A Massachusetts man convicted of burning down a black church out of anger over the election of President Barack Obama was sentenced to nearly 14 years in federal prison on Thursday.

The National Federation of Asian American United Methodists expresses deep concern about the death of US serviceman Army Private Danny Chen, a Chinese-American soldier in Afghanistan, after being subjected to a steady stream of racial slurs, unabated hazing and incessant harassment by an officer and fellow soldiers.

Early-stage, high-growth firms have been shown to create the bulk of new jobs in the United States. But who creates all those companies that create all those jobs? Evidently, immigrants play an enormous role. Nearly half of the top 50 venture-backed firms in the country were founded at least in part by an immigrant, according to a new study by The National Foundation for American Policy.

GCORR's Christmas greeting is inspired by the work of artist Jeanne Marklin, who created a quilted art piece for the General Commission on Religion and Race titled "More than Skin Deep2." Click below to view the greeting and learn more about Marklin and her work.

In this season of Advent, we commemorate International Migrants Day on December 18, recognizing the efforts, contributions and rights of migrants worldwide. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations (U.N.) migrant rights convention.

In a recent post, former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, currently an op-ed columnist for the paper, answered readers who have repeatedly criticized him and the paper of record for their incessant use of derogatory term "illegals." Keller shared a handful of emails from readers, including from one who noted that the term "reduces human beings to a status label, and a morally loaded one at that."

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will rule for the first time on one of several tough, new state immigration laws, with a decision coming in the middle of the 2012 presidential election campaign. Potentially deepening political divisions over the contentious immigration policy issue, the court will decide if key parts of an Arizona crackdown can proceed. The ruling could have implications for similar tough laws adopted recently in other states - including South Carolina, Alabama, Utah, Georgia, and Indiana.

Concerned that Alabama’s immigration law will criminalize their ministries, four Alabama bishops from three denominations, including Bishop William H. Willimon of the North Alabama Annual Conference, filed a lawsuit in August. The lawsuit is the third suit filed in the state, following a lawsuit by the Obama Administration and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly challenged GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann in an interview Monday on her recent campaign promise to deport all undocumented immigrants, claiming that the human and fiscal cost of the task could make it extremely difficult.

The General Commission on Archives and History recently announced award recipients for multiple grants, awards and scholarships, including The Asian, African, Hispanic, and Native American History Research Grant, which is intended for research in the history and heritage of ethnic/racial groups in the United Methodist tradition, and the Josephine Forman Scholarship, which is awarded to a person of color pursing graduate work in archival studies. The Commission also awarded additional grants and prizes for work in the field of archival research and United Methodist history.