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MA senate mulls cutting healthcare for immigrants The state Senate's plan to cut 28,000 legal immigrant residents from Commonwealth Care coverage, the crown jewel of the state's 2006 health insurance overhaul, is discriminatory and shortsighted, advocates for the immigrant community say. The targeted immigrants are not only legal residents but taxpayers, said Eva A. Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the state's largest immigrant group. ``It is not fair to single out a class of people because they are not citizens,'' she said. The Boston Globe There are more links related to this story

MA state employee charged in license scam Boston (AP) -- A former Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles employee and a Quincy man have been charged with providing illegal immigrants with fraudulent driver's licenses. Federal prosecutors say 39-year-old... MA radio talk show host suspended over ethnic comments Jay Severin, the fiery right wing talk show host on Boston's WTKK-FM radio station, was suspended yesterday after calling Mexican immigrants ``criminaliens,'' ``primitives,'' ``leeches,'' and exporters of ``women with mustaches... MA state rep. under fire for foreign suffrage stance Framingham -- Give Massachusetts's undocumented residents the right to vote? Even many immigrant advocates say that should remain illegal. In recent days, State Rep. Pam Richardson (D-Framingham) has ignited widespread...

More Massachusetts Immigration News

Some MA police chiefs back licenses for illegals

Undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts are finding several unlikely allies in their quest to obtain driver's licenses: police chiefs. Chiefs in Fitchburg, Somerville, Chelsea, Milford, and Framingham say that permitting undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses would sharply reduce the time, stress,...
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MA pol backs off voting for illegals position

Widespread opposition to giving illegal immigrants the chance to vote in local elections has led the town's state representative to back down a day after she said she'd support adding the issue to the state Democratic Party's official platform. 'I...
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Critics blast MA state rep's plan for foreign suffrage

Framingham, MA -- Advocates praised state Rep. Pam Richardson's idea to give illegal immigrants voting rights in local elections, while critics say it rewards lawbreakers with a right that should only be available to U.S. citizens. 'It degrades the citizenship...
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MA pol seeks local suffrage for non-citizens

The town's state representative said yesterday that cities and towns should have the option to grant illegal immigrants voting rights in local elections to draw them closer into their communities. In state Rep. Pam Richardson's hometown of Framingham, many of...
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MA state representative seeks licenses for illegals

The state could improve public safety and security - plus collect some extra revenue - by allowing illegal immigrants to apply for driver's licenses, says Ashland's state representative. 'We have potentially thousands of undocumented people living without identification. We don't...
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Report suggest students suffer under Boston's English-only rule

Students not fluent in English have floundered in Boston schools since voters approved a law change six years ago requiring school districts to teach them all subjects in English rather than their native tongue, according to a report being released...
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LULAC brings conference to Boston

Boston (AP) -- It's the country's oldest U.S. Latino civil rights group. Its members were behind key Supreme Court battles and famously hosted President John F. Kennedy in Houston, Texas the night before he was assassinated. Since 1929, the League...
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North Boston immigrant groups merge, provide services

Spurred by growing demand and the troubled economy, two small nonprofits that primarily serve Latino and immigrant communities north of Boston are merging today to jointly provide health, educational, and workforce training services. The groups, Centro Latino de Chelsea and...
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Boston activists protest immigration detentions

More than 300 demonstrators, waving signs and wearing green-foam Statue of Liberty crowns, converged yesterday near the John F. Kennedy federal building to protest a surge in the number of immigrants who are jailed pending deportation. Under bright blue skies,...
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Financial goals accomplished, illegal abandons MA for home

Framingham, MA -- For six years, Fernando Rodrigues lived the life of an illegal immigrant in Framingham: toiling more than 90 hours a week slicing meat at a Brazilian restaurant, staying out of trouble to avoid attention from the police,...
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Boston students host forum on Latino immigration

Boston University professor David Lyons discusses the history of immigration at a discussion on the 'Promised Land' Wednesday night at the College of Arts and Sciences. Boston University's Chi Upsilon Sigma, a Latin sorority, and Phi Iota Alpha, a Latino...
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MA police nab illegal with 14 different identities

Freetown, MA -- A late night traffic stop Monday led to the arrest of a man who police allege has at least 14 aliases and re-entered the United States after being deported. The Herald News (Fall River, MA)...
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MA pastor may be expelled before rape case is tried

Milford, MA -- A Milford pastor charged with raping a child in her congregation may be deported to Brazil before her case is resolved. Ana Paula Almeida, 31, who was arrested last month in Milford, is in the custody of...
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MA city police chief assures 287(g) properly operated

A new government report said a federal program that allows state and local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws needs better oversight to prevent agencies from using it as an immigration dragnet. Framingham has the only municipal police department...
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Homosexual seeks asylum with MA senator's help

Sen. John Kerry has asked the Obama administration to grant asylum to a gay man who was forced to return to Brazil after he married a U.S. citizen in Massachusetts. Genesio 'Junior' Oliveira has been separated from his husband, Tim...
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MA city police chief endorses licenses for illegals

Fitchburg, MA -- Fitchburg Police Chief Robert DeMoura won a standing ovation Wednesday night by calling for driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants during the New Americans Agenda public hearing held at Fitchburg High School. 'Let's start with the simplest thing...
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MA motor vehicles dept. worker charged with corruption

Using her position as a customer service agent for the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, a Brockton woman allegedly made genuine driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants in exchange for cash bribes, federal agents say. Agents arrested Janice Washington, 48, yesterday...
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MA forum hosts pleas for broader immigrant services

Fitchburg, MA (AP) -- Better access to health care, more money for English as a Second Language programs, and work permits were repeated themes during a state-sponsored immigration forum Wednesday. But the loudest cheer came when Fitchburg Police Chief Robert...
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Boston school program aids foreign kids with integration

Until two months ago, Isamar Mejia was attending school in Santo Domingo and planning to become a lawyer. Then her mother and stepfather moved to Boston and told the 16-year-old she would have to finish school here, even though she...
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