by Michael Milan I was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from the Philippines. My father served in the U.S. Navy and my mother was a registered nurse who traveled across the country and finally landed in California. After my parents divorced, my sister and I stayed with our mother who raised us as…
THE U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, March 18 overwhelmingly passed a pair of immigration bills designed to overhaul the American immigration system, including creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. Commonly known as DREAMers, these undocumented immigrants would earn permanent resident status that would lead to naturalization,…
WHEN Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Rep. Linda Sanchez of California first introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 in Congress on Feb. 18, the general consensus among immigration activists was mixed. Some criticized the bill — which largely calls for reviews and not immediate repeals of the immigration policies of former…
UNITED States President Joe Biden signed a trio of executive orders on Tuesday, Feb. 2 that aim to undo former President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, including addressing family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border, reforming the asylum program and reviewing the “barriers” that the Trump administration placed around legal immigration. “We are going to work…
Duterte extends ‘warmest greetings’ to new leadership THE relations between the Philippines and the United States will continue to run smoothly under the administration of newly sworn-in President Joe Biden, the Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose Manuel Romualdez affirmed Thursday, January 21. “We’re confident that this relationship is going to continue and we’ve had…
WHILE Malacañang expects no major changes in the United States’ foreign policy under President-elect Joe Biden, it hopes for a shift in the U.S. immigration policy that will treat Filipino immigrants better. “Sa tingin ko ang Amerika din naman ay consistent sa foreign policy, so walang rin major changes yan (I think America is consistent…
Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government’s response to the crisis (or, in some cases, lack thereof) has punctuated cultural, social and political inequities across all communities. Public education, income disparity and employment, housing retention and immigration are chief among the ongoing public entities that have been rocked by governmental unpreparedness throughout the…
When the current COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, many university students found themselves wondering whether they’d return to campus from spring break or continue the rest of the semester away from campus to stay safe from the virus spread. As students again played the waiting game during summer break, international students were suddenly hit…
CERTAIN foreign workers will be barred from seeking employment in the United States as President Donald Trump on Monday, June 22 signed an executive order that places a temporary freeze on work visas through the end of the year. Those affected include the H-1B visas for tech workers, H-2B visas for low-skill jobs, H-4 visas for…
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Thursday, June 18 stopped President Donald Trump’s administration from rescinding a program that protected more than 800,000 young undocumented immigrants, or “Dreamers,” who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. In a narrow 5-4 vote, the court held that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) effort to end…
AN American child sex offender this week was sentenced to life in prison by a Philippine court for exploiting Filipino children online. David Timothy Deakin will service a life sentence after being found guilty of three counts of “large-scale qualified human trafficking.” Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. announced the ruling on Tuesday, May 26, through video…
As the coronavirus pandemic puts his administration under even more scrutiny, President Donald Trump took to Twitter this week to announce that he plans to “temporarily” terminate immigration to the United States. “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens,…
Watch Atty. Gurfinkel’s latest immigration update on COVID 19, where USCIS is cancelling all in-person services until at least April 1, 2020, and Immigration Courts (EOIR) have cancelled all non-detained hearings (Master and merits).
After several legal battles, the Trump administration’s changes to the public charge rule that could deny legal permanent residency status to certain immigrants if they are likely to require government assistance in the future took effect on Monday, February 24. The public charge rule, originally published by the Department of Homeland Security in August 2019,…
Kingdom of Jesus Christ officials face federal charges for human trafficking, immigration fraud THE camp of televangelist Apollo Quiboloy on Thursday, January 30, claimed that former members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church provided the Federal Bureau of Investigation with false information that led to the arrests of three KOJC administrators in the…
After the Supreme Court oral arguments, immigration experts shed light on facts regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate DACA WHEN the Trump administration announced on Sept. 5, 2017 that it would phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the world turned upside down for hundreds of thousands of program recipients and their families….
MALACAÑANG on Tuesday, December 10, criticized a Filipino couple for using President Rodrigo Duterte’s human rights record as a reason to seek political asylum in the United States. Last week, Rene Flores and his wife Joy were granted asylum by a San Francisco immigration judge after claiming that they might experience political persecution from the…
The city of Seattle, Wash. and five legal organizations have filed a lawsuit in California on Wednesday, October 30 against the Trump administration for changing the requirements for naturalization, which would make it difficult for immigrants to qualify for the fee waiver when applying for citizenship. This comes after another effort to tighten the United…
With California being a “sanctuary state” where law enforcement officers are prohibited from assisting in federal immigration enforcement, it came as a surprise when a bill prohibiting state prisons from allowing federal immigration arrests was vetoed. California Governor Gavin Newsom returned the bill without his signature on Saturday, October 12 — a day after he…
“EASY, safe and important.” Those are three words officials want the public to remember ahead of the 2020 Census, after various groups raised concerns about confidentiality and accessibility to the questionnaire at a recent event for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) media in South Pasadena, California. “Your answers are protected by law…and will not…
States and organizations around the country are reacting to the public charge rule released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this week, which would affect immigrants who have received certain public benefits. California, Oregon, Maine and the District of Columbia are among the states that have filed a lawsuit on Friday against the…
NO matter where you came from and the color of your skin, all parents want what is best for their children. Except those, it seems, in the Trump administration. Because they have once again told immigrant families: we don’t want you, don’t try and live the American dream. They have released a new, inhumane rule…
THE Trump administration has focused a lot on actions to curb illegal immigration in the last two years, but new regulation changes released on Monday, August 12 may have a dramatic effect on immigrants seeking legal permanent residency or U.S. citizenship. Set to go into effect in mid-October, the new rule essentially expands who may…
During the first Democratic debate earlier this month, a handful of the candidates shared their stances and policies related to a variety of issues, including guaranteeing free college education, legalizing marijuana and combating the restrictive immigration policies laid out by the Trump administration. It was the first official face-off among the candidates, and though specific…
No signs of massive raids in Los Angeles, other major cities Over the weekend, the Trump administration said that federal immigration officials have begun a nationwide operation targeting undocumented immigrants in 10 cities who have been given a court order to be deported. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, targeted operations were planned…
IN her bid for the White House, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren released an immigration plan this week, a few days after meeting with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members in Las Vegas who posed questions about fixing the broken system. “Our immigration system makes American stronger, not weaker. Part of that is keeping…
OVER the weekend, President Donald Trump cancelled the massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids of undocumented immigrants that were scheduled for Sunday, June 23. Trump’s reversal came hours before the planned raids, which were scheduled in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City and San Francisco. The raids…
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will reportedly begin immigration raids in 10 cities over the weekend, days after President Donald Trump pledged that there would be an operation to remove “millions” of people who have entered the United States illegally. On Friday, June 21, various reports showed that federal immigration officials would start conducting these…
THE United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Manila will shut down as part of the Trump administration’s decision to cease operations of the agency’s 23 international locations. The Manila office will permanently close on July 5, and has stopped accepting new applications and petitions since May 31. “The U.S. Embassy in Manila…
‘Yellow Rose’ is an honest, visceral exploration on the complicated definition of ‘American’ THE much-anticipated feature film “Yellow Rose” by Filipina American filmmaker Diane Paragas premiered at the opening night of the 35th annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) on Thursday, May 2. “Yellow Rose” takes place in East Texas and tells the…
