Biden Immigration Policies Saw Wins, Setbacks in First 100 Days
As President Joe Biden marks 100 days in office, here is an overview of his administration’s actions and positions on key immigration issues.RefugeesThe administration had promised to welcome up to 125,000 refugees, up from the cap of 15,000 set by his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump.Earlier this month, Biden signed an order on extending the admissions cap because of “humanitarian concerns.” After encountering strong criticism from agencies that help resettle refugees, Biden said he would raise the ceiling on the number.Biden to Lift Refugee Cap Next Month, White House SaysPresident initially retained historically low 15,000-person limit set by Trump administrationTravel banBiden pledged during his campaign to halt and lift the so-called travel ban, which blocked people from 13 countries, predominantly Muslim or African, from traveling to the United States.An executive order from Biden authorized the State Department to process visa applications from the countries named in the ban.Biden Expected to Reverse Many of Trump’s Immigration PoliciesPresident-elect vows to ease limits on temporary workers, loosen visa restrictions for international students, halt border wall construction and end private immigration detention centers Border wallAs Biden swiftly moved to undo major parts of the previous administration’s immigration policies, one of his first orders following his inauguration …
Human Smuggling a Profitable Business at Migrants’ Expense
Ronald Garcia, a Guatemalan migrant, did not trust the smugglers he paid to take him across the U.S.-Mexico border. The 39-year-old recounted his story while staying at Casa Alitas, a migrant shelter in Tucson, Arizona.”To come here, I had to pawn my property. They were charging me $20,000,” Garcia said.Crossing into the United States illegally is big business in Central and South America. For many people fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries, getting across the U.S. border requires them to pay huge sums and risk their lives.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 38 MB1080p | 72 MBOriginal | 85 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio”They put me in a trunk where you couldn’t breathe, and well, thank God (I survived), because they say that all those who are put there, they die,” Garcia said.The U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) says such operations are part of a multibillion-dollar human smuggling business.”There are many dangers associated with illegal crossing. Obviously, over the years, what we have seen is that they either take advantage of people, leave them abandoned, steal from them,” said USBP spokesperson Mario Escalante. ”Unfortunately, they rape young girls, and there are times that even …
Scholarship Awards Up to $40,000 Are Available to Transfer Students
Carmen Escudero, a second-year student at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York, said she would use the scholarship money she is hoping to win to pave her path toward medical school.“It would help financially for my family and especially for me,” said Escudero, a biology student and member of LaGuardia’s Student Government Association, as well as several honors and research programs.“I wouldn’t have to have so many jobs on the side to pay for school,” said Escudero, who immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia at 5-years-old and lived most of her life as an undocumented immigrant.She is looking at the possibility of up to $40,000 annually in financial aid from the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. It is awarded to students at U.S. community colleges going on to complete their bachelor’s degree at four-year colleges and universities.Escudero is an example of 406 semifinalists from among 1,500 applicants competing for the nation’s largest scholarship for transfer students from community colleges, according to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in Lansdowne, Virginia. Winners receive personal mentorship about selecting a transfer college and navigating financial aid, in addition to up to $40,000 per year for tuition and other expenses.Among the semifinalists, 29% …
Human Trafficking a Profitable Business at Migrants’ Expense
Ronald Garcia, a Guatemalan migrant, did not trust the smugglers he paid to take him across the U.S.-Mexico border. The 39-year-old recounted his story while staying at Casa Alitas, a migrant shelter in Tucson, Arizona.”To come here, I had to pawn my property. They were charging me $20,000,” Garcia said.Crossing into the United States illegally is big business in Central and South America. For many people fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries, getting across the U.S. border requires them to pay huge sums and risk their lives.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 38 MB1080p | 72 MBOriginal | 85 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio”They put me in a trunk where you couldn’t breathe, and well, thank God (I survived), because they say that all those who are put there, they die,” Garcia said.The U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) says such operations are part of a multibillion-dollar human smuggling business.”There are many dangers associated with illegal crossing. Obviously, over the years, what we have seen is that they either take advantage of people, leave them abandoned, steal from them,” said USBP spokesperson Mario Escalante. ”Unfortunately, they rape young girls, and there are times that even …
Trump’s Unfinished Border Wall Continues to Stir Passions
Jim Chilton and his wife, Sue, are proud Arizona ranchers tending to herds on property that extends for 22 kilometers along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a white pickup truck, Jim drives on the gravel road hugging the U.S. side of the border. He and Sue tell stories about the land, which is surrounded by mountains, and those who cross through it.The couple say that without a border wall, their ranch is an easy place for migrants to illegally enter the U.S.”We cannot say for sure what they’re bringing, but a lot of people, women with small children,” Sue told VOA.Building a wall along the entirety of the U.S.-Mexico border was one of former President Donald Trump’s key pledges to the American people. By the end of his single term in the White House, only 160 kilometers of new wall had been built, and another 560 kilometers of existing wall and fencing had been upgraded, on a border that stretches more than 3,000 kilometers.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can FILE – Jim and Sue Chilton at their home in Arivaca, Arizona, July 21, 2016. (G. Flakus/VOA)”Before they put in the wall … all this area …
Biden Administration Announces Crackdown on Human Smugglers
As migrants continue to surge toward the U.S. border with Mexico, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it is upping efforts to stop organizations involved in smuggling people into the country. “Transnational criminal organizations put profit over human life, with devastating consequences,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in a statement on Tuesday. “With the help of our federal and foreign partners, we aim to cut off access to that profit by denying these criminals the ability to engage in travel, trade, and finance in the United States.” FILE – Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, March 1, 2021.The new effort will be called Operation Sentinel and will be a joint effort among U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of State, and the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration of the U.S. Department of Justice. “Smuggling operations continue to lie and exploit vulnerable populations to promote their criminal enterprise — the health and safety of migrants does not influence their lucrative ambition,” said Troy Miller, the acting CBP commissioner. He added that the new operation …
Student Speech Case Escalated to Supreme Court
A dispute between a Pennsylvania high school student and her school district regarding off-campus profanity has been escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court.The Supreme Court said it would hear arguments in the case this week between a teenager who posted a Snapchat with obscenities while off campus and the school district that disciplined her for it.Brandi Levy, 18, is being supported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has argued that schools do not have the right to regulate students’ behaviors and speech that occurs off campus.But the Mahonoy Area School District worries that a lack of regulation of off-campus behavior, especially when publicized on social media, could increase bullying and racism.Levy was 14 when she posted a Snapchat expressing frustration that she was not chosen for the varsity cheerleading team. Coaches on the junior varsity team heard of the Snap, which disappears after 24 hours, and suspended her from cheerleading for a year.Levy’s family challenged the decision in court, arguing that the punishment violated her First Amendment right to free speech. A lower Pennsylvania court ruled in favor of Levy, but the school district appealed the ruling.The case is being seen by some as a litmus test for …
OK Boomer and Peter Pan, It’s Wealth Not Age
On one side of the TikTok split screen was a middle-aged man, ranting that “millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome.” “They don’t ever want to grow up,” he said, referring to the fictional character who fights adulthood. On the other side of the split screen, a teenager contemplated the rant before silently holding up a notepad, and the phrase “OK Boomer” was born. Since 2019, the hashtag #okboomer has been used 3.7 billion times on TikTok and has sparked debate between Boomers — born 1946 to 1964 — and Zoomers — born in the 1990s to the 2010s, and who use the video conferencing app Zoom liberally — about whether age and generation are to blame for society’s ills. Some observers think the debate is fundamentally illogical. “Generations are pretty bogus. The labels we use to casually slice up society — boomer, millennial, Gen X, Gen Z — are a nearly useless way of thinking about politics, culture or business in America,” wrote journalist Farhad Manjoo in The New York Times in 2019. “The very idea that tens of millions of people across different classes and races and geographies might hold similar views on a range of subjects just …
US Employment Authorization Logjam Broken With New Filing Process for Foreign Students
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has relieved a backlog in the Optional Practice Training (OPT) process that was preventing international students from extending their visas.International students, or F-1 visa holders, can file online for OPT employment authorization using Form I-765 as of April 12. This option responds to a backlog of receipt notices in a lockbox system that processes OPT requests.OPT is an extension of the F-1 student visa. OPT allows international students to work from 12 to 36 months before or after graduation.Students, who were expecting a wait time of two to three weeks to be notified their applications had been received by the USCIS lockbox, have been experiencing wait times of three months since last year. They have been waiting even longer for confirmation and approval of their OPT applications.Foreign Students Frustrated by OPT DelaysUS officials say COVID pandemic has impacted staffing in charge of visa processingMeanwhile, students reported work opportunities evaporating as employers withdrew their offers.”Why are #Indian students not applying to US #universities as before? … The hard & depressing #students life’s,” wrote Twitter user “the Frustrated Indian in the USA” on February 23.Why are #Indian students not applying to US #universities as before?You definately …
College Voters Overwhelmingly Approve of Biden’s Job in Office
U.S. President Joe Biden’s approval rating among college voters is 63%, according to a new Harvard Youth Poll, the highest for that demographic in the poll’s 21-year history.The poll said other high approval ratings by college voters came in 2003 for then-President George W. Bush, who received 61% approval, and in 2016 for then-President Barack Obama, with 57% approval.Overall, the Harvard Youth Poll, released Friday, found that 59% of young adults ages 18 to 29 approved of Biden’s job performance.His highest marks came from his handling of the coronavirus (65% approval), climate change (58% approval), education (58% approval) and race relations (57% approval).Biden’s popularity among young voters is a sharp contrast from this time last year, when only 34% of young adults viewed Biden favorably, according to the Spring 2020 Harvard Youth Poll.Friday’s poll also found that young Americans were more hopeful about the future of the country than they had been in the fall of 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first year in office. At that time, only 31% of young Americans were hopeful about country’s future, while now 56% have hope.The jump was most pronounced in young Blacks and Hispanics. Only 18% of young Blacks and 29% of …
Greta Thunberg Docuseries Amplifies Her Climate Change Fight
Greta Thunberg turned 18 in January, but she’s already made peace with her future: While most college students will change their concentrations multiple times, the Swedish high school student says climate change activism will be her life’s mission.”In a perfect world, there wouldn’t need to be a climate activist, but unfortunately, there will probably still be a need for climate activists for quite some time,” she said. “I think I will be doing this for as long as there is a need for people to do this.”Thunberg’s activism and message is brought to life in a new docuseries, Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World. The three-part series, a co-production between PBS and BBC Studios premiering Thursday on Earth Day, follows the then-16-year-old as she took a gap year from school in 2019 to meet with scientists around the world and spearhead awareness about climate change.The docuseries shows her visiting people and places that have been distinctly affected by the heating of the Earth, such as Canada’s Athabasca Glacier, a town in California burned by wildfires and the indigenous Sami herders in Sweden where reindeer face starvation. She even sails across the North Atlantic during the ocean’s busiest season …
Students Graduate From Earth Day Planting to Environmental Degrees
Fifty-one years ago, young people planted trees for the first Earth Day. Today, students are taking part in environmental law, science and other disciplines to heal the planet. “You don’t have to be an environmental professional to help the environment,” Briana Allison, an environmental science student at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, wrote to VOA. “Everyone should find a way to get involved in preserving the planet we call home.”Briana Allison, an environmental science student at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. (Photo courtesy of Briana Allison)Climate change is a huge issue for younger people. Those under age 30 are so worried about the planet that experts have given their concern a name: eco-anxiety. Stress about climate change affects their daily lives, said nearly half of 2,017 adults polled in 2019 by the Harris Poll on behalf of the Bongekile Kuhlase studies at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. (Photo courtesy of Bongekile Kuhlase)“Mistakes were made, it’s good to acknowledge that, only so that it does not happen again,” she explained. Kuhlase’s studies have allowed her to “effectively plan ways to try restore the ecology that previously used to exist” in an environment. “I’m literally living my dream right now doing community-based conservation and land restoration,” she wrote to VOA. “I believe humans aren’t separate …
Social Media Was the Major Witness in Chauvin Trial
Young people say that the conviction Tuesday of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, an African American, is a step toward justice and social media is a tool in curbing police brutality.”It is definitely a step towards justice,” said George Mason University junior Shelby Adams. “However, young people, especially young people of color, know that this is not a complete victory and win until no one else dies or falls at the hands of police brutality. It just shows how there is so much more work left,” she said.Adams pointed to social media as having a huge impact in Chauvin’s conviction.”Without (videos), incidents like this would just happen with no one knowing,” she said. “Videotaping puts a spotlight on the racism and bigotry we have in our criminal justice system that some people may not have realized before.”On May 25, 2020, Darnella Frazier, then 17, recorded the scene of Chauvin pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed Floyd on her smartphone camera and uploaded the video to Facebook. That video spread throughout social media and launched a series of protests over police brutality and racism.Other bystanders also provided video showing different angles …
Biden OKs More Foreign Seasonal Workers as Economy Improves
President Joe Biden’s administration announced an increase Tuesday in the number of temporary seasonal workers who will be allowed to work in the U.S. this year as the U.S. economy recovers from the pandemic. The Department of Homeland Security said the U.S. would approve an additional 22,000 H2-B seasonal, non-agricultural worker visas on top of the annual limit of 66,000 set by Congress. It cited increased demand from employers, with the number of people seeking jobless benefits at the lowest point since the outbreak of COVID-19. The H2-B program has bipartisan support in Congress and with businesses across the nation, though immigration opponents portray it as taking jobs from Americans. The visas are used to fill jobs in landscaping, construction, hotels and restaurants as well as in seafood and meat processing plants and amusement parks. Employers must show they tried to recruit U.S. workers and then certify that they will suffer “irreparable harm” without a foreign, seasonal worker in order to qualify for the program, DHS said in a statement announcing the supplemental increase. President Donald Trump last year authorized an additional 35,000 H-2B visas above the annual cap. But then three months later he halted foreign worker programs …
West Point Cadets Punished in Cheating Scandal
Eight students were “separated” — meaning expelled — from the U.S. Military Academy and more than 50 students must repeat a year following a cheating scandal, academy officials announced in a statement Friday. The academy, also called West Point for its location on the Hudson River in New York, will also end its willful admission process that allows cadets who admit to violating the honor code escape expulsion. The program, in place since 2015, was used by 55 cadets in this matter.The incident occurred in May 2020, when 73 students allegedly violated West Point’s honor code by cheating during a remote calculus exam.”Of the 73 cases investigated by the cadet honor committee, six cadets resigned during the investigation, an additional four cadets were acquitted by a board of their peers, and two cases were dropped due to insufficient evidence,” the statement said. “Of the resulting 61 cases that were fully adjudicated, eight were separated, 51 were turned back one full year, and two were turned back six months.”The superintendent of the academy, Lieutenant General Darryl A. Williams, in October “elevated the decision for cadets to represent the academy to his level,” the statement said. With this policy change, cadets were allowed …
Biden Administration, in Response to Criticism, Says It Will Lift Refugee Cap Next Month
Facing mounting criticism from Democratic allies, the White House said President Joe Biden plans to lift his predecessor’s historically low cap on refugees by next month, after initially saying that he would leave the cap in place.The White House issued a statement Friday saying Biden would set a “final, increased refugee cap” by May 15 for the remainder of the fiscal year.Earlier Friday, Biden FILE – Residents in support of continued refugee resettlement hold signs at a meeting in Bismarck, N.D., Dec. 9. 2019.Under the order Biden signed, the administration modified the allocation of refugee slots.The order allocated 7,000 slots for refugees from Africa, 3,000 from Latin America, 1,500 from Europe and Central Asia, 1,500 from the Near East and South Asia, and 1,000 from East Asia. The remaining 1,000 slots are to be used as required.According to the most recent data, as of April 2021, the U.S. has resettled just over 2,000 refugees since the current fiscal year began on October 1. The 2021 ceiling is dramatically lower than in 2016, when it stood at 85,000.Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said before Biden’s late statement Friday that her organization was grateful for the …
Liberty Sues Jerry Falwell Jr., Seeking Millions in Damages
Liberty University, which parted ways acrimoniously last year with then-leader Jerry Falwell Jr., has filed a civil lawsuit against him seeking millions in damages.The complaint, filed Thursday in Lynchburg Circuit Court, alleges Falwell crafted a “well-resourced exit strategy” from his role as president and chancellor in the form of a 2019 employment agreement while withholding from the school key details about a personal scandal that exploded into public view last year.”Despite his clear duties as an executive and officer at Liberty, Falwell Jr. chose personal protection,” the lawsuit says.It also alleges that Falwell failed to disclose and address “the issue of his personal impairment by alcohol” and has refused to fully return Liberty’s confidential information and other personal property.Falwell responded to a phone call from The Associated Press on Friday with a text saying he was not available to talk. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has an attorney representing him in the matter. The AP left a message seeking comment with an attorney who has represented him previously.ScandalFalwell’s departure from the Virginia university in August 2020 came soon after Giancarlo Granda, a younger business partner of the Falwell family, said he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Falwell’s wife, …
In Arrest of Student Journalists, Signs of the Struggle for Russia’s Youth
The Kremlin has long sought to clamp down on opposition politician Alexey Navalny’s appeal among younger Russians — as President Vladimir Putin, 66, has struggled to maintain his popularity among members of a generation that has essentially known him as the country’s sole leader their entire lives. That approach took a new twist on Wednesday in Moscow — when Russian authorities announced criminal charges against four editors of a university news publication — accusing journalists of the publication DOXA of “inciting minors to take place in illegal rallies” in support of jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny earlier this year. Police raided the homes of Armen Aramyan, Vladimir Metelkin, Alla Gutnikova and Natasha Tyshkevich — all young editors in their early 20s who cover news for the online student publication — in what was widely seen as a show of force designed to intimidate. DOXA magazine editors from left, Armen Aramyan, Natalya Tyshkevich and Alla Gutnikova wait for a court session in Moscow, Russia, Apr. 14, 2021.In addition to raids on the journalists, law enforcement also broke down the publication’s office door to seize video equipment and carried out searches of two of the journalist’s parents’ homes. The …
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