CAFTA a year in: impact more ideological than economic
Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
May 31, 2007

This article deals with the effects of the Central American Free Trade Agreement on the United States, specifically Illinois, during the first year CAFTA was implemented.

The economic impact was minimal – Illinois exports to El Salvador actually dropped slightly, while imports to Costa Rica, which had not ratified CAFTA, increased. But both opponents and supporters of CAFTA acknowledged that the trade agreement was extremely important as an ideological step.

I also tried to put in some perspective about what trade agreements are and are not.

Although the debate is often mistakenly portrayed as a battle between those who support increased trade and those who don’t, in reality, the conflict is in the details.
…
“It’s a managed trade agreement,” [Robert] Scott [with the Economic Policy Institute] said. “There’s no such thing as a ‘free trade’ agreement that’s 2000 pages long. You’d just need a few pages to say: there’s a free trade area, there’s no tariffs or restrictions on trade, period, stop.”

Immigrants more than unskilled field hands, say farmers
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
May 30, 2007

Chicago Muslim professionals go with the flow
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
May 24, 2007

Mazen Asbahi admits he sometimes misses prayers. As a lawyer with Schiff Hardin LLP, sometimes he’s in negotiations all day and can’t break out. “A more hard-core Muslim who’s more senior might say, ‘I need to make a five minute break,’” Asbahi said, “but at my point in my career, I can’t always do that.”

Immigration bill has easier terms for farm workers
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
May 24, 2007

A report on one aspect of the long, ultimately unsuccessful attempt at immigration reform in 2007:

Under the [Senate] bill, agriculture workers who are here illegally could get a visa after paying a fine of only $500, whereas other undocumented workers would have to pay $5000. Furthermore, after the current visa application backlog is cleared, agricultural workers would be among the first to be processed.

U.S. $1-million visas are going begging
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
May 15, 2007

Each year U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can grant up to 10,000 visas to foreigners in exchange for a $500,000 or $1 million investment that creates at least 10 U.S. jobs. But last year only 486 investors applied, and only 344 visas were approved.

Federal requirements for driver’s licenses a costly headache for states
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
April 26, 2007

The Real ID Act sets minimum security standards for state IDs, a response to the fact that several Sept. 11 hijackers had U.S. driver’s licenses, some of them fraudulent. But the act was tacked onto a military appropriations bill, and critics say it was passed with little debate by Congress and no input from the states, which will wind up footing 99 percent of a very big bill.

Islam-friendly lending thrives at community banks as big banks steer clear
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
April 19, 2007

Islamic home lending is a thriving business at the few U.S. banks offering Shariah-compliant, no-interest financing. But the big banks are still hanging back, wary of the high costs of entry.

Not by price alone: despite lower fees and government support, banks still lag behind in Latino remittance market
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
April 12, 2007

An article looking at why most immigrants still use places like Western Union to send money back home to their families, even though it would usually be cheaper to use a bank.

Iraqi Translators in Danger
by Katherine Glover
Worldview, Chicago Public Radio

An interview with my friend Mohammed, who went back to Iraq after Hussein fell only to learn that things were more dangerous than ever.

“It’s kind of like you know when you watch an action movie,” he said, “but it’s sad movie.”

The story was originally produced through the Gateway “Immigration Here and There” Project at the Medill School of Journalism and also appeared on Windy Citizen (formerly Chicago Methods Reporter) as “Back to Baghdad: An Iraqi collaborator tells his story.”

Righting Wrongs
by Katherine Glover and Giang Nguyen
Medill News Service
February 27, 2007

A woman realizes after ten years that the man she’d sent to prison was not the man who’d attacked her.

Daley named in torture lawsuit
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
February 14, 2007

Lawyers petition to add Mayor Daley to a complaint regarding the infamous Chicago police torture scandal of the 1970s and 1980s.

Watchdogs going after Chicago Police Department over Immigration Policies
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service
February 7, 2007

The Chicago Police Department has a policy against asking people about their immigration status.

But now a Washington, D.C.-based conservative watchdog group is looking into the policy to determine whether it’s in violation of federal immigration laws.

This could establish Chicago as the next battleground in the national controversy over what role police officers should play in enforcing immigration statutes. Police in many cities argue that good relationships with immigrant communities are essential for effective police work, as witnesses and crime victims will be unwilling to come forward if they fear it could lead to deportation.

full article

New farm bill to support nutrition, public health
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service

Along with farmers, nutrition advocates are already gearing up for negotiations on the next farm bill. The multi-year bill up for renewal next year will include not only farm subsidy and support policies, but nutrition programs such as food stamps and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Some experts are saying that even the farm-related aspects of the bill could have far-reaching effects on public health.

Guaranteeing Muslim standards: Man works to ensure meat is truly halal.
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service

It’s illegal in Illinois to mislead someone into believing that food has been prepared according to Muslim halal standards when it really hasn’t. The problem is, different people have different definitions of what those standards should be.

Family farmer takes unconventional role
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service

Illinois hog and corn farmer Keith Bolin is the president of the American Corn Growers Association.

“Centralization of power and money is dangerous,” he says. “It’s not good for this country and it’s not a middle-class value.”

2007 Farm Bill includes new subsidy proposal
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service

Farm revenue insurance is put on the table as a way to continue subsidies without running afoul of the WTO.

Study shows farmers have reaped several billion in disaster aid
by Katherine Glover
Medill News Service

Thousands of farmers have received disaster aid one out of every two years for the past two decades, collecting $2.8 billion of federal funds, according to a study by an environmentalist group.

A majority of farmers and ranchers have received disaster aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture three years or fewer since 1985, the Environmental Working Group study said. But a small group — about 21,000 of the nation’s 2 million disaster aid recipients — received payments 11 or more of the past 26 years. These “chronic recipients” accounted for more than 10 percent of the $25.8 billion in total disaster aid distributed in that time, the study said.