BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick is releasing Tuesday what is described as the most comprehensive plan for integrating immigrants into Massachusetts. The director of the state’s Office for Refugees and Immigrants explains how the 131 recommendations would make economic and civic life more inclusive for the immigrant community.
BOSTON — A new study of Brazilian and Dominican immigrants living in Boston finds much larger populations than previously thought.
BOSTON — Nearly one in every four Bostonians is black, according to the most recent census estimates. Mayor Thomas Menino and challenger Michael Flaherty are courting black voters, but some wonder if black Boston is losing its political power.
SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The U.S. census bureau is validating addresses across Massachusetts, gearing up for the 2010 census. State officials are making a special effort this year to count immigrants, but some local activists are urging immigrants not to participate unless national leaders pass immigration reform.
BOSTON — Legal immigrants won’t receive dental or hospice care benefits and will likely pay higher premiums or co-pays. The state budgeted $40 million for 31,000 legal immigrants using the state health plan, down from $130 million the year before.
BOSTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy’s first major legislative victory helped change the face of this country. In 1965, Kennedy sponsored the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lifted national quotas on immigrants entering the country. This victory also launched his political career advocating for the foreign-born.
BOSTON — Immigrant advocates and the city of New Bedford are calling on local businesses there to pay for immigrant employees to learn English.
WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department intends to put federal employees in charge of monitoring the treatment of detainees in the country’s largest immigration detention facilities, two years after the government turned that job over to a private company.
LOWELL, Mass. — Child soldiers and the ruthless warlords of Liberia’s civil wars still haunt Thompson Stephens. Immigration raids in Massachusetts and the recent coup in Honduras plague Walter Rodriguez. And the health of Vietnamese-American elders worries Mike Nguyen. This weekend, though, they are soccer players, being united on the field by their immigrant experience.
BOSTON — Lawmakers may reach a resolution Wednesday on the funding of health care for some 30,000 legal immigrants. Beacon Hill reportedly reached a tentative deal to spend $40 million to cover legal immigrants enrolled in Commonwealth Care, the state’s health care plan.
