Detroit Man Freed From Prison With Help of Student Reporters
On February 18, Kenneth Nixon walked out of a Michigan state prison and into his mother’s arms for the first time in more than 15 years.The reunion was bittersweet: Sentenced to life without parole at age 19, Nixon spent his twenties fighting to overturn a double-murder conviction for a crime he says he did not commit.In 2005, he was found guilty of firebombing a house, resulting in the deaths of a 10-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl.Nixon secured his freedom with the help of the Western Michigan University Cooley Innocence Project, the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit — and a group of students studying investigative reporting at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.The students at Medill began looking into his case in 2018 as part of an investigative reporting class taught by senior associate dean Tim Franklin, assistant professor Desiree Hanford and adjunct instructor George Papajohn.Their research and reporting uncovered new evidence and inconsistencies in the original case.Along with memos, including one in which a prosecutor described the case as having “serious problems,” the Medill students looked into conflicting accounts from the brother of the victims and testimony of a jailhouse informant, and they interviewed three witnesses who provided alibis that accounted …
As Mexico’s Largest Migrant Camp Empties, New Tents Spring Up Along US Border
Mexican authorities hope most of the asylum seekers living in a major encampment on the border will be allowed to enter the United States by the end of next week, according to a Mexican government source. The migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the river from Brownsville, Texas, is currently home to just under 700 migrants, according to the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR). The majority are asylum seekers who have been waiting in Mexico as their cases wind through U.S. courts under a program implemented by former President Donald Trump. One week ago, President Joe Biden’s administration began permitting members of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program to enter the United States to pursue their court cases. UNHCR spokeswoman Silvia Garduno said 27 people crossed the border from Mexico Thursday and 100 did so Friday, and that the agency hopes to continue this pace in the coming days. The agency, along with the International Organization for Migration, is in charge of the logistics of registering and transporting migrants from the camp to the United States. The Mexican government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the goal was for 500 migrants in …
US Immigration Officials to Deport 13 Haitians Arrested in Florida
U.S. Immigration officials are planning to deport to Haiti 13 Haitian nationals who were arrested in Florida along with a U.S. citizen.The U.S. Embassy in Haiti announced the arrests Thursday in a series of tweets posted in English and Haitian Creole.U.S. Immigration authorities arrested 13 Haitian nationals in Florida and processed them for removal. The suspected smuggler was taken into custody. Migrating illegally is dangerous and will prove a #FutileJourney. https://t.co/0uUIrgaZkw— U.S. Embassy Haiti (@USEmbassyHaiti) February 25, 2021″The suspected smuggler was also identified. Both vessels involved in the incident will be seized. An investigation by #DHS partners remains ongoing,” the tweet said.Adam Hoffner of the U.S. Border Patrol Miami Sector said agents responding to “a maritime smuggling event” found seven Haitian males and six females and a U.S. citizen on the shores of Dania Beach at the Cozy Cove Marina.In a joint effort with federal agents, the group was taken into Border Patrol custody.”The Haitian nationals were interviewed and processed for removal proceedings and subsequently turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO),” Hoffner told VOA via email.”The U.S. Border Patrol is investigating this case alongside our Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partners and will …
Beijing Investment in Laos Sparks Chinese-Language Learning Boom
A Chinese language education boom is underway in Laos as Beijing’s increasing investments in the Southeast Asian country point to a future where Chinese companies dominate local commerce, sources in Laos told RFA.Chinese investment in Laos was a mere 1.5% of its total foreign direct investment in 2003, but Beijing accounted for 79% of FDI in Laos in 2018. The sharp rise in investment has prompted job hunters in Laos to view proficiency in the language as an essential skill.“I am learning Chinese because there are many Chinese investments in Laos, and Chinese fluency will help me to get a job with Chinese companies more easily,” a student attending a Chinese private school in the capital Vientiane told RFA’s Lao Service February 18.“It will also help me continue on to higher education in China,” said the student, who requested anonymity for security reasons.A student at the National University of Laos, the country’s top-ranked educational institution, told RFA that the country’s future lies with Beijing. China and Laos are fraternal one-party communist states that share a land border.“Laos and China are close friends and partners now. Most companies and investors doing business in Laos are Chinese,” said the university student, who …
Biden Revokes Trump Ban on Many Green Card Applicants
President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a proclamation from his predecessor that blocked many green card applicants from entering the United States.Former President Donald Trump issued the ban last year, saying it was needed to protect U.S. workers amid high unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic.Biden rejected that reasoning in a proclamation on Wednesday rescinding the visa ban. The Democratic president said it had prevented families from reuniting in the United States and had harmed U.S. businesses.Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to reverse many of Trump’s hardline immigration policies. Immigrant advocates had pressed in recent weeks for him to lift the visa ban, which was set to expire on March 31.Biden left in place another ban on most foreign temporary workers.In October, a federal judge in California blocked Trump’s ban on those foreign guest workers as it affected hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses that fought the policy in court.Curtis Morrison, a California-based immigration attorney who represents people subject to the green card applicant ban, said Biden would now have to tackle a growing backlog of applications that have been held up for months as the pandemic shut down most visa processing by the State Department. The process could take …
Honduran Man Exits US Church After Years in Sanctuary From Deportation
After 3½ years of living inside a Missouri church to avoid deportation, Honduran immigrant Alex Garcia finally stepped outside Wednesday, following a promise from President Joe Biden’s administration to let him be.Garcia, a married father of five, was slated for removal from the U.S. in 2017, the first year of President Donald Trump’s administration. Days before he would have been deported, Christ Church United Church of Christ in the St. Louis suburb of Maplewood offered sanctuary.Sara John of the St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America said Garcia’s decision to leave the church came after Immigration and Customs Enforcement declared that he was no longer a deportation priority, and that the agency would not pursue his detention or removal.Garcia, in a statement, said he was separated from living with his family for 1,252 days. A crowd of about 100 people cheered as he and his family left the church Wednesday.”We are not done yet,” Garcia said. “There is still so much work that has to be done and I look forward to being able to join you all out there in the community and continue to fight for my permanent protection.”In his first weeks as president, Biden has signed several …
Judge Bans Enforcement of Biden’s 100-Day Deportation Pause
A federal judge late Tuesday indefinitely banned President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction sought by Texas, which argued the moratorium violated federal law and risked imposing additional costs on the state.Biden proposed the 100-day pause on deportations during his campaign as part of a larger review of immigration enforcement and an attempt to reverse the priorities of former President Donald Trump. Biden has proposed a sweeping immigration bill that would allow the legalization of an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally. He also has instituted other guidelines on whom immigration and border agents should target for enforcement. Tipton, a Trump appointee, initially ruled on January 26 the moratorium violated federal law on administrative procedure and the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified. A temporary restraining order issued by the judge was set to expire Tuesday. Tipton’s ruling did not require deportations to resume at their previous pace. Even without a moratorium, immigration agencies have wide latitude in enforcing removals and processing cases. But in the days that followed his ruling, authorities deported 15 people to Jamaica and hundreds …
Federal Aid Offered to Some International Students
International students are not often eligible for federal student aid, and typically pay full tuition and fees for their college and university education that can cost more than $100,000 a year. “The fact that I most likely will not be able to go to university because only two of the ones I’m applying to offer financial aid to international students and I can’t afford to go otherwise, literally kills me, like it’s breaking my heart,” tweeted Isabella Romanov, a British citizen who told VOA she plans to study in the U.S.the fact that i most likely will not be able to go to university bc only 2 of the ones i’m applying to offer financial aid to international students and i can’t afford to go otherwise literally kills me like it’s breaking my heart— ♡ izzy ♡ (@sixofjosten) In this June 18, 2020, photo, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students celebrate in front of the Supreme Court after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for young immigrants in Washington.In some cases, DACA recipients may be asked to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to receive aid from their institution or their state …
‘Minari,’ Story of Korean American Family, Showcases Immigrant Experience
“Minari,” a film by Korean American filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, tells the story of a young Korean immigrant family chasing the American dream. Like the Korean herb minari, known for its adaptability to a variety of climates and conditions, the young Korean family is determined to put down roots in the American rural South. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more. …
Chinese, Indian Students Make Up Half of Foreign Students in US
Students from China and India comprise half of all international students in the U.S., propelled by increased wealth in those countries and drawn by potential employment in America, education and immigration experts told VOA.“The ratios are due largely to external demographic, geopolitical, and economic factors,” said Rachel Banks, senior director of public policy and legislative strategy at NAFSA: Association of International Educators. “It is largely driven by who can afford the cost of studying in the United States, as international students are not eligible for federal financial aid.”China’s economy has grown markedly since opening to Chinese students hold a memorial for the late Dr. Li Wenliang – who was a whistleblower of COVID-19, that originated in Wuhan, China – outside the UCLA campus in Westwood, Calif. on Feb. 15, 2020.Chinese and Indian enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities swooped upward at the turn of the new century. In 2000, there were nearly 60,000 Chinese students in the U.S., and nearly 55,000 students from India. Student enrollment in U.S. schools from Japan and South Korea were not far behind.By 2010, Chinese student enrollment had grown to almost 158,000 students in the U.S., with nearly 104,000 students from India, pulling far ahead …
Two Dozen Asylum-seekers Enter US as Biden Unwinds Trump Program
Twenty-five asylum-seekers were allowed into the United States on Friday, advocates said, the start of an effort to unwind one of former President Donald Trump’s most restrictive immigration policies. President Joe Biden pledged during his campaign that he would immediately rescind the Trump policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), under which more than 65,000 mostly Central American asylum-seekers were denied entry and sent back across the border into Mexico pending court hearings. Most returned home but some stayed in Mexico in sometimes squalid or dangerous conditions, vulnerable to kidnapping and other violence. Now they will be allowed into the United States to wait for their cases to be heard in immigration courts. A bus leaves a closed border facility as migrants subject to a Trump-era asylum restriction program were expected to begin entry into the United States at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico, in San Diego, California, Feb. 19, 2021.The effort started slowly Friday at a port of entry in San Ysidro, California, where the 25 MPP asylum-seekers were allowed to cross the border and will now quarantine in a local hotel, according to the nonprofit organization Jewish Family Service of San Diego. At a migrant encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, …
Biden’s Immigration Reform Proposal Explained
Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Congress introduced an immigration bill Thursday that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. while also providing a fast track to citizenship for those brought to the country illegally as children.What does a path to U.S. citizenship look like under the This undated image from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows the front of a sample “green card,” formally known as a permanent resident card.After three years of green card status, an immigrant would be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.Someone with LPI status could legally work and travel outside the U.S. and be lawfully admitted back into the country. Those going through the LPI process would be protected from deportation while the government is deciding their applications.Does the bill cover people with valid nonimmigrant visas?No. Those living temporarily in the United States or visiting the country would not be covered under the bill.Are there any visa holders who could apply for LPI status?Yes. LPI status could be granted to temporary agricultural workers (H-2A visa holders) and a “noncitizen who has engaged in essential critical infrastructure labor or services” in the United States, according to the text …
Democrats Launch Ambitious Immigration Reform Proposal
Reforming America’s widely criticized immigration system has long eluded U.S. presidents of both parties. Now, with only slim Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress, President Joe Biden is launching yet another effort to address the legal status of millions of undocumented immigrants, using the momentum of his first 100 days in office. The effort is championed by some of his top lieutenants on Capitol Hill.Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks during a confirmation hearing for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations nominee Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Jan. 27, 2021.“We have an economic and moral imperative to pass big, bold and inclusive immigration reform that leaves no one behind,” Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said Thursday, introducing the 2021 U.S. Citizenship Act. As outlined by the Biden White House, the broad legislation would provide pathways to citizenship for 11 million immigrants, including Temporary Protected Status holders, immigrant farmworkers and undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children, sometimes referred to as DREAMers. A co-sponsor of the act, Menendez has worked on immigration issues for 30 years. He said he brought memories of past failures to this process. “Time and time again, we have compromised too much and capitulated too quickly to fringe voices …
Democrats Unveil US Citizenship Bill
U.S. Democratic lawmakers introduced President Joe Biden’s immigration bill Thursday that would provide one of the quickest routes to citizenship of any proposed legislation in recent years.The measure, which would allow some 11 million current U.S. residents to become citizens within eight years, includes an increase in visas and funding for processing asylum applications.The bill also would enhance technology at the U.S.-Mexico border, expand international drug interdiction task forces in Central America, and attempt to ease backlogs at the border by establishing refugee processing in the region. The measure would immediately provide green cards to farm workers, people with temporary protected status and young people who entered the U.S. illegally as children, allowing them to live and work permanently in the U.S.The bill reflects the priorities Biden presented on his first day in office and was sponsored by 12 Democratic lawmakers, including lead sponsors Senator Bob Menendez and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. “It will modernize our system, offer a path to citizenship for hardworking people in our communities, reunite families, increase our opportunities for legal immigration and ensure America remains a powerhouse for innovation and a beacon of hope to refugees around the world,” Menendez said, as he unveiled details of the bill …
Harassment Cases Revive Worries of Racism at Boston College
Students are demanding a stronger response from Boston College after two recent cases in which white students were accused of harassing Black and Hispanic students in a campus dorm. The incidents, which took place three days apart, have revived longstanding concerns about racism on a campus where most students are white and just 4% are Black. Some students say the recent cases are part of a pattern of bias that seems to be tolerated at the Jesuit Catholic school. “We have been dealing with this since our freshman year,” said senior Kathryn Destin, 20, who is Black and a member of a campus anti-racist group called FACES. “I’ve sort of lost that sense of safety.” Both recent incidents took place in a stretch of dorm hallway that mostly houses Black and Hispanic women. Known as the Multicultural Learning Experience, it’s part of program intended to foster diversity on campus. Men in the program are housed in a different area of the dorm. Residents of the hall say they were awakened by an eruption of noise Jan. 30 as rows of trashcans lining the hall were upended and tossed around. Litter was left scattered everywhere. Farther down the hallway, past the …
Anxiety Lurks Behind Coronavirus Pandemic for Many Under 30
Pushed to the back of Gen Z anxieties by the COVID-19 pandemic, a looming stressor for many people younger than 30 remains climate change, say experts. “Natural disasters precipitated by climate change, including hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires, and floods can lead to … increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and other mental health disorders,” according to researchers at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in Canada, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. FILE – Firefighters battle the Morton Fire as it burns a home near Bundanoon, New South Wales, Australia, Jan. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) The authors label the fear “eco-anxiety, climate distress, climate change anxiety, or climate anxiety,” writing in the respected British medical and science journal, The Lancet Planetary Health. In other words, the future is not looking bright from the perspective of many people under 30. Xiye Bastida, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, has been fighting the climate crisis since her hometown in Mexico flooded when she was 13. She calls it a pivotal moment in her environmental activism. “Sometimes we don’t realize when we actually start caring about something and acting upon it,” she said. Mexican-Chilean …
UNHCR to Help Identify Migrants in Mexico Eligible to Enter US
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will work to identify the most needy migrants waiting in Mexico and help them complete paperwork to pursue asylum claims in the United States, a U.S. official told VOA.Mirroring the UNHCR’s role in facilitating refugee resettlements around the world, the U.N. agency will work with the Biden administration to address the plight of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers the former Trump administration forced to remain in Mexico while awaiting U.S. immigration court dates under an initiative known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or the “remain in Mexico” policy.”UNHCR is working to select the most vulnerable people or those who have more time in the MPP program to cross [into the United States],” Roberta Jacobson, coordinator for the southwest border on the White House National Security Council, told VOA.The Biden administration, which has moved to end MPP, is expected to begin processing asylum claims February 19.There are approximately 25,000 migrants with active MPP cases.UNHCR screening of asylum seekers is expected to reduce the need to detain migrants who are allowed to enter the United States. Instead, most will be permitted to stay with sponsors or family members already in the U.S.“We don’t have in …
Biden’s Higher Refugee Cap Will Boost Resettlement in US — Eventually
President Joe Biden’s first month in office has seen a flurry of executive orders reshaping U.S. immigration policy, including a rebooting and expansion of America’s refugee program.But experts and resettlement groups tell VOA it will take time and resources to reverse the Trump administration’s cutbacks in refugee resettlement that pared admissions to their lowest levels in decades. Starting in October, the United States is set to welcome up to 125,000 refugees a year, up from a 15,000 limit at the end of the Trump administration. The announcement could change the lives of people like Abdirizak Noor Ibrahim. Originally from Somalia, Ibrahim fled war-torn Mogadishu in 2004 and became a refugee in Nairobi, Kenya. He and his family were approved to travel to the U.S. for resettlement in early 2017, just as Donald Trump launched his presidency and signed proclamations restricting travel from several majority Muslim countries, including Somalia. “When I heard that people like me and other Muslims were banned from entering the U.S., I felt so bad, and I was heartbroken. But nothing I could do about it,” Ibrahim told VOA. “It was a decision that was beyond me. So, since then, I stayed here. But now, I am …
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