Blogs

Food for Thought Books and
Western MA Coalition for Immigrant & Worker Rights present:

DETAINED: THE NEW BEDFORD IMMIGRATION RAID
A film by Jenny Alexander

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The Center for New Americans is holding their Third Annual Four on the Fourth Road Race on Friday, July 4 at 8:30 am. The four mile course tours downtown Northampton. Early registrants will receive a t-shirt.

All proceeds will benefit CNA's free educational programs for immigrants and refugees in the Pioneer Valley.  read more »

The Western MA Coalition for Immigrant and Worker Rights has been fortunate to connect with Food for Thought Books, a worker-owned collective in Amherst, which has been holding a monthly Films for Thought series open to the public. Last Wednesday, June 11th, we teamed up with Food for Thought's Javiera Benavente and Casa Latina's Edgar Cancel to screen Morristown: In the Air and Sun and hold a conversation about the issues of immigration, labor, ethnicity and economics brought up in the film.  read more »

Out here in Western Massachusetts (yes, there is more to this state than the greater Boston metropolitan area), we have a problem. It is transportation. Or rather, lack of public transportation.  read more »

I received an email from the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers detailing the TSA's preferred type of travel documentation.

Airtravel

Beginning on May 26, 2008, adult passengers (over the age of 18) will be required to show a U.S. federal or state-issued photo ID that contains the following: name, date of birth, gender, expiration date and a tamper-resistant feature. These IDs include:  read more »

Last Wednesday was my final day at the Boston-based Irish Immigration Center (IIC) and it was more sentimental than what I had expected. Here I am, on a short vacation at home and the only topic I want to write about for my first (ever!) blog post was about the IIC.  read more »

As I sat down to my morning coffee, I finally accepted the fact that I need to catch up with my news. What I read made me want to scrap the coffee and go back to bed.  read more »

Governor Deval Patrick has decided against taking action to allow illegal immigrants to pay resident tuition and fees at state colleges and universities this fall... ("Tuition aid to illegal immigrants falters")  read more »

Since I heard the news about Senator Kennedy's seizures on Saturday, I have been reflecting on his amazing place in history, fighting for civil rights for all. Especially since hearing the diagnosis of a malignant glioma, up until the positive news this morning that as I write this Senator Kennedy will be released from the hospital in a few minutes, there has been flood of positive reflections. I am sure he will return to work fighting for the rights of all, fighting right up to the last minute.

I wanted to focus on this article in found in today's Globe. It was a timeline of just some highlights of major legislative achievements of the man some have called the most successful Senator in history. I thought specifically significant was the bill listed as his first major achievement:

1965: Immigration
In his first major legislative accomplishment, the 32-year-old Kennedy managed the successful floor battle to pass the Hart-Celler Act, a reform of immigration policy that abolished quotas and lifted a 1924 ban on immigration from Asia.  read more »

I've been trying to figure out how to start writing since Kyle asked me to part of this project. I think Welcoming Massachusetts! is one of the best and most important ideas I've heard about in a long time. The focus on positivity and community are vital and expect me to try to focus on those in the weeks and months ahead. I think people have a lot of ideas about what they want this place to be and what they want it not to be, so I think I'll be talking about that, but first I'd like to introduce myself:  read more »