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Lawyer Nick Caraquel: How love and religion can sometimes win cases
By Cristina DC Pastor Early this year, he burst into the community in an intense, almost invasive way. An upstart lawyer who grew up dirt-poor in Davao selling banana cue to help his family. His story, shared more than 7,000 times, grabbed social media attention. He is now on radio, sharing immigration insights, dispensing advice. […]
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Praise, outrage, tears over Alex Tizon’s ‘slave’ story
While the Pulitzer Award-winning journalist Alex Tizon’s essay “My Family’s Slave” has moved many Filipinos to tears, it has also sparked heated debate about attitudes toward having a housemaid in the family – still quite common in the Philippines. Does it constitute slavery if the family is harsh and exploitative, benevolence if the family is […]
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CA Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye denounces ‘stalking’ of immigrants, use of courthouses as ‘baits’
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. An open letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions penned by the California Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye contained a passionate argument against immigration enforcement policies revolving around California courthouses. “I am deeply concerned about reports from some of our trial courts that immigration agents appear to be stalking undocumented immigrants […]
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Diane Paragas, H.P. Mendoza win Cinematografo filmmaking grant
The Cinematografo Originals Contest unveiled the two filmmakers and their works which topped the search that started in January. They are “Yellow Rose” by Diane Paragas, a story about a 15-year-old Filipino girl who dreams of being a country music star despite the ridicule of everyone around her; and “Bitter Melon” by H.P. Mendoza, a […]
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The FilAm community is ‘aging,’ seniors underserved: study
By Cristina DC Pastor Remedios Roman, 75, lives in a rent-stabilized Midtown apartment close to Madison Square Garden. She’s been all alone since her husband died some 20 years ago, her adult children now with families of their own out on the West Coast While she may be by herself, she is not entirely isolated […]
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Karen Elizaga of Womankind: Showing survivors of domestic violence to be ‘kind to themselves, to one another’
By Cristina DC Pastor For women in NYC struggling with domestic abuse, the path to survival may not always lie in the hands of a friend or a family member. Sometimes, a community center run by people unknown to them can offer momentary protection and a comforting kind of solace. Womankind, formerly known as the […]
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Injured CT physical therapist Marianne Baun gets check from PHL government
A check for $1,400 was handed by officers of the Philippine Consulate to the family of Marianne Baun, a physical therapist in Connecticut who was seriously injured in a January 10 vehicular accident. Marianne was comatose for several weeks, and remains confined in the Intensive Care Unit. Her family said she is gradually recovering. The […]
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When Divorce is the only immigration option
By Cristina DC Pastor Everything about this story is true, except for the names of the individuals. Albert and Elisa have been in the country unlawfully for the last 20 years. Like many immigrants, they have been through a long line of lawyers dispensing one unfortunate advice after another. They consulted with a lawyer from […]
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Lawyers association urges ‘Magkaisa’ vs Donald Trump’s immigration orders
By Jhanice Domingo The National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA) has denounced Donald Trump’s recent Executive Order signed on January 27, 2017. The Order suspends entry of all refugees into the United States for 120 days, bans Syrian refugees from resettling in the United States indefinitely, and blocks citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from […]