US Extends Temporary Protected Status for Syrians
The U.S. government has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians living in the United States for an additional 18 months. In a statement Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the extension was granted “due to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Syria that prevent individuals from safely returning.” TPS is a temporary immigration status granted to migrants from eligible nations. It allows those who qualify for the program to obtain work permits and be exempt from deportation. The status is granted to those from countries that experience extraordinary events, including natural disasters and armed conflict. “We are committed to protecting Syrian nationals in the United States as the ongoing civil war in Syria persists, leading to continued destruction and despair,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The agency said, “Over a decade after the uprising that sparked the war, Syria continues to be mired in conflict, political instability and economic turmoil, all made more acute by the COVID-19 pandemic.” The extension allows approximately 6,448 current beneficiaries to retain TPS through March 31, 2024, according to the Department of Homeland Security. It said other Syrians residing in the United States can also apply for the …
US to Fill Border Wall Gaps Near Yuma, Arizona
The Biden administration has authorized completion of the Trump-funded U.S.-Mexico border wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma that has become one of the busiest corridors for illegal crossings. Biden had pledged during his campaign to cease all future wall construction, but the administration later agreed to some barriers, citing safety. The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday the work to close four wide gaps in the wall near Yuma will better protect migrants who can slip down a slope or drown walking through a low section of the Colorado River. The agency said in a statement that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized completion of the project near the Morelos Dam, reflecting the administration’s “priority to deploy modern, effective border measures and also improving safety and security along the Southwest Border.” It was initially to be funded by the Defense Department but will now be paid for out of Homeland Security’s 2021 budget. The Border Patrol Yuma sector has quickly emerged as the third busiest of nine sectors along the border, with much of the traffic funneling through the Morelos Dam. Migrants arrive in the small town of Algodones and walk unencumbered across a concrete ledge on the …
Washington Requests Troops to Aid With Migrant Arrivals From Texas, Arizona
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has requested the deployment of military troops to assist with migrants arriving on buses sent by the Texas and Arizona state governments, according to letters sent by her office to U.S. military and White House officials. Bowser, a Democrat, has asked in recent weeks for federal funds to provide shelter and services to migrants arriving on buses from the two Republican-led states, which sought to make a political statement by sending border crossers to Washington. “Our ability to assist people in need at this scale is very limited,” Bowser said in a letter to White House officials, adding that nonprofit organizations welcoming migrants in Washington are “overwhelmed and underfunded.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican running for reelection in November midterm elections, blames U.S. President Joe Biden’s immigration policies for record numbers of migrant arrests at the border with Mexico. The governor announced in April the state would bus migrants to Washington, saying “Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden administration’s failure to secure our border.” Texas has sent more than 150 buses carrying more than 6,000 migrants to Washington since April, according to Abbott’s office. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, another Republican, …
Bodies of 5 Migrants Recovered in Waters Near Puerto Rico
The bodies of five migrants have been recovered in waters off Mona Island near Puerto Rico, U.S. officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard responded Thursday morning to a report of a makeshift wooden vessel, suspected of taking part in human smuggling, that dropped off a group of non-U.S. citizens in waters near uninhabited Mona Island. “The smugglers basically forced the migrants to disembark. It appears that five of the migrants drowned in the process,” said Jeffrey Quinones, U.S. Customs and Border Protection public affairs officer. Park rangers from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources found the bodies on Mona Island, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The rangers reported 66 survivors — 41 males and 25 females — including two minors, who made it safely ashore. The nationalities of the migrants were not immediately clear. “A lot of times [smugglers] leave people on Mona Island, leading them to believe that they’re in Puerto Rico,” said Joel Seijo, Department of Natural and Environmental Resources spokesperson. Lying between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, Mona Island has been used over the years by human smugglers who carry people between the two places. In May, amid a steady increase …
Biden Officials Planning New ID for Migrants
The Biden administration is working on a new identification card to be issued to immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border that would allow U.S. immigration officials and migrants to more quickly access their files. The card would someday be accepted by the Transportation Security Administration for travel inside the United States. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson told VOA the card, called a Secure Docket Card, is part of a push to modernize and streamline the paperwork given to immigrants when they are processed at the southern border through a consistent, verifiable and secure card. ICE is completing the required pilot notification to Congress, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is asking for $10 million to launch the initiative during fiscal 2023. The new ID card will include photo, name, nationality and a QR code to access a new portal with the immigrant’s information, allowing the noncitizen to log in to a website — still in development — to schedule and check on ICE reporting requirements and hearing dates with the immigration court. “Specifics of the program are still under development, but a primary goal of the SDC is to improve current, inconsistent paper forms that often degrade rapidly …
US Immigration News Recap, July 17-23, 2022
Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Email questions, tips or comments to the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com New green card registry date could let millions adjust status in US House Democrats introduced a bill to update the cutoff date for eligibility for some immigrants to apply for permanent residence. This is not the first time that changes have been made to the green card registry, and the current cutoff date is 1972. No specific date is being suggested. Instead, House Democrats are proposing that applicants would have to have lived in the U.S. for seven years to become eligible, creating a rolling registry that allows new people to apply every year. US to streamline application process for Afghan Special Immigrant Visas U.S. officials announced on Monday a change to the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process for Afghans in which applicants will need to file only one form so that applications can go through a single government agency, senior officials told reporters. Beginning July 20, new applicants — some in the SIV pipeline — no longer need to send a separate petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for special immigrant status, …
Governors Keep Busing Migrants to Washington
A novel Republican-led effort to protest the Biden administration’s handling of record-setting migration across the U.S.-Mexico border has resulted in thousands of asylum-seekers being bused to the nation’s capital, alarming aid groups and immigrant rights advocates. Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched the program in April, chartering buses to send recently arrived migrants from the southern border to Washington. He announced the initiative after the Biden administration said it would halt Title 42, the pandemic-era immigration policy that allows authorities to turn away migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Though the push to lift Title 42 was blocked by federal courts, Texas moved ahead and bused migrants to Washington. Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey, also a Republican, followed Abbott’s lead and in May started busing migrants to the nation’s capital. Three months into the program, local officials said more than 3,400 people have reached Washington by bus. Aid groups say they are overwhelmed. Why is the Texas governor doing this? According to Abbott, the policy was put into place to help local officials whose border communities are being overrun by asylum-seekers. “We are sending them [undocumented immigrants] to the United States capital, where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address …
2 Indicted in Migrant Death-trailer Case that Left 53 Dead
Two men were indicted Wednesday in the case of a hot, airless tractor-trailer rig found last month with 53 dead or dying migrants in San Antonio, officials said. A federal grand jury in San Antonio indicted Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, both of Pasadena, Texas, on counts of transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in death; and transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in serious injury. Both remain in federal custody without bond pending trial. Martinez’s attorney, David Shearer of San Antonio, declined to comment on the indictments. A message to Zamorano’s attorney was not immediately returned. Conviction on the death counts could result in life sentences, but the Attorney General’s Office could authorize prosecutors to seek death penalties. The serious bodily injury counts carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison. It was the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduño, chief of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute. The incident happened on a remote San Antonio …
Supreme Court Won’t Let Biden Implement Deportation Policy
The Supreme Court won’t allow the Biden administration to implement a policy that prioritizes deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. The court’s order Thursday leaves the policy frozen nationwide for now. The vote was 5-4 with conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in saying they would have allowed the Biden administration to put in place the guidance. The court also announced it would hear arguments in the case, saying they would be in late November. The order is the first public vote by Jackson since she joined the court June 30 following the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer. The justices were acting on the administration’s emergency request to the court following conflicting decisions by federal appeals courts over a September directive from the Homeland Security Department that paused deportation unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage or “egregious threats to public safety.” The federal appeals court in Cincinnati earlier this month overturned a district judge’s order that put the policy on hold in a lawsuit filed by Arizona, Ohio and Montana. But in a separate suit filed by Texas and Louisiana, …
New Green Card Registry Date Could Let Millions Adjust Status in US
Vanessa’s parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 2 years old. For the past 18 years, she has lived in California. In 2020, she graduated from high school and began classes at a community college in the state. “I’m lucky I have the access to that education, but I can still see the limits in my future,” Vanessa, who did not disclose her last name, said Wednesday at a press conference. When she turned 16, she qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy the Obama administration created in 2012 that allows recipients to work and go to school in the United States if they meet certain requirements. But before she could apply, federal courts blocked her and many others from doing so. Virgilio Alema is from Honduras and has lived in the U.S. for 25 years. He is a Temporary Protection Status (TPS) holder — a program that allows migrants, whose home countries are considered unsafe, to live and work in the U.S. for a period of time if they meet certain requirements. At 88 years old, he still works. Although Vanessa and Alema have different U.S. immigration statuses, both could be able …
US to Streamline Application Process for Afghan Special Immigrant Visas
U.S. officials announced Monday a change to the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process for Afghans in which applicants will need to file only one form so that applications can go through a single government agency, senior officials told reporters. Beginning July 20, new applicants — some in the SIV pipeline — will no longer need to send a separate petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for special immigrant status, which means the complete process is now overseen by the State Department. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a joint statement, “This new streamlined process, which is part of our ongoing efforts to make the program more efficient, will help to eliminate barriers for applicants and reduce application times.” After nearly 20 years of war, the U.S. and its allies left Afghanistan in August 2021, helping to evacuate more than 130,000 Afghans in the chaotic last weeks in Kabul. Many of those Afghans hoped for a life in the U.S. The SIV program, a decade-old special immigrant visa program, helps military interpreters and others who worked on government-funded contracts to move to the United States in a direct pathway to …
Buses of Undocumented Migrants from Texas Stall in US Capital
Buses full of migrants continue to arrive in Washington from Texas. They are being sent by Greg Abbott, the state’s Republican governor, who says U.S. President Joe Biden has not done enough to secure the southern border with Mexico. VOA News reporter Iacopo Luzi has the story. …
US Immigration News Recap, July 10-16, 2022
Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week: 5 years later, families still separated In June 2018, family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border made international headlines after recordings from a U.S. federal detention facility emerged of scores of children screaming for their parents. Five years after the practice began, some families have yet to be reunited, and others live in limbo. Five Years Later, Work of Reuniting Families Separated at US-Mexico Border Remains Unfinished Biden immigration memo prioritizes family unity When detaining immigrants who are in the country illegally, U.S. law enforcement officers will ask them whether they are parents or guardians to avoid separating families under a policy launched by the Biden administration. The directive, an effort by President Joe Biden to reverse former President Donald Trump’s more restrictive policies, also allows previously deported parents or guardians to return to the United States temporarily for child custody hearings. Biden Immigration Enforcement Memo Prioritizes Family Unity Biden, Mexican president talk immigration, economy The White House said the U.S. will double the number of temporary visas for workers from Central America and Mexico. The announcement comes after President Joe Biden held his second one-on-one meeting …
Biden Immigration Enforcement Memo Prioritizes Family Unity
U.S. law enforcement officers will ask, when detaining immigrants in the country illegally, whether they are parents or guardians to avoid separating families under a Biden administration policy launched on Thursday. The directive, an effort by President Joe Biden to reverse former President Donald Trump’s more restrictive policies, also allows for previously deported parents or guardians to return to the United States temporarily for child custody hearings. The new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive replaces Trump-era guidance issued in 2017 that did not explicitly require officers to inquire about, or record, parental status or guardianship. A Democrat, Biden campaigned on a promise to build a more humane and orderly immigration system to counter that of Trump, his Republican predecessor. When he took office early last year, Biden prioritized immigration enforcement against those convicted of more serious crimes. As a result, arrests and deportations of immigrants living illegally in the United States plummeted compared with a year earlier. But federal courts in recent months have blocked Biden’s efforts to focus on serious criminal offenders and Republicans have criticized the administration’s approach, saying fewer detentions and deportations have encouraged more illegal crossings. In another departure from Trump administration policy, the …
US Restores Path to Green Card for Some TPS Holders
Some Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients are expected to regain a way to adjust their immigration status to permanent residence in the U.S. Earlier this month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memorandum that restored a process that had been available for years until it was changed under the Trump administration. That process allows immigrants who entered the United States without legal permission but who now have TPS, to travel outside the U.S. and upon return be officially inspected and admitted at a U.S. port of entry. If they are married to a U.S. citizen or have a child older than 21 who is a U.S. citizen, they could potentially apply for a green card through family sponsorship. An inspection is a requirement under U.S. immigration law for noncitizens to adjust their status. Those who entered the country illegally but have since been given TPS were not considered inspected and admitted. Who will be affected? Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said this will affect people who marry U.S. citizens or are the parents of U.S. citizens older than 21. “That’s the most common way in which people, who are undocumented, can adjust status …
Biden, Mexican President Talk Immigration, Economy in 2nd White House Meeting
The U.S. will double the number of temporary visas for workers from Central America and Mexico, The White House said Tuesday after President Joe Biden held his second one-on-one with Mexico’s president in under a year. The two discussed immigration, security, inflation and challenges that go beyond North America. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. …
5 Years Later, Work of Reuniting Families Separated at US-Mexico Border Unfinished
In June 2018, family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border made international headlines after recordings from a U.S. federal detention facility emerged of scores of children screaming for their parents. Five years later, some families have yet to be reunited, and others live in limbo. VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story. …
US to Renew But Not Expand Humanitarian Protection for Venezuelans in the Country
The United States will renew but not expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans in the country, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Monday, a move that leaves tens of thousands of recently arrived Venezuelans without access to the humanitarian program. The Biden administration will offer an 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuelans who were in the United States by March 8, 2021, but not expand the program to more recent arrivals, DHS said. U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has greatly expanded use of the TPS program, which provides deportation relief and work permits to immigrants in the United States if their home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event. At the same time, Biden has struggled both politically and operationally with high numbers of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, including Venezuelans. The Biden administration granted TPS to Venezuela in March 2021, citing economic and political turmoil and human rights abuses under Socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Democratic lawmakers and advocates had urged the administration to offer the protections to more recently arrived Venezuelans. Since January 2021, U.S. Border Patrol agents have detained more than 144,000 Venezuelans at the southwest border. The …
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