Immigrant RightsRichmond, Virginia—Virginia is currently experiencing one of the most significant increases in immigration enforcement in the country. Immigration enforcement has risen in Virginia by 350%, a significantly higher increase than states like Florida and Texas, and approximately 2,512 Virginians have been arrested in ICE raids this year. Despite their claims that immigration agents would only be targeting violent […]
Immigrant Rights
News
Bad Information is the Problem, Not Immigrants
Kierra Johnson White supremacy has an eternal thirst for scapegoats, and Virginia Republicans are attempting to break apart entire communities and families to satisfy it. These efforts are consistent with a push and pull between progress for all communities in the Commonwealth and regressive initiatives that rely on misinformation and disinformation while claiming to make […]
News
Conservatives Can’t Keep Blaming Immigrants for Everything
By Kierra Johnson Conservatives are blaming marginalized people for social problems again, and this week it’s because of a terrible, yet isolated crime that was reported over the weekend. Hiuder Pedro Javier Sacul Caal, who is a 21-year-old undocumented migrant, was arrested over the weekend for the sexual assault of a minor. If the alleged […]
News
It’s AAPI Heritage Month! But You Knew That… Right?
Kimberly R. Nario Y’all, it’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! I’d love to hear how you’re celebrating or acknowledging, but in case that brings about a dreaded silence from you and a swift side-eye from me, let me just go ahead and give you some ideas. Diversify your personal library. Take a look […]
News
The Power of Virginia’s Immigrant Community PV Spotlight on Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the deep racial disparities and inequities in our healthcare system. Our Black and Brown neighbors got sick at a higher rate and were most likely to die from coronavirus. As the crisis unfolded, our communities mobilized to demand action from our elected leaders to address these disparities. Now, vaccination rates are […]
News
I Used to Be Pacific Islander, but Now I’m Asian
by Kimberly Nario As a second-generation Filipino American, when I think of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I think: screw those annoying standardized testing scantrons. I’m not talking about standardized tests itself, although I do have some feelings about those. I’m talking about the little section on the scantron, after filling out my […]
News
If You Don’t Hate Me, Act Like It
by Kimberly Nario Sometimes it feels like I grew up in a hospital. When I was a kid, my mom and several aunties worked at hospitals across Hampton Roads. It was common for my dad to drop me off in the middle of my mom’s shift so I could spend an afternoon bouncing between the […]
News
So Much Love for the 2021 Sesh
General Assembly Legislative Session Roundup Part 2 We’re sending our compliments to the chefs in the General Assembly who’ve been cooking up all sorts of progress for the Commonwealth! Our mouths are watering as we’re waiting for the Governor to put his pen on progressive bills so they can become law. There’s just so much […]
News
Get Behind the Wheel with Driver’s Licenses for All
We all love our cars and the privileges that come with them. They are part of our everyday lives–they help us get to our jobs, run errands, ferry our kids around, and buy groceries. Driving is essential to being a productive member of a family and community. Imagine if you couldn’t drive and couldn’t contribute […]
News
Spotlight: VA LAN Leading the Fight for Reproductive Justice for Virginia Immigrants
Imagine being an immigrant woman in Virginia and finding out you’re pregnant. In a country that is so hostile to immigrants and women, even more so during the Trump administration, how would you move forward with little to no access to reproductive health care? People treat immigration and reproductive rights as two separate issues, but […]