Category Archives: Immigration

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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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