Cambodian rock and roll crosses generational divides in Chicago

BY BENJAMIN HAAS AND ALI PECHMAN When the Cambodian-American fusion band Dengue Fever played in Chicago, a simple cultural difference tipped off drummer Paul Smith as to how many Cambodians were in the audience. ...

How to go about sending money home from the U.S.

There are several ways to transfer money overseas, one common but high cost way of doing so being to use money transfer companies such as MoneyGram or Western Union. While this option is convenient given that walk-ins are welcome and money is transferred fast, typically...

Citizenship tests – how to prepare for one

What do the stripes on the U.S. flag mean? For born American citizens who do not have to take the U.S. Naturalization Test, the answer may just be that they represent the 13 original states. But for immigrants wishing to be naturalized and Chicago-based groups wishing to help...

Indian student finds American schools easier

Sushma R., 19, is a college student in Chicago now, but she recalls being scatterbrained and squirmy as a little girl. That is when she moved in 1996 from Bangalore, India, (also known as Bengalaru) the third most populous city in India, to Illinois with her parents and her...

Taking the test

Recounted by Ty TimFor me the first thing to adjust [to] is language. So hard for me to adjust. You know, what do they talk about? What is it? I just learned ABC from a radio at camp [refugee camp]; I know how to...

Confronting the simple task of speaking

Despite his hard-won skills while wandering the Cambodian jungle for weeks, such as scaling trees to navigate and fine-tuning his senses to sniff out water, Ty Tim admits through a thick accent that once he came to America, one of the hardest adjustments was the seemingly...

Driving with dignity

By Jonah Newman Seventeen years ago, Iqbal Mevawalla left his comfortable job as a typist at a TV station in Karachi, Pakistan for an unknown future in the United States. When he arrived in Chicago, his first job...

The DREAM Act: What would it change?

The DREAM Act would give undocumented immigrant youth the chance at conditional citizenship – meaning, legal residency and a green card – by joining the U.S. military or attending a university for two years....

A Schoolteacher with a Story

Take a glimpse at the desk of Rosanna Castellanos, a bilingual special education teacher at Goudy Elementary School in Chicago, and you may be surprised by what you see. In addition to pencils, pens, textbooks and...

Holding on to God in ICE custody

By Jonah Newman Simeon Simeonov held his Bible close to him as he huddled under his umbrella, among more than 50 immigrant rights activists and religious leaders, outside the Broadview Detention Center, a...

The doll that brings back Bogota

Jacqueline sits on the bed, staring up blankly with heavy blue eye shadow surrounding her painted eyes. Twenty-two year old Laura Mesa picks her up, pushing down some of her wiry red hair, and explains that...

Immigrant Sponsorship

Sponsorship is tricky term, much like green cards which are no longer green. Immigrant sponsorship is often used to refer to the process an immigrant must go through to come to the United States. While most...

Sanctuary cities- What are they and why are they controversial?

Imagine you’re an illegal immigrant living in Chicago.  You cannot obtain a driver’s license without the proper papers, yet you need to drive in order to get to work.  One day, a police officer pulls...

In a World on the Move, a Tiny Land Strains to Cope

This article ran two summers ago, but left a lasting impact on me as an example of a slice of the world rarely seen: the small, often impoverished countries immigrants leave for America or elsewhere. The number of people at this time who lived in Cape Verde was almost matched...

Tech Recruiting Clashes With Immigration Rules

Sanjay G. Mavinkurve must work from Canada for the Silicon Valley-based Google because his wife does not have a visa. Many of the engineering elites are from overseas, hailing from India, China and Russia among many others. Immigration law in some cases hinders the ability...

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