Protesters join an Immigration Rally organized by The Alliance for Labor and Immigrant Rights and Jobs for All near City Hall New York City on May 1, 2010.

More photos from the rally are available in this set.

© 2010 Jens Schott Knudsen | blog.pamhule.com | Twitter @jensschott

From a protest I walked past last week in mid-town Manhattan.

Video: www.blogguba.com/tj/archives/2007/05/post_14.html

Immigration march in Downtown Los Angeles

Demonstrators marched from Little Village, the heart of Chicago's Mexican American community to the court where they blocked the building entrance resulting in three arrests.

The protest was part of a week of actions greeting the NATO summit May 20-21 in Chicago.

"We are protesting immigration judges who are ignoring the memorandum issued by the Obama administration to not deport people who don't have criminal backgrounds," said Jorge Mujica, a leader of the protest. "The immigration agent arrests you, but it is the judge that effectively deports you."

"Out of the million that have been deported, 600,000 didn't have any criminal background. They were just workers with jobs. Many were parents of US children who were U.S. citizens," said Mujica.

Also participating were groups opposing the construction of a new 785-bed immigrant detention center in Crete, Illinois, which would be operated by the private Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

"Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is partnering with CCA, who is making a killing in the prison industry," said Rozalinda Borcila of Moratorium on Deportations Campaign. "This is a parallel prison system that is being built with absolutely no checks and balances."

Borcila said the detention centers are being advertized as spas and family friendly. However, detainees, including children, have no guaranteed right to individual bond hearings or individual due process rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution.

"We need immigration reform to deal with globalization. Instead we are getting detention reform and privatization that pushes more people into detention" she said

"CCA and ICE claim that 200 jobs will be created," said Artemio Arreola of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "But they will close three other facilities and eliminate 195 jobs to do it."

Arreola called upon the Illinois General Assembly to pass SB 1064, which has already passed in the state senate. The bill would prevent the privatization of the jails.

According to Mujica the privatized jails are charging the United States between $119-$135 to house a detainee over night. There is tremendous pressure by CCA and other private contractors to fill the jails and keep rounding up immigrants in order to maximize profits. The agreement in Illinois calls for a guaranteed 80% capacity which immigrant reform groups fear would fuel more roundups.

"It used to be detainees were held for 24-48 hours before they were deported. Now detainees are held for 4-9 months. Every night counts for the private corporations who are making a business out of immigration," said Mujica.

Members of the international youth group YOLO, or You Only Live Once, play a card game at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen, Germany. The group has youth from Syria, Iran, Ghana and Nigeria. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Campaign Meeting held on Valentines Day to discuss the right to family life and the new immigration rules.

Photos courtesy of Jason Wen www.jasonwenphoto.net/

PHOENIX, Arizona, U.S., Jan 17, 2010, For the migrants who marched, a call for Arpaio to be removed from office went hand in hand with a call for immigration reform. Credit: Valeria Fernandez/IPS

While none of these bags belonged to Ellis Island immigrants, they represent the kinds of things immigrants brought to America to start their new lives.

Campaign Meeting held on Valentines Day to discuss the right to family life and the new immigration rules.

Photos courtesy of Jason Wen www.jasonwenphoto.net/

Sorry for the poor quality shot...

Fortunately immigration was empty.

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Campaign Meeting held on Valentines Day to discuss the right to family life and the new immigration rules.

Photos courtesy of Jason Wen www.jasonwenphoto.net/

CHCI Conference

Washington DC 2012

Photo by Eddie Arrossi Photography

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Employer-immigrants from 'Slave' Nations, continue underground traditions in the U.S. against our laws!

Not only do lax employer laws encourage illegal immigration, they encourage slave labor for our legal immigrants! Our Forefathers shed much blood to free slaves as an essential part of our U.S. Constitution...

This issue alone is worth our action... But read more

Members of the international youth group YOLO, or You Only Live Once, play a card game at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen, Germany. The group has youth from Syria, Iran, Ghana and Nigeria. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

kansas overseas careers is one of the best immigration consultants in India

Uta Dauner Eisbrenner leads a German class for recent immigrants at the United Methodist Church of the Caller in Frankfurt, Germany. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Teacher Natalia Salustowicz (right) helps recent immigrants Swapna (left) from India and Richard from Ghana in their German class at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen, Germany. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Photo credit: Bob Howard

With an immigration bill filed in the Senate by the "Gang of 8" led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Village Square took on the issue in its Dinner at the Square series on Tuesday, April 23rd with “Immigration and the American Melting Pot."

Find information about the panel and an audio of the program online here:

wiki.tothevillagesquare.org/x/MgBaAQ

Find The Village Square online here: www.tothevillagesquare.org

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Federal Building in Westwood on June 23, 2018, in opposition to President Trump's illegal immigration policy that resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents after they illegally crossed the border into the U.S.

Law Office of Sergio H. Benavides is a law firm focusing on Criminal Law Defense and Immigration, based in San Francisco and Hayward, California. The firm provides comprehensive Criminal Defense legal help to clients facing jail or prison.

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Campaign Meeting held on Valentines Day to discuss the right to family life and the new immigration rules.

Photos courtesy of Jason Wen www.jasonwenphoto.net/

Australian immigration passport stamp

Yvonne Agduyeng (left) helps lead a German class for recent immigrants at the United Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen, Germany. The students are singing children's songs in German. Agduyeng is a Global MIssion Fellow of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

San Diego, CA

The Rev. Heike Miller (right) visits with Ruchi Shukla and her children Mohit (left) and Kayna outside the United Methodist Church of the Caller in Frankfurt, Germany. The family, recently arrived from India, was attending a German class offered by the church. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.

Arriving at the small town of Bai Houei Sai in Laos.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Federal Building in Westwood on June 23, 2018, in opposition to President Trump's illegal immigration policy that resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents after they illegally crossed the border into the U.S.