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Atty. Arvin Amatorio: ‘Nothing political’ about visa suspension
By Cristina DC Pastor On January 18, it was announced that countries like the Philippines, the Dominican Republic and Ethiopia are no longer eligible for the H-2A, H-2B visa programs. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State said “overstay and human trafficking concerns” were reasons for the suspension. They noted a “four-fold […]
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Lying, passing, hiding: An undocumented immigrant’s life
By Cristina DC Pastor Pulitzer Award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas remembers writing his first book –“not a memoir” – as he was kicked out of his ‘Frazier-style’ loft in downtown L.A. shortly after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. The building manager warned him that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might show up in […]
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More than 4 million Filipinos now call America home
By Rene Pastor From 3,912,921 Filipinos in the United States last year to 4,037,564 this year. We are now more than 4 million Filipino Americans. We comprise a solid 40 percent chunk of the Filipino diaspora around the world. In this country, we are the third largest Asian American subgroup behind the Chinese (5,219,184) and […]
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Rise in deportations as lawyers deplore Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance policy’
By Cristina DC Pastor If you’re an undocumented TNT, chances are people in the community know about it. TNT means “tago ng tago,” the Filipino term for illegal immigrants who are always hiding. Thanks to the corrosive power of ‘chismis’ (gossip), your legal status is likely to pass whisper to whisper by people you know […]
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A visit with a Filipino detained by ICE
By Mariel Padilla In the waiting room, a handful of people wait for the security guard to call their names. An elderly man with a black hat and wooden cane taps his foot. A young woman rocks a baby. Melanie Dulfo enters the detention center, walks past the seated people and tells the security guard […]
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FALDEF official is among outstanding alumni at Cardozo Law
A first-generation New York lawyer, Marie Licelle Razalo Cobrador was recently featured in the Cardozo Journal of Outstanding Alumni. She received her LL.M. from Cardozo School of Law and is now the Founding Attorney of Cobrador & Associates, PLLC. She handles immigration, business transactions, real estate, litigation, intellectual property and entertainment law. As part of […]
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Where are the feel-good migration stories?
By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano Remittances have been the reason for overseas Filipinos’ symbolic tag as heroes since a formal labor export program began in 1974. From the 1970s to the mid-2000s, remittances have helped shore up the homeland economy’s fiscal issues, mitigated the impacts of domestic unemployment, and somewhat help buoy the Philippines’ gross national […]
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Businesswoman Rena Avendula charged with 5 counts visa fraud
By Cristina DC Pastor The United States has filed five counts of visa fraud against businesswoman Rena Beduya Avendula, 50, for allegedly creating “fake job positions” using the H-1B work visa program. Avendula is the owner and managing executive of Professional Placement & Recruitment, Incorporated (PPRI), with offices in Woodside, Queens. PRRI was described in […]
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Save the ethnic media: Immigration, digitalization seen as challenges
By Cristina DC Pastor Community journalists and advertising agencies gathered in New York’s Chinatown district to examine challenges and trends and how they can work to make media organizations more sustainable. The roundtable, held at the Museum of Chinese in America, was organized by the Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF), a national trade organization comprising […]