Immigrants in Maine

A human rights advocate from Mexico will deliver Wednesday night’s Justice For Women Lecture in Portland. Maria Luisa Aguilar Rodriguez will speak on the origins and impacts of the current human rights crisis in that country and the opportunities it presents.

46 people from 31 countries were sworn in as U.S. citizens at a ceremony in Portland Friday.

To become certified as a teacher in Maine candidates must pass certain tests of skills and knowledge. But some critics of the system say that there are cultural biases in the tests that are potentially keeping many applicants, including immigrants, from becoming teachers. The state has changed some its requirements in an attempt to address the issue.

The Trump administration is considering proposing new rules that critics say will punish legal immigrants in the United States who are seeking permanent residency.

In recent years, the ukulele has become increasingly popular for would-be musicians of all ages.

The first Somali-owned farm stand opened this week in Lewiston.

Two cooperative farms joined together to open the produce stand, which will also feature a food truck that serves Somali cuisine. The hope is that the new business at 996 Sabattus Street will help the farmers build capital and foster connection with the wider community.

Over the past several weeks, agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection have carried out random stops of people to question them about their citizenship, miles away from the nearest border.

On June 21, two Bangor Daily News reporters, recorded audio from a Maine checkpoint on I-95 and posted it on the paper's website.

The policy isn't new. It's based on rules put in place in 1952  that allow the agency to randomly stop people within 100 miles of any U.S. "external boundary."

A little less than one month after a video taken by a passenger showed an employee of Concord Coach Lines telling a passenger in Bangor that they had to be a citizen to ride the bus, the company has released a statement saying it doesn't deny people passage based on citizenship, and that it never has.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says she opposes the Trump administration policy that has separated at least 2,000 immigrant children from their parents at the Mexico border, but that she is not on board with a Democratic bill that would force the administration to abandon a policy that has produced widespread condemnation.

The Portland-based construction and renovation company Bondeko actively trains and hires immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

For the past several weeks, “new” Mainers have been breaking bread with longtime residents of Lewiston and Auburn, swapping stories about their families and breaking down stereotypes about immigrants and refugees.

It’s part of a national initiative to address the uptick in hate crimes. One focus of the sessions is to teach bystanders how to safely intervene in a bias incident before it escalates.