In The News

Immigrants Facing Deportation by US Hospitals

Deborah Sontag August 11, 2008
It’s no secret that there are serious problems with both the US health-care system and US immigration policy. Less obvious, though, are the ways in which those problems can overlap. The US government requires hospitals to care for all in need of lifesaving medical treatment – including foreign immigrants, but does not cover all costs for that care. Some hospitals, eager to rid themselves of the...

McCain’s Delicate Immigration Dance

Michael Scherer July 1, 2008
John McCain must walk a fine line between courting up-for-grabs Latino voters who are sympathetic toward illegal immigrants and retaining traditional Republican voters who demand a harsher line toward those same immigrants. McCain has already earned the enmity of many Republicans over his support for comprehensive immigration reform. For now, the anti-immigration voters have no options – the...

Labor Row

June 30, 2008
The economies of oil-rich nations depend on immigrant labor from Bangladesh to clean and build, fix and cook. Workers are separated for months from families and work in harsh conditions for low wages in countries with lavish lifestyles. The alleged murder of a Bahraini supervisor by a Bangladeshi mechanic has exposed the inequality and tensions that go hand in hand with relying on immigrant...

Spain, Like US, Grapples With Immigration

Jason DeParle June 19, 2008
Millions of non-citizens, with 600,000 recently legalized, power Spain’s economy. The once illegal immigrants now command higher wages and enjoy job security. But a recent economic downturn has spurred unemployment, and Spanish citizens looking for work are understandably dissatisfied. Throughout open Europe, many critics question whether legalization programs approved in the southern countries...

EU Enlargement: The Dark Side of Globalization

June 2, 2008
As the European Union opened trade and borders, foreign investors set up shop in communities throughout the former Soviet Republic. For example, Samsonite opened a factory in Samorin, Slovakia, in 1997. But the jobs and economic development were short-lived, with Samsonite moving its production line on to China a decade later. “Samorin is a witness to the way that globalisation is fragmenting as...

Keep America Open to Trade

Carlos M. Gutierrez May 28, 2008
Like other countries, the US confronts rising energy, housing and food prices – but limiting immigration or reducing trade will not alleviate such economic problems. The US secretary of commerce and the governor of California urge that the US continue open policies on trade and immigration. In an opinion essay for the Wall Street Journal, Carlos Gutierrez and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both...

Workers of Our World, Legal or Not

Tim Rutten May 27, 2008
The protests and demands by immigrants in the US, both legal and not, have been subdued in 2008, even though this is a presidential election year. “Immigration is one of those campaign issues in which rhetoric and reality continue to move further apart,” writes Tim Rutten for the Los Angeles Times. The US is home for at least 12 million undocumented immigrants and such labor is essential for some...