“We are asking the President to use leadership in moving Immigration reform forward.”
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Translator
Immigration
Undocumented Youth Take Fight to Washington
Safe at Last: For One Iraqi Refugee, Tragedy has a Silver Lining
Crimson curtains flow in the wind of the air conditioning unit—their color a gentle contrast against the stark white walls. In the kitchen, the spatter and sizzle of the fried chicken 35-year-old Sattar Naama is making can be heard. The warm, greasy smell wafts throughout the tiny, one-room Rogers Park apartment. It doesn’t matter...
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A Sudanese Survivor: Refugee’s Journey From “Lost Boy” to Self-Sufficiency Inspires Others
At first glance, seeing him sip a Stella Artois at a bar in the Loop, one would have no clue about the harrowing journey of the well-dressed man sporting a gray textured button-down, black dress pants, a shiny watch on his left hand and an earring in his left ear. Based on his appearance,...
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Somali Finds Refuge in Albany Park English Class
Yasmin Mohamed, a Somali refugee living in Chicago, endured one of the globe’s greatest humanitarian crises, but understanding her future means journeying to ZIP code 60625.
Four mornings a week Yasmin winds her way down Whipple Ave. to the Albany Park Community Center. The second floor classroom is a global village of 26 students from...
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A Journey of Immigration and Education from Bosnia to Chicago
Naida Okanovic remembers as a child reading a textbook her mother copiously hand duplicated word for word by candlelight in the refuge of a basement in Bosnia. The walls surrounding her shook as Serbian soldiers overhead ignited grenades.
Okanovic, now 21, is a University of Illinois at Chicago student studying psychology. Her experiences in Bosnia...
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Chicago City Council: End Deportation of UIC Student
In a 48-to-1 vote, Chicago City Council passed a resolution Nov. 18 supporting a halt to the deportation of UIC junior Rigoberto Padilla and other undocumented students. The resolution sponsored by Ald. George Cardenas (12th) called on Congress to pass the Dream Act of 2009, a bill introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that...
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Pilsen Industrial Land Retooled For Housing
By Jeanette Almada of LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program
Two new affordable apartment buildings are benefiting Pilsen residents in two ways: they’re providing residents with high-quality, low-cost housing, and they’re occupying vacant industrial sites that had become neighborhood eyesores.
The recently completed 45-unit Casa Morelos Apartments – one of the two resident buildings – sits on...
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Frustration In Pilsen Over Stalled Immigration Reform
July 16, 2009 – President Obama’s recently restated support of immigration reform received favorable reviews from Latinos in Pilsen, but some expressed concerned about reports there will be no changes in the law until next year at the earliest. Community leaders called for faster action and said the current laws made it difficult to...
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Muslims and Misconceptions
Story By Ian Lopez
Part Three: ChicagoTalks’ urban affairs series
May 28, 2009 – It was a regular day in Summar Othman’s English class as students waited to present their research papers. Othman, a devout Muslim and DePaul University student, was still getting used to her new school. One of the few students on the campus to wear...
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Local Fil-Am groups push for immigration reform
Story by Albert Corvera
Part Two: ChicagoTalks’ urban affairs series
May 27, 2009 – Seventeen years is the average amount of time it takes for an immigrant to legally come and live in the United States. For some, it’s 17 years too long.
Louis, who didn’t want his last name revealed because of an expired green card,...
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