VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, September 25–October 1
Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com Thousands of Cubans in Pipeline of US Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program As U.S. border officials report high numbers of Cuban migrants hoping to enter the country at the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) told VOA more than 10,000 people are in the pipeline of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) program. New invitations have not been issued since September 2016. While some migrants have the option to be sponsored by family members, others choose often dangerous paths to reach the United States. Story by VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros. Biden Keeps US Target for Refugee Admissions at 125,000 President Joe Biden on Wednesday formally kept the nation’s cap on refugee admissions at 125,000 for the 2023 budget year, despite pressure from refugee advocates to raise it even higher to meet the need after falling far short of that target this year, The Associated Press reports. As Shelters Fill, New York City Weighs Tents to House Migrants New York City’s mayor says he plans to erect hangar-sized tents as temporary shelter for thousands of …
Thousands of Cubans in Pipeline of US Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program
As U.S. border officials report high numbers of Cuban migrants hoping to enter the country at the U.S.-Mexico border, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) told VOA more than 10,000 people are in the pipeline of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) program. CFRP provides a pathway to the United States for certain Cubans with approved family-based immigrant petitions. “Expanding access to lawful migration pathways offers migrants safe and orderly alternatives to irregular migration and its numerous dangers and indignities,” a USCIS spokesperson wrote in an email to VOA. This means resuming operations of the CFRP program where Cubans living in the U.S. as American citizens or legal permanent residents can petition certain family members who then receive an invitation letter and are allowed to apply for parole in the United States. With approved parole, these family members are then allowed to travel to the United States. Once in the U.S., CFRP program beneficiaries can apply for employment authorization while they wait to apply for permanent residency status. New invitations have not been issued since September 2016. “(USCIS) is collaborating closely with interagency partners to effectively rebuild the capacity in Havana needed to conduct CFRP program interviews. … We …
Biden Keeps US Target for Refugee Admissions at 125,000
President Joe Biden on Wednesday formally kept the nation’s cap on refugee admissions at 125,000 for the 2023 budget year, despite pressure from refugee advocates to raise it even higher to meet the need after falling far short of that target this year. Advocates for refugees had been pushing the Biden administration to do more to restore the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. It had suffered deep cuts under the Trump administration and had admitted fewer than 20,000 refugees so far this year, or only about 20% of the 125,000 target for 2022, according to the latest count in August. The budget year ends Friday. A White House memorandum issued Tuesday provided a geographical breakdown of admissions, allocating 40,000 for Africa, 35,000 for Near East/South Asia, 15,000 for East Asia, 15,000 for Europe and Central Asia, and 15,000 for Latin America. Five thousand are listed as unallocated and held in reserve. …
As Shelters Fill, New York City Weighs Tents to House Migrants
New York City’s mayor says he plans to erect hangar-sized tents as temporary shelter for thousands of international migrants who have been bused into the Big Apple as part of a campaign by Republican governors to disrupt federal border policies. The tents are among an array of options — from using cruise ships to summer camps — the city is considering as it struggles to find housing for an estimated 13,000 migrants who have wound up in New York after being bused north from border towns in Texas and Arizona. “This is not an everyday homelessness crisis, but a humanitarian crisis that requires a different approach,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Thursday. New York City’s huge system of homeless shelters has been straining to accommodate the unexpected new flow of migrants seeking asylum in the United States. In Arizona and Texas, officials have loading people on buses for free trips to Washington and New York City. More recently, Florida, which has a Republican governor running for reelection, flew migrants — at public cost — to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Adams said the city had opened 23 emergency shelters — and was considering 38 more — to …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, September 18–24
Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. Ahead of US Midterms, How Has US Immigration Policy Changed? As U.S. midterm elections approach, immigration remains one of the country’s most contentious political issues, mostly concerning the number of people trying to enter the U.S. at the southwestern border. Story by VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros. Migrants Sue Florida Governor over Martha’s Vineyard Flights Venezuelan migrants flown to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his transportation secretary Tuesday for engaging in a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to relocate them. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that the migrants were told they were going to Boston or Washington, “which was completely false,” and were induced with perks such as $10 McDonald’s gift certificates, The Associated Press reports. US Migration from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua Soars in August The number of Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans who were taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August as migrants from Mexico and other traditional sending countries were stopped less frequently, authorities said Monday, The Associated …
Ahead of US Midterms, How Has US Immigration Policy Changed?
As U.S. midterm elections approach, immigration remains one of the country’s most contentious political issues, mostly concerning the number of people trying to enter the U.S. at the southwestern border. While a record number of migrants are arriving at the U.S. Mexico border — for which Republicans blame President Joe Biden, a Democrat — data analyzed by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) show the Biden administration has been active on immigration, issuing 296 executive orders. And the Biden administration has kept in place some Trump-era policies. US-Mexico border and the asylum program The Biden administration has continued Title 42, a policy implemented in March 2020 by order of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect public health during the pandemic. More than 1 million migrants seeking to apply for asylum in the United States were expelled to their home countries or Mexico in fiscal 2022. Implemented and enforced as a blanket policy by the Trump administration, Title 42 has been modified under Biden to allow unaccompanied minors and families with young children to enter the U.S. U.S. law offers asylum to people facing persecution in their home countries on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion …
Migrants Sue Florida Governor over Martha’s Vineyard Flights
Venezuelan migrants flown to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his transportation secretary Tuesday for engaging in a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to relocate them. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that the migrants were told they were going to Boston or Washington, “which was completely false,” and were induced with perks such as $10 McDonald’s gift certificates. “No human being should be used as a political pawn,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is seeking class-action status in the lawsuit filed on behalf of several migrants who were aboard last week’s flights and Alianza Americas, a network of advocacy groups. DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, which also names Florida Secretary of Transportation Jared W. Perdue as a defendant. The lawsuit alleges that migrants were induced to cross state lines under false pretenses, a line that some Democratic officials are using to urge a federal investigation. On Monday, Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, opened an investigation into the flights, but the elected Democrat did not say what laws may have …
US Migration from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua Soars in August
The number of Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August as migrants from Mexico and traditional sending countries were stopped less frequently, authorities said Monday. U.S. authorities stopped migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua about 56,000 times last month, up from 49,826 times in July and 23,141 times in August 2021, according to administration officials. At the same time, fewer migrants were stopped from Mexico and the Central American “Northern Triangle” countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras for a third straight month. Overall, migrants were stopped about 203,000 times. They were stopped 199,976 times on the U.S. border with Mexico in July and 213,593 times in August 2021. The growing numbers from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, are the latest sign of rapidly changing migration flows as U.S. authorities wrestle with unusually large influxes. While no single reason can be pinpointed, it is extremely challenging for the U.S. to expel migrants from those countries under a pandemic-era rule known as Title 42, which U.S. officials invoke to deny a chance at seeking asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. U.S. relations with all three countries are deeply strained, making …
Pastor-led Group Seeks Missing Migrants in Border Desert
After strapping on knee-high snake guards and bowing his head to invoke God’s protection, Oscar Andrade marched off into a remote desert at dawn on a recent Sunday to look for a Honduran migrant missing since late July. The Tucson-based Pentecostal pastor bushwhacked for three hours in heat that rose above 38 Celsius, detouring around a mountain lion, two rattlesnakes and at least one scorpion, before taking a break to call the aunt of another missing man. Andrade believed he had found the young man’s skull the previous day. “Much strength, my dear sister,” Andrade told her. “Sometimes we don’t understand, but there is a reason that God allowed this.” On the fourth search for that 25-year-old man from the Mexican state of Guerrero, the pastor and his Capellanes del Desierto (Desert Chaplains) rescue and recovery group had found his ID card in a wallet 12 meters from a skull and other bones, picked clean by animals and the relentless sun. Since March, Andrade has received more than 400 calls from families in Mexico and Central America whose relatives – sick, injured or exhausted – were left behind by smugglers in the borderlands. Forensic experts estimate 80% of bodies in …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, September 11–17
Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. Number of US Naturalizations Rose 30% in 2021 As the pandemic eased, the number of people who became naturalized U.S. citizens rose. In 2021, 814,000 people became citizens, up 30% from 628,000 in 2020, according to a June 2022 annual report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Story by VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros. US Law Enforcement Takes Down ‘Prolific’ Human Smuggling Operation Speaking at a press conference at the Justice Department, law enforcement officials said the network ran a “prolific” smuggling operation, trafficking hundreds, if not thousands, of undocumented migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia into the United States in recent years. Story by VOA’s Justice Department reporter Masood Farivar. Florida, Texas Escalate Flights, Buses to Move Migrants Republican governors expanded their tactic of sending migrants to Democratic strongholds without warning, including Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy summer enclave in Massachusetts, and the Washington home of Vice President Kamala Harris. The Associated Press reports. Tears, Uncertainty as Migrants Depart Martha’s Vineyard Amid Political Standoff Massachusetts transported migrants off the wealthy island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, …
Number of US Naturalizations Rose 30% in 2021
Basma Alawee fled with her family from Baghdad, Iraq, to Florida in 2010 after receiving threats on their lives. She is a former refugee and an activist on refugee issues. She is also a naturalized U.S. citizen. “I counted the days to become a citizen for so many reasons,” she said. “One, because I really want to have the passport so I could travel and see my family. … And the second, I wanted to vote, I wanted my voice to be counted. I want to make sure that I vote for people who protect communities.” Alawee said the naturalization process can be expensive, and because of the pandemic, there are added barriers, such as backlogs and long waits while applications are processed. For example, in the Tampa, Florida, Field Office, 80% of U.S. citizenship applications are completed within 14 months. But in Baltimore, Maryland, processing times are reaching 16.5 months. And it costs $725 to apply for U.S. naturalization. As the pandemic eased, the number of U.S. naturalizations rose. In 2021, 814,000 people became citizens, up 30% from 628,000 in 2020, according to a June 2022 annual report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “In my time, …
Tears, Uncertainty as Migrants Depart Martha’s Vineyard Amid Political Standoff
The state of Massachusetts transported migrants off the wealthy island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on Friday morning, in response to an unusual move by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis to fly them there from the border state of Texas. About 50 migrants, including some half-dozen children, boarded buses to head to the ferry to Cape Cod, leaving some of the island residents who volunteered to shelter them in a church for two nights in tears. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, said the migrants would be housed temporarily at a Cape Cod military base, organized by state emergency officials. “I want them to have a good life,” said Lisa Belcastro, who helped organize cots and supplies at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, which sits among expensive white-clapboard homes in Edgartown. “I want them to come to America and be embraced. They all want to work.” The migrants were flown to Martha’s Vineyard as part of an escalating effort by Republican governors to call attention to what they view as Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden’s failure to secure the U.S.-Mexico border amid record attempted crossings. DeSantis, who is running for reelection in November, has taken credit for transporting the migrants from Texas to …
Florida, Texas Escalate Flights, Buses to Move Migrants
Republican governors expanded their tactic of sending migrants to Democratic strongholds without warning, including a wealthy summer enclave in Massachusetts and the Washington home of Vice President Kamala Harris. The governors of Texas and Arizona have sent thousands of migrants on buses to New York, Chicago and Washington in recent months, but the latest moves — which included two surprise flights to Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday paid for by Florida — reached a new level that critics derided as inhumane. Upon arrival in Martha’s Vineyard, where former President Barack Obama has a home, the migrants who are predominantly from Venezuela were provided with meals, shelter, health care and information about where to find work. The vacation island south of Boston, whose year-round residents include many blue-collar workers, appeared to absorb the dozens of arrivals without a hitch. “We are a community that comes together to support immigrants,” said State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, who represents the area. Lawyers for Civil Rights, based in Boston, said it was providing free legal services and investigating whether Florida’s governor may have violated human trafficking laws if it turns out any migrants were sent against their will or duped into taking the flights. The president of …
Report: Biden Urges Mexico to Take Migrants Under COVID Expulsion Order He Vowed to End
As border crossings have soared to record highs, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is quietly pressing Mexico to accept more migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela under a COVID-19 expulsion order that the White House has publicly sought to end, seven U.S. and three Mexican officials said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns about an escalating number of crossings by migrants from the three countries during a visit on Monday to Mexico City, two U.S. and two Mexican officials told Reuters, but Mexico did not promise any specific actions. One U.S. official said trying to convince Mexico to agree is “an uphill battle.” All sources requested anonymity to discuss internal government matters. Mexico already accepts U.S. returns of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. So far, this fiscal year about 299,000 people from those nations have been expelled at the border, compared to about 9,000 returns from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The U.S. effort to pressure Mexico on these three particular nationalities illustrates the depth of concern within the Biden’s Democratic administration about their border crossings. Most migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela who cross into the United States are allowed to stay to pursue asylum claims, …
US Law Enforcement Takes Down ‘Prolific’ Human Smuggling Operation
U.S. law enforcement officials announced on Tuesday that a crackdown on human trafficking groups near the U.S.-Mexico border has resulted in the disruption of a major smuggling network and the arrest of eight alleged human smugglers. The takedown comes as the administration of President Joe Biden faces criticism from Republicans over an influx of undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America pouring into the United States. Administration officials say combating human smuggling is part of their strategy to address “irregular migration” across the southern border. Speaking at a press conference at the Justice Department, law enforcement officials said the network ran a “prolific” smuggling operation, trafficking hundreds, if not thousands, of undocumented migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia into the United States in recent years. “Sadly, this case is an example of what we see in our district too many times, especially in our border communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery of the Southern District of Texas. The operation was part of Joint Task Force Alpha, a law enforcement initiative announced last year by Attorney General Merrick Garland to combat dangerous human smuggling groups operating in Mexico and Central America. In a statement, Garland touted the successful takedown. “The …
China Quarantines College Students Under Strict COVID Policy
Almost 500 students at China’s premier college for broadcast journalists have been sent to a quarantine center after a handful of COVID-19 cases were detected in their dormitory. The 488 students at Communication University of China, along with 19 teachers and five assistants, were transferred by bus beginning Friday night. Quarantining anyone considered to have been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus has been a pillar of China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy. The quarantine centers include field hospitals as well as converted stadiums and exhibition centers that have been criticized for overcrowding, poor sanitation and spoiled food. As of last week, approximately 65 million Chinese residents were under lockdown despite just 1,248 new cases of domestic transmission being reported on Sunday. Most of those were asymptomatic. The lockdowns have sparked protests online and confrontations with health workers and police, and have exacted a major toll on the economy, affecting global supply chains for electronics and other products. The weekslong lockdown in China’s biggest city of Shanghai over the summer prompted an exodus of migrant workers and foreign business people. With the release of economic data this week, analysts will be looking for insights into how China’s handling …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, September 4–10, 2022
Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. US Education Institutions Report a Rise in International Student Applications As a new school year begins in the United States, institutions of higher education are voicing optimism that international student numbers are bouncing back, given an increase in applications for the 2022-23 school year. But an increase in applications does not necessarily mean growth in foreign student enrollment in U.S. higher education institutions. Biden Administration to Remove ‘Public Charge’ Immigration Hurdles The Biden administration finalized a rule Friday to remove hurdles to immigration to anyone deemed “likely” to become dependent on public benefits while trying to obtain a visa or become a U.S. permanent resident. The rule is scheduled to take effect December 23. No Longer Young, ‘Dreamers’ in US Uneasily Watch a Legal Challenge “Dreamers,” long a symbol of immigrant youth, are increasingly easing into middle age as eligibility requirements have been frozen since 2012, when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was introduced. The oldest recipients were in their early 30s when DACA began and are in their early 40s today. At the same time, fewer …
US Colleges Report Rise in Foreign Student Applications
As a new school year begins in the United States, institutions of higher education are voicing optimism that international student numbers are bouncing back given an increase in applications for the 2022-2023 school year. The Institute of International Education (IIE), in a report published in June, said U.S. colleges saw an increase in applications for admission after seeing significantly fewer new international student enrollments in 2020 and 2021. Does it mean international students are returning in numbers to the U.S.? “I definitely say that is true. Absolutely,” IIE Co-President Jason Czyz told VOA. He said IIE found the biggest factor in renewed interest in the United States for higher education is the waning of the pandemic. “Is it entirely done? No. But people around the world are learning to live with it. And as a result of two years, where there was very limited international mobility for students, we’re seeing that there’s definitely this pent-up demand for international exchange and the U.S., of course, is one of the main markets for that,” he said. The IIE’s June report cites data from 559 institutions and shows that 65% of them saw an increase in their international student applications for the 2022-2023 …
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