This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
Javier Castillo Maradiaga, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, was arrested in the Bronx about 15 months ago on the way to a family birthday party. He was stopped by police for jaywalking, turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and spent time inside detention centers in New York, New Jersey and Louisiana. Castillo Maradiaga’s mother came to the U.S. from Honduras in 1997 with Temporary Protected Status. By 2002, her three young children came to live with her. An ICE spokesperson said Castillo Maradiaga was ordered to leave the U.S. in 2003 and “failed to comply.” The New Yorker
In other local immigration news…
孰真孰假？对特朗普关于移民的言论的事实核查
New York Farmworkers Removed From Vaccine Eligibility Without Explanation
📍 Documented Original
More than 50,000 farmworkers have been left in limbo after they were taken out of New York state’s Phase 1B for COVID-19 vaccine distribution at the last minute. New York state is currently in Phase 1B, yet farmworkers have been excluded while others in the food industry, such as grocery, restaurant and food delivery workers, can receive the vaccine. According to the Purdue Food and Agriculture Vulnerability Index, over 496,000 agricultural workers contracted the coronavirus nationwide, with over 3,000 in New York State alone. The Department of Agriculture estimates that about half of the farmworkers in the U.S. are undocumented. Read more at Documented
Demonstrators and Elected Officials Protest Against Anti-Asian Hate in NYC
On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of demonstrators and elected officials came together at Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan for a Rise Up Against Asian Hate rally. The protest is the response to the recent increase in anti-Asian bias incidents and attacks. According to a report by the Asian American Bar Association of New York, over 2,500 anti-Asian hate incidents occurred nationally between March and September 2020, around the time when former President Donald Trump referred to the virus as the “Chinese coronavirus” and the “kung flu.” Andrew Yang, a candidate for New York City mayor, said, “As an Asian American and son of immigrants myself, and as a parent to children in the city, it really hurts.” Gothamist
Farm Bureau Supports U.S. Citizenship for Dairy Workers
The New York Farm Bureau supports President Joe Biden’s plan for “permanent legal status” for undocumented immigrants, as hundreds of North Country dairy farms rely on workers from Mexico and Central America. NYFB President David Fisher, a dairy farmer from Madrid in St. Lawrence County, said that even though the immigration package is a “good starting point,” the bill should include a year-round visa for workers. “We need a comprehensive approach for people who are already working on our farms as well as seasonal and year-round needs in the future,” he said. The group is also pushing the state to allow farmworkers to get COVID-19 vaccines. Niagara Gazette
