US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will soon begin the process of expanding in-person interviews for certain applicants seeking permanent residency. This policy change stems from President Trump’s executive order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” which in addition to banning travel for certain citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries also called for uniform screening standards and procedures for all immigration programs.
Read moreThe Guardian: “Trump’s immigration crackdown is traumatizing a generation of children”
While the Trump administration dramatically increases immigration arrests and deportation orders, children of undocumented immigrant parents have reported a corresponding increase in fear, anxiety, and emotional trauma, and school officials have noted increased cases of absenteeism. Lisseth Rojas-Flores, an associate professor of marital and family therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary in California, explains to the Guardian what these children are going through: “Kids start lagging behind academically, having social stress, anxiety and depression. With the new administration and all the threats for deportation that are so vivid and so real, and all the rhetoric that’s going around, the anxiety escalates to a point that can be very paralyzing for some of these kids, who don’t want to go to school, or who go to school and sit in there and still worry about their families.”
Read moreWorth as a Person
Solar Eclipse 2017
This past Monday the contiguous United States experienced its first total eclipse of the sun since 1979. While some lucky American viewers were in the path of totality, here in New York City it was sadly only a partial eclipse with about seventy percent coverage of the sun. But that didn’t stop Liz and Carolyn from taking a good hard look! Since protecting your eyesight is crucial during a solar eclipse, as we hear staring directly at the sun’s rays can be damaging to your vision (Protima didn’t believe me when I told her this), Liz and Carolyn were prepared! Here they are wearing their eclipse glasses, trying to get a good look from our lunch room. Don’t worry, eventually they shared their glasses and let everyone else look too!
ABC News: “US Embassy in Russia suspends issuing nonimmigrant visas”
The US Embassy in Russia announced yesterday that it would temporarily suspend issuing nonimmigrant visas beginning August 23, 2017, after Russia’s decision to reduce embassy and operational staff. On September 1, 2017, visa operations will resume on a “greatly reduced scale,” and only the US Embassy in Moscow will issue visas. The consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok have indefinitely suspended their visa issuance. This decision will affect thousands of Russian tourists and visa applicants. Despite the visa shutdown and staff reduction, the US Embassy in Moscow and the three consulates will continue to provide emergency and routine services to American citizens, although hours may be adjusted.
Read moreThe Persistent Problems of Racism
The Floaters
Los Angeles-based artist Henry Taylor has brought summertime to the High Line with the floaters. This large-scale mural is an adaptation of a self-portrait of Taylor and a friend “blissed out” during a relaxing swim in Palm Springs, exhibiting simple and leisurely happiness. The mural has been painted on the side of a building on West 22nd Street near the High Line so visitors in both the park and the street below can view this artwork. Everyone is excited for this addition to the High Line, including Cecilia Alemani, the director and chief curator of High Line art, who says that “Taylor brings us into his own personal circle in Los Angeles of neighbors, friends, and idols. His use of color and method of arranging shapes elevate the everyday into another majestic realm. With the floaters, Taylor brings a slice of laidback West Coast living to the bustling streets of New York City.”
The New York Times: “A Game of Cat and Mouse With High Stakes: Deportation”
The federal government’s current heightened focus on arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants has turned courthouses in New York State and across the country into places where criminal law practitioners “face off” against immigration law enforcers. Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are prohibited from making arrests inside courtrooms, they are permitted to do so in hallways and directly outside courthouses. The prevalence of ICE agents, often in plain clothes, making arrests has reportedly made many immigrants afraid to appear in court as defendants or witnesses.
Read moreTo Be Given a Chance
OY/YO
Brooklyn-based artist Deborah Kass celebrates the diversity of New York City with her colossal sculpture OY/YO. The bright yellow, aluminum letters sit at over eight feet tall and after an earlier stay near Brooklyn Bridge are now at the North 5th Street Pier along the Brooklyn, Williamsburg waterfront. (The letters are even visible from the Empire State Building, which in turn can also be seen through the O!). The “YO” refers to both the Spanish, “I am,” and urban slang, while “OY” is a common Yiddish word to express woe or exasperation. Kass views these terms as equally important, symbolizing the “melting pot” of New York City. The artist tells Artnet: “The thing about this piece is it’s about so many communities coming together, and that’s what I hope people take from it.”