A community confronts stigmas hurting immigrants in America
CAPE FEAR
Sheriff sides with Trump and ICE, against constituents and immigrants “It’s essentially an end run around the bail process,” said Laura Rótolo, a staff counsel and community advocate with the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Rótolo was referring to plans by Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings to use cooperation with the Continue Reading
AGING IN THE SHADOWS
Without income or access to benefits, getting old as an undocumented is a daunting challenge It’s December, and Pedro, 78, still heads downtown to work during the day. He sings Mexican boleros and rancheras, accompanying himself with a guitar. He seems to camouflage himself under the foliage; countless Bostonians have Continue Reading
THE LONG GAME: SANCTUARY CITIES FIGHT POINTS TO NEED FOR GLOBAL LABOR PROTECTIONS
Original flag image by Adbusters. Or Betsy Ross, depending on who you ask March 7, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government. Yet Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related federal agencies often rely on local police to help round up undocumented immigrants Continue Reading
GENERAL STRIKE: IS THE TRUMP VICTORY SPARKING THE RETURN OF LABOR’S MOST POWERFUL TACTIC?
NYC (1970) February 22, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS You know we live in interesting times when general strikes get discussed matter-of-factly in an American big city newspaper. A subject which would have only been raised in a publication like the Boston Globe in recent decades to attack it. But Continue Reading
SMOOTH LANDING (FOR NOW)
At Logan airport, a weekend of relief after a week of chaos WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JOSHUA EATON (Spanish Version Here) Azi Torkamani was skeptical when she heard that a federal court order in Massachusetts had temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s 90-day ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran. Torkamani’s Continue Reading
SPECIAL REJECTION
Election officials can’t stop this East Boston activist from running for State Senate When nine-year First Suffolk and Middlesex State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli announced his resignation last December, Latino voters in the lawmaker’s disjointed district — which includes slices of Chinatown, East Boston, and the North End in the Hub, as well as Continue Reading
IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY GROUP OF CAMBRIDGE PROVIDES MODEL FOR MUNICIPAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM
Joint Committee Meeting of the Cambridge City Council to Discuss Immigrant Representation and Resources, May 12, 2016. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2016 Jason Pramas. May 23, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS We live in strange times. On the one hand, the United States is a more diverse society than Continue Reading
OF BOLIVAR AND BOSTON
Social and economic insecurity in Caracas has a significant impact on Venezuelans in Massachusetts One late March morning, corridos — the socially conscious ballads popular throughout Central and Latin America — blared throughout the blue and gold basement chapel of Tremont Temple Baptist Church. About 21 people mingled around a table of coffee and breakfast Continue Reading
THE DISAFFECTION OF TIBETAN ELECTIONS
‘I’m just trying to voice my support for all the 6 million [Tibetans inside Tibet] who can’t speak up for their basic human rights’ Lhadolma Sherpa wasn’t bothered by the rain on Boston Common as she led fellow Tibetans in chants of “China lies, Tibetans die” and “China lies, the UN Continue Reading