Topic: immigration

House GOP review

By Tennessee Republicans | April 20, 2008 |

The House GOP Review is a weekly feature that gives Tennesseans an in-depth look at what our Republican state legislators have been working on this week, and a glimpse into what’s planned for the coming week at our state house

House GOP leaders pleased with Supreme Court verdict upholding lethal injection

House GOP leaders said this week that they were pleased with the opinion issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Baze vs. Rees case that upheld the use of lethal injection as a means of execution. In a 7-2 ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court held that Kentucky’s three-drug protocol did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

In September of 2007, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ruled that Tennessee’s method of lethal injection was unconstitutional. Soon after, Governor Phil Bredesen issued a moratorium pending the outcome of the death penalty case facing the U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, two executions were put in jeopardy of not being carried out. Pervis T. Payne was scheduled to be executed on December 12, 2007, for two counts of murder stemming from a brutal stabbing he committed in Shelby County. Mass-murderer Paul Dennis Reid gunned down seven victims execution style, killing more people than anyone else on Tennessee’s death row, and drawing seven death sentences.

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Sections: Politics | No Comments

Human Rights are for Everyone

By Chris Lugo | December 31, 2007 |

Imagine living in a country where children are ripped away from their parents, never to see them again, left alone to fend for themselves without any support.  Imagine living in a country where women are raped but are afraid to call the police for fear that they will be arrested.  Imagine living in a country where men are arbitrarily pulled over by the police, arrested, held in squalid detention facilities for months and then deported far from their homes, friends, jobs and families. Imagine what it is like to be an immigrant worker living in America.

The crackdown on undocumented workers has taken a frightening turn in the past several months. Perhaps the most heinous expression of this crackdown is the fear that it has instilled in immigrant women. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion | No Comments

‘New Sanctuary Movement’ emerges with hope, shelter and support for immigrants

By Rev. Charles Moreland | November 5, 2007 |

One of the hymns in the evangelical tradition states our desires well with these pleading words: “Receive us again …”

Our society is experiencing a a revival of a concept called Sanctuary. Over the centuries, the church in an effort to protect individuals and families, proclaimed the availability of Sanctuary, a practice that is alive, sprouting up anew, and being rediscovered in the United States.

Sojourner Magazine (Sept-Oct 2007) gives an interesting and consciousness-raising of this idea for helping people. It’s viewed by dozens of religious and political leaders as an expression of and way of implementing the teachings of Jesus toward the deprived and the disadvantaged. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Politics, Spirituality | No Comments

My problems with (King?) Bush

By David W. Shelton | July 6, 2007 |

In 2000, we were met with a very interesting choice for President of the United States. The Clinton administration was coming to a close with Vice President Al Gore emerging as the heir-apparent. Gore was everything that Clinton was not, apparently. Gore was from Tennessee (he had a home in Carthage), he was a successful senator, and now had a bird’s-eye view of the Federal government as Vice President of the United States.

Alas, Gore also had the appearance of being a stodgy dullard with no personality whatsoever. Further, Americans weren’t too sure about electing yet another member of the Executive branch that might have been a part of “Monicagate” (or is that “Lewinskygate?”). Gore was perceived as an “evil” liberal, and talk radio show hosts had a field day with his lack of charisma.

Enter the popular governor of Texas, the only Republican who could have unseated the equally-popular Democrat, the late Anne Richards. George W. Bush was well-liked, had a sense of southern charm, and loved to wink at audiences. He instantly rose to stardom as the Republican nominee for President in the 2000 election. His message of “compassionate conservatism” won the hearts of the media as well as voters. He won my vote as well. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Politics | 7 Comments

Do you have what it takes to become a citizen?

By Bill Larson | July 4, 2007 |

When immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before a Citizenship and Immigration Services (INS) officer. The questions are usually selected from a list of 100 sample questions that prospective citizens can look at ahead of the interview (though the examiner is not limited to those questions). Some are easy, some are not. We have picked some of the more difficult ones.

NOTES: The INS plans to revise its list of questions in 2008 (a pilot program is using these new questions at selected INS sites). Also, the questions in the test below are as asked on the official United States Immigration and Naturalization Services Web site. Candidates are not given multiple choices in the naturalization interview, which is conducted orally.

Take the test: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19552808

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Sections: Issues | 2 Comments

Maury County TN Sheriff Under Fire for Racial Profiling of Hispanics

By Terry McMoore | June 22, 2007 |

On Friday, June 22, 2007 at 5:00 pm there will be community meeting in Columbia, TN to address the racial profiling and discrimination of minorities in Maury County. The US Justice Department has been notify and are looking into the matter.
The Hispanic Organization for Progress & Education (H.O.P.E), NAACP (State Level) and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Coalition, we will be hearing the concerns of a fearful community. The Hispanic community is being told not to attend the community meeting because the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will conduct a raid on the premises. There have been two raids in Columbia, TN that has netted 124 undocumented immigrants. Because of these raids there is outright Racial Profiling that has now spilled over into the Indian and Pakistani communities.

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Sections: Issues, News, Politics | 5 Comments

US Citizenship Sale: 4 years military service

By Beth Robinson | October 26, 2006 |

I don’t think the United States should bribe immigrants to fight wars in exchange for citizenship.  If the US does not have citizens willing to sign up for our wars, there are much bigger problems.  We already successfully bribe young Americans who are poor with the opportunity to pursue a college education. 

A Washington Post article disagrees. A Military Path to Citizenship, By Max Boot and Michael O’Hanlon, Thursday, October 19, 2006; Page A29

Sections: Politics | No Comments