New America Media

Illinois a Sign of Hope for National Dreamers

In light of the failed passage of the Dream Act in Congress, Illinois passed a state version of the act on Aug 1, allowing low-income immigrant students to receive financial aid for college. Called the Dream Fund, the state is relying on private donors to set up scholarships to aid the undocumented students. 

Rights Advocates Balk as San Jose Police Consider Federal Surveillance Program

San Jose Police Department officials are considering participation in the Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) program which is causing alarm among immigrant-service organizations. The minority-majority city has large immigrant populations, including those from South Asian and Muslim communities.

Islam-Baiting Doesn’t Work: 
It Failed in Campaign 2010 and Will Do Worse in 2012

In state after state, 2010 midterm election candidates who traded on illusory Muslim “threats,” tied ordinary American Muslims to terrorists and radicals, or characterized mosques as symbols of Islamic triumphalism, went down to defeat.

Journalist Vargas to Media: "Immigrant Struggle Is About Us, Not Them"

Shortly after the publication of his tell-all essay in the New York Times revealing his undocumented status since age 12, Filipino-American journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winner, sat down at his New York apartment for one-on-one interviews with television anchor Odette Keeley and editor Anthony Advincula, both of New America Media.

Japanese American Eldercare Foreshadows Nation’s Aging Future

Some 21.5 percent of the 1.3 million Japanese American (JA) population is 65 or older, making it this country’s oldest ethnic group. The overall number of 65-plus residents in the United States, now 12 percent, will reach 20 percent about 2050. So the challenges of housing and caregiving for JA seniors foreshadow what the future will bring for the rest of the country.

ACLU Report Slams Arizona’s Abuse of Detained Immigrants

Solitary confinement, harassment, sexual assault and lack of medical care are just a few of the inhumane conditions that immigrants face in detention centers across Arizona, according to a report released Thursday by the Arizona American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

For Intrepid Journalists, the Most Dangerous Stories Hit Close to Home

At a time when the media spotlight is often on the foreign journalist who is arrested and thrown into a prison in Iran or North Korea, Chauncey Bailey and Jyotirmoy Kumar Dey’s murders underline a simple and harsh truth. The most dangerous place for a journalist is often at home.

My Father’s Waterloo -- Vietnam, Napoleon and Our Family Vacation

In his new book East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres from Heyday Books, New America Media editor Andrew Lam recalls teenage memories of how his father, once a South Vietnamese general, drove his family all over Belgium to find Waterloo, where his hero, Napoleon, faced defeat.

Korean Woman, Adopted as Infant, Facing Deportation in Arizona


A Korean woman in Arizona, who was adopted and brought to the U.S. when she was eight months old, is facing deportation after a second conviction for theft, reports the Korea Times. The 31-year-old mother of three is currently being held in a federal detention center in Arizona.

The Most Underreported Stories of the Decade

The last 10 years have seen unprecedented growth of ethnic media in the United States. Media serving the country’s immigrant and minority communities may be the new mainstream of American journalism, but many of the stories they cover still fly under the radar. Editors and publishers of ethnic media weighed in with their picks of what they felt were the most underreported stories of the decade.

'Quiet As They Come' -- An Interview with Author Angie Chau

San Francisco author Angie Chau's debut short story collection, Quiet As They Come, depicts Vietnamese-Americans living in the [San Francisco] Bay Area. NAM contributor Thai Anh Nguyen spoke with Châu about the book and what it feels like to be a literary sensation.

Students Refuse to Give Up on Dream Act, Despite Latest Setback

 

High school and college students in New York, who for years have been lobbying Congress to pass legislation that would bring undocumented students closer to their dream of attending college and pursuing a career, said last week they are not giving up the fight after lawmakers again refused to consider the Dream Act.

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