Category: ARTICLE

USCIS Green Card Policy Shift: What the New Memo Means for Millions of Immigrants Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199  |  Issued: May 21, 2026 The Policy That Shook the Immigration World On May 21, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199, titled: “Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process.”   The following day, USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler declared: “We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure…

Who Gets to Belong in America? A conversation with author Curtis Chin on identity, immigrant life, and what the rest of the world thinks of us. Credit By Tariq Khan Curtis Chin’s memoir and the author. Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, his family’s Detroit restaurant, is the setting at the heart of the book. Curtis Chin’s family ran a Chinese restaurant in Detroit for decades. They served egg rolls to neighbors who had never heard of them, stayed open through the auto-industry collapse that gutted the city, and kept showing up even…

HCoM Briefing — May 21, 2026 Mental Health Concerns of Houston’s Teens & Young Adults Credit By Tariq Khan Southern News Group  |  11122 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77072 Thursday, May 21, 2026  |  11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Moderated by Sandy Close, Ethnic Media Services / Houston Community Media (HCoM) L to R: Sarah Howell, Dr. Katharine Neill Harris, Najah Callander — HCoM Briefing, May 21, 2026, Southern News Group, Houston TX Overview Houston Community Media (HCoM), a multilingual, multiracial network of ethnic media outlets serving Greater Houston, convened…

The Great Pakistan of 1998 and 2026: From Chagai to Strategic Stability Pakistan’s Nuclear Journey Remembered as a Defining Chapter in National Defense and Sovereignty The nuclear tests conducted in the mountains of Chagai on May 28, 1998, marked a historic turning point in Pakistan’s history, transforming the country into the first nuclear power in the Muslim world and redefining its strategic identity on the global stage. The foundation of Pakistan’s nuclear vision is widely credited to former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who initiated the country’s nuclear program after…

Hate Crimes Continue to Rise, Despite Federal Legislation By Kainat Rajput  Five years ago, Congress passed a law meant to make it easier for Americans to report hate crimes. The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, signed by President Biden in May 2021, came in direct response to the surge in anti-Asian violence that swept the country during the pandemic. It expanded reporting access, improved language services, and directed federal grants to community organizations. It felt, at the time, like a real step forward. It hasn’t been enough. Anti-Asian hate crimes are…

3 Million Americans Lose Critical Food Safety Net, as Dramatic Cuts to SNAP Take Effect American Community Media briefing with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · May 8, 2026 By Kainat Rajput  The Scale of the Cuts Last summer, Congress passed HR1 — the One Big Beautiful Bill — and cut nearly $1 trillion from health and food safety programs. The biggest hit landed on SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Its budget was slashed by $187 billion through 2034, the largest single cut to the program since it launched…

AMERICAN COMMUNITY MEDIA  |  News Briefing  |  May 15, 2026 Erasing the Black Vote in the Deep South Five Voting Rights Activists Fight Back By Kainat Rajput  On April 29, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map — the one with two majority-Black districts. In doing so, it gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the provision that for decades had prohibited voting procedures designed to dilute minority representation. Within hours, state legislators across the South were calling for emergency redistricting sessions. That was the backdrop for this…