Biden Asks US Supreme Court to Hear ‘Remain in Mexico’ Case
The Biden administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court whether it needed to continue to implement a Trump-era policy that has forced tens of thousands of migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. asylum cases. Democratic President Joe Biden attempted to scrap his Republican predecessor’s policy — often referred to as “Remain in Mexico” — soon after taking office in January. But after Texas and Missouri sued, a federal judge ruled it had to be reinstated, and an appeals court earlier this month agreed. Under the 2019 policy put in place by former President Donald Trump, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), migrants seeking asylum must wait weeks and sometimes years in Mexico for a U.S. court date instead of being allowed to await their hearings in the United States. Biden decried the policy on the campaign trail and immigration advocates have said migrants stuck in dangerous border cities have faced kidnappings and other dangers. After a federal court ruled he had to reinstate MPP, the Biden administration reissued a memo terminating it in the hopes it would overcome the legal challenges. But the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was not convinced …
Immigrants Welcome Afghan Refugees, Inspired by Own Journeys
Tram Pham tears up recalling how tough life was at first in the U.S. But she also remembers the joy she felt as a 22-year-old refugee from Vietnam when a nurse spoke to her in her native language and guided her through a medical screening required of new arrivals. Nearly three decades later, Pham hopes to pay that comfort forward as a registered nurse at the same San Jose, California, clinic that treated her family. The TB and Refugee Clinic at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is screening people from Afghanistan who began seeking asylum in the U.S. after American troops withdrew from the country in August. Pham can’t speak Farsi or Pashto. But she can soothe patients stressed out over the job they can’t find or the rent that’s due. The other day, she held the hand of an older Afghan woman as she cried out her fears. “I can see patients from all over the world come in. I see, you know, Vietnamese patients. I see a lot of refugee patients,” she said. “I see myself.” The TB and Refugee Clinic joins a vast network of charities and government organizations tasked with carrying out President Joe Biden’s plan …
Biden’s First Year Brings Modest Changes to Immigration Policy
As a presidential candidate last year, Joe Biden slammed the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and pledged to enact comprehensive reform that would reassert America’s commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees. As Biden’s first year in the White House ends, his record on immigration demonstrates as much continuity as change. In perhaps his most visible departure from the previous administration, President Biden ordered a halt to wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border shortly after taking office. But much of the immigration policy architecture of the Trump years endures. The Biden administration has retained Title 42, a pandemic-related policy mandating the rapid expulsion of migrants as a public health precaution, even as America opened its land borders to Mexico and Canada. And a federal court order forced reinstatement of the former administration’s policy that kept asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border while awaiting U.S. immigration court dates, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Immigrant advocates say Biden has added some humanity to America’s immigration system but credit him with little else. “We asked this administration to [end] MPP, Title 42, to release children and families in detention and to start changing not only the narrative but …
US Has Reunited 100 Children Taken From Parents Under Trump
A Biden administration effort to reunite children and parents who were separated under President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance border policy has made increasing progress as it nears the end of its first year. The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that 100 children, mostly from Central America, were back with their families and that about 350 more reunifications were in process after it had taken steps to enhance the program. “I would have loved to have this happen much more quickly. But we are making progress and I feel like we’re gaining momentum,” said Michelle Brané, executive director of the administration’s Family Reunification Task Force. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to reunite families that had been separated under the Trump administration’s widely condemned practice of forcibly separating parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border to discourage illegal immigration. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas thanked community organizations for helping to locate and contact family members as he announced the program’s milestone on Twitter. “We have a lot more work to do,” he wrote. “We are dedicated to finding every family and giving them the chance to reunite and to heal.” Facing obstacles The work …
Biden Extends Pause on Student Loan Repayments 90 Days
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that his administration will extend the pause on student loan repayment in the United States until May 1, 2022, in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a statement from the president released by the White House, pausing loan repayments is part of the country’s economic recovery. “Today my administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days — through May 1, 2022 — as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery,” Biden said in a statement. The Department of Education will continue working with borrowers to ensure they are adequately supported to “transition smoothly back into repayment and advance economic stability for their own households and for our nation,” Biden said. In the statement, Biden urged borrowers to take advantage of the department’s resources, such as options to lower payments through income-based repayment plans and public service loan forgiveness. This is not the first time the Biden administration has extended the loan repayment pause. In August, it was extended through January 31. The forbearance has benefited millions across the country. According to Reuters, nearly 41 million borrowers benefited from the freeze …
Students Challenge US School District’s Ban on Some Diversity Education
A ban on some educational material in York, Pennsylvania, has been lifted a year after the issue attracted national attention. VOA’s Nukhbat Malik has more. …
Despite Bonanza, Aid Trickles Slowly to US Homeless Students
Frank Hardy, 18, has been homeless for the past eight years, moving in and out of shelters with his mom, or staying with his sister’s family while his mom has been in jail. As part of an economic stimulus package to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Congress voted in March to fast-track $800 million and urged educators to move quickly to aid the estimated 1.5 million students like Hardy who are homeless across America. But the cash has yet to reach the Los Angeles Unified School district, which oversees Hardy’s high school. Some states and school districts rushed their millions to those in need. But California has only begun disbursing the first quarter of its allotment of $98.7 million. The federal government authorized sending out a first $200 million in April followed by the rest last summer. Other big states such as New York and Florida are even further behind, having yet to deliver a dime to the districts, because of bureaucratic logjams or because some districts are ill-equipped even to find students in need. “In the early part of the pandemic, the most stable place in the lives of homeless students – school – disappeared,” said Barbara Duffield, …
US Senate Parliamentarian Deals Democrats Blow on Immigration
Democrats must drop an effort to let millions of immigrants remain temporarily in the U.S. from their expansive social and environment bill, the Senate parliamentarian decided Thursday, dealing the latest blow to a longtime priority of the party, migrant advocates and progressives. The opinion by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s nonpartisan arbiter of its rules, all but certainly means Democrats will ultimately have to pull the proposal from their 10-year, roughly $2 trillion package. The measure carries health care, family services and climate change initiatives, mostly paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the rich, that are top priorities for President Joe Biden. When the Senate considers the overall legislation — which is currently stalled — Democrats are expected to try reviving the immigration provisions, or perhaps even stronger language giving migrants a way to become permanent residents or citizens. But such efforts would face solid opposition from Republicans and probably a small number of Democrats, which would be enough for defeat in the 50-50 chamber. MacDonough’s opinion was no surprise — it was the third time since September that she said Democrats would violate Senate rules by using the legislation to help immigrants and should remove immigration provisions from …
VP Harris Announces $1.2 Billion in Private Investment for Central America
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced $1.2 billion in private-sector investments in Central America as part of a program aimed at reducing migration from the region. “The United States has an important role to play in addressing the root causes of migration,” Harris said Monday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House, before hosting a meeting with leaders from 10 companies to discuss investment initiatives in Central America. “At the same time, our government cannot do its work alone,” she said. The White House said the investments in Central America came from such companies as PepsiCo, Mastercard and Cargill. Harris is heading the Biden administration’s efforts to stem migration from Central America to the U.S. border, with a focus on addressing the reasons people feel compelled to leave their home countries, including lack of economic opportunity. She said the U.S. initiative was not about the U.S. government “coming in and telling anyone what they should do.” Rather, she said, it was “about being partners and assisting and helping to facilitate the natural desire of the people in these nations.” The U.S. Border Patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border …
US Announces $1.2 Billion in Private Investment for Central America
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is due to announce $1.2 billion in private sector investments in Central America Monday as part of a program aimed at reducing migration from the region. The announcement is expected at a meeting Harris is hosting with leaders from 10 companies to discuss investment initiatives in Central America. The White House said the $1.2 billion includes a five-year $150 million effort from Cargill to expand support for farmers in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as $50 million from CARE International for a Center for Gender Equity in Central America focused on economic empowerment for women, financial inclusion and reducing gender-based violence. In Honduras, the White House said Parkdale Mills plans to build a new yarnspinning facility that will support 500 employees. JDE Peet’s plans to boost its support for farmers in Central America, including help for adapting to the effects of climate change, diversifying income sources and better accessing markets. “These commitments are in response to the Vice President’s Call to Action, launched in May, for businesses and social enterprises to make new, significant commitments to sustainably address the root causes of migration by promoting economic opportunity,” a White House official said ahead …
Guatemala Seeks Aid, Smuggler Crackdown After Mexico Migrant Deaths
Guatemala urged the United States on Friday to invest in the country and elsewhere in Central America to boost development, and called for a crackdown on people-smuggling gangs after dozens of migrants died in a truck crash in Mexico. Officials from Guatemala and Mexico pledged to tackle international people-smuggling networks they blamed for Thursday’s accident that killed 55 mostly Guatemalan migrants. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said a regional “action group” had been set up to fight human-smuggling networks and was backed by the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States. The group will “investigate, identify, learn, and bring to justice the leaders of the organization responsible for this human tragedy,” Ebrard told a televised news conference. Speaking alongside Ebrard, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo urged investment by Washington to alleviate poverty in the region and called for tougher penalties against criminals who benefit from illegal immigration. “We invite the U.S. government to support development and investment in our country, as well as in neighboring countries, to avoid and ensure these tragedies are not repeated,” he added. Brolo also proposed that the governments of Guatemala, Mexico and the United States organize a meeting soon to align …
Non-US Citizens Now Allowed to Vote in NYC
The New York City Council voted Thursday to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in municipal elections. The move will allow some 800,000 city residents to have a voice in their local community for the first time. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti has more on the limited expansion of voting rights. Camera: Keith Kocinski, Ihar Tsikhanenka and Adam Greenbaum …
New York City Lawmakers Pass Bill Giving Noncitizens Right to Vote
Noncitizens in New York City would gain the right to vote in municipal elections under a measure approved Thursday by the City Council that would give access to the ballot box to 800,000 green card holders and so-called Dreamers. Only a potential veto from Mayor Bill de Blasio stood in the way of the measure becoming law, but the Democrat has said he would not veto it. It’s unclear whether the bill would face legal challenges. The council’s vote was a historic moment for an effort that had long languished. Council member Francisco Moya, whose family hails from Ecuador, choked up as he spoke in support of the bill. “This is for my beautiful mother who will be able to vote for her son,” said Moya, while joining the session by video with his immigrant mother at his side. More than a dozen communities across the United States already allow noncitizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont. But New York City is the largest place by far to give voting rights to noncitizens. Noncitizens still wouldn’t be able to vote for president or members of Congress in federal races, or …
First Migrants Returned Under ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy
U.S. authorities sent the first two migrants back to Mexico on Wednesday under the reinstated “Remain in Mexico” policy. The Trump-era policy makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. The U.N. International Organization for Migration said the two migrants were sent to Mexico over a bridge in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. The U.N. agency did not provide the nationalities of the two. The two were greeted by Mexican officials who provided them with documents, and U.N. officials gave them coronavirus tests and took them to a shelter. Mexico says the U.S. government has agreed to vaccinate all migrants returned under the program. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden reinstated the policy Monday to comply with a court order and agreed to changes and additions demanded by Mexico. The returns were scheduled to begin in El Paso with up to 50 migrants to be returned daily to Ciudad Juarez, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not made public. The Homeland Security Department confirmed that returns began at one location and will be expanded to six others. It declined to identify the launch city or …
UNICEF Warns of Malnutrition, Disease Risk for Migrant Children in Mexican Camp
Thousands of migrant children and adolescents living in a makeshift camp in southern Mexico are at risk of malnutrition, disease and potentially being separated from their families, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday. Camping outside a soccer stadium in the southern city of Tapachula, thousands of migrants including many children are awaiting responses to their requests for asylum or humanitarian visas. Pressia Arifin-Cabo, deputy representative for UNICEF Mexico, said in a recorded video that the situation is critical. “There are many people, and right now that’s very concerning because of COVID,” she said. “There’s also a lot of garbage. There are no places where they can access water, where they can wash or attend to their nutritional needs.” Arifin-Cabo also said UNICEF is particularly worried about the possibility of family separation, adding that many families lost documents during their travels north. Tapachula has become a meeting point for tens of thousands of migrants leaving in caravans to the north of the country. Mexican authorities have been attempting to dismantle the camp near the border with Guatemala and started to transfer migrants from Tapachula to other regions, promising to regularize their situation. Mexico’s immigration authority and the government agency …
US Agrees to Force Migrants to Stay in Mexico While Asylum Claims Considered
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Thursday it will comply with a court order and reinstate a program to force migrants trying to reach the United States to remain in Mexico while their asylum claims are adjudicated. The protocol had been deployed under former President Donald Trump but abandoned as unworkable by Homeland Security officials under President Joe Biden. But in a turnaround stemming from the federal court decision, Homeland Security said it has been “working in good faith” to re-implement the program as the U.S. has been flooded this year with thousands of migrants, mostly from Central America, trying to cross the southwestern U.S. border from Mexico. Homeland Security said it had addressed “humanitarian concerns” raised by Mexico and shared by the U.S. and that it would restart the remain-in-Mexico program as soon as Mexico agrees to accept the return of the migrants. Under the new plan, the U.S. promised that asylum decisions would be reached within six months of an individual’s return to Mexico. The U.S. said the migrants would be able to meet with lawyers before and during their hearings on whether they will have to return to their home countries, where some migrants have contended …
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