Category Archives: Immigrants

The Deportation Industry and the Shadows of Indian Removal

Posted on 10/06/2025 by Janice Jayes

This past spring I traveled with Witness at the Border to the border town of Eagle Pass, TX. I wanted to take a firsthand look at ground zero of the latest domestic militarization project dressed up as a national security … Continue reading →

 830 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Imperialism, Indigenous, Refugees, Section, Violence, World-wide death and suffering | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Deportation Industry and the Shadows of Indian Removal

Unions and Immigrants: The Past and the Present

Posted on 08/20/2025 by Pat Simpson

This article is the first of a two-part analysis of the relation between unions and immigrant workers. In an upcoming issue, the focus will be on campus unions at UIUC and their efforts to protect international students and undocumented workers. … Continue reading →

 580 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, labor, labor history, Labor/Economics, Racism, Section, union soldarity, Xenophobia | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Unions and Immigrants: The Past and the Present

Our National Melting Point: Far Past Time to Abolish ICE

Posted on 08/20/2025 by Grant Chassy

  The roaming marauders of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with masked faces, gallivanting around in armored vehicles and unmarked cars, are terrorizing communities across the United States. Los Angeles, a California city with sanctuary laws meant to protect immigrant … Continue reading →

 437 total views,  1 views today

Posted in ICE, Immigrants, Immigration, Section, Violence | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Our National Melting Point: Far Past Time to Abolish ICE

ICE Strikes in East Urbana: Roofing Crew Disappeared with Barely a Trace

Posted on 08/19/2025 by Brian Dolinar

This article appeared on the author’s Substack on June 24, 2025. It has been lightly edited for style. At least eight men were taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in East Urbana in the early morning hours of Tuesday, … Continue reading →

 589 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Community, ICE, Immigrants, Immigration, labor, Section | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on ICE Strikes in East Urbana: Roofing Crew Disappeared with Barely a Trace

Four Feds Arrest Two Men at Traffic Court

Posted on 05/14/2025 by Brian Dolinar

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack on April 7. ICE Arrests Resume at the Courthouse My phone rang early on Tuesday morning last week just before 9 a.m. It was Lis Pollock, head public defender at the … Continue reading →

 605 total views,  4 views today

Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Justice, Section | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Four Feds Arrest Two Men at Traffic Court

The Real Influencer Threats in Central Illinois

Posted on 02/25/2025 by C. Owen

What Happened November 5? The headlines stated that the swing states might go blue, carried by women angry over the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, or by Latinos who would not hand their states to racists like Donald Trump, … Continue reading →

 712 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Feminism, Immigrants, LGBTQA, Politics, Racism, Reproductive Justice, Right-wing Libertarianism, Section, Tax policy, Trump, Voices, White Nationalism | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Real Influencer Threats in Central Illinois

Winter Issue Front Cover

Posted on 12/28/2024 by Public i

AFTER THE ELECTION: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?  1,083 total views,  2 views today

 1,083 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Immigrants, Refugees, Trump | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Winter Issue Front Cover

Preparing for the Knock on the Door: Community Responses to the Threat of Mass Deportation

Posted on 12/28/2024 by Janice Jayes

Across Champaign-Urbana immigrant assistance organizations, schools, and local governments are worried but actively planning for the next administration. Eight years ago they underestimated Donald Trump, dismissing his vitriol as mere campaign posturing. This time they know that the incoming president … Continue reading →

 860 total views,  4 views today

Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Refugees, Sanctuary movement, Section, Trump | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Preparing for the Knock on the Door: Community Responses to the Threat of Mass Deportation

The Erosion of US Asylum Protections

Posted on 07/29/2024 by Janice Jayes

It’s been a bad year for international “rule of law.” The escalating war in Ukraine and the wretched failure of the United Nations (UN) to respond to the horror in Gaza deserve the attention they have received, but other international … Continue reading →

 839 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Latin America, Refugees, Section | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Erosion of US Asylum Protections

Ukrainian Refugees and National(ist) Politics in Eastern Europe

Posted on 02/12/2024 by Richard Esbenshade

In an article in our last issue (November-December Public i), I used the case of Hungary—its positive reception of Ukrainian refugees, alongside its negative role in hindering EU political and material support of Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression—to … Continue reading →

 969 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Eastern Europe, Immigrants, International, International, Poland, Politics, Refugees, Section, Ukraine | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Ukrainian Refugees and National(ist) Politics in Eastern Europe

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 →

 1,507 total views,  1 views today

Posted in health, Immigrants, Immigration, Mental Health, Public Health, Section | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Win for the Whole Community: New Funds Will Improve Immigrant Access to Mental Health Services in Champaign County

June/July Issue Back Cover

Posted on 06/24/2022 by Public i
Posted in Immigrants, Uncategorized, Voting Rights | Tagged , , | Comments Off on June/July Issue Back Cover

The Congolese Community of Champaign County

Posted on 02/09/2022 by John Matanda Tshipama

We are the Congolese Community of Champaign County. The estimated number of Congolese living in Champaign County is more than 6,000 persons. Our mission is to support each other and help our children learn about the country, as well as … Continue reading →

 3,321 total views,  3 views today

Posted in Champaign County, Community, Immigrants, Immigrants, Voices | Comments Off on The Congolese Community of Champaign County

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 →

 1,934 total views

Posted in Foreign Policy, Immigrants, Immigration, Indigenous, Refugees, Violence | Comments Off on The Border We Build Every Day: Guatemala in Champaign-Urbana

On the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis: Our Farmworkers Face Heat’s Deadly Dangers

Posted on 09/23/2021 by Pat Simpson

Heat kills, and it kills farmworkers with distressing regularity. The list of the dead includes migrants like 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez in the grape fields of California; 38-year-old Francisco Perez working in a tree nursery outside Portland; Miguel Angel … Continue reading →

 1,522 total views,  2 views today

Posted in Farmworkers, Immigrants, Labor, Worker Health and Safety | Comments Off on On the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis: Our Farmworkers Face Heat’s Deadly Dangers

How the Campus Becomes the Border

Posted on 09/22/2021 by Daniel Gonzalez and Alex Sager

In August, 2020, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) opted for a hybrid in-person/online semester. The decision to partially reopen was made possible by the innovative SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell initiative. A crucial part of this program was … Continue reading →

 2,214 total views,  2 views today

Posted in COVID-19, Immigrants, Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off on How the Campus Becomes the Border

Mateo’s Story: Connecting with the Twice-Marginalized

Posted on 07/17/2020 by Janice Jayes

If you are a Q’anjob’al speaker in CU, you are probably familiar with the young face of Mateo Sebastian. In videos shared through social media he has helped the local community keep up with information on the virus, school closures, … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Immigrants | Comments Off on Mateo’s Story: Connecting with the Twice-Marginalized

Visibility and Vulnerability in the Age of COVID-19

Posted on 06/05/2020 by Janice Jayes

While diseases don’t discriminate, social responses to pandemics do. The disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on African Americans in Chicago, the Navajo in the Southwest and the incarcerated across the country highlights the way marginalization contributes to tragically different outcomes … Continue reading →

 1,750 total views,  1 views today

Posted in COVID-19, Food Insecurity, Immigrants | Comments Off on Visibility and Vulnerability in the Age of COVID-19