immigration | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published January 9, 2018 at 9:45AM

Immigrants Afraid to Report Crimes — President Donald Trump’s hawkishness on immigration enforcement has apparently led to a drop in crimes reported in some of the country’s largest immigrant communities, including in Arlington. Per a new report: “In Arlington, Virginia, domestic-assault reports in one Hispanic neighborhood dropped more than eighty-five per cent in the first eight months after Trump’s Inauguration, compared with the same period the previous year.” [New Yorker]

Lawmakers React to Immigration Decision — Local lawmakers are speaking out against a Trump administration decision to end temporary protected status for some 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants. “Donald Trump’s open hostility to immigrants runs against the values and history of this country,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), while Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called the decision “heartless.” [Rep. Don Beyer, Twitter]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 11, 2017 at 8:00AM

Planning for Transportation Changes in Rosslyn — “Local officials are now partnering with developers to make more improvements to help convince the next big corporate tenant to pick Rosslyn.” [Bisnow]

Teavana to Remain Open — Set to close next year, the Teavana store at Pentagon City mall is now expected to remain open thanks to a judge’s ruling against parent company Starbucks. [Washington Business Journal]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 6, 2017 at 8:45AM

Disparities in New Middle School Boundaries — “Under a staff plan slated to go to the School Board Dec. 14, middle schools will have economically-disadvantaged populations ranging from 1 percent of the student body at Williamsburg Middle School to 52 percent of the student body at Kenmore Middle School, with the other schools falling in between.” [InsideNova]

Winner of Marine Corps Marathon Works at 7-Eleven — The winner of this year’s Marine Corps Marathon lives in Nauck and works at an Arlington 7-Eleven store. Desta Beriso Morkama, a 32-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, arrived in the U.S. in September 2016. He has been receiving training and assistance settling into his new Arlington life from a number of local people and groups, including local running coach Jay Jacob Wind. [Falls Church News-Press]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 28, 2017 at 8:30AM

Car Fire on 23rd Street N. — A car was engulfed in flames on 23rd Street N. near the Overlee pool last night just before 6:30 p.m. The fire department arrived on scene and quickly extinguished the fire. [Twitter]

Local Tech Firm Benefiting from Trump — Giant Oak, a low-profile data mining firm based in Clarendon, has been awarded nearly $3 million in contracts from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since President Donald Trump took office. Most of the contracts are for “social media data analytics.” [Forbes]

Events

Prio Bangla Multicultural Street Festival Set for Saturday

By Chris Teale

Published September 21, 2017 at 4:30PM

An annual multicultural street festival this Saturday (September 23) will bring together members of various immigrant populations that live throughout Arlington County.

Local nonprofit Prio Bangla will host its sixth annual free street festival from 1-7:30 p.m. at 880 S. Walter Reed Drive, near Columbia Pike. Its motto this year, according to organizers, is “Let’s Celebrate the Cultural Diversity.” They expect between 5,000 and 8,000 attendees.

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Arlington Allocates $100,000 for Legal Aid to Immigrants Facing Deportation

By ARLnow.com

Published September 18, 2017 at 11:00AM

“Arlington is leading the way by being the first jurisdiction in Virginia to create a specific funding source for legal representation for its immigrant residents facing deportation proceedings,” said the center’s Rebecca Wolozin, in a statement following the vote.

Over the past few years, Arlington County has repeatedly branded itself as a welcoming community for immigrants of all legal statuses, though it has also cautioned that it is not a “sanctuary” jurisdiction that can shield undocumented immigrants from federal authorities. By one recent estimate, there are around 17,000 undocumented immigrants in Arlington.

News

At Immigration Forum, A Call for Sheriff’s Office’s Relationship With ICE to be ‘Revisited’

By Chris Teale

Published September 14, 2017 at 10:00AM

Simon-Sandoval-Moshenberg of the Legal Aid Justice Center

The Arlington County Sheriff’s Office should rethink its relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a leader at a criminal justice nonprofit.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, legal director at the Falls Church-based Legal Aid Justice Center — which provides legal representation for low-income Virginians — said with President Donald Trump’s harder line on illegal immigration, Arlington and other jurisdictions should look again at how they work with ICE.

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Arlington GOP Criticizes County Board’s Response to DACA Decision

By Chris Teale

Published September 6, 2017 at 12:00PM | Updated September 6, 2017 at 12:58PM

The County Board joined other local and statewide elected officials in condemning Trump’s decision.

Members called the decision an “act of cruelty” that will “will tear apart families, cause substantial economic damage to our nation and further divide Americans.”

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County Board Releases Statement on DACA Decision

By ARLnow.com

Published September 5, 2017 at 5:45PM

The Arlington County Board has joined other local elected officials in criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for undocumented immigrants.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon (below), the County Board called the decision an “act of cruelty” that will “will tear apart families, cause substantial economic damage to our nation and further divide Americans.”

News

Trump’s Decision to End DACA Program Criticized By Local Leaders

By Chris Teale

Published September 5, 2017 at 3:45PM | Updated January 16, 2018 at 2:56PM

Trump announced his administration would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in six months to give Congress time to act and find an alternative plan through legislation.

The program protects some children who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents from immediate deportation, and instead allows them a renewable two-year deferral and eligibility for a work permit. It is estimated that 800,000 people who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16., also known as “Dreamers,” have been shielded from deportation by DACA.

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Arlington County on Immigration: ‘Welcoming’ But Not a ‘Sanctuary Jurisdiction’

By Tim Regan

Published March 1, 2017 at 11:35AM | Updated March 1, 2017 at 12:03PM

Though Arlington County welcomes people of all legal statuses, it can’t protect them from federal immigration enforcement.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 27, 2017 at 10:05AM | Updated February 27, 2017 at 10:54AM

County Board Mulls Exotic Pet Ban — As expected, the Arlington County Board on Saturday voted to advertise a ban on “wild and exotic” pets in the county. Animals covered by the proposed ban “range from monkeys, wolves, raccoons and lynx to alligators, tarantulas, hedgehogs and even sugar gliders.” A hearing on the matter will be held March 18, ahead of final approval by the Board. [Arlington County]

Arlington Cultural Diversity Ranking — Arlington ranks No. 33 among “mid-sized cities” in a new list of cities with the most cultural diversity, behind places like Columbia, Maryland; Glendale, Arizona; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. [WalletHub]