VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, February 19–25
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. Border Encounters Drop After Increased Migrant Expulsions The number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border dropped nearly 40% from a record of about 252,000 encounters in December 2022 to about 156,000 in January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story. Biden Administration Announces Proposed Rule to Set New Asylum Limits The Biden administration published a proposal Tuesday that would block certain migrants from seeking asylum in the United States and allow the government to quickly deport them. The proposal, which is part of the administration’s efforts to manage the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, has received strong criticism from immigration advocates. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story. VOA Day In Photos: Immigration around the world Key Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Crossing Reopens After High-Level Talks Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Thursday they had reopened a busy border crossing with Pakistan after four days of closure that saw thousands of travelers and trade convoys, with many carrying food items, stranded on either side. Ayaz Gul reports for VOA from Islamabad, Pakistan. Hong Kong Revokes …
US-Mexico Border Encounters Drop After Increased Migrant Expulsions
The number of migrant encounters at the United States-Mexico border dropped nearly 40% — from a record of about 252,000 in December 2022 to about 156,000 in January — according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP credits the decrease to a parole program that began on January 5 for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, the four countries that had the highest numbers of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. during the preceding months. The program is designed to decrease unauthorized migration, including crossing between ports of entry. The humanitarian parole program allows up to 30,000 migrants per month from each country to enter the U.S. and live for up to two years. Once their applications are approved, they are allowed to proceed with travel arrangements. The program also makes it easier to quickly expel migrants from those nations if they cross the border without authorization. On Monday, Alex Nowrasteh, director of economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute, published a study showing that the number of migrants from the four countries arriving at the border declined by 75.8% in January. “The number of [Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Haitian] migrants showing up at the border …
Biden Administration Announces Proposed Rule to Set New Asylum Limits
The Biden administration published a proposal Tuesday that would block certain migrants from seeking asylum in the United States and allow the government to quickly deport them. The proposal, which is part of the administration’s efforts to manage the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, already has received strong criticism from immigration advocates. Under the proposal, migrants who do not use available pathways to come to the U.S. or fail to seek humanitarian refuge in another country they have passed through on their way to the United States will be deemed ineligible for asylum — unless they qualify for certain exceptions. Those who cannot qualify to be exempted or prove they sought asylum protection in another country will be barred from seeking asylum and quickly deported to their home countries without a chance to see an immigration judge. In a call with members of the media, Biden officials argued that under the proposal migrants will still have “accessible and convenient pathways” to apply for asylum. The provisions are aimed at “cutting out the smugglers looking to make a quick buck off vulnerable people,” said an official who spoke on condition that their name would not be used, as is …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, Feb. 12–18
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 Scheduled Arguments, US Supreme Court Drops Border Policy Case The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday removed from its calendar a Republican bid to keep in place a COVID-19 pandemic-related policy that has allowed American officials to quickly expel hundreds of thousands of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Reuters reports. US Federal Court Agrees to Rehear TPS Case A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a case that could determine the fate of more than 300,000 immigrants living in the U.S. legally on humanitarian grounds. Immigrant advocates are calling last week’s decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a victory, at least for now. The court vacated a 2020 ruling issued by a three-judge panel of the California-based appeals court. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story. Poll: Americans’ Satisfaction with US Immigration Lowest in Decade A new Gallup poll shows that Americans’ satisfaction with the level of immigration into the United States has fallen to its lowest point in a decade. About 63% of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with …
US Federal Court Agrees to Rehear TPS Case
A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a case that could determine the fate of more than 300,000 immigrants living in the U.S. legally on humanitarian grounds. Immigrant advocates are calling last week’s decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals a victory, at least for now. The court vacated a 2020 ruling issued by a three-judge panel of the California-based appeals court. The California panel’s ruling would have allowed the government to end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. TPS 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 established by the U.S. government. Ahilan Arulanantham, the immigration attorney representing TPS holders, told VOA his clients were happy the courts agreed to rehear the case. Arulanantham said the case is part of a long fight over the TPS policy that began in 2018 when a district judge blocked the former Trump administration from ending the program for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. At the time, the federal judge said the terminations were not properly justified. In 2020, the three-judge panel of 9th Circuit …
Poll: Americans’ Satisfaction With US Immigration Lowest in Decade
A new Gallup poll shows that Americans’ satisfaction with the level of immigration into the United States has fallen to its lowest point in a decade. About 63% of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with immigration. The poll was conducted January 2-22 as part of an annual poll done since 2001 on many issues. In January 2022, overall satisfaction with immigration stood at 34%. This past January, the number dropped to 28%. In 23 years of polling, the lowest satisfaction percentage, 23%, was recorded in 2007; the highest was 41% in 2018. “We know since COVID, and with everything happening at the border, [migrant] numbers have increased and that’s just reflected in people concerned about illegal immigration, people’s satisfaction with the level of immigration,” Gallup’s director of United States social research, Lydia Saad, told VOA. The desire for less immigration increased across party lines, but the sentiment remained highest among Republicans. According to Gallup, in 2021, 40% of Republicans said they believed immigration levels were too high. The number increased to 69% in 2022 and was 71% in the latest poll, the highest recorded for Republicans. Dissatisfaction that immigration is too high also rose among Democrats, from 2% in …
Ahead of Scheduled Arguments, US Supreme Court Drops Border Policy Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday removed from its argument calendar a Republican bid to keep in place a COVID-19 pandemic-related policy that has allowed American officials to quickly expel hundreds of thousands of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Justice Department had said in a court filing that the case would become moot when the policy, known as Title 42, expired as a result of the government’s announcement that the COVID-19 public health emergency would end effective May 11. The justices were due to hear oral arguments in the case on March 1. At issue in the case, which the court agreed to hear in December, was whether a group of Republican state attorneys general may intervene to defend the Title 42 expulsions after a U.S. judge ruled the public health order unlawful. The ruling on the public health order came in a lawsuit file by asylum-seeking migrant families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. …
Glitchy App Frustrates Migrants Seeking Appointments for Possible US Entry
Migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking legal entry into the U.S. must now request processing appointments through a Customs and Border Protection mobile application called CBP One. But amid overwhelming demand, some complain the app doesn’t work. Victor Hugo Castillo reports from McAllen, Texas. …
San Jose, California, Is US City Where Immigrants ‘Thrive’ the Most
San Jose, part of California’s Silicon Valley technology hub, is the U.S. city where immigrants thrive the most, according to a report that looked at factors such as income, education levels and housing costs. Michelle Quinn has our story. Camera and Produced by: Matt Dibble Contributed by Carolyn Presutti …
Schools Ban ChatGPT amid Fears of Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Cheating
U.S. educators are debating the merits and risks of a new, free artificial intelligence tool called ChatGPT, which students are using to write passable high school essays. So far, there isn’t a reliable way to catch cheating. Matt Dibble has the story. …
EU Migration Impasse Leaves Many Refugees Homeless
Some refugees and asylum-seekers in Brussels have been spending months in between the Street of Palaces and the Small Castle — quite literally. Unfortunately, it’s not a dream come true at the end of their fearful flight from halfway across the globe. It’s a perpetual nightmare. Petit Chateau, which means small castle, is a government reception center that often does anything but welcome arrivals. The Rue des Palais — street of palaces — has the city’s worst squat, where the smell of urine and the prevalence of scurvy have come to symbolize how the European Union’s migration policy is failing. They are only 2½ miles (4 kilometers) from the sleek Europa Building where EU leaders will hold a two-day summit starting Thursday to deal with migration issues that have vexed the 27 member nations for more than a decade. Shinwari, an Afghan army captain who helped Western powers try to stave off the Taliban, now lives in a makeshift tent camp right on the canal opposite Petit Chateau. It’s a place as desolate as it is hopeless. “It is very cold. Some guys have different diseases and many of us are suffering from depression, because we don’t know what will …
Migrants Trying to Reach Florida Leave Abandoned Boats
Grounded in sand bars, adrift in the sea or washed onto private beaches, the boats keep piling up: rafts made from Styrofoam, sailboats, hollowed-out drums attached to ironing boards. Four months ago, Hurricane Ian turned boardwalks into piles of debris and moved boats miles from where they had been docked. Hurricane Nicole arrived on the east coast one month later to shake loose what Ian had not. With the hurricanes, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the agency in charge of tracking down abandoned or derelict vessels, already had its hands full. Now, however, the vessels left behind by migrants intercepted along Florida’s shores have become the latest emergency undertaking by the FWC, part of a new effort by the state government to assist local municipalities and private citizens who can’t afford to haul off the boats themselves but are often the ones left to deal with them. The boats have become physical reminders of the immigration crisis, often more difficult to remove from the state’s borders than the occupants themselves. They are rarely salvageable. Most migrant vessels are already in such poor condition that the Coast Guard has to rescue those on board from drowning, according to Petty …
Haitians Seen Crowding Into Migration Centers Seeking Passports To US
Haitians desperate for passports to apply for a U.S. migration program crowded local migration centers, according to videos shared on social media on Friday, crushing through small doorways and scaling the outside of stairways. Videos from Haiti’s Lalue migration office and an improvised center at a sports facility in the capital Port-au-Prince show people climbing on railings of stairs and being crushed as they fight their way through crowds, clutching document envelopes. The United States said in early January it would allow up to 30,000 people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter by air each month on a parole program, allowing migrants entry case-by-case for humanitarian reasons or public benefit. The move comes as the country expands Trump-era restrictions to rapidly expel migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on foot. Hundreds of Haitian migrants have been stopped in boats looking to emigrate amid a surge in violence driven by armed gangs, which has left hundreds dead and internally displaced over 100,000, according to the U.N. migration agency. Neighboring Dominican Republic and the Bahamas have stepped up their border security. …
Texas Locals React to Governor’s Czar Appointment to Speed Up Border Wall Construction
Local authorities and activists are reacting to the Texas governor’s appointment of a new “border czar” to improve security and help accelerate the construction of a wall along the Mexico border. VOA’s Victor Castillo reports the move is not without controversy. …
US Reunites Nearly 700 Kids Taken from Parents Under Trump
A Biden administration task force designed to reunite children separated from their families during the Trump administration has reconnected nearly 700 children with their families, officials said Thursday. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office to reunite families that were split up under Trump’s widely condemned practice of forcibly separating parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border to discourage illegal immigration. Thursday marked the two-year anniversary of the task force. According to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security, 3,881 children were separated from their families from 2017 to 2021. About 74% of those have been reunited with their families: 2,176 before the task force was created and 689 afterward. But that still leaves nearly 1,000 children. Of those, 148 are in the reunification process. The department pledged to continue the work until all separated families that can be found have the opportunity to reunite with their children. The Trump administration separated thousands of migrant parents from their children as it moved to criminally prosecute people for illegally crossing the southwestern border. Minors, who could not be held in criminal custody with their parents, were transferred to the Department of Health and Human …
Deadly California Shootings Spotlight Mental Health Issues Among Older Asian Immigrants
Two mass shootings in California in one week have highlighted the complex mental health issues faced by older Asian Americans who may have been traumatized in their homelands and who — after building new lives in the United States — now find themselves facing additional challenges as they age. Some first-generation Asian immigrants, especially those who emigrated from conflict zones, arrive with trauma issues that often go untreated during the push to find work, housing and a community, according to experts. Depression and loneliness are major problems among elderly retired immigrants whose limited English skills impose limits on developing social circles of friends and acquaintances. Generational differences between the immigrants and their children, who are native or near-native Americans, create another layer of isolation for older immigrants, according to numerous studies. Some Asian community leaders say more attention needs to be paid to the multifaceted mental health issues of older Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Congresswoman Grace Meng tweeted, “I wonder how things could’ve been different had there been a strong mental health and social service network. Yes, it’s about gun safety laws, yes, it’s about stopping Asian hate, but also a generation of #AAPI elders with a life of …
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