The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged legal immigrants

Non-Citizen Voting Efforts Fail in San Francisco and Portland, Maine

By | 11.03.10 | 9:56 am

A ballot question in Portland, Maine, that would have given legal immigrants the right to vote in city elections was voted down yesterday, with 52 percent voting against it and 48 percent voting in support. The measure would have allowed residents who had not yet obtained citizenship — More…

Increasing Security on Immigration Documents

By | 10.25.10 | 10:00 am

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials will issue new documents for naturalized citizens beginning today to help prevent fraud. The agency has attempted to increase the security of its documents, unveiling new green cards this summer meant to be more difficult to counterfeit. The new citizenship More…

Serving Your Country, Only to Be Expelled From It

By | 10.25.10 | 9:29 am

The Associated Press had a good story Sunday on non-citizens who served in the military and now face deportation for committing crimes. If non-citizens die during service, they are automatically awarded citizenship and given a military funeral. If they survive, though, many are caught up in immigration laws More…

Voting Booths

Bucking anti-immigrant trend, some communities push for non-citizen voting

By | 10.22.10 | 6:00 am

Last Wednesday, a group of progressive volunteers gathered in Monument Square in Portland, Maine, to quiz passersby about citizenship. Could they answer sample civics questions from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services test to become an American citizen? (Most couldn’t.) Did they know how much it costs to become a More…

Why Can’t Legal Immigrants Vote in Most of America?

By | 10.18.10 | 4:16 pm

As midterm elections loom and anti-immigration rhetoric swells, The New York Times reports on the unfortunate trend of immigrants who register to vote and then face deportation charges for it. It’s against the law for non-citizens to claim citizenship — even if they have a green More…

Enforcement vs. Immigration Reform

By | 10.07.10 | 12:59 pm

One day after the Department of Homeland Security announced record-high deportations of illegal immigrants, ColorLines has a good story about some of the problems of heavy enforcement — particularly under a system that strongly favors deportation. Framed by the story of a legal resident who was More…

Senate Dems Drop Coverage of Legal Immigrants from SCHIP Plan, Will Try to Add Later

By | 01.13.09 | 12:38 pm

This is a little bit inside baseball, but it lends a glimpse at the relationship between politics and policy in Washington.

Democrats, as they push to renew and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, hope to include coverage for legal immigrants, who currently must wait five years More…