skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

High Stakes for Children in Immigration Reform

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 22, 2013   

PHOENIX - An immigration reform package that got U.S. Senate committee approval on a bipartisan vote Tuesday night includes unprecedented protections for the children of immigrants.

Wendy Cervantes, vice president for immigration and child rights policy with the First Focus Campaign for Children, said one of the most important provisions would keep families from being torn apart and give parents who are detained or deported more of a say about what happens to their children.

"What's happening to those children is that they're either going back to their parents to a country they may have never known," she said, "or they're staying behind here with family members or friends."

About 5,000 children are in foster care in the United States because their parents have been detained or deported, Cervantes said.

The proposed Senate bill would make it much harder to terminate parental rights because of a person's immigration status. It also provides a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally, including about 360,000 in Arizona.

Arizona law prohibits unauthorized immigrant children from paying in-state college tuition. It's unclear whether work permits under President Obama's deferred-action program constitute lawful residence.

Promise Arizona director Petra Falcon said the comprehensive immigration reform bill now before the Senate should resolve the uncertainty.

"The CIR bill will give undocumented children provisional legal status," she said, "and it is that bill that should supersede the state law."

Drivers licenses have also been denied to deferred-action students by order of Gov. Jan Brewer, who says the work permits must be created by law, not a presidential executive order. Falcon says the immigration bill should also resolve that issue.

"Because this is actually law being passed by elected officials and members of Congress, and the President's executive order on DACA was different," she said. "So, that's the difference that we're dealing with here."

A full Senate vote is expected on the bill in June.

The Senate immigration-reform bill and amendments are online at judiciary.senate.gov.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021