Nebraska School District Hires Students as Interpreters
Facing staff shortages, public schools in Nebraska’s largest city have turned to bilingual high school students to interpret when families talk with teachers during report card conferences. The Omaha school district has some full-time bilingual liaisons, but students and their families speak more than 100 different languages, and more than 18,000 students have received services for limited English speakers at some time while in the district. Lisa Utterback, the district’s chief student and community services officer, told the Omaha World-Herald that the district has about 20 students contracted as interpreters. The students are paid $18 an hour to help with middle and elementary school conferences. Utterback said the student interpreters are going through the same application process and training as non-student interpreters. Three of the translators who are high school seniors have been used to translating for others. Hser Kmwe, who speaks Karen, the language spoken widely in parts of Thailand and Myanmar, has helped translate in the grocery store after seeing someone struggle to communicate. She often translates for her parents. Families in Pu Meh’s community often offer to pay her for her help in translating from Karen to English, but she always has refused payment. Karen …
US in Talks to Compensate Families Separated at Border
The U.S. Justice Department is in talks to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to each child and parent who was separated under a Trump-era practice of splitting families at the border, a person familiar with discussions to settle lawsuits said Thursday. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the government was considering payments around $450,000 to each person affected. A person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press that figure was under consideration but changed, though not dramatically. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. The discussions continue, and there is no guarantee the two sides will strike an agreement. About 5,500 children were split from their parents under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy, under which parents were separated from their children to face criminal prosecution for crossing the border illegally, according to court filings in a federal case in San Diego. Inadequate tracking systems caused many to be apart for an extended time. The payments are intended to compensate for the psychological trauma. Attorneys for the families are also seeking permanent legal status in the United States for those separated under the practice, which a judge halted in June 2018, six …
White House Renews Bid to End ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy
The Biden administration launched a second bid Friday to end a Trump-era policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration courts, while also reaffirming a commitment to reinstate it under court order. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the “Remain in Mexico” policy likely contributed to a drop in illegal border crossings in 2019 but with “substantial and unjustifiable human costs” to asylum-seekers who were exposed to violence while waiting in Mexico. The announcement came more than two months after a federal judge ordered that the policy be reinstated “in good faith,” while leaving an opening for the administration to try again to justify ending it. The administration said earlier this month that it expected to reinstate the policy, known officially as “Migrant Protection Protocols,” around mid-November, subject to Mexican government approval. Mexico wants cases to generally conclude within six months, timely and accurate access to case information, and better access to legal counsel for asylum-seekers. Some of the administration’s most prominent pro-immigration allies say the time it took for Mayorkas to draft Friday’s opinion showed a lack of sense of urgency, which U.S. officials dispute. Many U.S.-based legal aid groups who have represented asylum-seekers waiting …
US Arresting Far Fewer Undocumented Immigrants Under Biden
Reports of dramatically reduced immigration enforcement inside the United States have prompted cheers from rights advocates and derision from critics of the Biden administration who are already incensed over record migration to the U.S.-Mexico border. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that arrests of undocumented immigrants inside the United States dropped significantly in fiscal 2021, which ended September 30. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data showed the total of 72,000 arrests to be the lowest number in more than a decade, according to the news outlet, and about “half the annual totals recorded” during the Trump administration. By comparison, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers made 104,000 administrative arrests during fiscal 2020 and an average of 148,000 annually from 2017 through 2019, according to the Post. VOA asked ICE for confirmation and comments on the 2021 data, which have yet to be publicly released, but the agency did not reply. The Washington-based National Immigration Forum hailed reduced ICE enforcement as “good progress” and “a sign of what happens when law enforcement focuses on public safety threats. Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee had a different take. “By drastically reducing enforcement of immigration law within the U.S., despite record illegal immigration, …
Zoom Gets More Popular Despite Worries About Links to China
Very few companies can boast of having their name also used as a verb. Zoom is one of them. The popularity of the videoconferencing platform continues to grow around the world despite continued questions about whether Chinese authorities are monitoring the calls. Since Zoom became a household word last year during the pandemic, internet users including companies and government agencies have asked whether the app’s data centers and staff in China are passing call logs to Chinese authorities. “Some of the more informed know about that, but the vast majority, they don’t know about that, or even if they do, they really don’t give much thought about it,” said Jack Nguyen, partner at the business advisory firm Mazars in Ho Chi Minh City. He said in Vietnam, for example, many people resent China over territorial spats, but Vietnamese tend to Zoom as willingly as they sign on to rivals such as Microsoft Teams. They like Zoom’s free 40 minutes per call, said Nguyen. Whether to use the Silicon Valley-headquartered Zoom, now as before, comes down to a user-by-user calculation of the service’s benefits versus the possibility that call logs are being viewed in China, analysts say. China hopes to identify and …
Students in US State Sue for Right to Civics Education
Students in Rhode Island are asking a federal appeals court to affirm that all public school students have a constitutional right to a civics education, saying that they aren’t taught how to meaningfully participate in a democratic and civil society and that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a symptom of such ignorance. Students nationwide need to know how to participate in the political process, effectively exercise their constitutional rights and learn skills like media literacy to distinguish accurate from false information, their lawyers argue. The plaintiffs have asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Boston, to reverse a lower court’s dismissal of the case, declare there’s a constitutional right to an adequate civics education, and send the case back to district court. Such a judicial declaration is urgently needed, their brief to the court argues, in light of the events of Jan. 6 that were carried out by “a mob motivated by a fundamental misunderstanding of the congressional role in counting electoral votes.” Oral arguments will be heard Monday. Musah Mohammed Sesay was a high school senior when he became a plaintiff in 2018. He said then that he hadn’t been exposed to even the basics of …
Neuroscientist Leaves Rich Legacy for Students From Diverse Backgrounds
A Pakistani neuroscientist who came to the U.S. as an international student has died at 43, leaving behind a movement of support for diverse and nontraditional young scientists. “My campaign will provide awards to young scientists from backgrounds that are diverse, under-resourced, marginalized or traditionally under-represented in psychological and neural sciences,” Nadia Chaudhri wrote in May, when she started a GoFundMe page to help students pay to attend the annual conference for the Research Society on Alcoholism. “I am targeting funds to these groups to provide a specific leg up to young scientists who may face hardship due to systemic issues like racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice,” she wrote. Born in Karachi, Chaudhri came to the U.S. in 1985 to attend Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania as an international student. Her full scholarship covered the yearly $31,000 tuition, room and board, according to a news article from Concordia University, where she was a full professor. “I became fascinated by the interaction between brain and behaviour, specifically in relation to drug addiction,” she wrote on her GoFundMe page. She went on to earn a doctorate in neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, focusing on the effect of social …
Immigrant Advocates See Double Standard in US Border Reopening
The Biden administration is preparing to open America’s borders to travelers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on November 8, but the decision will not affect asylum-seekers at the southern border, many of whom are barred entry under a Trump-era public health order that authorizes the swift expulsion of migrants. The administration is hailing the reopening of the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada land borders, closed to most travelers since March 2020, as a win for interlinked communities in all three countries. “Cross-border travel creates significant economic activity in our border communities and benefits our broader economy. We are pleased to be taking steps to resume regular travel in a safe and sustainable manner,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. But immigration advocacy groups see disparate and unfair treatment of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. They note the U.S. will welcome nonimmigrant travelers coming to the U.S. for tourism or business while a federal public health order continues to serve as the basis for expelling migrants, regardless of their vaccination status. “The Biden administration’s so-called public health restrictions on asylum are a deadly and illegal double standard,” Kennji Kizuka, associate director of research for refugee protection at Human Rights First, said in …
Caste System Seen as Diversity Issue on US Campuses
Colby College is banning discrimination based on caste, a system of inherited social class, becoming one of the nation’s earliest colleges to do so. The private liberal arts college revised its nondiscrimination policy to add caste to its list of protections for the campus community. The efforts were led by a professor who took an interest in caste discrimination across the country and realized the college needed to recognize it as a form of discrimination, the Bangor Daily News reported. “You have to first name what it is to say: This exists, we name it, we stand against it,” said Sonja Thomas, associate professor and department chair of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Colby. While caste is often associated with South Asia, such class-based systems come into play across religions, cultures and countries, and even in technology industries and academia, Thomas said. Of the more than 1 million international students in the U.S., half are from China or India, according to the Institute of International Education in New York. Colby doesn’t have a large student population from South Asia, but it’s increasing the diversity of its student population, so “it’s important that we take a step back, reflect on …
Rastafarian Teen Fights to Keep Dreadlocks
Tyrone Iras Marhguy had to make a difficult decision after being accepted to the high school of his choice: his faith or his education. An official at the academically elite Achimota School in Ghana told the teen he would have to cut his dreadlocks before enrolling. For Marhguy, who is a Rastafarian, cutting his dreadlocks is non-negotiable, so he and his family asked the courts to intervene. “I manifest my faith through my hair,” Marguy, 17, told The Associated Press. “I assume it to be like telling a Christian not to read the Bible or go to church.” Hair is an important part of the Rastafarian faith; believers grow their hair out naturally in locks in obedience to Biblical commandments. It is a public symbol “that we have made a vow,” said Tereo Kwame Marhguy, who is Tyrone’s father. Although many Rastafarians believe in the Bible, it is a distinct religion guided by unique practices including the adherence to a strict vegetarian diet, the use of cannabis for spiritual purposes, and the avoidance of alcohol. Short hair is a requirement at the Achimota School, a co-ed public institution in the northern outskirts of Ghana’s capital, Accra. The school did not …
US Student Faces Prison for Helping Islamic State
A former Chicago college student was convicted Monday of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group. Thomas Osadzinski, 22, wrote a computer code to help IS bypass programs designed to block the group’s propaganda, prosecutors said. The former DePaul University student, who was born in a Chicago suburb, was living in the city when he was arrested in 2019 during an FBI sting. He faces up to 20 years in prison. His attorney, Joshua Herman, said during closing arguments that the case centered on the right to free speech and that Osadzinski had the right to watch and share the videos. “Liking ISIS is not illegal,” Herman said in court. But prosecutors alleged Osadzinski worked in coordination or at the direction of IS. Authorities said Osadzinski boasted in communications about his computer skills and ability to speak Arabic, and he bragged that he would use a gun and explosives to elude authorities if need be. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melody Wells said Osadzinski was responding to the group’s directives to support it “on the digital front.” “There is nothing independent about this,” Wells said. The jury, which deliberated for four hours starting Friday, returned its verdict Monday at Chicago’s federal court. The trial lasted two weeks. …
US Announces $20 Million Aid Package for Central America, Mexico
The United States on Friday announced an additional $20 million package of humanitarian aid for Mexico and Central America. The aid will “help meet urgent humanitarian needs for the nearly 700,000 asylum-seekers, refugees, and vulnerable migrants in Central America and Mexico,” the State Department said in a press release. Specifically, the money will go toward shelter, health care, legal assistance and mental health services, the State Department said. The U.S. has provided more than $331 million in aid to Central America and Mexico in Fiscal Year 2021, making it the “largest single donor of humanitarian aid in Central America and Mexico and to asylum-seekers, refugees, and vulnerable migrants in the region.” The move comes as the Biden administration announced it will comply with a court order and resume, in mid-November, an immigration program commonly referred to as “Remain in Mexico,” which was started by former President Donald Trump. That program requires asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico until they have a U.S. court hearing. In June, Biden ended the program, formally called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), but a federal court in August overruled the administration. Biden is reportedly looking to make another effort to rescind the program. Some information in this …
US Prepares to Resume Trump-Era ‘Remain in Mexico’ Asylum Policy
President Joe Biden’s administration is taking steps to restart by mid-November a program begun under his predecessor, Donald Trump, that forced asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings after a federal court deemed the termination of the program unjustified, U.S. officials said Thursday. The administration, however, is planning to make another attempt to rescind the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly called the “Remain in Mexico” policy, even as it takes steps to comply with the August ruling by Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, the officials said. The possible reinstatement of MPP — even on a short-term basis — would add to a confusing mix of U.S. policies in place at the Mexican border, where crossings into the United States have reached 20-year highs in recent months. The administration said it can only move forward if Mexico agrees. Officials from both countries said they are discussing the matter. Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it has expressed a “number of concerns” over MPP to U.S. officials, particularly around due process, legal certainty, access to legal aid and the safety of migrants. A senior Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “there is …
Migration Issues Largely Absent from US-Mexico Security Framework
Immigration advocates say a new security framework between the United States and Mexico largely sidesteps thorny migratory issues at a time of near-record arrivals at the two nations’ common border. The framework, unveiled during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Mexico City late last week, focuses on strategies to combat drug trafficking, illicit firearms and money laundering while addressing the extradition of criminals, among other security topics. Blinken, accompanied by two other U.S. Cabinet members, met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and top Mexican officials. Lopez Obrador hailed a “new phase” in bilateral relations while Blinken said the two nations will work as equal partners in “defining and tightening” shared security priorities. While the agreement aims to address human trafficking and other criminal offenses, it does not lay out a plan to deal with thousands of asylum-seekers arriving daily at the U.S.-Mexico border. Immigration advocates welcomed the agreement, which is aimed at replacing the Merida Initiative, a 2008 pact to fight drug trafficking and organized crime, but said they wished more attention had been given to migration. Oscar Chacon is the executive director of Alianza Americas, a U.S.-based migrant advocacy network. Speaking with …
Retirees at Virginia Senior Homes Help Immigrant Staff Gain US Citizenship
The immigrant workers at the Goodwin House retirement homes in Northern Virginia come from 68 different countries. When residents learned that the $725 fee to file for citizenship was a deterrent for many staff, they decided to help the immigrant workers who help them. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has the story. Camera – Adam Greenbaum. …
Law Would Give Afghan Scholars Special Visa to US
A congressman from California has introduced legislation that would give Afghan Fulbright scholars special immigrant visas. The legislation would automatically issue a special immigrant visa to any Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright scholar and to their immediate family members to help them “escape persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States,” according to a statement from the office of U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat. “Fulbright Scholarships are one of the most vital U.S. cultural exchange programs that help to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy, and coordination between the United States and other countries,” Garamendi’s statement read. “This is the right thing to do for our Afghan allies who stood with the United States against the Taliban and the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks.” The proposed legislation is called the Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act of 2021, or House Resolution 5482. It would issue a special immigrant visa to any citizen or national of Afghanistan, and their legal spouse or children, selected on or after October 7, 2001, for the following State Department-sponsored educational and cultural exchange programs: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Exchange Programs, including the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Grant Program, the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program. International Visitor Leadership Program. Any other similar educational or cultural exchange program …
UNICEF: 19,000 Migrant Children Have Crossed Dangerous Jungle
On their trek north toward the United States, some 19,000 migrant children have crossed the dangerous jungle sprawling the border between Panama and Colombia so far this year, UNICEF said Monday. The number of children who crossed the Darien Gap is almost three times higher than the total for the previous five years, it said in a statement, adding that one-fifth of migrants crossing the border are children, and half of them are under 5 years old. In 2021, at least five children were found dead in the jungle, the agency said, adding that “more than 150 children arrived in Panama without their parents, some of them are newborn babies — a nearly 20-time increase compared to last year.” Migrant children sometimes travel with relatives or in the hands of human smugglers. Jean Gough, UNICEF regional director, said, “Deep in the jungle, robbery, rape and human trafficking are as dangerous as wild animals, insects and the absolute lack of safe drinking water. Week after week, more children are dying, losing their parents or getting separated from their relatives while on this perilous journey.” UNICEF said migrants of more than 50 nationalities — from Africa, South Asia and South America — have crossed the area. In early 2021, Panamanian authorities had warned of a possible crisis …
Green Card Lottery Reopens; Past Winners Still in Limbo
As the U.S. government officially opens its diversity visa lottery program at the start of a new fiscal year, thousands of past winners from Afghanistan, Egypt, Peru, Iran and other nations continue to endure processing delays that are dimming hopes of a new life in America. The Biden administration announced Wednesday that registration for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program for 2023 — popularly known as green card lottery — had begun. Congress authorized 55,000 green cards per year for immigrants around the world to promote diversity in the U.S. Registration starts well before any given fiscal year — in this case, 2023 — to allow time for processing applications. But delays have become chronic and spawned legal action. While accepting new applications, U.S. officials acknowledge a severe backlog in processing existing ones, many of which were filed during the former Trump administration and have been slowed by the pandemic. For people like Samar, a 35-year-old historian from Egypt and a 2021 diversity visa winner, the window for getting authorization to travel to the U.S. is closing. An outspoken critic of human rights violations in her home country, she asked VOA not to reveal her last name. “My fiscal year (deadline) …
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