The news that London born singer/songwriter and all-round cool lady Mathangi Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., will not compromise her wedding by rushing into a quick ceremony simply to please US immigration authorities, is a political stance the singer has become known for through the years.

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As there continues to be dis-content across the USA – with the new Arizona immigration law (even though it is yet to come into effect), and the latest news that the city of Sacremento in California has joined four other cities in boycotting the state over the issue of US immigration, I stumbled across some moving images of immigration rallies across the USA.

I think the best words to describe these would be that we are all human and this is the message we should all remember.

The issue of immigration in the US is still a red hot coal of contention and there is still no sign of the US immigration reform that was promised by Barack Obama – as was promised before he was elected. These people for one hope that it comes to fruition.

As a proponent of democracy and human rights, the Arizona state law on stopping anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant struck me as just what has been reported by the world’s media – a racial profiling law, and subsequently made me feel slightly uncomfortable with it.

This sentiment has echoed across the country with many in Congress decreeing it while TV celebrities quiz Miss USA contestants about the morality of such actions.

The resulting backlash has in all intents and prissiness been extremely one-sided. It was with this view-point that I embarked on a piece written about the law and illegal immigration in Arizona.

Sylvia Allen writes;

“People who live within 60 miles of the Arizona/Mexico border have for years been terrorized by the daily invasion of foreigners who cross their property. One rancher testified that 300 to 1,200 people per DAY come across his ranch, vandalizing his property, stealing his vehicles, cutting down fences, and leaving trash everywhere. In the last two years, he has found 17 dead bodies and two copies of the Koran.

One man told of two illegal’s who came upon his property – one shot in the back and the other in the arm by drug runners who had forced them to carry the drugs and then shot them. Daily, this rancher listens to gun fire; during the night, it is not safe to leave his family alone, and they can’t leave their ranch for fear of nothing being left when they come back.”

Sounds more like a horror story to me, however, we must all pass on the same privilege of democracy being granted to the individuals protesting the law as to those supporting it. It is in this vein that people who have real concerns and fears around illegal immigration should be heard. I will, however, not be printing anymore of Allen’s writing as this would be stretching the point.

The facts behind the law is that the two countries do touch and share a border, so there is a strong case of there perhaps being a problem with illegal immigrants in this area. Although I would add that might it not of been better to concentrate US immigration resources in preventing the problem rather than rounding them up afterwards?

And so is the controversy

The first lady ran into a slight political storm this week, when what was supposed to be a straight-forward photo-opportunity for her healthy eating campaign became another story about the Arizona immigration law.

Acutely timed considering her husband, Mr Obama, and the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, had just been talking about the immigration law. Coincidence?

It appears that US immigration and the effects of illegal immigration are far-reaching indeed. So with Barack Obama apparently reluctant to press for immigration reform with only 6-months to go before the mid-term elections, it appears that the daughters and sons of those here illegally will have to contend with the worry of their parents plight for a little longer.

The contentious new Arizona immigration law was passed just one week ago and it’s already whipping up a media storm big enough to draw celebrity campaigners. Pop diva and self-proclaimed ‘She Wolf’ Shakira has been sharpening her claws ready to oppose the law, which allows Arizona State police to stop and request immigrants to show their USA visa documents.

The Colombian-Lebanese singer is no stranger to campaigning for immigration reforms and is an avid activist for Latino issues. She fears the new law will unfairly target ‘hardworking Latino families’, so in hope of revoking it she will be meeting with the pro-immigration mayor of Phoenix, Arizona.

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Is this the most powerful website on the Internet? http://www.house.gov/

That is the website where you can find your representative and let them know your views on the subject of the bipartisan immigration bill.

Following the US immigration reform rally last week, is it time to keep up the pressure on the house and the President, to ensure that what was promised in the first year is delivered in the second?

A bipartisan bill was attempted by john McCain under the Bush administration, but didn’t get through congress, will this attempt succumb to the same fate? What are your views on the subject, I am intrigued to know, do you want a legalization to the illegal immigrants currently in the United States? What are the worries or problems that you can foresee with the proposed reform? Or were you at one of the rallies up and down the country?

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Tens of thousands of protestors descended on Capitol Hill on Sunday, amid Barack Obama’s push for universal healthcare reform, they were however not here for that, they were here for the other reform the president had promised while vying for the electorates affections, reform on immigration.

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What's your favourite colour?

Regardless of where you are moving to you will want to know as much as possible about where you are going, getting off the plane at a destination you are about to call home and not knowing a thing is going to be scary and extremely hard. When planning a move to the United States you may wish do some research, however you might want keep a few things at the forefront of your mind.

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Teodoro Nguema Obiang, Forest and Agriculture Minister for Equatorial New Guinea, visits the US frequently. Increasingly his visits are becoming a bone of contention with certain parts of the Obama administration.

Obiang owns a $35 million estate in Malibu, California, a fleet of luxury cars, speedboats and a private jet.  He has been accused of making money illegally through extensive oil and gas reserves discovered more than a decade and a half ago off the coast of his tiny West African country.

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Paul Graham steps out of tech sector to write on US immigration

Paul Graham, well known for his essays on start-ups and entrepreneurialism in the US tech sector wrote about an idea that if realized, would be a big step in the right direction for US immigration policy.

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