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Immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas is calling on Western North Carolinians to redefine what it means to be an American. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker spoke to a packed house at Warren Wilson College Tuesday night, receiving a standing ovation.(Photo: Warren Wilson College / Special to the Citizen-Times)

SWANNANOA Immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas is calling on Western North Carolina to redefine what it means to be an American.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker spoke to a packed house at Warren Wilson College Tuesday night, receiving a standing ovation.

Vargas is one of the most high-profile, undocumented immigrants in the country.

The challenge is to connect the struggle of immigrants today with the historical narrative of immigration in America, Vargas told a crowd of more than 350 people.

The narrative needs to be modified, he said. The question should be asked of white America: Where are you from?

"So long as people call us illegal, so long as they obsess over the physical border, not the border in our minds, nothing is going to change," said Vargas, who urged people of all races and ethnicities to join together and broaden the immigration debate.

"A new South is being born, and how we make that as inclusive as possible, I think that is the challenge," he said.

North Carolina's immigrant population rose from 1.7 percent in 1990 to 7.6 percent in 2013, according to the Immigration Policy Center. That year, the state was home to at least 750,000 immigrants, nearly 32 percent of whom were naturalized U.S. citizens.

Unauthorized immigrants made up around 3.6 percent of the state's population, or 350,000 people, in 2012, according to data from the Pew Hispanic Center.

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Immigration reform activist calls on WNC to redefine 'American'

Immigration Reform is not possible
To increase the tax base there has to be illegal immigration and a way to grant amnesty.

By: American Devolution

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Immigration Reform is not possible - Video

O #39;Malley sticks to script in New Hampshire
Gov. Martin O #39;Malley sticks to his script of talking about middle-class issues, immigration reform and managing with programs like CitiStat. Subscribe to WBAL on YouTube now for more: http://bit.l...

By: WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore

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O'Malley sticks to script in New Hampshire - Video

About 25 women held in San Antonios Karnes County immigration detention center are on a hunger strike, according to an advocacy group and media reports. The women, some of whom have reportedly been in custody for almost a year, are seeking the release of themselves and their children.

Most of the women were detained following last years border surge when tens of thousands of Central American women and children illegally crossed the Rio Grande and then claimed asylum, the Houston Chronicle reports. The hunger strike is the groups protest of the Obama administrations decision to detain them.

"We will fight until we are granted our liberty. We're tired of the treatment we're receiving here," Kenia, a Honduran detainee who did not give her last name, told the Houston Chronicle by phone from the detention center. "Our children are all losing weight because they've lost their appetites. It's like we're living in a jail."

Estimates from the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICE) said the size of the original group of striking women ranged anywhere from 40 to 80 women. Some women were held in isolation and the number dropped.

A letter released by the women on Tuesday outlined the motivation of the group and the reasoning behind the hunger strike. You should know that this is only the beginning and we will notstop until we achieve our objectives. This strike will continue until every one of us is freed, the letter read, according to a copy released by grassrootsleadership.org. We deserve to be treated with some dignity and that our rights, to the immigration process, be respected.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Tuesday it was not aware of a strike but was investigating if a member of a nonprofit encouraged a hunger strike protest, according to reports. Geo Group Inc., which operates the facility, released a statement on its quality of care.

The Karnes County Residential Center provides high quality care in a safe, clean, and family friendly environment, and on site U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel provide direct oversight to ensure compliance with ICE's Family Residential Standard, the statement read. Our company has consistently, strongly denied allegations to the contrary.

Geo Group Inc. had previously been under investigation for sexual misconduct by employees at the Karnes County immigration detention center. The Department of Home Securitys Office of Inspector General announced in February it found no evidence of sexual misconduct.

Link:
Immigration Reform 2015: Women Reportedly On Hunger Strike In Texas Immigration Detention Center

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley meets with Monroe County residents at a town hall meeting in Albia, Iowa. /Matthew Thielke

ALBIA, IOWA -- The deportation of Iowa City pastor Max Villatoro to Honduras sparked an immigration debate that has swept across Iowa and impacted the entire county. Rep. Dave Loebsack,D-Iowa, has intervened on his behalf.

But Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said today at a town hall meeting in Albia that he doesn't know enough about the case to make a judgment.

Immigration reform and enforcement was just one of many questions asked by the Monroe County residents at the meeting.

Grassley says that the immigration system is broken, and the only way to fix the crisis is by strict enforcement and securing borders.

People ought to applaud the enforcement of our immigration laws because there has been a feeling that the laws have not been enforced by this administration, Sen. Grassley said. My feeling is that the immigration system is broken. The number one step to fix it and get other legislation passed is to make sure we secure the borders first.

Residents also asked questions about the controversial letter sent to Iran by Congress, which Sen. Grassley signed.

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Sen. Grassley: Immigration reform starts with border security