New York City is one of the most diverse places in the world with a rich cultural and immigrant heritage. For those looking to learn more about the city’s (and nation’s) immigration and migration history—including both voluntary and forced migration—we recommend ten locations to visit. We have included both well-known and off-the-radar spots.
Read moreNewsweek: “Naturalized U.S. Judge Officiates Naturalization Ceremony For 350 People In Texas Border Town.”
On June 2, 2019, Marina Garcia Marmolejo, a district judge for the US Southern District, presided over a naturalization ceremony for 350 people who became citizens in Laredo, a Texas border town. The ceremony was one of 110 ceremonies nationwide that combined saw about 7,500 new citizens take their oaths.
Read moreThe Invisible World
Nicolas Holiber: Birds on Broadway, the Audubon Sculpture Project
Nicolas Holiber: Birds on Broadway displays ten oversized sculptures of New York City Birds that are endangered due to climate change all along the greenway between 64th and 157th Streets in Manhattan. Holiber crafted these sculptures entirely out of reclaimed lumber, to highlight the exhibition’s message about the urgency of environmental issues. Some of the featured birds include the American bittern, brant, common goldeneye, double-crested cormorant, and snowy owl. Pictured above are sculptures of the red-necked grebe, the peregrine falcon, and the American bittern.
Pieces of Poetry
Pieces of Poetry: a community mosaic celebration in Fort Greene Park is a celebration of Walt Whitman, Richard Wright, and Marianne Moore, three notable literary figures from Fort Greene. The mosaic depicts a bookshelf with the titles of the honored writers’ most famous works and is comprised of hundreds of glass shards collected from the park. Installed in the southwest wing of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument Plaza, the artwork is designed by Brooklyn-based artist Courtney McCloskey, who collaborated on the piece with students from neighborhood schools, including P.S. 20; The Greene Hill School; Science, Language, & Arts International School; and Brooklyn Technical High School.
The Washington Post: "US immigration agency to transfer citizenship paperwork from busy offices, hoping to reduce wait times."
Earlier this year in February, eighty-six members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) that demanded accountability for the agency’s increasingly lengthy processing delays. Now, USCIS is looking to transfer cases out of overburdened offices to even out processing times across the country. The strategy, however, will only apply to applications for permanent residency (green cards) and applications for naturalization (citizenship).
Read moreSeen and Heard
Behind The Walls
Standing at almost 25 feet tall, Jaume Plensa’s monumental sculpture Behind the Walls is currently on public display in the iconic Plaza of New York’s Rockefeller Center. Plensa is one of 14 internationally famous artists contributing their artwork to the inaugural Frieze Sculpture, a major public art initiative. Though Plensa hails from Spain, his many public artworks have been featured in various cities around the world such as Chicago and London. In regards to his sculpture, Plensa says, “Sometimes, our hands are the biggest walls. They can cover our eyes, and we can blind ourselves to so much of what’s happening around us… To me, it’s an obsession to create a beautiful object with a message inside.” The sculpture encourages its viewers to reflect on their own perspectives and actions as they relate to the world around them. Behind the Walls, along with the other public sculptures, will remain at Rockefeller Center until June 28, 2019.
The Atlantic: This Is Exactly What Privacy Experts Said Would Happen
According to a statement that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency released last week, photos of travelers and their vehicle license plates snapped at a US border control point have been hacked. In an email statement to journalists, CBP confirmed that an undisclosed subcontractor transferred copies of license plates and travelers’ photos from federal servers to its own company network without CPB’s authorization. CBP reports that its own servers were unharmed by any cyber attack.
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