To Get Some Ideas

Here is an article from the Chicago Tribune that could get some people jump-started on ideas. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-workplace-special,0,580858.special. The general theme is how immigrants take such dangerous jobs compared to other people, which our panel spoke to in a much smaller degree. We would of course bring it more local, but these are problems from across the country. There are many more specific topics as well, from injury, the economy and overwork that brings stress. I hope this helps some people out.

Steve

Adapting our product to the web

After browsing through the News21 Web site, I noticed something they did that may be easy to adapt to our project.

In Data Road Trip Home, an interactive map of the U.S. featured speech bubbles popping out from places throughout the country with a statistic about each one. Clicking on the bubble leads to slide shows with audio and video clips about each topic.

In our case, instead of a map of the U.S., we could have a map of the world, with speech bubbles popping out from countries where immigrants come to Syracuse from. Clicking on the bubble could lead to an interview (perhaps with audio, photos, and video) with an immigrant from that country that features the uniquenesses of adapting to Syracuse for people from that country. The page could also have unique immigration statistics for each country such as how many immigrants arrived to Syracuse in 2007 versus how many immigrants from that country are in the rest of the U.S. and whether immigration from that country is on an up-swing or a down-swing.

I feel that this map would be a good way of putting faces as well as a local spin on the immigration topic.

-Dayelin Roman

I found this story in the Washington Post about how the fees for naturalization and visas are on the rise. It looks like they increased by 66% in 2007. It might be interesting to see what kind of impact that has had locally. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the increase would help the the speed of processing the applications, but it looks like that hasn't been the case. Focusing on a few people in the area who are impacted by the change would help us to get a feel for how the process has been altered and humanize the story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012502997.html

A couple ideas

Hey, just wanted to throw out a couple of other ideas that I thought of lying awake at night (obviously when I have any free time at all, I think about immigration). Anyways, I guess these two ideas would go along with the adjustments immigrants have to make to American life. I know I have seen many foreign people here in Syracuse playing pick-up soccer (a sport very popular in every other country). One story might focus on the activities, such as sports, that immigrants play in order to perhaps retain some of their own heritage.

Also, I noticed an article in the Post-Standard articles about more English teachers being hired because few kids are coming to school competent in the language. So the adjustments schools make and the adjustments immigrant children are forced to make in an entirely new country.

That's all from me... see you all Monday.

Diversity Lottery

Hey Everyone,

I was looking around on Google today and I came across a term that caught my eye. Appartently, the State Department holds an annual Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery, in which would-be immigrants from around the world submit entries into a randomly-selected lottery drawing for one of 50,000 Diversity Visas "made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States."
There are some initial entry requirements (a form, photo, minimum work/education credentials, etc.) and some countries are excluded from this year's list of eligible countries if they've sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the last 5 years.
This year's entry period is over and the results won't come out until May, but this might have potential as a story on the different ways immigrants can enter the country.
Here's the link: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html
Enjoy the weekend!

-Brent

Coalition for the Future American Worker

I saw this ad on the back of a magazine and it caught my eye.  It's for the Coalition For The Future American Worker (www.americanworker.org) and basically states that amnesty programs for illegal immigrants would result in economic disaster, particularly for black Americans.  The Web site gives a lot more information on the Coalition and how they seek to represent the American worker in immigration debates.  I think it could be an interesting starting point to look at the effect amnesty programs would have on local workers, and I'm sure with some further research local experts could be found.

Cornell Farmworker Program

Cornell's department of sociology has a program that helps migrant workers living in central New York by aiding them in all the necessary processes to work in the U.S. This includes medical care, drivers licenses, learning English, etc. I think they would be able to hook us up with some interesting migrant workers. Check out the site here: http://devsoc.cals.cornell.edu/outreach/cfp/.

Immigration Watchdog

Hi Everyone!

I found an interesting post on this page about a pastor from Syracuse that was accused of making/selling fake green cards and social security cards. The post is about one year old. This Web site seems to have different threads pertaining to immigration concerns in the United States. I think that the post about the Syracuse pastor could be helpful because we could look at statistics and past reported instances where some religious or other officials helped illegal immigrants. We could try to dig up information about people in the Syracuse area as well as all across New York State.

--Gitana

Immigration Scams

I was searching "immigration" and "syracuse" on google and the first link that comes up is for Diane Chappell-Daly, an immigration and nationality lawyer whose office is located in Syracuse. I was looking at her website and she has page devoted to helping people watch out for immigration scams. It seems that there are lawyers/people who claim that they will help people with their immigration papers, then take their money and either leave them hanging out to dry or even result in getting the people deported. I thought this would be interesting in that we could not only talk to the immigration lawyers about these types of scams and ways people can prevent them, but also possibly get in contact with victims of these scams to make the story personable and give it a voice.

statistics

Hey all,

Take these how you wish because they are government Web sites, but the maps legal immigrants in the U.S. and the second is the Web site for Refuggee Resettlement. They have an office here in Syracuse and work closely with Catholic Charities. Since we aren't sure who is coming next Monday, these two sites are good to get some general statistics.

http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/data/maps.shtm

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/

Times story Friday worth a look

Friday's New York Times has an interesting story we could localize. The piece discusses how -- in a number of communities -- the illegal population has gone seriously underground because of the new vigor for a "crackdown." The story is datelined from Waukegan, Ill. 

66 New Americans

I just saw this article on syracuse.com about 66 people in Syracuse who just became American citizens. There is some good stuff about what some of the people had to go through to become a citizen and how seriously they take their citizenship. Anyway hope it's helpful. 

- Evan 

NEW 509: The Adventure begins

Welcome to the class blog.

Your first assignment: You can do one of two things here. You can comment on the News 21 initiative, and ideas it inspires for the project. Or better yet, perhaps, you can share what you're learning in your research for the immigration project. "Comments" are enabled, so you can not only post to the blog, but react to what others have said/learned. And this blog is public, so play it straight.

You should bookmark the blog and check it a couple of times a week.

And finally, of course, you are welcome to comment on all things journalism or on other matters relevant to the class and your soon-to-be careers.

For openers, if you have not seen it, you should check out Thursday's Daily Orange, which includes an interview with Lorraine Branham of Texas, one of the two finalists for the deanship at Newhouse. The two finalists will be visiting campus at the end of this month. Candidate No. 2: Sam Grogg, who runs the communications school at the University of Miami. Grogg has a film background.