hburgnews.com

Local activist Patrick Lincoln was quoted in a Facing South story about companies that profit from deficiencies in the U.S. immigration/deportation system:
Private companies like ICA profit from inefficiency in the immigrant detention system. A recent article by the Washington Post documents immigrants languishing in ICE custody for months even after signing a voluntary deportation order.

The 11th Annual Harrisonburg International Festival will take place Saturday September 27 at Hillandale Park and this year its seeing lots more Green. “The Green Village” is one of the newest additions to the festival. It will be found near the Art Activities for Everyone area and across from the Main Stage and foods from around the world. The Green Village will feature a variety [...]

Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education (FREE), a business interest association in Richmond, recently released their report card for all legislators in the state. According to the “powerful business coalition,” Del. Matt Lohr scored a 63 in cumulative business rating, a 56 rating for this year’s session, and an 87% on the 2008 Voter [...]

Governor Kaine’s Commission on Immigration held a public hearing at the Festival building at JMU earlier this evening.

Anyone have a comment about the photo associated with this DNR article, top of the fold on page B1 in today’s paper, Tuesday August 12?
It accompanies a story about a local law office and the increased demand in the Hispanic community for legal advice. The photo prominently displays a campaign sign for a Republican [...]

There’s an article in today’s Washington Post about the local poultry industry and federal immigration “reform.” It hits several of the same points touched on in past hburgnews and DNR articles (such as the effects of high grain prices on the industry).
Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte use [...]

I talked to several people about the decision to eliminate Free Clinic services for undocumented patients. Here are some of the responses:
Sandy Hodge, Free Clinic Board President: “It was a very difficult decision. We discussed it for a good six months and felt like in order to be able to continue to [...]

At its May board meeting, the Harrisonburg Rockingham Free Clinic decided to cut off services to patients without legal status (confirmed through either a Social Security number or other documentation of legal residency), effective July 1. About 100 current patients, representing about 10% of the clinic’s case load, will be effected affected by the [...]

The immigrant rights group Mexicans Without Borders began meeting in Harrisonburg over a year ago to discuss issues impacting Hispanic communities in the United States and how those issues impact migrants and their families in the Shenandoah Valley. The Harrisonburg chapter is part of network of autonomous communities in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and [...]

You may remember when Sen. Emmett Hanger came under fire from Scott Sayre for supposedly voting “to allow illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates at Virginia’s colleges” (Hanger later clarified his position with a bill).
Now the issue of in-state tuition for children of unauthorized immigrants is building to a crescendo in Virginia. Attorney General Bob [...]

In the wake of the ICE arrests, WMRA’s Martha Woodroof interviewed an unauthorized Guatemalan immigrant who used to work at the Cargill plant in Dayton. She asks him about working with false papers.
Transcript and interview here.

Pilgrim’s Pride is in the middle of a class action suit by employees who say they are not paid for “time they spent putting on and taking off protective gear.” The suit was reported last week by the AP, the Athens Banner-Herald, and yesterday in the DNR.

H’burg news has 73 posts in the archives with the immigration tag; clearly, it’s a hot topic both locally and state-wide. Along those lines, the American Sociological Association (ASA) issued a news release: “Immigration ‘Hot Spots’ and Violent Crime Inversely Linked.”