2023 May Be Decisive for US Immigration Policy
The year 2023 is shaping up to be an important one for U.S. border policy, with a major Supreme Court decision on a controversial pandemic-era immigration rule pending, and a Republican majority in the House of Representatives expected to hold tough oversight hearings that many believe will end with the impeachment of the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. enters 2023 coming off a year of record numbers of enforcement actions by Border Patrol agents against individuals crossing into the U.S. without legally required documents. In the 12 months ending in September, there were 2.77 million such encounters, up from 1.72 million in the previous 12-month period. Since September, the situation on the border has worsened. The most recent data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that agents made 233,740 arrests in November, the highest on record for that month and one of the highest monthly totals ever. The Biden administration has increased resources dedicated to border security, but federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are still frequently overwhelmed as they try to process surges of migrants that can run to the tens of thousands per day. Title 42 decision During the administration of former …
Afghan Refugees in US Face Uncertainty as Legislation Stalls
Congress has failed so far to create a path to residency for Afghans who worked alongside U.S. soldiers in America’s longest war, pushing into limbo tens of thousands of refugees who fled Taliban control more than two years ago and now live in the United States. Some lawmakers had hoped to resolve the Afghans’ immigration status as part of a year-end government funding package. But that effort failed, punting the issue into the new year, when Republicans will take power in the House. The result is grave uncertainty for refugees now facing an August deadline for action from Congress before their temporary parole status expires. Nearly 76,000 Afghans who worked with American soldiers since 2001 as translators, interpreters and partners arrived in the U.S. on military planes after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. The government admitted the refugees on a temporary parole status as part of Operation Allies Welcome, the largest resettlement effort in the country in decades, with the promise of a path to a life in the U.S. for their service. Mohammad Behzad Hakkak, 30, is among those Afghans waiting for resolution, unable to work or settle down in his new community in Fairfax, Virginia, …
US Supreme Court Keeps Immigration Limits in Place Indefinitely
The Supreme Court of the United States is keeping pandemic-era limits on immigration in place indefinitely, dashing hopes of immigration advocates who had been anticipating their end this week. In a ruling Tuesday, the court extended a temporary stay that Chief Justice John Roberts issued last week. Under the court’s order, the case will be argued in February and the stay will be maintained until the justices decide the case. The limits, often referred to as Title 42 in reference to a 1944 public health law, were put in place under former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the pandemic. Under the restrictions, officials have expelled asylum-seekers inside the U.S. 2.5 million times and turned away most people who requested asylum at the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Immigration advocates sued to end the policy, saying it goes against American and international obligations to people fleeing to the U.S. to escape persecution. They’ve also argued that the policy is outdated as coronavirus treatments improve. The Supreme Court’s decision comes as thousands of migrants have gathered on the Mexican side of the border, filling shelters and worrying advocates who are scrambling to figure out how to …
Chaotic Year at US-Mexico Border Foreshadows More Problems Ahead
The COVID-19 pandemic and other U.S. efforts to stop asylum access significantly impacted immigration policy and enforcement in the United States in 2022. In various reports, U.S. border officials and immigration advocates say border numbers reflect the deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries that drive people to come to the southern border of the U.S. One of the most talked about guidelines is Title 42, a public health policy that allows for immediate expulsion of migrants during public health emergencies. It was put in place under former President Donald Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Biden wants it to end by December 31. “We need to recognize that, first of all, the justification for the policy no longer exists,” said Nicolas Palazzo, an immigration attorney at Las Americas Immigration Advocacy Center and border fellow at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. “The policy was implemented at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and it was used as a means of properly containing transmission of the virus.” Palazzo, who works directly with detained and non-detained migrants, said border policy has historically been mostly directed by executive action. “Because Congress has failed to come together to actually …
Migrants Dropped Near VP Harris Home on Frigid Christmas Eve
Three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris in record-setting cold on Christmas Eve. Texas authorities have not confirmed their involvement, but the bus drop offs are in line with previous actions by border-state governors calling attention to the Biden administration’s immigration policies. The buses that arrived late Saturday outside the vice president’s residence were carrying around 110 to 130 people, according to Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city of Washington to serve thousands of migrants who have been dropped off in recent months. Local organizers had expected the buses to arrive Sunday but found out Saturday that the group would get to Washington early, Laborde said. The people on board included young children. Some were wearing T-shirts despite temperatures hovering around 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius). It was the coldest Christmas Eve on record for Washington, according to The Washington Post. Laborde said employees had blankets ready for the people who arrived on Christmas Eve and moved them quickly onto waiting buses for a ride to an area church. A local restaurant chain donated dinner and breakfast. Most of the …
Tens of Thousands of Afghans Work Their Way Through US Immigration System
More than a year after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghan families totaling more than 88,500 individuals have resettled in the United States through different immigration paths. Some have access to permanent residence while the rest have permission for short-term stays without the chance for a more permanent status unless they apply for asylum or Congress passes legislation to change their status. For those with temporary status, their best hope to stay is the Afghan Adjustment Act, draft legislation that would give Afghan evacuees with temporary status a pathway to permanent U.S. residence. Although the measure has been introduced in both chambers, it has yet to come up for a vote. After the evacuation of Kabul in August 2021, the Biden administration partnered with nonprofit organizations to give Afghan refugees temporary assistance with housing, food and clothing and also help them to secure employment and qualify for health care. Special Immigrant Visa Approved by Congress more than a decade ago, the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) is for Afghans who worked as interpreters or guides for the U.S. military or were employed by the U.S. government or on its behalf in Afghanistan during the 20-year war. …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, December 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. The Biden administration on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a request by 19 Republican-led states to keep in place restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border that have been used to prevent hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story. The Supreme Court is temporarily blocking an order that would lift pandemic-era restrictions on asylum-seekers. But it is leaving open the prospect of lifting the restrictions by Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. Arizona will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the U.S. government over trespassing on federal lands, The Associated Press reports. In 2014, groups of unaccompanied children escaping violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. border authorities in South Texas. In 2016, thousands of Haitians fled a devastating earthquake and stopped in Tijuana, Mexico, after walking and taking buses through as many as 11 countries to the U.S. border, The Associated Press reports. Uncertainty over the migrant crisis on the U.S. southern border continues to …
Arizona to Remove Shipping Container Wall From Border With Mexico
Arizona will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the U.S. government over trespassing on federal lands. The Biden administration and the Republican governor entered into an agreement that calls for Arizona to cease installing the containers in the Coronado National Forest — the only national forest along the border — according to court documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix. The agreement also calls for Arizona to remove the containers that were already installed in the remote San Rafael Valley, in southeastern Cochise County, and in the Yuma area where the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has an easement on the Cocopah Indian Tribe’s reservation. All this must be done by January 4 without damaging any natural resources. State agencies will have to consult with U.S. Forest Service representatives. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has long maintained that the shipping containers were a temporary fixture. Even before the lawsuit, he wanted the federal government to say when it would fill any remaining gaps in the permanent border wall, as it announced it would a year ago. “For more than a year, the federal government has been …
Migrants Flee More Countries, Regardless of US Policies
In 2014, groups of unaccompanied children escaping violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. border authorities in South Texas. In 2016, thousands of Haitians fled a devastating earthquake and stopped in Tijuana, Mexico, after walking and taking buses through as many as 11 countries to the U.S. border. In 2018, about 6,000 mostly Guatemalan and Honduran migrants fleeing violence and poverty descended on Tijuana, many of them families with young children sleeping in frigid, rain-soaked parks and streets. A Trump-era ban on asylum, granted a brief extension by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday, was one of the U.S. policies affecting migrants’ decisions to leave their homes. The past eight years show how an extraordinary convergence of inequality, civil strife and natural disasters has been prompting millions to leave Latin America, Europe and Africa. Since 2017, the United States has been the world’s top destination for asylum-seekers, according to the United Nations. Migrants have been denied the right to seek asylum under U.S. and international law 2.5 million times since March 2020 on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19, an authority known as Title 42. It applies to all nationalities but has fallen disproportionately on people from countries …
Texas Governor Deploys National Guard to State’s Southern Border
Uncertainty over the migrant crisis on the U.S. southern border continues to grow, as Texas Governor Greg Abbott deploys the National Guard along a key stretch of the Rio Grande. Cesar Contreras reports from El Paso, Texas. Camera: Cesar Contreras. …
With Title 42 in Limbo, El Paso Braces for More Migrants
Authorities in the Texas border city say they will continue to move forward with emergency declaration contingency plan …
Biden Administration Urges US Supreme Court to End Migrant Restrictions
The Biden administration on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a request by 19 Republican-led states to keep in place restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border that have been used to prevent hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum. But the administration also asked for an extra week before the guideline, commonly known as Title 42, is lifted to allow for an “orderly transition to Title 8 operations.” “The government recognizes that the end of the Title 42 orders will likely lead to disruption and a temporary increase in unlawful border crossings,” reads one court document. “The government in no way seeks to minimize the seriousness of that problem. But the solution to that immigration problem cannot be to extend indefinitely a public-health measure that all now acknowledge has outlived its public-health justification.” The administration also said the government is prepared to rely on the immigration law that has been approved by Congress known as Title 8 — the immigration authority that has always been in place throughout the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Under Title 8, those arriving at the border without documents or trying to enter between ports of entry can be removed without …
Suspense Builds at Border Over Future of US Asylum Rules
Suspense mounted at the U.S. border with Mexico on Tuesday about the future of restrictions on asylum-seekers as the Supreme Court issued a temporary order to keep pandemic-era limits on migrants in place. Conservative-leaning states won a reprieve — though it could be brief — as they push to maintain a measure that allows officials to expel many but not all asylum-seekers. In a last-ditch written appeal to the Supreme Court, they argued that an increased numbers of migrants would take a toll on public services such as law enforcement and health care and warned of an “unprecedented calamity” at the southern border. Chief Justice John Roberts granted a stay pending further order, asking the administration of President Joe Biden to respond by 5 p.m. Tuesday. That’s just hours before restrictions are slated to expire on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for enforcing border security, acknowledged Roberts’ order — and also said the agency would continue “preparations to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when the Title 42 public health order lifts.” Migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum under U.S. and international law 2.5 million times since March 2020 on …
US Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Ending Migrant Restrictions
The U.S. Supreme Court set a Tuesday afternoon deadline for responses to its order, leaving, for now, restrictions in place at the U.S.-Mexico border that have been used to prevent hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum. The restrictions, commonly known as Title 42, were put in place under former President Donald Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said the measures are no longer necessary to protect public health, and President Joe Biden’s administration has said it wants to end the policy. A federal judge set Wednesday as the end date for Title 42, but a group of 19 states with Republican attorneys general challenged that ruling, arguing that lifting the restrictions will burden border states with an influx of migrants. The White House has sought $3 billion in extra funding for personnel, technology and holding facilities. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that lifting the restrictions “does not mean the border is open.” Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. …
Faith Leaders Prep for Border Changes Amid Tension, Hope
Two long lines of migrants waited for blessings from visiting Catholic priests celebrating Mass at the Casa del Migrante shelter in this border city, just across the bank of the Rio Grande from Texas. After services ended last week, several people crammed around the three Jesuits again, asking about upcoming U.S. policy changes that would end pandemic-era asylum restrictions. That’s expected to result in even more people trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, adding to the already unusually high apprehension numbers. “All of you will be able to cross at some point,” the Rev. Brian Strassburger told the nearly 100 Mass-goers in Spanish while a Haitian migrant translated in Creole. “Our hope is that with this change, it will mean less time. My advice is, be patient.” It is getting harder to deliver that message of hope and patience not only for Strassburger, but also for the Catholic nuns running this shelter and leaders from numerous faith organizations who have long shouldered most of the care for tens of thousands of migrants on both sides of the border. Migrants here — mostly from Haiti, but also Central and South America and more recently from Russia — are deeply mistrustful of …
US Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Lifting of Asylum Restrictions
The Supreme Court is temporarily blocking an order that would lift pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers. But it is leaving open the prospect of lifting the restrictions by Wednesday. The order Monday by Chief Justice John Roberts comes as conservative states are pushing to keep limits on asylum-seekers that were put in place during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. They are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort before the limits are set to expire. In the one-page order, Roberts granted a stay pending further order and asked the government to respond by 5 p.m. Tuesday. That is just hours before the restrictions are slated to expire Wednesday. The order by Roberts means the high-profile case that has drawn intense scrutiny will go down to the wire. The immigration restrictions, often referred to as Title 42, were put in place under then-President Donald Trump in March 2020 and have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. in recent years. But as they’re set to expire, thousands more migrants are packed in shelters on Mexico’s border with the U.S. Immigration advocates sued to stop the use of Title 42 to limit who …
United Nations Marks International Migrants Day
The United Nations Sunday marks International Migrants Day, to commemorate the contributions of hundreds of millions of migrants who have faced challenges to leave home for a better life. This year’s celebrations occur as increasing numbers of European countries close their doors to refugees and economic migrants from Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa. They are taking place as a growing number of migrants from Central America try to cross the southern U.S. border. The United Nations says people do not willingly leave home. It says most of the world’s 280 million international migrants have been forced to move by conflict, persecution, desperate poverty, and, increasingly, climate change. Many migrants, who lack legal pathways, take dangerous routes to countries of asylum. Many are exploited, abused, and die along the way. The International Organization for Migration estimates more than 50,000 migrants have died, and thousands more have disappeared over the past eight years. IOM Director-General Antonio Vitorino says the world is failing to protect the most vulnerable people. “Indeed, the world over, migrants move, often at great risks, for the most fundamental of reasons — to seek a better future for themselves and their families. Behind every journey there is a person, …
State of Emergency Declared in US Border City
The mayor of El Paso, Texas, Saturday declared a state of emergency as the U.S. border city faces a daily influx of thousands of migrants from Latin American countries over the border with Mexico. Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, said the declaration would give the city the money and other needed resources to deal with the migrant crisis. “We wanted to make sure people are treated with dignity. We want to make sure everyone is safe,” Leeser said. U.S. officials say more than 2,400 migrants cross into El Paso every day, far beyond its shelter capacity, and thousands of migrants are sleeping on El Paso’s streets, just as the temperatures are dropping. The emergency declaration came just days before a federal health order, referred to as Title 42, expires Wednesday. Title 42, enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed for the quick return of migrants across the border. If Title 42 is no longer in effect next week, Leeser said U.S. officials have told him the daily number of migrants crossing daily into the U.S. through El Paso could jump from 2,400 to as high as 6,000. Democratic state Senator César J. Blanco, who represents El Paso, said in a statement …
Kisslorod skype chat
