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Kaieteur News
Tuesday April 2, 2013
Over 1000 Caribbean Teachers and Families in Immigration Limbo As the debate for comprehensive immigration reform gains momentum and some kind of legislative response seems imminent, the plight of teachers recruited from the Caribbean during 2001-2006 period is growing. At the rally held at Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 20, to highlight the CaribbeanAfrican position on prospective amendments, representatives of the more than 1000 Caribbean teachers and their children aired their grievances. Later, contingents delivered two documents to Senators, including Eric Cantor (Republican) and Kirsten Gillivrand (Democrat). The documents amounting to 57 pages of documented discontent, explanations and suggestions was titled “ Broken Promises: the story of Caribbean International Teachers in New York City’s Public Schools” and “ Dream Deferred: Black, Invisible & Documented: The Plight of Caribbean Immigrant Youth”. According to Judith De Four-Howard, a recruit from Trinidad and Tobago, and representative of the Coalition for Educational Justice, Caribbean teachers “came from very comfortable situations” to one where they cannot realize “ even their
level of creativity, not even their level of productivity, not even occupational mobility.” Besides, “they have lost freedom, social standing, become financially unstable and financially disadvantaged.” This is so, she said, because the teachers are wrongly classified as unskilled labour (EB3) under the immigration law rather than as professionals (EB2)and there are no means of redress. The transition from Caribbean recruited teachers to permanent American residents and citizens is therefore stymied in a complex bureaucratic process, incurring “prohibitive legal fees…and constant threat of termination and deportation,” as happened in 2004 when 200 teachers received letters of termination from the Department of Education on the expiration of their visas. It took the intervention of Congressman Major Owen to avert expulsion. According to the “Broken Promises”, one document of the grievances authored by the Association of International Educators and The Black Institute, at the time of recruitment the teachers were promised “New York State certification, Master’s degrees, housing
Ms. Judith De Four-Howard, teacher of Crotona Park West, a K-8 school, and representative of the Coalition for Educational Justice addresses the rally. To her left in front row, is Mr. Alden Nesbitt, from Trinidad and Tobago, son of a recruited teacher. He also addressed the rally. assistance and ultimately, a pathway to permanent United States residency for themselves and their nuclear families”. These promises were never met by the New York City Department of Education, it states, although
the teachers remained in the school system “teaching in areas where there are teacher shortages – often in lowincome, low-performing schools.” The promises, said De Four-Howard, made Caribbean teachers take calculated risks to uproot themselves from the Caribbean but the hardships are unacceptable. The dilemma of the teachers inevitably extends to their children. The other document, “Dream Deferred”, noted that “many of their children have ‘agedout’ of their legal immigration status as they are no longer dependents under their parents’ visas…Because the parents did not receive green cards by the time the youth
reached age 21 they’ve lost their status”. And since most of the children arrived in the US after age 16 they cannot qualify for the Presidents’ Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme (DACA). So the children cannot legally work, are barred from obtaining driver’s licences or state identification, have to qualify as F-1 international students to continue their post-secondary education, prohibited from accessing scholarships, grants and any form of public assistance, disqualified from their parents’ health insurance but cannot have their own, and are subjected to “stop-andfrisk” and deportation. While an F-1 visa legalizes
the students’ status the cost of attending college doubles as they are required to “pay out-of-state tuition rates”. These additional costs are also burdensome to the families. Alternatively, the students could remain with their expired H-4 visas, pay instate tuition rates but risk deportation. One condition of the F-1 visas is that its holder must return to his country of origin. To become a permanent resident therefore, depends on whether an employer is willing to sponsor him, whether a family member, preferably a parent, would petition on his behalf, or he gets married to an American citizen. Any of these options incurs extensive waiting time.
Another being sought for Electronic City robbery One man, up to press time yesterday, was still in police custody while another known suspect was being sought in connection with the multimillion-dollar robbery which was carried out on Electronic City, Sheriff Street. According to reports, two of the three persons who were initially detained in connection with the robbery, have been released. Sources close to the investigation
revealed that only one of the men who were caught in the get-away car has been positively identified as an individual who robbed the store. The two others, a male and a female were released from police custody. This publication was also informed that the car which was used as the get-away car PPP 4544 belongs to the man who remains in custody. On Saturday two men, one
armed with a knife and another armed with a gun, held up the employees of Electronic City and robbed the store of items totaling some $30 M. The two men then joined a waiting car which was parked a short distance away from the store. The police were immediately informed about the robbery as well as the car which was used to carry the robbers. Initial reports are that the car was intercepted just in front of a city pawn shop where the men had gone to pawn a portion of the stolen booty. Some of the items were handed over to the police by the pawn shop proprietor. Sources say that the second suspect had already parted ways with his accomplice taking with him the rest of the stolen items. Investigations are ongoing.