Emily Cardinali

Atlanta

Reporter and Host at WABE-FM (Atlanta, GA)

reporter for Atlanta’s NPR station @wabenews thinking about immigration. @aajavoices alum. talk to me! [email protected]

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Articles

UGA international students latest to see visas revoked

2 weeks ago | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali |Meimei Xu

International students at the University of Georgia are the latest to have their visas revoked by the U.S. Department of State. In a memo to university leadership shared with WABE, senior UGA officials said a small number of international students at the Athens university had their visas terminated. First reported by UGA’s student publication the Red and Black, the university says it is providing resources and support to affected students.
US Sen. Jon Ossoff demands children in immigration proceedings receive lawyers

1 month ago | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is leading more than 30 senators demanding unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings will be guaranteed legal representation. Ossoff and fellow Democrat Mazie Hirono of Hawaii are calling for action after legal back and forth from the Trump Administration after it forced federally funded legal service providers for these children to stop work, but rescinded the order in three days after public outcry.
Refugee resettlement to Georgia effectively ended

1 month ago | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

The U.S. State Department has terminated all its contracts with organizations who work to resettle refugees in Georgia. This came after the Trump administration issued executive orders stopping funding for resettlement programs, pausing resettlements and canceling flights for approved incoming refugees who had gone through years-long vetting processes.
Ossoff pushes federal officials on housing immigrants in prisons

1 month ago | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is asking federal officials not to detain immigrants in federal prisons, including at Federal Correctional Institution Atlanta. In a Feb. 20 letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Ossoff warned that housing immigrants in Bureau of Prisons properties would be bad for the immigrants, inmates and prison staff. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to the AP that it began holding immigration detainees.
Buford Highway, Plaza Fiesta packed with protestors supporting Atlanta immigrants

2 months ago | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

More than a thousand people marched along Buford Highway Saturday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcements raids that swept metro Atlanta at the end of January. The raids were part of a push to arrest migrants without authorization in cities around the country and Georgia, including Savannah. ICE did not release the number of those arrested in the Atlanta area, but at least one man was arrested at his church in Tucker after Sunday service ended. “My dad is an immigrant.
Refugee resettlement to Atlanta paused, funding stopped

2 months ago | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

Atlanta’s large refugee resettlement communities are recalibrating as President Donald Trump’s executive order stopping refugees goes into effect. One of Trump’s first actions in office this term was to suspend resettlement of highly vetted refugees, a repeat of policies from his first term. Now, for at least the next three months, no refugees will be resettled to Atlanta. “Could you imagine being like, ‘I’ve been in a refugee camp for 20 years. February 4th. I’m going to America.
Food stamp theft hits Atlanta’s Afghan refugee community

Jan 24, 2025 | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

Fraud and theft are plaguing SNAP, the federal program that provides people with low incomes a benefits card, known as an EBT card, to buy food. New refugees and asylum seekers can qualify for these benefits, and it is often the only way they can buy food for themselves and their families. Last fall, people in Atlanta’s Afghan community found their food stamps had been stolen. Reporters from 285 South, Atlanta’s publication focusing on immigrant and refugee communities, broke the story.
Georgia members of U.S. Congress show bipartisan support for Laken Riley Act

Jan 9, 2025 | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

The U.S. Senate has passed the Laken Riley Act with support from the both Georgia senators. The act would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants for robbery, shoplifting or burglary at the point of arrest, and allow state attorneys general to sue the federal government for failing to enforce immigration law. Final passage through Congress is still up in the air as some Democrats expressed a desire to amend the bill.
Refugee communities in Georgia reflect on Jimmy Carter legacy

Jan 8, 2025 | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali

The refugee resettlement community in Georgia is remembering former President Jimmy Carter’s legacy in expanding refugee protections in the United States and setting the stage for metro Atlanta’s large resettlement coalition. In 1980, on the heels of the Vietnam War, Carter signed legislation establishing the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program, increasing how many refugees could come to the U.S. and allowing for that number to be adjusted based on world events.
What Trump’s agenda on immigration and the environment could mean for Georgia

Nov 21, 2024 | wabe.org | Emily Cardinali |Marisa Mecke |Sam Gringlas |Rahul Bali |Brendan Rivers

President-elect Donald Trump has picked several immigration hard-liners for top posts and he plans to fill key energy and environment roles with oil and gas supporters who have pledged to slash regulations. On this week’s episode of “Plugged In: A WABE Politics Podcast,” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali speak with immigration reporter Emily Wu Pearson and environment reporter Marisa Mecke about how the incoming Trump administration could affect the state of Georgia.