Levy murder trial delayed
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first-degree murder trial of undocumented immigrant Ingmar Guandique, accused of murdering congressional intern Chandra Levy in May of 2001, has been pushed back from January until October 2010, due to expected new charges, according to federal prosecutors.
The Guatemala native is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for attacking two D.C. women in 2001.
Hate crimes on the rise
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The number of reported hate crimes rose by 2% in 2008, according to a recent report by the FBI.
This includes an 11% increase in sexual-orientation-related hate crimes and a 9% increase in religion-related hate crimes. Racially-related hate crimes, the largest category, fell by less than 1%.
VOA teaches English to Chinese
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Voice of America has launched goEnglish.me,a new website, to help Mandarin Chinese speakers learn colloquial American English.
GoEnglish.me allows students to use a headset and microphone to talk to avatars about everyday situations in the United States, with topics such as “College Schedules,” “Retail Shopping,” “Apartment Hunting,” “Greeting Friends,” and “Going on a Hike.”
Guest worker plan supported
PLATTSBURGH, Vt. – The three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation are voicing strong support for a guest worker program for U.S. dairy farms.
Sens. Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I), along with Rep. Peter Welch (D), are calling for a new program after five Vermont dairy farms received federal subpoenas for employee records for all farm laborers as part of a nationwide crackdown by federal immigration inspectors.
9/11 victims’ kin face deportation
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Fourteen immigrants who were in the country illegally when their relatives, all parents or spouses, were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trace Center remain at risk of being deported.
In August 2008, the Department of Homeland Security granted the group a one-year humanitarian parole, which has since been renewed for a second year.
However, the 14 are afraid to visit their home countries as they have received no guarantees that they will be allowed to reenter the United States.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has sponsored a bill that would grant green cards to the immigrants.