sick and he'd never been in that condition before. I tried telling the staff, and the staff were calling the health care but no one was coming."

http://nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com/2009/06/hunger-strikers-attacked-at-yarls-wood.html
http://nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com/2009/06/yarls-wood-update.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/06/432625.htmlMothers and Fathers at the SERCO-run Yarl's Wood detention centre near Bedford are in the second day of a hunger strike... more

PostFactMedia
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0 responses

added
18 days ago

Graffitti outside Serco Holborn offices during Yarl's Wood Solidarity Protest

A mass hunger strike by families detained at Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire has been met with violent assaults... more

PostFactMedia
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0 responses

added
18 days ago

Women and Children are Suffering at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre

Mothers and Fathers at the SERCO-run Yarl's Wood detention centre near Bedford are in the second day of a hunger strike against inadequate medical care, problems over food provision and the continued detention of children there. Since opening in 2001, the Bedfordshire detention centre has been plagued by hunger strikes, self-harm incidents, a suicide and riots. It was severely damaged by fire during disturbances in 2002.

The provision of health care at Yarl's Wood has been the subject of concern and criticism for many years. In 2006 a report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons found that "systems were inadequate and the healthcare service was not geared to meet the needs of those with serious health problems or ... detainees held for longer periods for whom prolonged and uncertain detention was itself likely to be detrimental to their well being." And that "the delivery of healthcare was undermined by a lack of needs assessment, weak audit and clinical governance systems, inadequate staff training in relation to trauma. Mental health care provision was also insufficient."

At that time Yarl's Wood was managed by GSL and health care was sub-contracted out to another private company, Veritas, who were not registered with the Healthcare Commission unlike all public sector health care providers. GSL subsequently lost their contract to run the detention centre to SERCO, with the health care to be provided by a subsidiary SERCO Health. Following the change over, health care provision was again criticised by the Prison's Inspector in 2008 as patchy and that there were no specialist health services for children.

In a report entitled The Arrest and Detention of Children Subject to Immigration Control, written by the Children's Commissioner for England Alan Aynsley-Green, one of the key findings was "substantial evidence that detention is harmful and damaging to children and young people" and that children held at Yarl's Wood regarded it as little more than a prison. Health care provision for minors was again criticised with "particular areas of concern are: the recording and availability of patient information; provision of follow-up care; delivery of immunisations; inadequacy of clinical care; poor care provided to children and adults with mental health needs; and consideration before removal of healthcare needs thereafter." Also criticised was the service to pregnant women.

The main conclusion of the report was that the UK should end the practice of detaining children in immigration prisons in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet the practice continues, as does the criticisms of heath care provision at the detention centre. In yesterday's Daily Mail (of all places!) an article blew the story of the latest protests inside Yarl's Wood, with numerous detainees willing to go on the record with their complaints: a mass outbreak of a virus amongst the children; an epileptic woman who suffers multiple seizures (up to 6 a day) who only has a 14 year old son to look after her who was accused of 'faking it' by staff; pregnant women, some with complications, detained with a total disregard of their well-being; the list goes on. (See also)

One woman was even forced to dial 999 when her five-month old son's temperature shot up and the medical staff at the centre ignored her requests for medical care. "He was really sick and he'd never been in that condition before. I tried telling the staff, and the staff were calling the health care but no one was coming."

http://nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com/2009/06/hunger-strikers-attacked-at-yarls-wood.html
http://nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com/2009/06/yarls-wood-update.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/06/432625.htmlMothers and Fathers at the SERCO-run Yarl's Wood detention centre near Bedford are in the second day of a hunger strike... more