BOSTON/South End - They stood at the windows, some holding onto the bars that kept them in, others waving their hands or banging open palms against the glass. One made a heart shape with his hands. One held up a sign thanking the crowd across the street for their support.
Somerville, Mass. – Pedro sought a safer life. He traveled to Somerville from Chalantenango, El Salvador on foot, by bus, car, and in the back of a tractor-trailer truck.
Somerville, Mass.– Teachers and counselors are helping almost 100 new students adapt to their new lives in Somerville and in the Somerville Public Schools. The children are likely unaccompanied minors who arrived in the U.S. over the past eight months during the uptick of unaccompanied minors crossing the border last spring and summer.
BOSTON/Government Center - Immigration reform activists and supporters gathered in front of the JFK Federal Building near city hall on Wednesday to demand immediate action on immigration legislation from President Obama.
“The administration has not finished what it started,” Juan Vega, executive director of Centro Latina, said. “We ask and urge President Obama to make a down-payment on his promise to stop destroying families.”
SOMERVILLE, Mass., Aug. 12, 2014 – While some cities and towns have said they don’t want to host immigrant children from Central America, Somerville’s agencies, non-profits and many residents are welcoming them.
About two to three immigrant children have been arriving in Somerville each week this summer. Health workers estimate that there are at least 70 of the recent arrivals – known as “unaccompanied minors” – in the city, mostly living with relatives.
BOSTON/State House - Answering a call from the federal government to help Central and South American children fleeing violence and depressed economic conditions in their home countries, Governor Deval Patrick on Friday offered temporary sanctuary to some of the unaccompanied immigrant children who have crossed the border between Mexico and the U.S. in recent weeks and are now stranded in southern Texas.
Somerville, Mass. - At a press conference at city hall on Wednesday, Somerville City Mayor Joseph Curtatone announced an executive order that will limit the city’s participation in the federal Secure Communities deportation program.
BOSTON/State House - Immigrant rights groups continued their calls for an end to the federal Secure Communities deportation program, and for the passage of a bill dubbed the “Trust Act” in a rally at the State House on Thursday.
Chelsea, Mass. - Highlighting ongoing immigration and labor issues, including the need for a path to citizenship and a higher minimum wage, Boston area activists celebrated International Workers' Day - better known as May Day - on Thursday.
Around 800 people took part in the event in the heart of Boston’s surrounding immigrant communities - with marches from East Boston, Everett and Revere to a rally at Chelsea City Hall.
This is Open Media Boston’s News in Brief for March 24, 2014.
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