It came as a disappointment to New Yorkers last week when the Department of Homeland Security defied the wishes of our state and Governor Cuomo by deciding to unilaterally implement the controversial Secure Communities deportation program.

In a huge victory for civil liberties, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, June 1, 2011, suspended his state's participation in a federal deportation program that tore apart families, encouraged racial profiling and harmed public safety by creating mistrust between police and immigrant communities.

Amid an atmosphere of partisan division and election year politicking, the Senate yesterday failed to overcome a filibuster on the Defense Authorization bill to which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) sought to add the DREAM Act as an amendment.

Read more...

The dreams of nearly 150,000 undocumented young people living in New York State may come true this week after months of rallies, protests, sit-ins, teach-ins and hunger strikes all in an effort to force Congress to pass the DREAM Act.

Among the 146,000 young people who were brought to New York as children by no fault of their own, it is easy to find hard working students and members of the military who make considerable contributions to our state and to American society at large.

Despite these contributions, though, these young New Yorkers face an onslaught of immigration and civil rights challenges -- just because of where they were born.

The DREAM Act offers new hope for these hard working young people who know no home but America.

In his first major speech on immigration policy, President Obama today blamed yet another year of stalling on immigration reform on partisan politics and the upcoming elections. Despite the president’s call upon both parties to take responsibility and confront the challenge of immigration reform at some unknown point in the future, Obama did not give advocates of immigration reform much hope for real reform this year.

So just when you thought Arizona had reached the limit of its capacity for discriminatory immigration laws, we get this headline from the Grand Canyon State:

“‘Anchor Babies’ Could be Ariz.’s Next Target”

Attempts by opponents of immigrants’ rights to weaken support for comprehensive immigration reform have long tried to shove an array of wedge issues into the movement in attempts to split it.

One that’s getting some particular play this year is the “immigration is bad for the environment” myth.

Eight police chiefs from major police departments around the country were in Washington yesterday to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder about their concerns with the recently-passed anti-immigrant Arizona law, SB1070.