Defendant Ordered to Write About Immigrants Hardships

Portland, Oregon

Background
A 37 year old homeless man, Harold Denson, was collecting cans on the property of a car dealership. The manager of the car dealership is a Ukrainian immigrant. Denson's bag, which he was using to collect the cans, broke so the manager approached him with another trash bag asking him to clean the area. Denson first thanked the manager and then proceeded to yell telling him the car dealership was on "American Soil", and to go back to his own country. He also threatened to cut him with a box cutter.

Prior to the sentencing, Judge Ramras met with Denson and suggested an essay idea where he will have to write and reflect on the hardships of immigration. Through the essay, Denson is asked to put himself in their shoes to understand some of the challenges o what it might be like for immigrants coming to this country. Denson was willing, and happy to do so.

Why?
The judge hopes that Denson will understand the impact on his actions on the victim and immigrant communities through compassion, learning, and understanding.

article: https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/immigration-and-emigration

Businesses Fall At The Other Border

The immigration Policies that have been implemented to control the United States's southern border are also making it harder to cross up north. The restaurants at the Canadian border are struggling to stay open. There is also a mall where most of the stores closed after Canadians stopped coming to shop. The city of Massena use to be the economic engine of the entire country, not it's just a shadow of what it used to be. According to Customs and Border Protection data, Massena border crossing has dropped almost a quarter because of tighter federal immigration enforcement over the past 2 years.

Canadians do not feel safe to cross to the United States anymore. Someone said, " they are being treated like criminals, not like the interdependent friends and trading partners they've always been". The Canadian government criticized the more aggressive efforts by Custom agents. Tourists and Canadians who once regularly would go to the U.S have stopped because of the harassment. This unfortunately affected the border shops and restaurants.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/nyregion/canada-border-new-york.html