"Where are you from?" Thus begins the conversation and the constant reminder that it's not just what you say, but how you say it, especially when the content is delivered with a Caribbean accent. As a Caribbean islander transplanted in New York, I am often perplexed by the response even...

The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights ushered in a new era for nannies and house-keepers in New York. Or did it? It has been almost a year and a half since the legislation was enacted. This May Day would be a great opportunity to step back and assess the benefits.

Mention the term elder care and, invariably, the discussion focuses on the so-called 'sandwich generation,' the offspring of the elderly who either move back in with or near to parents so as to better care for them. But for seniors who do not live in close proximity to their children...

Education has long been regarded as an avenue for upward mobility, touted as a surefire way of breaking cycles of poverty. But as access to education, particularly higher education, becomes out of the reach of many, the question inevitably arises, "Should education be a civil right?"

Several months ago, the...

Forget Christmas, New Year's Day or even Presidents' Day, my favorite holiday remains Labor Day, and I choose to celebrate it in Brooklyn. Why? Every Labor Day Monday a stretch of Eastern Parkway, from Utica Avenue to Grand Army Plaza, is transformed into a temporary stage showcasing music, talent and...

In 1738, the French philosopher Voltaire wrote, "Love truth, but pardon error." Last week, New York Governor Paterson adhered to that maxim when he pardoned four Caribbean immigrants facing deportation.

Mario Benitez, Marlon Oscar Powell, Sanjay Broomfield and Darshini Ramsaran are nationals of the Caribbean - Dominican Republic, Jamaica,...

Coming soon to a nabe near you: the Secure Communities program, courtesy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But introduction and implementation of Secure Communities is being met with fierce opposition, as advocates call on Governor Paterson to rescind his Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with ICE aimed at bringing the ill-conceived...

Freedom of movement, the ability to cross borders, to create a new life in an adopted homeland is a goal to which many aspire - and even achieve. Immigrants later discover, however, that these freedoms can be restricted or even reversed, by detention and deportation, hence the label deportspora. In...

It is understood that a legal permanent resident who has a brush with the law would be subject to the consequences - including deportation - based on the nature of his/her offense. The government maintains that its priority when deporting immigrants has been on offenders of serious crimes. But preliminary...

"You can never go home again." At least, that's the way the refrain goes. And many Caribbean immigrants are coming to terms with the realization that they will never be able to return to their adopted hometowns or cities in the United States. Instead, they face repatriation to the country...

In 2008, there were approximately 1,000 immigrants who were being held in detention in New Jersey. In 2010, there are 1,500 immigrants currently being held for suspected immigration violations at the Elizabeth Detention Center and in five county jails (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Monmouth and Sussex). A spike in the number...

The immigration detention system will be a "truly civil detention system," one aimed at safely and humanely holding people accused of civil immigration violations until they are deported or released. That was the pledge made by the Obama administration about a year ago. Despite implementing measures such as the Detention...

This past spring, Gov. Paterson pardoned a young immigrant with a minor criminal record dating back to his teenage years. Shortly thereafter, the governor announced his intention to establish a pardons panel to review the cases of immigrants facing deportation on account of old or minor convictions. Reminder, the deadline...

Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir in which she chronicles her global quest for solace post-divorce, enjoyed an extensive run on the New York Times bestseller list. The book was then adapted into a movie, with actress Julia Roberts playing the part of Ms. Gilbert. In her follow-up book, Committed,...

Access to legal counsel is one of the fundamental tenets of American jurisprudence. But in instances when access is of critical importance, most notably by immigrants held in detention, more often than not access is denied or near impossible to attain. Under U.S. law, individuals in immigration proceedings are not...

There are myriads of ways family units can come under strain - death or illness of a parent, separation or divorce. In immigrant communities, mandatory deportation has emerged as one of the primary causes or stressors, when a parent with a criminal conviction (however minor or old), is sent back...

Today the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched its Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS) designed to provide current status on the location of a detainee. Long overdue, the service can eliminate the confusion that typically accompanies the arbitrary transfer of immigrants in detention and the anxiety experienced by family members...

For many aggrieved parties, the United Nations is a forum for resolving international disputes. But for Carlyle Leslie Owen Dale, a Jamaican immigrant, his petition to the United Nations was a bid to end his stay in U.S. immigration detention, where he had been languishing for five years despite chronic...

In the Jewish tradition, calling a fast is like sounding a moral alarm, a wake-up call. This was the reminder a rabbi gave this morning at St. Peter's Lutheran Church on Manhattan's east side, on the second day of a three-day fast for immigration reform.

More than fifty immigrant...

Contrary to expectations, the Obama administration has yet to deliver on its promises to overhaul the current detention system and the issue seems to have shifted to the back burner. But advocates and supporters, refusing to let the matter fall through the cracks, have renewed calls for reform.

Last Thursday,...