Immigration
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NC’s Latest Anti-Immigration Legislation Adds to the Culture of Fear
On July 29, Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly pushed through the state’s latest anti-immigration legislation with the help of a lone Democrat who helped override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto. House Bill 318 — titled the “Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act” — builds on House Bill 10, which requires…
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How ICE Aggression Has Impacted the Restaurant Industry in East Charlotte
With residents speaking more than 50 languages among them, the Central Avenue/Albemarle Road Corridor is considered the most diverse of Charlotte’s six Corridors of Opportunity. Thanks to Central Avenue’s diverse makeup, and especially its burgeoning Latino population, the area has become a hotspot for folks in search of ethnic food…
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OPINION: HB 318 Won’t Keep Us Safe
Growing up on the east side, I remember my mom warning us when Mecklenburg County Sheriff deputies were staging checkpoints. When I was 13 years old, Sheriff Jim Pendergraph entered into the infamous voluntary 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), deputizing sheriff’s deputies as ICE agents. Over dinner,…
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5 Things to Know: Middle Schooler Killed in Dirt Bike Wreck
Middle Schooler Killed in Dirt Bike Wreck A 12-year-old boy was killed after the dirt bike he was operating in northwest Charlotte was struck by the driver of a pickup truck on Sunday. At around 1:06 p.m. that afternoon, first responders were called to a vehicle collision with injuries at…
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Advocates Speak Against Recent ICE Actions in Charlotte
A devoted father of 11 children, Jose Martinez worked tirelessly to build his own business and become the sole provider for his family. For days following Martinez’s detainment at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Charlotte, it felt to his family as if he had disappeared. “The…
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OPINION: Trump’s Deportation Proceedings Mirror ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Trial
As a longtime children’s literature professor, I often see connections between the children’s books that I teach in my courses and current events. This semester, I noticed a striking connection between Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the political/legal debate related to several recent deportation cases. The final two chapters in…
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Critical Program for Unaccompanied Children Scrapped Due to Trump Cuts
After weeks of raising the alarm about how the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts might affect their work, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (CCLA) now has to scrap a local program that helps unaccompanied children seeking legal immigration status in America. The center — which offers low-cost and pro-bono…
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Family Calls for Hate Crime Charges in Ardrey Kell Assault
The FBI has been brought in to investigate a potential hate crime in south Charlotte as the family of a 15-year-old female student at Ardrey Kell High School say she was targeted by a male student of the same age due to her Muslim faith earlier this month. According to…
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Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency in Limbo Amid Trump Orders
For nearly 30 years the Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency (CRRA), in partnership with its national agency the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has used federal grants to resettle newly arrived refugees and provide them with basic services outlined by…
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Advocacy Organizations Brace for Second Trump Administration
Following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency for the first time in November 2016, Queen City Nerve editor-in-chief Ryan Pitkin, at the time a reporter for Creative Loafing, spoke with a number of local organizations serving vulnerable populations that found themselves the target of Trump’s most incendiary rhetoric.…
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Nooze Hounds: Sil Ganzo of ourBRIDGE for KIDS
On episode 91 of the Nooze Hounds podcast, I talk to Sil Ganzo, founder and executive director of ourBRIDGE for KIDS, which launched as an after-school program for immigrant and refugee students in Charlotte in 2014. Ganzo discusses her organization’s latest project, the Charlotte Is Home Center, which will provide…
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Charlotte is Home Center to Provide Services to Immigrant, Refugee Communities
Community leaders with Aldersgate, ourBRIDGE for KIDS, Charlotte Community Health Clinic, and Carolina Migrant Network came together on April 12 to kick off construction at the future site of the Charlotte is Home Center, a first-of-its-kind facility in the region that will offer low-cost health services, pro-bono immigration legal services,…
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New Polling Provides Expansive Insight From NC’s Latino Voters
The newly formed Hispanic Electorate Data Hub has released polling results that offer insights into the perspectives and priorities of Latino voters in North Carolina ahead of the 2024 elections. UnidosUS, the country’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, and Mi Familia Vota (MFV), a national civic engagement organization,…
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Charlotte Bilingual Preschool Begins Renovations at New NoDa Location
School leaders, staff, developers and community members gathered at the site of the new Charlotte Bilingual Preschool (CltBP) location in NoDa on Tuesday for a “demo day” ceremony. With sledgehammers in hand, the group demolished the first wall of the building, officially marking the beginning of a renovation project that…
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Nooze Hounds: Héctor Vaca of Action NC Talks Immigration in Charlotte
On episode 82 of the Nooze Hounds podcast, I spoke with Héctor Vaca, training director and immigrant justice director with local advocacy organization Action NC, to discuss how issues around immigration in Charlotte overlap with housing, policing and more. We also discussed Héctor’s recent trip to Washington D.C. with the…
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North Carolina Farmworkers Settle in Human Trafficking, Wage Theft Suit
Three North Carolina farmworkers have reached a settlement worth more than $100,000 in a suit against their former employers that included disturbing allegations of human trafficking and wage theft carried out against migrant workers. The defendants in this case — farm labor contractors José M. Gracia Harvesting, Inc.; José M.…
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