It’s only been a little over two months since President Trump was sworn in and already his immigration policies, executive orders, and implementation guidelines—not to mention his own anti-immigrant rhetoric—have had a wide-ranging impact on US businesses, educational institutions, international partnerships, industries, and, of course, immigrant communities. Through his interactions with foreign leaders, he is also altering the world’s perception of the United States. What exactly has he done? Here we highlight some areas in which the “Trump Effect” is being felt.
Read moreBloomberg: "New York to Issue ID Cards for Undocumented Immigrants"
We discussed earlier this year New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign promise of issuing city identity cards to undocumented immigrants, and today the New York City Council approved the measure. With similar programs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Haven, Connecticut, these cards will allow the approximately 500,000 undocumented immigrants as well as homeless (and others) in New York City to open bank accounts, obtain leases, and use medical clinics.
Applications for the card can be made with a US or foreign passport, a domestic or foreign driver’s license, birth certificate, or proof of foreign military service, along with proof of city residence. Transgender applicants can identify themselves as they wish, regardless of the listed gender on their other identification.
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said before the vote: "'It sends a simple and clear message that we are a city that believes in including everyone...We don’t accept that some people can be left out because of their immigration status, how they identify their gender or whether they may be homeless.'"
And The New York Observer interviews Juan Carlos, an immigrant, who says: “'I understand what it is not to have an ID...This ID would allow me to come out of the shadows more, to lose my fear in front of and dealing with the police, and to really be able to feel like a citizen and a resident of New York.'”
Television Review: Borderland
Borderland, a new series produced for Al Jazeera America, examines our current immigration crisis by following six Americans from different parts of the country and walks of life as they trace the steps of migrants who died crossing the border. The Borderland experience promises that each of the six participants--all of whom hold strong opinions regarding immigration, both pro and against--will be changed forever by the journey, and the series certainly delivers on that promise. In the process, the show provides a more informed and nuanced perspective on the debate about our immigration policies by painting a picture of some of the human cost of those polices beyond the rhetoric and statistics.
The six Americans are: Alison Melder, Republican staffer in the Arkansas State Legislature; Alex Seel, a Brooklyn-based photographer and artist; Gary Larsen, who employs migrant workers on his Washington State asparagus farm; Kishana Holland, a fashion blogger and publicist from Las Vegas; Lis-Marie Alvarado, daughter of Nicaraguan immigrants and an activist and community organizer on behalf of day laborers in Florida; and Randy Stufflebeam, Vice Chairman of the Constitution Party, which opposes amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
Read moreFILM REVIEW: The Visitor
The Visitor, a 2007 film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy, begins with Walter, a college professor in Connecticut, working through the mundane tasks of his everyday life. He is again teaching the economics course he has taught for many years, never updating the material or injecting any enthusiasm. He wakes up, lectures, goes home, and then does it again the next day. Without any real skill or passion, he spends his free time attempting to learn piano. When a faculty member tells Walter that he must attend a conference in New York City, he doesn’t want to go, but he does not have a choice. A few days later, he finds himself back in the city at an apartment he owns but rarely visits.
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