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NEWS BYTES
The families of three Dominican Republic men who died in a shipping containing attempting to smuggle themselves into Florida have filed suit against the shipping company. According to the suit, the shipping company was responsible for inhumane conditions that led to the deaths. Two days after leaving the Dominican Republic the freighter arrived in Palm Beach, were authorities found the three men. Seven other men who made the trip survived. Authorities said that members of the ship’s crew had heard pounding and noises coming from the container, but because of its location they were unable to do anything, and so they contacted authorities in Palm Beach. According to the lawsuit, the crew made no effort to help the men and in fact laughed at their cries for help.
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The home in Miami where Elian Gonzalez stayed with his great-uncle has been sold. The purchaser plans to turn it into an office for an immigration advocacy group. The house was purchased by Delfin Gonzalez, one of Elian’s great-uncles.
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Last month the public university system in Georgia announced that undocumented immigrants are free to attend state universities, assuming that they meet the necessary admission requirements. The system has recently begun an effort to inform the public of this, which is contrary to what many undocumented immigrants had been told by teachers, guidance counselors and state officials. Undocumented children in the US are entitled to attend public schools, but there has never been a ruling on whether they can attend colleges. There are still, however, many factors that could prevent an undocumented immigrant for attending college. For example, they will probably be charged out of state tuition, and undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal assistance for college.
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Two Kenyan women claim to have been enslaved by an employee of the Kenyan Embassy in Washington, D.C. They say that during the few months they were in the US, they were not allowed to read newspapers or leave the house, and that they were never paid. The women have filed a lawsuit against the employer, claiming that their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act were violated. The women often worked more than 120 hours a week. According to court documents, the employer has important contacts in Kenya, and that the two women are afraid to return to Kenya because of what might happen. The employer, who works as a secretary at the embassy, does not have diplomatic immunity.
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The Cambridge, Massachusetts City Council this week approved a measure that would allow noncitizens to vote in local school board elections. The measure would not allow undocumented immigrants to vote, and would require those who vote to declare that they intend to become US citizens. One of the primary motives for the measure was the lengthy delays in INS processing of naturalization applications. The measure must still be approved by the state legislature as a home rule petition. The city of Amherst has a similar measure pending before the state legislature.
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The second suspect in the brutal beating of two Mexican laborers in Farmingville, New York, has finally been arrested. More than a month after the beating, Christopher Slavin, 29, turned himself in to police. He was charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated harassment, as was his teenage accomplice, Ryan Wagner. Like Wager, Slavin has numerous tattoos, including a swastika. If convicted, he faces up to 50 years in prison.
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The Board of Immigration Appeals recently announced another measure that will be taken to streamline its process of adjudicating cases. Four types of cases have been added to those in which a single Board member can affirm an Immigration Judge’s decision. These are: appeals from a deportation order where the underlying facts are not in dispute and it is clear the alien is not eligible for any form of relief; appeals where the alien is ineligible for cancellation of removal because of failure to meet one of the statutory requirements; appeals where it is clear the alien does not meet physical presence requirements for relief; and appeals where, for nonstatutory reasons, it is clear the alien is not eligible for cancellation of removal.
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Temporary Protected Status has been extended for citizens of three countries, Sudan, Burundi, and Sierra Leone. Eligible aliens must apply for re-registration between November 9, 2000 and December 11, 2000. Only those who have already registered for TPS are eligible for re-registration, although some people will be eligible for initial late registration. Conditions in these countries continue to be violent, and there are repeated human rights violations.
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Despite official protests from the Mexican government and other governments around the world, the state of Texas this week executed a Mexican citizen who had not be informed of his rights under the Vienna Convention. He becomes the 35th person executed in Texas this year, the US state with the busiest execution schedule. The execution was allowed to go forward after the Supreme Court denied his request for a reprieve in a 5 to 4 decision. According to the State Department, even if Miguel Flores was not informed of his rights, it was not a sufficient basis to overturn the sentence.
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