What is the current vetting process for refugees to enter the US, and how is that likely to change under the Trump administration?

by Jack Doppelt | Mar 14, 2017 | Good Question, Problems with Papers, The Migration

By Andy Weir, Medill, Immigrant Connect “We’re seeing migration around the world like we’ve never seen before,” said Melissa Chavin, founder of the Chavin Immigration Law Office in London. “As that happens, we’re seeing more recoil and resistance.” That recoil and...

Why my mother hates hot dogs

by Jack Doppelt | Feb 12, 2017 | Back Home, Family, Our Staff, The Migration

By Andy Weir, Medill, Immigrant Connect I’m warming up a hot dog in a microwave when my mother walks into the kitchen, balks at what I’m doing, and abruptly walks away. “Perhaps she just thinks it’s not healthy,” I think to myself. “Maybe she’s just got something...

From “wet foot” by raft to “dry foot” with Uber

by Jack Doppelt | Feb 12, 2017 | Back Home, Problems with Papers, The Migration

By Daniela Grava, Medill, Immigrant Connect “Hablas español?” he asks me. “Claro,” I answer. Estamos en Miami, after all. I am in the front seat of an uber on my way back from a friend’s house. A casual night. I can tell my driver is Cuban by his strong accent and...

I can finally see myself as an immigrant having to decide

by Jack Doppelt | Feb 7, 2017 | Fearing the Law, Our Staff, The Migration

By Zoe Davis, Medill, Immigrant Connect I’m anxiously waiting for Lídice to walk through the restaurant door. It’s been less than a year since I first met her in Cuba. Yet since then, she has left Cuba for good to move to the U.S. My dad and I are on a stopover in...

Korean adoptees: Left behind, now fighting for citizenship

by Jack Doppelt | Jun 20, 2016 | Culture Shock, Family, Identity, Problems with Papers, The Migration

By Rachel Yang, Medill, Immigrant Connect Joy Alessi waited in line for four hours to get her passport. When it was finally her turn to speak to someone at the bureau, she was instead told she was not actually a U.S. citizen. “It was pretty disturbing,” Alessi...

Chinese “Goose Mothers”: Their separation and sacrifice

by Jack Doppelt | Jun 19, 2016 | Back Home, Culture Shock, Family, The Migration

By Wei Wei, Medill, Immigrant Connect Zhou* is busy packing her suitcase for the flight back to China tomorrow. She flew to the United States three months ago to accompany her son, Tom, who attends the 10th grade of a private high school in a suburb of Chicago....