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Miami Herald
12-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Mayor's budget cuts include Miami-Dade's ‘New Americans' office for immigrants
When she was a Miami-Dade commissioner, Daniella Levine Cava passed legislation that created a county office to help visa holders in the Miami area become U.S. citizens. Now in her second term as mayor, Levine Cava has proposed eliminating the county's Office of New Americans, according to budget documents. This year, Miami-Dade faces a $402 million deficit in the $3.6 billion budget for police, jails, parks and other core services that rely on property taxes for the bulk of their funding. To close that gap, Levine Cava is preparing a package of spending cuts, layoffs and fee increases in the 2026 budget proposal she's expected to unveil Tuesday, according to planning documents the Miami Herald obtained through a public-records request. Documents show Levine Cava planning to defund some of her signature initiatives since taking office in 2020, when the one-time social worker became the county's first Democratic mayor in 16 years under the campaign slogan 'A Mayor Who Cares.' The Office of New Americans loses funding under a broader downsizing of the county's social-services arm. Community Action and Human Services is merging with Juvenile Services, which helps rehabilitate youthful offenders. The budget documents show the two departments are set to lose a combined 62 positions once they meld into the new Community Services Department, out of the roughly 770 positions in the agencies' current budgets. While the New Americans initiative got its start before she became mayor, Levine Cava made it a separate agency within Community Action. Her 2022 budget funded four positions in the office, and that's the staff in the 2025 budget, too. The office's website says its mission is to help legal immigrants complete their path to citizenship, and county records show that staff are expected to process roughly 2,400 requests for assistance this year. The budget documents obtained by the Herald do not show how much money Miami-Dade would save by closing the New Americans office or if Levine Cava has a plan to merge some of the functions into existing county operations. It also shows only a glimpse into the overall plan for the county budget, which is around $13 billion and includes spending plans for Miami International Airport and the water and trash systems. A Levine Cava spokesperson declined to clarify information in the documents the Herald obtained through the Board of County Commissioners, which has been attending budget briefings with the mayor and leaving with summaries of her proposals. In a statement this week, Levine Cava said she's not happy about the cuts she's getting ready to propose ahead of final budget votes by the commission in September. 'We have made difficult choices,' she said. 'We've looked across departments to maximize the value of every taxpayer dollar. … Next week we will propose a budget that continues to deliver on the core services that residents need and deserve.' Among the cuts in the budget planning documents the mayor's staff circulated this week: Eliminating the Office of Innovation and Economic Development, a 17-person office dedicated to growing businesses in Miami-Dade. It's home to the county film office and a Levine Cava initiative aimed at green jobs. Cutting 37 Parks jobs that are currently staffed. The agency has a staff of roughly 2,300 people. Closing the Office of Neighborhood Safety, a Levine Cava initiative aimed at addressing gun violence with community outreach and other approaches aimed at reducing crime. Halting funding for small business 'Mom and Pop' grants, which cost about $1 million a year. Eliminating a county office for immigrants comes as Levine Cava faces criticism from the left for her response to Gov. Ron DeSantis seizing a county airport in the Everglades for construction of a detention camp for federal immigration offenders. Environmental groups are suing Miami-Dade for not trying to use zoning rules to shutter the temporary facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz.' An immigrant-rights group has been buying billboard space demanding that Levine Cava file suit against DeSantis, who used emergency powers he granted himself in 2023 to mitigate what he maintains is an ongoing crisis related to illegal immigration. On Friday, Levine Cava convened a closed-door meeting with immigrant advocates to try and quell criticism of her. That includes a muted response to officers dragging a woman out of a County Commission meeting before she could speak against a cooperation agreement that Levine Cava authorized between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Miami-Dade jails. Levine Cava maintains that Florida law required her to sign the agreement.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why should immigrants celebrate Fourth of July with Trump in charge?
Ever since witnessing 11,502 people take the oath of U.S. citizenship at Fresno State's Bulldog Stadium (now Valley Children's Stadium) in September 1996, I've chatted with many of our newest U.S. citizens about their journeys, their hopes and dreams. Our country's 249th birthday should be a day for celebrations including fireworks, picnics, outdoor outings and gratitude that we live in the world's strongest and freest nations. The American dream is what has lured people from all over the globe. The vast majority of these new Americans have contributed to our greatness. Through the years, new U.S. citizens have hailed new opportunities afforded them, including the right to vote, to seek greater employment opportunities in the federal government, or the ability to sponsor relatives overseas for a green card. Many escaped war, a tyrannical government or poverty. In 2012, Naval reservist Gilbert Rivera became a U.S. citizen on Flag Day. 'It was a duty of mine that I had to do as a citizen,' said Rivera, who joined the military after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was the last of 10 children born to immigrants from Zacatecas, México to gain U.S. citizenship. At that naturalization ceremony, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services district director Mari-Carmen Jordan, herself a naturalized citizen from México, told Rivera and more than 800 new citizens they 'are a unique thread in the fabric of our rich tapestry.' In 2019, 28-year-old Miguel Ángel Soto of Modesto was overjoyed that he would be able to vote in the following year's presidential election. In 1991, Phors Sok told The Fresno Bee of how she fled her native Cambodia on foot and sedated her 4-year-old son so his cries wouldn't alert police. She trudged more than 50 miles for three days through mud with only water for nourishment. Robbers stole all her jewelry while she waited at a refugee camp on the Thai border. The same day that Sok was among about 100 who became citizens at a ceremony at Yosemite National Park, Selma's Saleh Admed watched his 4-year-old son take the oath of naturalization and explained why his children's lives will be different from life in Yemen. 'As an American, you're No. 1 and you have the freedom to go anywhere. I want the same for my kids,' said Ahmed, who was naturalized in 1983. In 2005, Miriam García of Merced said she became naturalized so that she could vote 'because I'm not satisfied with some of the results.' 'We want to be part of this country,' 100-year-old Ignacio Villegas Arellano, a retired farmworker, told me in 2016 when he became a U.S. citizen. His 94-year-old wife became a citizen a week later. The couple had eight children, 44 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. All are U.S. citizens by choice. Many of the 11,502 who became citizens at the special ceremony that created traffic congestion around Fresno State benefited from the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act signed by President Ronald Reagan. Don't expect another monumental presidential effort to fix a broken immigration system anytime soon. Not when President Donald Trump is intent on making history with a massive deportation campaign while asking for funds to finish a border wall and asking for $170 billion in his 'Big Beautiful Bill' for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts. Not all Americans support Trump's immigration policy. More than half – 55% – of voters oppose the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' according to a Quinnipiac University poll released last month. Overall support was 29%. I bring this up because of an interview this week with Samuel 'Paco' Mireles, a home solar sales representative who became a U.S. citizen in 2012. While the 58-year-old father of two is grateful to have the opportunity to make a living in this country, he does not embrace the current anti-immigrant atmosphere that Trump has unleashed. Celebrating the Fourth of July is not the same this year for Mireles and his family, who have traveled to New York or Pismo Beach to enjoy the fireworks in the past. 'There isn't much to celebrate due to the political situation the country is going through,' said Mireles, whose powerful voice is a reminder of the 15 years he spent as a news anchor with the Univision affiliate in Fresno. 'Our Latino community is being persecuted and attacked due to immigration raids.' Mireles came to the U.S. as a working journalist from the Mexican city of Morelia, Michoacán in 2004 and earned his legal residency status five years later. When he left for the U.S., he didn't sell his house, thinking it could be a safety net should things not work out. Mireles has never thought of moving back to the place he grew up. 'I don't earn much here but what I earn I'll never earn in México. That's why we're here,' said Mireles, whose relatives all remain in his homeland. Mireles loves his home country's culture, its customs, and its food. When he spoke at a naturalization ceremony in Fresno Mireles told the new citizens to take advantage of new opportunities. 'Come and lift up this country,' he said. That's a message I wish Trump and his supporters of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' would embrace. Lift up this country!
Boston Globe
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Amid Trump's deportations, citizenship brings relief and security to some new Americans
Nabil Souidi said he's been 'I follow all the news, and I was like, no, I'm not going to travel until I get my citizenship,' said Souidi, who is originally from Algeria. He said he followed the Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Now, Souidi said, the trips he's been putting off – like visiting his brother in Canada – are back on. He said he's relieved to finally have his citizenship, and he's happy to be able to travel with ease. Advertisement His wife, Nesrine Bouziane watched the ceremony with their 2-year-old son, Amir Souidi. She filmed the entire ceremony, while her son quietly enjoyed some screen time. Bouziane said watching the news in the lead-up to the ceremony had been nerve-wracking, and she was nervous about whether her husband's application for citizenship would be accepted. The news about the Advertisement 'We're all Americans now,' said Bouziane, who was born in the United States. Bouziane and Souidi met through friends in Boston in 2019 when Souidi was visiting on vacation. Their relationship deepened over WhatsApp messages they exchanged over the next two years, and they married in 2021. They now live together in Nashua, and they're expecting their second child in August. 'I think it's a relief for him, and he's more comfortable,' Bouziane said of her husband securing his citizenship. Nesrine Bouziane, left, her husband Nabil Souidi, center, and their son, Amir Souidi, are pictured after Nabil Souidi was granted American citizenship in a naturalization ceremony on Friday hosted by New Hampshire's Secretary of State David Scanlan at the State Archives in Concord, N.H. Amanda Gokee This year was the second annual naturalization ceremony New Hampshire's Secretary of State David Scanlan has hosted at the State Archives. Similar events are held at other venues around the state. During Friday's naturalization event, 25 people from 17 different countries were granted American citizenship. 'It's that diversity that is really important to making us a strong, vibrant country that stands for freedom around the world,' said Scanlan. Governor Kelly A. Ayotte also addressed the new Americans, calling it an important moment in their lives and an important moment for the country. 'This is a wonderful day, and we are thrilled to welcome you as an American citizen,' she said. In recent months, Ayotte has made cracking down on illegal immigration a top issue, But on Friday, Ayotte congratulated the cohort of New Americans for successfully navigating the United States' immigration system. Advertisement 'It's not an easy process to navigate through our system, but you stuck with it,' she said. Eva Castillo, an immigrant rights advocate, urged the new citizens to start voting and remain active in their local communities around issues that are important to them. For new Americans, she said, citizenship can provide an extra sense of security, especially as some immigrant communities have grown fearful amid the Trump administration's deportation efforts. Once people have obtained citizenship, she said, it's only under extreme circumstances that they can be deported. 'That gives you an extra layer of protection,' she said in an interview after the event. Maykol Mamedes, 33, and his wife Samantha Mamedes, 31, said they, too, were breathing a sigh of relief that Maykol had been granted citizenship Friday. 'You feel more secure,' Maykol Mamedes said after the event. He is originally from Brazil, and he now lives with his wife and two children in Nashua. Of the two of them, Samantha Mamedes said she was more worried about paperwork and proving her husband's documentation, especially when there was a delay in renewing his green card and no way to prove he was in the United States lawfully. 'It's a good feeling knowing that we're on the tail end,' she said. Along with their two kids, the family said they planned to mark the occasion by going out to eat. And they had an extra reason to celebrate: Samantha Mamedes said her birthday was on the same day as the naturalization ceremony. Maykol Mamedes, left, and his wife Samantha Mamedes, right, their two children after a naturalization ceremony in Concord, N.H., on Friday. Amanda Gokee Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal funding cuts and regulatory failure are harming New Hampshire. You can still act locally.
White House Senior Adviser to the President, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arrives for a meeting with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol on March 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by) As the spring earth thaws and rains drench New Hampshire, our infamous mud season has arrived. And, blowing in like a lion along with it is Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose mission includes defunding essential environmental agencies. Federal funding has been frozen for New Hampshire farmers' U.S. Department of Agriculture grants, like the rural energy programs designed to support farmers making efficiency improvements. Other programs that provide technical and financial assistance to those who prioritize soil health, wildlife habitat, and water and air quality in their agricultural practices or are transitioning to renewable energy systems are also facing stalled funding. The New Hampshire Food Bank recently lost nearly $1 million in federal funding for its NH Feeding NH program, which purchases fresh produce in bulk from local farmers and assists partner agencies with buying culturally preferred foods for New Americans. The U.S. House has also proposed $12 billion in cuts to school meal programs, affecting 12 million students in 24,000 schools nationwide. As Dorothy McAuliffe, the former first lady of Virginia, once lamented, 'Kids can't be hungry for knowledge if they're just plain hungry.' Drastic cuts in EPA funding have escalated the 'forever chemical' crisis. Mark Ruffalo, actor and activist, has pleaded with Congress to stop PFAS at the source, knowing that exposure to the forever chemicals has been linked to health risks such as cancer, birth defects, reproductive and developmental disorders, and weakened immune systems. In his testimony he cites Manchester as an example 'where a wastewater treatment plant burns sewage sludge just steps from homes, an elementary school, a baseball field, and the Merrimack River.' This plant, he said, 'is the only facility in the state with a sludge incinerator, and in 2018 alone, it burned more than 4,000 dry metric tons of it. That's happening just two miles from neighborhoods already struggling with high levels of toxic air pollution.' Ruffalo points to the solution: a Clean Water Act permit protecting waters from pollution, specifically, renewing Manchester's permit with stronger regulations to curb PFAS from entering the wastewater facility from upstream industries. Remarkably, Ruffalo notes, the current draft permit contains no such requirement. After 'treatment' this toxic stew is spread as fertilizer over farmers' fields where it leaches into the groundwater supply. Pristine waterways will undoubtedly suffer severe environmental degradation as wetlands eventually lose their primary function to purify water, prevent flooding, and protect critical wildlife habitat. The EPA is currently ordered to scale back wetland regulations and oversight in favor of state and industry control. Tom Irwin of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) warns that newly filed bills in the New Hampshire Legislature supported by the fossil fuel industry would, if passed, greatly weaken renewable energy programs by boosting oil and gas production over solar and wind energy. A recent 'Saturday Night Live' spoof featured the character Debbie Downer complaining to actor Robert De Niro that 'we're all walking landfills.' De Niro replied that the world 'is like living in a full diaper.' In the soil of this morass we're growing 'natural' seeds coated with EPA approved radioactive waste. Despite these odds a unique seed variety persists, immutable and treatment resistant, one honored by the contemporary poet Dinos Christianopoulos in his couplet, 'what didn't you do to bury me / but you forgot that I was a seed.' His acknowledgement of resilience and resistance serves as a call to action. Just like borrowing a book, you can sign out seeds for your garden from your local library or join the Surfrider Foundation's cleanups of New Hampshire beaches or become a citizen scientist conducting water monitoring tests for the Nashua River Watershed Association. You can join Sy Montgomery's team of turtle rescuers and rehabilitators described in her book 'Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell.' You can even volunteer with UNH's rescue program, Nature Groupie. As thousands of amphibians migrate each spring to vernal pools and other wetlands to breed, the group organizes salamander crossing brigades at amphibian road crossings to help move them by hand (and keep count) during one or more 'Big Nights.' Saving small creatures brings the following parable inspired by Loren Eiseley to mind. A man walking along a beach noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. When asked what he was doing, the boy replied, 'Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The tide is going out and if I don't throw them back, they'll die.' The man replied, 'Son, don't you realize there's miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish. You can't possibly make a difference.' Bending down to throw another starfish into the surf, the boy said with a smile, 'I made a difference for that one.' Though we're facing the erosion of environmental safeguards due to funding freezes, there are many ways we can remain steadfast, connected, and involved.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota's population slowing, foreign-born workers fill gap: Report
The Brief A new report says Minnesota's population growth is slowing down significantly. The state is facing labor force shortages, with several factors in play. Meanwhile, "New Americans" account for the majority of recent employment growth in the state. (FOX 9) - A new report from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce shows a concerning reality for the future of the state's population. Experts say the projections show a significant population growth slowdown, which directly impacts the state's workforce, which is already experiencing a shortage. The backstory In the past 50 years, Minnesota's population grew by 50%, but in the next 50 years, it is projected to grow by just 7%. This means fewer workers in the state. People are a big part of the equation that predicts the state's economic growth and prosperity. According to the "Economic Contributions of New Americans in Minnesota" report, there are a few major factors that are contributing to the workforce shortage. There remains a large group from the Baby Boomer generation that has reached retirement age. Yet, birth rates are not keeping up to replenish the workforce. Plus, post-pandemic workforce issues still exist. Dig deeper According to the report, in the past five years, "New Americans" accounted for roughly 60% of the labor force and employment growth in Minnesota. Sean O'Neill, the Chamber's Director of Economic Development and Research said this impacts businesses directly, and in turn, customers. "We've been coming off of this period, really historic workforce shortages where companies have had to do things like reduce hours or not take on new customers because they just couldn't fill the job openings that they had at their businesses," said Sean O'Neil with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. "As much as we've had challenges around the work force so far this decade, it would have been even more severe if we didn't have that in flow of immigration into the state. We really want to focus on helping businesses in the current moment and help them meet the job demands that they have." Artificial Intelligence: Researchers said artificial intelligence (AI) could play into this dynamic, but more analysis needs to be done to draw stronger correlations and conclusions. In the long term, automation may help fill some gaps, but may also create demand for new roles. Experts said the long-term impact is hard to tell at this time. In the short term, experts say the roles "New Americans" are filling are jobs with less exposure to AI impacts currently, such as production, construction, and agriculture. Immigration trends: The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce also mentioned this pool of foreign-born workers grew in the state primarily through legal pathways such as guest worker visas or refugee programs. What you can do Learn more about the report here. The Source Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Census, Pew Research
