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

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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.

Twitter & Facebook “Keeping Drive Alive” for Immigration Reform

play audio
Play

Friday, May 17, 2013   

NEW YORK – Advocates in New York and the nation have been using social media in an effort to keep the immigration reform drive alive in Congress – and they believe it's working.

The U.S. Senate spent this week marking up the immigration reform bill, and Maryann Sinclair Slutsky, executive director of Long Island Wins, says her group is focused on keeping track of so-called 'poison-pill' amendments.

"The tweeting, the Facebooking, the calling, the sending letters to the 'Gang of 8' made a very good impact,” she says. “A lot of the negative amendments that were being marked up didn't pass, so, it was a good week."

Among the amendments rejected was a Republican proposal to require biometric entry and exit systems be installed at U.S. ports of entry before legal status could have been granted to as many as 11 million undocumented people.

Slustsky says reforming the immigration system will help put a plug in the current brain drain on Long Island. She says the area could reap big economic benefits if highly trained students and other high-tech immigrants could stay longer.

"We're losing them in the medical field,” she says. “We're losing them in the science field and if they restructure the visas, Long Island can really be a hub for high-tech, high-skilled workers."

Slutsky says reform will also help provide needed workers for contractors and local farmers.

"It will also help with our agri-business out on the East End of Long Island,” she maintains. “There will be visas more accessible to seasonal workers."

Senators are expected to continue their debate over high-tech visas into next week.





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