immigrants

Over 40,000 immigrants live in the Syracuse-metro area. They speak a variety of languages, work as essential employees, and often don’t have the same access to information and resources that other populations do. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these factors make them vulnerable.

Syracuse-area community advocates say the detention of an undocumented Syracuse man for seven months without a court hearing points to serious flaws in the federal immigration system. 

A crowd of one hundred-plus endured near-freezing rain to protest a possible war with Iran.  The Saturday demonstration joined others in dozens of cities around the nation after President Trump ordered the killing of an Iranian General. 

More than 70 people from numerous advocacy groups gathered Tuesday in downtown Syracuse to urge Congressmember John Katko to take a strong stance against racism. 

Over 300 protesters met outside of the Embassy Suites near Destiny USA Tuesday to decry the arrival of Vice President Mike Pence.  He stopped in Syracuse  for a $1,000 per plate fundraiser for the reelection campaign of Republican Congressman John Katko.

Tom Drumm is a protest organizer and member of Speak Out CNY.   He says the protestors represented an array of organizations and causes, but all feel that Katko and his colleagues need to do more to rein in the Trump administration.

A center that helps refugees settle into Syracuse wants the community to know more about what they do and about the new Americans they help. The RISE center might have a few surprises. 

“The biggest myth, of course, that’s continually propagated is that refugees are just here to collect social services and basically feed off of taxpayers.”           

An undocumented Syracuse immigrant has been released on bail after a court hearing Tuesday in western New York. Organizers from the Workers’ Center of Central New York traveled to the federal detention center in Batavia to support Hector Navarro. He was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, at his Syracuse home on December 21st.  WAER News caught up with Nikeeta Slade from the Workers’ Center while she was in Batavia.  She says his bond demonstrates how important he is to the community.

The Onondaga County/ Syracuse Human Rights Commission honored International Human Rights Day with speakers at All Saints  Roman Catholic Church that reminded people of violence and discrimination faced by LGBTQ community members, those with disabilities, and people who've immigrated or resettled here from other countries.  Commission Executive Director Barrie Gewanter noted human rights day came out of the International Declaration of human rights adopted in 1948.