Staten Island Immigration & Naturalization Law Blog

Immigration detention centers have been scrutinized for some time. At best, they are a prison for people who have committed a non-violent crime (entering the country illegally); and at worst, they detain U.S. citizens based on discriminatory factors, treat people terribly and, in general, obstruct human rights. Immigration detention centers are back in the news this week, after a report detailed the startling tactic of adult detention centers holding minors for more than three days (which is supposed to be the legal limit for placing a minor in an adult detention center).

According to the report, roughly 1,400 undocumented minors were left in adult detention centers for more than 72 hours during a four-year period from 2008 to 2012. That means nearly once every day during that window of time, U.S. immigration detention centers were breaking the law -- and this is specific just to this rule.

The U.S. Senate is in the process of amending the immigration reform bill, and some amendments are designed to protect and extend immigrants' rights, while other amendments would effectively limit or eliminate those rights. For families on Staten Island and throughout New York, family immigration law is a key aspect of the proposed reforms, and some carefully designed amendments will be necessary to keep families together.

For example, the bill currently before the Senate actually takes away a sibling's right to sponsor his or her brother or sister from another country. The bill also greatly hinders some parents' ability to bring their kids to the U.S.

New Yorkers have a few days left to experience the theatrical play, "La Ruta," which will be staged this weekend at Staten Island's Snug Harbor Cultural Center. The play is about the plight of immigrants who come to the United States without legal permission.

Anyone who is familiar with the difficulties associated with the path to U.S. permanent residency or citizenship will appreciate this production by Working Theater. The play, which may not be appropriate for people under age 13, is actually set within a 48-foot truck, suggesting the severe conditions people have to endure to pursue a better life in the United States.

Since 2000, Staten Island has seen a steadily rising degree of diversity among its inhabitants. At a recent lecture at Wagner College, Dr. Joseph Salvo, director of the Department of Planning's Population Division, spoke about the Island's quickly growing immigrant population.

Consider that in 1970 Staten Island's foreign-born population totaled at 26,700. By 2000, there were 72,700 Islanders who were born outside of the U.S. But now, of the 470,000 people currently living on the Island, about 100,500 -- roughly 20 percent -- are immigrants.