Driver’s license bill for undocumented workers

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About 30 activists gathered at the Waite House Community Center in Minneapolis on February 25  to strategize ways to move forward with a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.  Mujeros En Liderazgo (Women in Leadership), an organization dedicated to social and immigration issues, organized the meeting. Only a handful of states have passed similar laws, while a larger number require proof of immigration status to be presented by drivers license applicants.  Maria Cisneros emphasized the problems that lack of a driver’s license can create. “If a child gets sick, and they don’t have access to the emergency room or they can’t get a job, this is a loss to the economy,” she said. “Someone who is affected by domestic violence may not report to the police because they don’t have a driver’s license or I.D. This affects single mothers and their children, from not being able to take children to the doctor or to get to work to support their children.” Fellow Mujeres En Liderazgo activist and Waite House employee Jovita Morales added that the most vulnerable can be exploited if they don’t have an I.D.  She cited the example of trying to rent an apartment without a driver’s license. Continue Reading

Minority and immigrant farming: Productive enterprise

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Despite the significant trend away from family farming in Minnesota and elsewhere – for many reasons giving way to the power of (often polluting and environmentally unsound) corporate farming enterprises, chemical companies and federal farm policies, Minnesota is showing growth in small to mid-sized family farms. Why? Because we are blessed by a surge in farms run by minority and immigrant families as a counterweight to the massive feedlots, bio-fed livestock, and chemically infused fruit and vegetable crops. Most of us now know that farmers’ markets are multiplying throughout our cities, providing us with farm-to-table fresh and nutritionally better foods. Again, we can thank enlightened organic farmers who practice strong, sustainable and healthy alternatives to the highly processed foods peddled in most of our supermarkets. The Minnesota Food Association, the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, and the USDA-Farm Service Agency will jointly co-host the 5th Annual Minority and Immigrant Farming Conference (brochure/registration) – February 19-20, 2010, in the Wilder Foundation Auditorium in St. Continue Reading

Immigrants, refugees still linked to home countries

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How do immigrant lives remain linked to their home countries? When are these ties problematic? How do the links differ from generation to generation and from one immigrant group to another? Immigrant leaders and immigration scholars at the University of Minnesota addressed these questions February 1 at the University of Minnesota. The conference, titled Linked Lives: When are Immigrant and Refugee Engagements Problemetized? Continue Reading

CORRECTION / Unemployment up again / Here come the Feds / more

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CORRECTION I summarized an article from AP and the Pioneer Press regarding a 14-state federal prosecution for “modern-day slavery” of immigrant workers. The article, and my summary, erroneously said that a Mankato roofer was implicated in the case. Here is the correction from the Pioneer Press:
A headline in Thursday’s Pioneer Press should not have said that a Mankato roofer was implicated in a labor scheme involving immigrant workers. In fact, Kato Roofing was a client of a labor-leasing company that has been indicted in relation with the scheme. But Kato Roofing has not been implicated or associated in any way with the federal investigation and Kato Roofing officials emphasize that they have done nothing wrong. Continue Reading

Waiting for the veto / “Independent” contractors / Playing to lose / more

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Passed, passed, passed and waiting The legislature passed a number of bills yesterday, and the stack on T-Paw’s desk continues to grow. Will he sign or will he veto? Only the governor knows for sure. Among the bills awaiting decision:
• Flat funding for P-12 schools and cuts for higher ed. Minnesota Miracle and expanded Q-Comp both lose out. Continue Reading

Liberians want to stay in Minnesota

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Their faces somber, about 300 Liberians gathered in a church in Plymouth, a few miles from Brooklyn Park, on a chilly Sunday evening in January. Tension and fear sounded in their voices as they chatted, waiting to find out how they could petition U.S. legislators, to extend the temporary immigration status of about 1000 Liberians in Minnesota. They hope that they will eventually be granted U.S. residency. With about two months before their permission to remain in the U.S. expires, an immediate extension is preferred, as it would take immigration officials longer to process the paperwork needed for residency. About 18 months ago, President Bush granted an extension to this same group of Liberians. Continue Reading

Somali community protests RNC

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Freedom of expression and the power to summon your government, the two most important principles of democracy is played out at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St Paul, Minnesota. Among an estimated 15,000 protesters that took to the streets of St Paul on Monday, September 1 was about 300 Somalis who were protesting against “the U.S. sanctioned Ethiopian occupation of Somalia.”
Many of them are American citizens but very recent immigrants who don’t speak English fluently. Regardless, they seemed to know and want to practice their rights under the constitution of the United State of America. Carrying the American flag along with the Somali flag, Somalis chanted and marched all through the marked route for the RNC rally. Other American’s joined the Somali contingent to show solidarity and understanding, more importantly to encourage them to participate democracy. Continue Reading

In Eagan plant, workers glimpse future of Bush immigration policy

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One after another, former Best Brands employees took the podium at Holy Trinity Church in Minneapolis, speaking out about what happened on Sept. 10. On that Monday morning, management at the Eagan-based manufacturer and nationwide distributor of commercial baking products pulled between 80 and 100 Latino workers off the job and into one-on-one meetings. There, workers learned they were being fired as a result of “irregularities” in their employment documents. “They escorted us to the door to kick us out of the plant as though we were criminals,” Ulises Duay said. Continue Reading