Category Archives: Immigration

A Win for the Whole Community: New Funds Will Improve Immigrant Access to Mental Health Services in Champaign County

Posted on 06/25/2022 by Janice Jayes and Ben Mueller

All who work with newly arrived individuals and families in the Champaign-Urbana community are aware of the challenges in trying to connect immigrants with mental health support. Teachers, school counselors, public health workers, legal aid societies, and others who are … Continue reading →

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The Border We Build Every Day: Guatemala in Champaign-Urbana

Posted on 11/15/2021 by Janice Jayes

The border mechanisms that capture headlines—the roundups, the cages, and the deportations—deserve attention, but this human sorting isn’t confined to the moment or space of the frontier crossing. It is part of the food we buy, the clothes we wear, … Continue reading →

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The Trump Administration Just Opened a New Immigrant Prison in Rural Michigan

Posted on 03/18/2020 by Brian Dolinar

From his office at the Cristo Rey Church in Lansing, Michigan, Oscar Castañeda runs a campaign against a new federal immigrant prison, part of President Donald Trump’s escalation of immigration enforcement. In May, 2019, the Trump administration awarded a ten-year, … Continue reading →

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Need for System Change

Posted on 06/13/2019 by Karen Aram

The time is long past due for American citizens to realize that our political and economic systems are untenable. Trump is awful, no question there. And for those who continue to support the Democratic candidates as the lesser evil—fine, that’s … Continue reading →

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Securitization in the Heartland: For-Profit Immigration Detention

Posted on 04/12/2019 by Janice Jayes

Dwight, IL, Population 4200. On March 11 the Dwight Village Board voted to move forward with the construction of a privately owned $20 million ICE detention facility on the edge of the town, which is 75 miles north of Champaign-Urbana. … Continue reading →

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For a World Without Borders

Posted on 03/12/2019 by Tariq Khan

Speech by Tariq Khan at the UIUC Ayuda Rally at Anniversary Plaza, November 29, 2018. UIUC Ayuda was a student group/campaign to raise awareness about and material support for the Central American caravans made up of people seeking asylum. I … Continue reading →

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Local Sheriff Cooperating with ICE

Posted on 12/12/2018 by Brian Dolinar

On the day Manuel went to have his electronic monitor cut off, he was feeling “uneasy” about being picked up by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It only took minutes for the sheriff’s deputy at the county jail … Continue reading →

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After Four Months in Detention, 8 Year-Old Girl Reunited With Family in C-U

Posted on 11/14/2018 by Brian Dolinar

This eight-year-old girl (on the right in the photo) traveled 4,000 miles and spent four months in detention to get a hug from her mother. They were reunited last week at Willard Airport in Champaign. The news reports about children … Continue reading →

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GloHeart, A Displaced Lullaby: A Play on Immigration Asks Questions About Language

Posted on 05/04/2018 by Al Schneider

By Al Schneider Al Schneider is a performance maker and theater researcher currently living in Urbana. Information about their work can be found here: alanddog.co.uk. What are they doing here? Dressed in plaid, blue jeans, a ball cap, and boots, … Continue reading →

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IMC Co-founder Danielle Chynoweth Wins McKinley Social Justice Award!

Posted on 05/04/2018 by Public i

By Public i editors Danielle Chynoweth, IMC co-founder and current Cunningham Township Supervisor, won a 2018 Social Justice Award from the McKinley Foundation. She donated the $500 award to the Public i. We extend our deepest gratitude to Danielle for supporting … Continue reading →

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ICE on Main Street: Undocumented Immigrants Arrested in Urbana

Posted on 05/04/2018 by Brian Dolinar

  When Juan showed up for work one morning at Siam Terrace on Main Street in downtown Urbana, two men were waiting for him in the parking lot. They were dressed in plainclothes, but wearing guns on their hips. They … Continue reading →

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4th Annual Welcome Awards Ceremony Celebrates What Makes America Great

Posted on 10/19/2017 by David Cisneros

By David Cisneros. State, national, and international news media have brought us a daily barrage of tragic or infuriating news stories. And national rhetoric increasingly features voices of nativism, racism, and hatred. In the face of all of this, it … Continue reading →

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Des-Ordenes Presidenciales

Posted on 02/23/2017 by Korinta Maldonado

Comenzamos con lo que en gran medida ha estado ausente en los llamados por los derechos de los inmigrantes: estamos asentados en tierras ocupadas como resultado de políticas de remoción y / o genocidio de los pueblos Nativo Americanos. En … Continue reading →

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Executive Dis-order?

Posted on 02/23/2017 by Korinta Maldonado

We begin with what has largely been absent in the calls for immigrant rights: we sit on occupied land as a result of removal policies and/or genocide of Native Americans. In a dramatic surge that sent shockwaves through immigrant communities … Continue reading →

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Testimonies of Immigrants Who Have Traveled to CU

Posted on 01/19/2017 by Public i

These testimonies were provided by the C-U Immigration Forum, a local organization made up of immigrants, students, clergy, service providers, labor union representatives, residents and community organizations that are concerned with the plight of immigrants in Champaign County. Jesus It … Continue reading →

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Activists Among Us: Claire Szoke

Posted on 09/02/2016 by Julie Laut

By Julie Laut Claire Szoke is an activist among us who has worked tirelessly on behalf of social justice issues for over forty years. She is currently the co-chair of Central Illinois Jobs With Justice, part-time director at the Channing-Murray … Continue reading →

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Reframing Refugees: Looking Beyond Borders in Champaign-Urbana

Posted on 04/25/2016 by Alexandra van Doren

The St. Louis Perhaps you have heard of the Voyage of the St. Louis. On May 13th, 1939, a ship with 937 passengers aboard, predominantly Jewish, set sail from Hamburg en route to Havana. Among the 937 men, women, and … Continue reading →

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20-Plus ICE Raids Reported in Champaign County

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Brian Dolinar

A longer version of this article originally appeared in Truthout. Reprinted with permission. Four men in unmarked cars showed up at the Shadowwood trailer park, where many Latinos reside in Urbana-Champaign. It was 8 a.m. one cool morning this past … Continue reading →

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Money and Otherness

Posted on 10/08/2015 by Raha Behnam

I was an immigrant child growing up in Vancouver. I spent a lot of time walking alone, to and from school, through the forested neighborhoods and along the suburban roads. Every day a new experience floating in my mind. Here … Continue reading →

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‘Race’ to Borders or Why Brown Death Matters

Posted on 05/07/2015 by Gilberto Rosas

The mass detention of would-be refugees in Texas, recently covered in The New York Times Magazine, is but the latest cruel episode in the material histories of international borders and state-mediated racism. Central American women and children who’ve fled criminal … Continue reading →

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