immigration

March 4, 2013

Responsibility to become an activist.mp3

Sawsan on arriving in Baltimore.mp3

"Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity," President Obama said in his second inaugural speech, restating his 2008 pledge of comprehensive immigration reform. But how does he break a stalemate that has festered in Congress since the Bush administration? We look at the national picture and the local scene, particularly English-only ordinances passed in Frederick and Queen Anne's counties and, more recently, in Carroll County.

A recent Johns Hopkins study found that immigrant children perform better in school than their native-born peers. We ask study co-author, Lingxin Hao – why is that?

Some beautiful birds will pass through Maryland during migratory season. But don't forget to keep your yard ready for the ones who will stay all year. Nathan Sterner asks environmental educator Karen Kelly Mullin what we can do to help these birds through the winter.

A historical, cultural and legal take on US-Mexico border crossings and how the politically-charged immigration debate in the US -- and the the botched gun-smuggling investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious -- has effected the long relationship between the two countries. Steven Bender, professor at the Seattle University of Law, argues for more explicit and compassionate cross-border cooperation. He is author of “Run for the Border: Vice and Virtue in the US–Mexico Border Crossings.”

A look at President Obama's executive order, announced Friday, that allows hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children to obtain work permits and be safe from deportation. With WYPR news analysts C. Fraser Smith and Karen Hosler.

In part two of our special on Maryland's growing Hispanic population, three experts on the state's Latino community describe how this new wave of immigration is shaping the state's cultural landscape, how Latinos are adapting to their new community, and what types of issues they face. Guests include Mark Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center; Odette Ramos, president of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa de Maryland.

Secure Communities, a federal immigration program, is now active throughout Maryland.

The Obama administration is launching a pilot program in Baltimore that could halt deportations of illegal immigrants who haven’t committed a crime since they entered the U.S. We talk about the initiative with a Maryland legal advisor and an expert from the American Immigration Council.

Tom Hall remembers Nancy Haragan, a cultural leader in Baltimore.

NPR’s Neal Conan and Ensemble Galilei viola da gamba player Carolyn Surrick give Tom Hall a preview of this weekend’s performance of the poetry/music hybrid “A Winter’s Night.”