Immigrant Advocates in US Push New Efforts to Bring Back Some Deportees
Jesus Lopez says he feels like a stranger in the place he was born.He’s from Guadalajara, Mexico, but his life was in Chicago. After 15 years in the city, he was deported a year ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.”I want to go back because I belong there. That’s where I have my friends, my family,” said the 25-year-old, who was once a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that gives protections to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.Lopez, who said he didn’t renew his spot in the program because he couldn’t afford it, hopes to benefit from new efforts by advocates, groups and attorneys to bring back immigrants they believe were unfairly deported from the United States.Jesus Lopez, who was deported from the U.S. last year, holds up his Illinois driver’s license and a family snapshot, at his home in Zapopan, Jalisco state, Mexico, May 13, 2021. “I belong there,” the DACA recipient says of Chicago.With President Joe Biden in office, one of the new proposals from advocates urges creating a centralized Department of Homeland Security office to consider requests from deported immigrants trying to reunite with their families in the U.S.”We have deported hundreds of …
US to Expedite Immigration Cases of Families at Southern Border
Families arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico will have their cases fast-tracked in immigration court, the Biden administration said Friday, less than two weeks after it said it was easing pandemic-related restrictions on seeking asylum. Under the plan, families stopped on the border starting Friday could be placed in expedited proceedings aimed at determining whether they can remain in the United States. Immigration judges would generally decide these cases within 300 days of an initial hearing in 10 cities including New York, Los Angeles and border communities such as El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security said in a statement. It isn’t the first time U.S. officials have sought to expedite the immigration cases of families arriving on the southwest border. The Trump and Obama administrations previously created dockets aimed at quickly deciding these cases in the immigration courts, which are notoriously backlogged and can take years to resolve cases. The latest iteration, which the administration is calling a “dedicated docket,” lets judges grant continuances “for good cause,” according to instructions they received. It calls the 300-day timeline “an internal goal.” FILE – A Border Patrol agent walks along a dirt road near the U.S.-Mexico border, …
Microsoft, Mastercard Sign on to VP Harris’ Central America Strategy
Twelve companies and groups including Microsoft, Mastercard and Nestle’s Nespresso said Thursday that they would commit to making investments in Central America, a win for Vice President Kamala Harris as she aims to lower migration from the region into the United States. President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with leading U.S. efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Since then, Harris has taken a series of steps aimed at improving conditions and lowering migration from the region. Harris, who met with officials from these companies and groups Thursday, said economic opportunities in the region could be boosted via partnerships with the private sector. “In order for us as an administration, the United States government, to maximize the potential of our work, it has to be through collaboration, through public-private partnerships,” Harris told reporters at the start of the meeting. The meeting was attended by top executives from yogurt maker Chobani, food giant Nestle’s Nespresso unit, financial companies Bancolombia and Davivienda, as well as language-learning website Duolingo. Commitments by the companies include Microsoft’s agreeing to expand internet access to as many as 3 million people in the region by July 2022 and Nespresso’s plans to begin buying some of its …
Palestinian Students Recount Feelings of ‘Survivor’s Guilt’
Young Palestinians living and studying abroad say they are tied to social media with a sense of helplessness as they follow the repercussions from the most recent violence back home.“You kind of get, like, survivor’s guilt. You know, like, ‘Why is it not me that that’s happening to?’ and ‘What, like, what can I do to help these people?’ ” described Mona Salah, a law student at Bristol University in the United Kingdom.Protests broke out in early May after the Israeli Supreme Court sanctioned the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with reporters in Amman, Jordan, May 26, 2021.FILE – A man opens social media app TikTok on his cellphone, in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 21, 2020.FILE – Pro-Israel supporters chant slogans during a rally in support of Israel outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles, May 12, 2021.Some Jewish students in the U.S. see the boycott as reverse discrimination.”We oppose the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement and its efforts to isolate and demonize the only Jewish democratic state in the world,” said Nathan Edelman, as a senator with the Illinois Student Government in September 2020. “Past BDS referendums and resolutions have only increased hate, hostility and mistrust on our campus.”Western …
Harris to Announce Business Investments in Central America
Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday will announce commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from the region. Participants include corporate giants such as Mastercard and Microsoft as well as Pro Mujer, a nonprofit that focuses on providing aid to low-income women in Latin America, along with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the World Economic Forum. Leaders in the effort planned to join Harris virtually and in person at an event later Thursday at her ceremonial office. The vice president was expected to issue a “call to action” for businesses and nonprofits to make new commitments to promote economic opportunity in Central America. The aim is to focus aid on supporting vulnerable populations such as women and young people, and to invest in internet access, job-training programs and efforts to combat food shortages. It’s part of Harris’ role in dealing with the root causes of migration to the United States, a task she was given by President Joe Biden in March. Harris has had multiple calls with the presidents of Guatemala and Mexico, and …
For Native Americans, Harvard and Other Colleges Fall Short
When Samantha Maltais steps onto Harvard’s campus this fall, she’ll become the first member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe to attend its prestigious law school. It’s a “full-circle moment” for the university and the Martha’s Vineyard tribe, she says.More than 350 years ago, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, became the first Native American to graduate from the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university — the product of its 1650 charter calling for the education of “English and Indian youth of this country.””Coming from a tribal community in its backyard, I’m hyper aware of Harvard’s impact,” said Maltais, the 24-year-old daughter of her tribe’s chairwoman. “It’s a symbol of New England’s colonial past, this tool of assimilation that pushed Native Americans into the background in their own homelands.”Maltais will arrive on campus at a time when Native American tribes, students and faculty are pushing the Ivy League institution and other colleges to do more for Indigenous communities to atone for past wrongs, much in the way states, municipalities and universities are weighing and, in some cases, already providing reparations for slavery and discrimination against Black people.FILE – An image of a Native American, right, is featured in the artwork of Johnston Gate, Harvard …
Howard University Names College of Fine Arts for Chadwick Boseman
While studying at Howard University, young Chadwick Boseman helped lead a student protest against plans to merge his beloved College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts and Sciences. He failed in that goal, but 20 years later, the acclaimed actor is being posthumously honored as the namesake of Howard’s newly re-established Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. Boseman, who graduated in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in directing, died in August at 43 of colon cancer. He rose to prominence playing a succession of Black icons in biographical films: Jackie Robinson, singer James Brown and Thurgood Marshall. The South Carolina native’s portrayal of African superhero Black Panther spawned a thousand memes and its cultural impact launched him to broader stardom. At the time of his death, Boseman’s character was poised to become an anchor of the Marvel Comics movie machine, with multiple sequels planned. Howard University President Wayne Frederick said he and Boseman discussed ways of reviving the College of Fine Arts multiple times. “It was always important to him,” Frederick told The Associated Press. “His commitment was very strong.” The announcement comes a few weeks after fellow Howard alum Phylicia Rashad was …
Biden Administration Moves to Protect Myanmar Nationals Residing in US
Nearly four months after a coup in Myanmar triggered a prolonged period of violence and upheaval in the country, the Biden administration has designated Myanmar nationals for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allowing many in the U.S. to be shielded from deportation and obtain work permits.The registration period is set from May 25 to November 22. The A damaged church in which four people taking refuge were killed in an army shelling in Loikaw in Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State, May 24, 2021, as clashes continue in the area between the army and the local rebel fighters. (Credit: Kantarawaddy Times)The coup took place hours before the seating of a new parliament following election results that were seen as rejection to the country’s generals. Security forces reportedly have killed dozens of protesters since the coup. Here in the U.S., the temporary protected status will last 18 months. According to DHS, in addition to demonstrating continuous residence in the United States since March 11, 2021, applicants must undergo security and background checks.But the department added that border restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic remain in place, and citizens still in Myanmar “should not believe smugglers or others claiming the border is now open.”Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, …
Lithuanian University Student Detained with Belarusian Blogger
A law student from European Humanities University (EHU) was detained along with a Belarusian blogger after Belarus forced their commercial flight to land in Minsk rather than Lithuania. “As a result of a cover operation by the Belarusian authorities,” student Sofia Sapega “was detained by the administration of the Investigative Committee for the city of Minsk on groundless and made-up conditions,” according to the university website. “Sapega is a Russian citizen studying International Law and European Union Law program at EHU,” the university wrote on its website. “While returning with boyfriend [Raman Pratasevich] from vacation, Sofia was getting prepared for the defense of her master’s thesis in Vilnius,” the FILE – Student Sofia Sapega poses for a picture in Gothenburg, Sweden, in this photo taken in 2019.Sapega “is well regarded due to her academic performance and reputation in EHU’s community” by groupmates and faculty members, the website states. Pratasevich, 26, has been critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in his online blogs. The United States and European governments are accusing Belarus of engaging in an act of state terrorism. They have called on Lukashenko’s government to immediately release Pratasevich.US, EU Accuse Belarus of Terrorism After Plane Diverted to Arrest JournalistOpposition …
US to Expand Haitian Eligibility for Deportation Relief Program
The United States will expand Haitian eligibility for a humanitarian program that grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told lawmakers in an email Saturday.A new designation of so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will cover an estimated 150,000 Haitians living in the United States, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said in a written statement.Democratic lawmakers and pro-immigrant advocates had pressed the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to expand deportation relief for Haitians. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, sought to end most TPS enrollment, including that of Haitians, but was stymied by federal courts.The TPS program grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants whose home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.Haitians were granted TPS in 2010 following a devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation, but the latest move would expand the program to Haitians in the United States as of May 21.”Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an email …
US Ends Use of 2 Immigration Jails Accused of Mistreatment
A detention facility in Georgia where women claim they were subjected to unwanted medical procedures and a Massachusetts jail that has drawn complaints of inhumane conditions will no longer be used to detain immigrants, the Biden administration said Thursday.The Department of Homeland Security said it would terminate contracts with the local government agency that runs the detention center in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and with the private operator of the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. Any detainees the U.S. believes should remain in custody will be transferred elsewhere, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in announcing the move, which had been sought by immigrant advocates. “Allow me to state one foundational principle,” Mayorkas said, “We will not tolerate the mistreatment of individuals in civil immigration detention or substandard conditions of detention.”Mayorkas said ending the use of the facilities is part of an effort to make “lasting improvements” to a detention system that advocates have long argued detains people for civil immigration offenses for too long and in inappropriately harsh conditions.It also reflects a broader effort to roll back the anti-immigrant policies that characterized U.S. policy under President Donald Trump.Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a part of DHS, holds about 19,000 noncitizens …
Unauthorized US-Mexico Border Crossings Reached 20-Year High in April
Nearly four months into the Biden administration, U.S. officials report only limited signs of progress in stabilizing a chaotic situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, with unauthorized migrant crossings continuing at multi-decade highs for this time of year.The number of migrants encountered by U.S. authorities began rising last year and increased dramatically in early 2021.U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s enforcement data for April showed undocumented migration at a 20-year high. The agency reported 178,622 migrants apprehended for the month. Of those, 111,714 were expelled from the country under a pandemic-related emergency health order blocking most migrants from pursuing asylum claims or other forms of relief in the United States.Border apprehensions in April were 3% higher than March’s total of 173,348 and significantly higher than the February total of 101,120.The data also suggest that increases in border encounters are leveling off and may have hit a plateau. But experts are unsure what’s ahead and aren’t ready to say the border crisis is easing.”The kind of situation with CBP being overwhelmed by more vulnerable migrants may be starting to turn around,” Migration Policy Institute analyst Jessica Bolter told VOA. “The one caution that I would give is that there have been instances historically …
Proposed Funding Targets US Community College Upgrades
President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, released last month, includes $12 billion for community colleges to address technological needs, help protect the health and safety of students and faculty, and narrow funding inequities.It also calls for two years of free tuition at community colleges, one of many parts of First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a visit with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, left, to Sauk Valley Community College, in Dixon, Ill., April 19, 2021.Brown said the current infrastructure proposal would benefit community colleges that have aging buildings.“Many of them have been built in the ’60s or ’70s, so their physical plants are aging and have a lot of infrastructure challenges,” Brown said. “So we certainly welcome the proposal of $12 billion to address those needs.”However, some four-year universities that have struggled financially during the pandemic object to the plan.While it is a boost for community colleges, Jon Fansmith, director of government relations at the American Council on Education, wrote that he would like to see “a bit more investment in four-year colleges and universities.”“While no one argues about the needs that exist at community colleges in the infrastructure space, there are lots of four-year institutions that …
Foreign Students Are Targets of Hate Speech
Joon Baek, a Korean student at Columbia University in New York City, was riding the subway last year when a woman sitting across from him began to shout. In America’s largest city of nearly 8 million people, it is not unusual to hear someone ranting. “I was commuting from campus back to Korea Town where I live, and I tried not to say anything, to just look down, was just minding my own business,” Baek described. “But it got worse and worse, and it wasn’t just any kind of verbal assault. I realized it was actually directed at me.” Joon Baek, a Korean student at Columbia University in New York City. (Courtesy of Joon Baek)Baek said he was uncomfortable, given that anti-Asian hate crimes that have spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to police data. He decided to get off at the next stop. Most of the international students in the U.S. are students of color, according to statistics from the Institute for International Education. Jessica, a Chinese national from South Africa graduating from the Parsons School of Design in New York, said news reports of anti-Asian incidents make her more cautious. “I used to feel really safe in New York, but that hasn’t been the …
Homeland Security Chief Cites Progress at US-Mexico Border
The Biden administration is promising a comprehensive response to youth migration now that the immediate crisis of unaccompanied minors overwhelming U.S. Customs and Border Protection stations appears to be under control.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 12 MB540p | 15 MB720p | 31 MB1080p | 59 MBOriginal | 206 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioHomeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told U.S. lawmakers Thursday that the Biden administration has reduced the number of unaccompanied minors held at border stations from the thousands to the hundreds, and cut the average holding time from more than five days to less than 24 hours. “The challenge is not behind us, but the results are dramatic,” Mayorkas told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, adding that migrant children are being united more quickly with parents or legal guardians in the U.S.Chanel, 7, and her sister Adriana, 10, both unaccompanied minors traveling alone from Honduras, wait with other asylum-seeking children in La Joya, Texas, May 6, 2021.Tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors have crossed America’s southern border so far this year in what has become an …
Number of Unaccompanied Minors at US-Mexico Border Falls This Week
A top immigration official on Thursday pledged a comprehensive response to the influx of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border. In testimony on Capitol Hill, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told concerned lawmakers a migrant crisis early in the Biden presidency has been contained. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Producer: Katherine Gypson. …
Hungarian Plans for First Chinese University in Europe Prompt Security, Propaganda Fears
Hungary has announced plans to open a branch of a Chinese University in Budapest. Critics fear the development — the first of its kind in Europe — will be used by Beijing to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda and could pose a threat to national security. The so-called “Student City” will be built on the site of a former wholesale market outside the nation’s capital, with its centerpiece a branch of the prestigious Shanghai-based Fudan University. Hungary said it will raise the standard of higher education, offer courses to 6,000 students from Hungary, China and further afield, while bringing Chinese investment and research to the country. For China, it’s a significant milestone, said professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London. “Until relatively recently, China was importing foreign universities onto Chinese soil, having branches in China. Now, they are exporting a Chinese university branch on European soil, a member of the European Union. This is, I think, tremendously important from their perspective in how it shows that China has risen,” Tsang told VOA. FILE – A view of the site where the construction of a top Chinese university, the Fudan’s campus, is planned, in the 9th …
For Some Universities, Fall Semester Uncertain as Coronavirus Persists Globally
The U.S. government’s pumping of $35 billion into emergency aid for college students has not been enough for some universities, say education experts.They cite drastically lower enrollments even as things appear to be shifting back to normal after more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic.“Enrollments are down quite significantly, both at the public institutions and the community colleges, nationwide,” said Todd Sedmak, manager of corporate communications at National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), a nonprofit organization that crunches education data.“This decrease in enrollment has led to less money coming to universities from tuition and fees,” he said.Declines in enrollment occurred because of the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down campuses in March 2020. Students switched to remote learning, while others deferred enrollment: Online learning, coupled with the cost of college — was not worth it for many students.Among international students, enrollment decreased 43% for the fall 2020 semester, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). Among American students, enrollments declined 2.5% in fall 2020, nearly twice the rate of enrollment decline reported in fall 2019, NSC reported.International Student Enrollment in US Takes Hit Analysts see high costs, along with the coronavirus pandemic and trade wars, as factors in the drop in …
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