Wild rabbit in the meadow.jpgWinston Churchill, whose mother was American (Jennie Jerome of Brooklyn), could just as well have been speaking about the components of comprehensive immigration reform.  Instead he was commenting on the Allies’ post-World War II plans for world governance when, in the summer of 1942 with the war yet unwon, he said:

I hope these speculative studies

violence 2.jpgBipartisan outrage erupted in the House last week, with usually loyal Republicans among the most furious and outspoken in the GOP-controlled chamber. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, chastised House leaders for conduct that is “absolutely inexcusable . . . absolutely indefensible.” Declaiming that “we cannot just walk away from our responsibilities,” King

year_2012.jpg

As we count out the final hours of 2012, let’s recall the highs and lows of the past year in America’s dysfunctional immigration ecosphere.

Nation of Immigrators is pleased to confer its third annual IMMI Awards. (Full disclosure: As in past years, these are my personal choices. If you disagree or believe I’ve missed an

alien orange.jpgWith the Obama Administration and lawmakers in both parties promising to fix our dysfunctional immigration system, it’s time for a reality-based understanding of global migration and a fresh choice of words.  

As Prof. Fariborz Ghadar, Senior Advisor and Scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs, observes:

Just as a teenager grows

Puck cover of the Senate.jpg“ And there took place . . . [in the U.S. Senate] so many “extended discussions” of measures to keep them from coming to a vote that the device got a name, “filibuster,” from the Dutch word vrijbuiter, which means “freebooter” or “pirate,” and which passed into the Spanish as filibustero, because the sleek

lottery winner3.jpgDespite all the post-election talk of a chastened GOP promising flexibility on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), Republicans seem more determined than ever to reduce the number of green cards issued annually.  They would do so by eliminating the Diversity Visa lottery.  Their latest ante is a miserly family-unity sweetener to the failed STEM bill which

road closed sign.jpgAs Republicans join Democrats in contemplating reform of the nation’s dysfunctional immigration system, the final line of the Pledge of Allegiance (“with liberty and justice for all”) is the best place to start. 

Revitalizing our broken and outdated 20th Century immigration laws to respond to the needs of 21st Century America will turn in large

071017d0295.jpgThe caramelizing of the American electorate manifested itself last Tuesday in sweet, polychromatic splendor.  Clearly, American voters — especially the youth, and ethnic communities of Hispanic and Asian-Pacific origin — chose “leaders who are likely to welcome rather than reject our nation’s courageous and deserving immigrants.”

With the elasticity of a yoga master, former

[Blogger’s note: 

Dear Readers: I promise that this post is indeed about immigration and the quadrennial election on Tuesday.   Please read to the end, beyond the meandering yet relevant introduction, to see the connection.]

Davidfosterwallace.jpgJust over four years ago, David Foster Wallace, a gifted, troubled writer of wide acclaim, took his life. Fans of his writing, myself

Bernie Wolfsdorf and Big Bird.JPGDebate scorers and pollsters called it even.  Mitt Romney won the first Presidential debate, essentially by showing up. Barack Obama prevailed in the second, a verbal brawl, by departing the state of suspended animation, entering New York state, and manning up.

Observers of the Twittersphere honed in on one line — Mitt Romney’s non-responsive comment to a question in