Posts

Harsh local approach to immigrants harms families, taxpayers

July 22, 2018, 6:32 pm/15 Comments
Melita Easters

By Guest Columnist WESLEY THARPE, research director for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

The hot topic of immigration is never far from Georgians’ TV screens and Twitter feeds these days. Stories of migrant children taken from their parents at the border captivate viewers on the nightly news. Candidates for high Georgia offices compete over who can be most threatening to the immigrant family next door. And President Donald Trump repeatedly claims that newcomers from other lands are bad for taxpayers, harm the economy and upend the nation’s social fabric.

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Roberto Hernandez

Congress must resolve immigration issue, return to work for American people

June 10, 2018, 2:07 pm/1 Comment
Melita Easters

By Guest Columnist MARK NEWMAN, retired partner with Troutman Sanders

Agriculture is big business in Georgia. One in seven Georgians work in agriculture and the industry contributes nearly $74 billion to our state’s economy. So, when the most important piece of legislation impacting Georgia’s farmers fails to pass the U.S. House of Representatives because of an unrelated immigration issue, it is cause for serious concern.

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Power to the Polls rally

Support for dreamers growing in Georgia

January 22, 2018, 7:10 pm/15 Comments
Maria Saporta

A placard at the Latin American Association on Buford Highway says it all.

“Help us rally support for legislation to protect DACA recipients!”

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – an American immigration policy that has allowed individuals who entered the country illegally as minors to receive deferred action from deportation and be eligible to work.

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DACA

A DACA Dreamer shares his story, support for path to citizenship

December 17, 2017, 4:00 pm/1 Comment
Melita Easters

By Guest Columnist JAIME RANGEL, a DACA recipient from Dalton who works with lawmakers from across the state, serving as a liaison between their offices and the Hispanic community

My name is Jaime Rangel, and I’m a beneficiary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. This federal program allowed me, and hundreds of thousands of other young people, the opportunity to work and study in the United States.

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Happy news on the refugee front, in Clarkston

August 20, 2017, 2:41 pm/1 Comment
Melita Easters

By Guest Columnist JILL ROBBINS, chief program officer for the non-profit Soccer in the Streets

Judging from the headlines, you’d think there’s no such thing as happy news on the refugee front. As someone who works directly with refugee kids in Clarkston, I can tell you there is so much more to the story. I see happiness in the faces of refugee kids every day in my role as chief program officer for Soccer in the Streets, where I have worked in youth development for more than 20 years.

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daca

Congress should protect Georgia’s young immigrants by enacting Dream Act of 2017

August 6, 2017, 4:27 pm/1 Comment
Melita Easters

By Guest Columnist ANÍBAL TORRES, executive director of Atlanta’s Latin American Association

The fate of nearly 29,000 young immigrants who live in Georgia hangs in the balance. The attorneys general of nine states and one governor have told President Trump that if he does not start phasing out a 2012 program that allows DREAMers to work and live in this country without fear of deportation, they will file a lawsuit in September to end the program. Without this protection, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, these young people could face deportation.

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