Stories related to: immigrant

The US government injects hundreds of illegal immigrants with dangerous psychotropic drugs to keep them sedated while being deported, the Washington Post reports. The so-called "pre-flight cocktail" often leaves detainees so incapacitated they need a wheelchair to get onto the plane. Used far more often than the "last resort" it's advertised as, the practice violates some international human-rights codes. More »

The number of detained immigrants has skyrocketed since 9/11, and many do not receive critical health care in overburdened federal detention centers, the Washington Post reports. Several immigrants, detained for minor offenses or waiting to seek asylum, received little or no care for life-threatening symptoms which finally killed them, a Post investigation found. More »

The downturn in the US economy is also hitting Mexico hard, the Washington Post reports. Money sent home from the US, known as remittances, dropped nearly 7% in January compared with the year before, the biggest plunge in 13 years, says the Mexican government. Without that money, the country's No. 2 source of foreign currency, many Mexicans can’t pay for basic needs. More »

While immigrant-staffed kitchens are the norm throughout Europe, Italians regard their food as an integral part of national identity. So what to make of the fact that the best carbonara in Rome is made by a Tunisian chef? The ensuing debate—whether Italian cuisine made by non-Italians is authentic—is likely to grow, reports the New York Times . More »

Miami's role as an international city—the "financial hub of Latin America," as one businessman calls it—is threatened by its residents' declining Spanish skills, the Miami Herald reports. Many descendants of the Cuban entrepreneurs and businessmen who flooded South Florida in the '60s and '70s speak only "kitchen Spanish"—good enough to talk to grandma, but not for business transactions. More »

More than 1,000 French police stormed housing projects in three largely immigrant communities outside of Paris early today and arrested 33 suspects believed linked to riots in November, AP reports. Police sources said two gang leaders in particular organized the street violence that included armed rioters in what they described as a "quasi-military operation." More »

Immigration officials are expected to grant green cards to tens of thousands of aliens before required FBI background checks, because the Department of Homeland Security is struggling under a ballooning backlog, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Background checks would be performed after immigrants are granted residency, which could be revoked if problems turn up later. More »

Violence in the name of family honor affects at least 17,000 women every year in Britain, and the number of unreported incidents may be drastically higher, the Independent reports. Forced marriages, sexual assaults, domestic violence, and so-called "honor" killings are reaching crisis levels, British officials say; they are calling on their consulates abroad to ramp up rescue efforts when daughters, some as young as 11, are sent abroad to marry against their will. More »

A dozen workers at a Minnesota slaughterhouse are showing symptoms of a new illness linked to inhaling bits of pig brains, the Washington Post reports. Symptoms include sensations of burning, numbness, and weakness in the arms and legs. All of the afflicted worked at or near the Austin packing house’s “head table,” where compressed air was used to remove pigs’ brains. More »

The US and Vietnam have signed a pact that could see thousands of Vietnamese living in America forcibly returned to their homeland, reports the Orange Country Register . Under the agreement, undocumented Vietnamese immigrants facing court deportation orders can now be repatriated. Some 8,000 people will be affected and the deportations could begin in two months. More »

Despite measured tones at Tuesday’s debate, the Nevada race was a dirty one for the leading Dems, Politico reports. The mudslinging began when Hillary Clinton said the Culinary Workers Union was scaring its members into supporting Barack Obama. The Illinois senator, for his part, did not prevent a union-backed Spanish-language ad which said “Hillary Clinton does not respect our people.” More »

Germany’s immigrants are fed up with Roland Koch, whose bid for reelection as governor of the state of Hesse is exacerbating racial tensions, Der Spiegel reports. Koch seized upon a December subway beating to blast "criminal young foreigners," and the rhetoric quickly escalated to anti-immigrant rant, portraying them as barely civilized brutes. A coalition of more than 100 immigrant groups has responded with an angry open letter. More »

An Alabama fisherman confessed to throwing his four young children to their deaths off an 80-foot bridge, the AP reports. Lam Luong, a 37-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, initially told police the children—ranging in age from 4 months to 3 years—were missing before admitting yesterday he had thrown them off the Dauphin Island Bridge near Mobile. More »

When a 10-year civil war drove tourists and climbers out of Nepal, the Sherpas who catered to them also left in droves, and many wound up in New York driving cabs. The taxis offer not only a livelihood but also fewer risks. "I stopped extreme climbing for my own safety," says Tsering Norbu Sherpa, a descendant of Tensing Norgay. ABC News goes along for the ride. More »

Americans are moving from state to state at the highest rate since the early '90s, reports  USA Today . The trend stems from immigrants spreading out from the traditional gateway states in search of jobs and lower living costs, as well as a larger number of mobile twenty-somethings. In a 2006 Census survey, 2.7% of Americans said they had moved from a different state in the previous year. More »

Although many Spanish-speaking immigrants who moved to America know little English, that's not true of their children and grandchildren, according to a new Pew survey. Only 23% of first-generation immigrants said they were competent in English, but 88% of second-generation and 94% of third-generation residents said they can carry on a conversation in English very well. More »

One out of every 8 US residents is an immigrant following seven years in which a record 10.3 million newcomers crossed US borders. But more than half of those were illegals, according to an anti-immigration group's census analysis. Critics were skeptical of the study’s conclusions—which focused on the burden immigrants pose to society—but not its data. More »

Bern was beset by rioters aiming to thwart a pre-election rally by the rightist Swiss People’s Party, expected to dominate this month's elections with its xenophobic platform. Masked protesters threw bricks and gas bombs and outwitted police by operating in small groups and destroying the party stage. The mayor admitted “impotence” in controlling the weekend riots, reports the Guardian. More »

Faced with the prospect of crops rotting in the fields for want of hands to pick them, the Bush administration is quietly easing immigration regulations on farmworkers, the Los Angeles Times reports. Farmers have been caught between the recent crackdown on illegal aliens crossing the border from Mexico and the notoriously inefficient H-2A program, which lets farmers apply for temporary immigrant workers. More »

The government yesterday unveiled its new citizenship test, which puts less emphasis on memorization of facts and more on analysis. To become naturalized, it's no longer enough for applicants to know how many stars or stripes are on the flag, but they may need to ID a constitutional amendment that addresses voting rights, the LA Times reports. More »