Schleswig-Holstein government unanimously recognizes Roma and Sinti

Roma immigrants protest in front of German parliament, demanding equal rights for German Roma.
(Image courtesy of Der Spiegel Online)

Yesterday, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein unanimously voted to grant Roma and Sinti ethnic minorities protection under the state constitution. German government officers are recognizing this legislative passage as a historic moment because, in previous years, the Christian Democratic Union shot down the measure. After much criticism within the government and from outside organizations, the CDU agreed to vote for the protection of these peoples when it resurfaced on the ballot. With the CDU for the bill, the vote to protect Sinti and Roma became unanimous.

Sinti and Roma have been protected by Germany's federal government since 1995. This passage, however, is completely new in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Many Sinti and Roma emigrated to Western Europe from the Balkans, particularly from Macedonia and Serbia. One Roma spokesperson reported that many are leaving Eastern Europe to receive better federal care. Upon applying for asylum, a person could receive as much as €360 per month during the application process. Thus, the migration of Roma and Sinti to Germany has been labelled an economic migration. Because of this title, Christian Social Union member Michael Hartmann is urging German lawmakers to initiate a reform of the country's policies regarding immigration, particularly for economic reasons.

In the United States, immigration is a constant issue of contention. Especially in Southwest border states such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the immigrants from Mexico tend to be treated as a nuisance to the country. Like the German Roma and Sinti groups, Latin Americans seem to be migrating for economic opportunities.

Despite these admirable causes, the U.S. federal government and state governments are still trying to crack down on border control and deal with immigrants who have come here illegally. It is currently being debated whether to grant recent illegal immigrants resident status and to then to tighten security around the border.

How would you propose immigration be dealt with in the U.S.? Is Germany's choice to grant asylum a good model with which to work? Would this protection be granted in the U.S.? Why or why not?

Transoceanic Profiling: ongoing racism in Germany and the United States

Police brutality, particularly in altercations involving immigrants or people of color , has been on the rise in recent years. With immigration rising in both the U.S. and Germany, it appears that diversity comes with a cost.
(Photo courtesy of cagle.com)

Last week an unnamed German citizen, 26, won a landmark discrimination case in the Higher Administrative Court for Rhineland-Palatinate.

Here is the catch: he is black. 

Both a German citizen and a student at a university in Kassel, the man has been taken aside at least 10 times by federal police. On this occasion, he was traveling to visit family in Offenbach. The police took him aside, thinking he was another undocumented illegal.

However, when the police harassed him to hand over his travel documents, he finally decided to stand up to them. Other train passengers spoke out against the officers, but nevertheless, the officers continued to harass the student. Eventually, he was taken to the police station where he was finger printed and placed into a holding cell. They questioned whether or not he could speak English and had documents.

Eventually, he was released once he showed his driver's license. His reason for resistance? Due to his past experiences being taken aside, he found that police need to give at least one reason for questioning passersby. In his case, the police failed to do that.

Though the student did not seek monetary damages, he characterized the experience as "the worst day of [his] life."

In California, this experience is common amongst Latino immigrants, legal and illegal alike. Thus, racial profiling has become especially prominent, particularly in border states. Racial profiling is defined as taking a person's race or ethnicity into account when deciding whether to engage in enforcement.

In 2008, the ACLU of Southern California released a report, which analyzed Los Angeles Police Department pulling over pedestrians and determined that African Americans and Latinos were "over-stopped and over-frisked" by law enforcement, much like the officers in Germany.

According to this ACLU study, blacks and Latinos were 76 and 16 percent more likely to be pulled over and searched than whites. Twenty nine and 32 percent of blacks and Latinos were more likely to be arrested as a result of these searches.

What other trends have there been in regards to racial profiling in the U.S. and abroad? Are there any patterns you have notice?

Racial Profiling: Germany vs. Arizona

In a recent ruling courts ruled against racial profiling based on skin color. After an incident where 26-year-old student refused when asked to show his identification on a train due to his dark skin color and was subsequently held at a police station, the student brought the case to court, suing for discrimination.  After a lower court deemed the police action acceptable a higher court overturned the ruling, saying that this action had gone against Germany's anti discrimination law. This case could set a precedent against racial profiling by the police.
   As a US citizen and resident of Arizona this case reminded me of SB1070, Arizona's recent illegal immigration law. This law, while it does not openly accept racial profiling, does promote it by allowing officers to demand immigration papers if there is reasonable suspicion that they are dealing with an illegal immigrant. The term reasonable suspicion basically allows the officer to decide who could or could not be illegal. In the case of Arizona, most illegal immigrants come across the nearby border with Mexico, thus making it extremely easy to suspect anyone of hispanic heritage of being illegal. In any case, I was glad to see that Germany has made it clear that requesting identification purely based on one's looks is not acceptable. I hope that Arizona can learn from this example and eventually follow suit.

"A Million a Day..."

"A Million a Day..." by Ana Sofia Knauf, Eunice Cheng, Magdalena Cooper, Andrew Johnson, and Amy Hartquist

Currently, German citizens of migrant background makes up 10% of the population, while immigrants without citizenship make up 8%.

In creating this cartoon, we wanted to comment about the tendency of "first world" countries, like Germany and the U.S., to willingly throw foreign aid money at "third world" nations. However, should the people of those nations immigrate to Germany, the migrant groups are treated as though they are unwanted.

What are your thoughts about this issue? Please feel free to leave comments below!

Immigrants in Germany

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/excerpt-from-we-new-germans-a-858622.html

In this article about second-generation Germans, the magazine Spiegel investigates the mentality of immigrants who carry German passports but lack a sense of belonging with the country. 

This question of one's identity has become prevalent in this time of globalization.

Perhaps this identity crisis is even more prevalent in the U.S., whose history of mass immigration can be dated way before Germany even started.

I myself am also a member of the league of identity crisis. Though both of my parents were born and raised in Taiwan, both of their families are essentially not Taiwanese in the traditional sense. As Taiwan is also an immigrant country(predominantly from China) just like that of the U.S. that can be traced back to hundred of years ago, my ancestry consists of Japanese, Indonesia, the Netherlands…etc. As growing up in different continents, one of the questions that I get the most is, "What are you?" As in the U.S., when I reply, "Taiwanese," people would automatically assume me as Chinese, which I am not. On the other hand, in my hometown Taiwan, many people would also automatically assumed I was a foreigner, and pick on my accent when I speak Chinese.

This article from Spiegel is an epitome of this ongoing global trend, in my opinion, a projection of the future of human race. Perhaps one day in the future, all of the countries will be united into one, and there will be less racial conflicts, since everyone will be somehow racially mixed.

Children of Immigrants

    A recent article,"Immigrant Children's Complicated Search for Identity", from Der Spiegel discusses what it means to be the children of immigrants in Germany. This article discusses the issue with the three authors of "We New Germans" who are also the children of immigrants. One of the interesting points brought to light by this article is the refusal of many Germans to accept a multicultural society in Germany. For example, many politicians are making the distinction between Germans with immigrant backgrounds and Germans with German heritage. This creates a new in-between class of people who are not entirely immigrants, but are also not entirely German. So, what potential effects does this refusal to completely allow immigrants or their children to become part of German society have on future immigration and acceptance of immigrants? How is this attitude different from that of Americans. Is it?