Immigration

The journey of Muni Abdi (left) began in war-torn Somalia and ended in Kansas City.

Finding Refuge in Kansas City | Yearning to Breathe Free

A new KCPT documentary, “Finding Refuge in Kansas City,” tells the stories of five Kansas Citians who were refugees.

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Mexican Artist Returned to the U.S.-Mexico Border He Crossed as a Child

It took Israel Alejandro Garcia Garcia 30 years to take a trip back to the border where his family crossed into the U.S. Two exhibits show what he found.

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Enrique and Diego Chi

Sympathetic Vibrations | Making Movements

“In lak’ech ala k’in.” No, that’s not a typo caused by an errant elbow. It’s a single phrase – a greeting – in the Mayan language which has been lovingly adopted by local latin rock band Making Movies. The phrase roughly translates into “I am another you, and you are another me,” and the ethos…

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a group of lead miners in 1900s

The Great American Immigration Debate — Minus A Century

FLAT RIVER, Mo. — This old mining town in the southeast Missouri Ozarks once straddled the richest lead deposits in the world. But it no longer exists and the name is all but forgotten — much like the riots here that shocked the nation a century ago this week. As America’s never-ending debate over immigration rages…

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People raise their candles as a commitment to contact their representatives on behalf of immigrants and refugees.

Outcry Over Immigration Ban Spans the Weekend in KC

As it has across the country, the temporary immigration ban instituted by President Trump continued to reverberate through the Kansas City area over the weekend. The activities, including a town-hall forum organized Saturday by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, came against the backdrop of a fast-developing story. A federal judge in Washington…

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Re:Dream promo still

5 Questions with Re:Dream’s Christopher Cook

Are you living the dream? And what does that dream look like? One national project, Re:Dream, is exploring what opportunity — and our definition of success — look like in the 21st Century. The project is both video-based, with 40 micro documentaries rolling out from the end of February, and events-based, with ongoing community engagement activities across the US. We asked series producer…

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US Treasurer Rios calls for greater economic equality and opportunity

The poverty rate for Latinos is decreasing, but the continuing growth of income inequality is making economic advancement for Latinos difficult. That’s according to panelists speaking Sunday at the National Conference of La Raza (NCLR) in Kansas City. In a panel discussion titled “The Great Economic Divide, Why Inequality Matters,” the town hall meeting featured U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios as keynote speaker.

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Define Yourself: The Iway Family, Part 4:

Doctors Olivia and Belino Iway came to the United States in 1974 from the Philippines on student visas, carrying $200 in their pockets and three young children to care for. After Belino completed his medical residency in New York City, where their fourth child was born, the family was invited to move to Elkhart, Kansas, to staff the small town’s fledgling hospital, where they spent over 30 years building its present capacity of several hundred employees with specialized units that serve patients from many of the larger surrounding communities.

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Being Filipino: The Iway Family, Part 3

In this edition of Your Fellow Americans, the Iway family discusses what their Filipino culture means to them as the talk about dance, education, and finally understanding their parents. How does the American Dream look different for children and adults? Why does the United States put such an emphasis on doing what makes you happy? Is discipline undervalued as a means to ‘the good life?’ We want to know your thoughts.

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American Dreaming: The Iway Family, Part 2

Doctors Olivia & Belino Iway came to the United States in 1974 from the Philippines on student visas, carrying $200 in their pockets and with three young children to care for. After Belino completed his medical residency in New York City, where their fourth child was born, the family was invited to move to Elkhart, KS to staff the small town’s fledgling hospital. Over a career of 30 years in that community, the Drs. Iway built the hospital into its present capacity of several hundred employees, with specialized units that draw in patients from many of the larger surrounding communities.

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