Last Updated on Sunday, 05 June 2011 03:08 Written by U.S Immigration News Sunday, 05 June 2011 02:47
New Yorkers are stepping up pressure on Gov. Cuomo to back out of an immigrant fingerprint-
sharing program-just like the Illinois governor. States who take part in Secure Communities
automatically send to Homeland Securities the fingerprints of everyone who is booked.
The Federal Government says the program is to find and deport dangerous criminals,
opponents say the program sweeps up low-level offenders and even domestic violence victims.
“The time is now for Gov. Cuomo to take a stance,” said Sunita Patel, staff attorney at the
Center for Constitutional Rights. “Individuals who have been victims of domestic violence have
been deported because of Secure Communities.”
A dozen religious leaders held a vigil outside Cuomo’s office urging him to follow Illinois Gov.
Pat Quinn’s lead and yank New York State out of the program. A Cuomo spokesman said the
administration is reviewing the program, which has been rolled out in 24 New York counties but
is yet to be active in any of the five boroughs of New York City.
NIGERIA AND FRANCE NEGOTIATE A NEW IMMIGRATION AGREEMENT.
Nigeria and France have begun a process of improved partnership on immigration to ensure
balance in the exchange for Nigerian professionals working in France. Nigeria’s envoy to
France, Ambassador Gordon Bristolm, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Paris that the development was in line with the EU-Africa immigration cooperation pact on
unified migration policy.
According to him, “A situation where our professionals are taken away from us by developed
countries including the EU without anything given in return is not a fair proposition. When the
negotiation starts, we have to ensure that whatever agreement we reach takes into account
our own national interests.”
British Metropolitan Police Ordered to Pay Damages to Nigerian Immigrants.
The British Metropolitan Police has been ordered to pay damages to four women for failing to
investigate allegations that they had been forced into slavery. The women who arrived in
London from Nigeria as children, said they were beaten and emotionally abused by the families
they were forced to work for, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The High Court said the women were “victims of the failure to investigate.” The Metropolitan
Police argued it could not carry out an investigation because the women would not cooperate,
but the court dismissed this as untenable.
73-year Old Babysitter Stranded in America After 12-years of Slavery.
Mrs. Marthina Okeke, a 73-old widow, grabbed the offer of traveling to the United States to
serve as a nanny. That hope of greener pasture was quashed when she discovered that she was
lured to serve as a slave for a Nigerian family.
For 12 years, she served her masters not knowing that not even a dime was remitted to
her family in the village, Arondizuogu, Imo state, Eastern Nigeria. She escaped and was rescued
by a non-governmental organization, Africans in America(AIA), which is a non-profit
organization raising awareness on issues affecting African immigrants in the United States.
The old lady is stranded but she is determined to return home to spend the rest of her life with
her family.
Olakunle O. Bolarinwa,
Is a Nightline Family Member Of The Voice Of America {VOA}.
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