Lithuania Legalizes Migrant Pushbacks
Lithuania’s parliament passed legislation Tuesday to make it legal to deny entry to asylum seekers, the EU member’s latest move to fight illegal immigration from Belarus to the dismay of rights activists. The Baltic state had already been engaging in so-called pushbacks since 2021, when thousands of migrants and refugees — mainly from the Middle East and Africa — began trying to enter the European Union via Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. The EU argued that the influx was a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by the Belarusian regime in retaliation for international sanctions against Minsk. The number of attempted crossings has since fallen, but Lithuanian border guards still deny entry to up to several dozen migrants a day. “When it comes to national security and human rights, there are no easy solutions, but also there are no alternatives,” Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told journalists. “Our country must defend itself,” she added. Bilotaite said authorities had intel that Belarus was negotiating new direct flight routes to Minsk with Iran and Iraq, which suggested “possible new [migrant] flows.” “We have to be ready and we need instruments,” she said. Last week, Amnesty International warned that the law would “green-light torture.” The legislation still …
Encounters, Apprehensions, Expedited Removal: Border Enforcement Explained
The use of a public health policy known as Title 42, which allowed U.S. immigration officials to quickly expel migrants to their country of origin or Mexican border towns and denied them a chance at asylum, expires May 11. With the end of Title 42 and the summer months approaching, an increase in migrant encounters is expected. In anticipation of more encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently said the Biden administration will announce changes there. Mayorkas did not provide details but said immigration detention facilities will have more beds available to hold migrants facing deportation. U.S. immigration officials reported more than 2 million migrant encounters along U.S. borders nationwide in fiscal 2022. Experts say the large number of encounters is the result of repeated entry attempts because of Title 42. The largest cohort of migrant arrivals and expulsions were single adults in fiscal 2022. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection — often referred to as the CBP — releases border enforcement data monthly to explain what is happening. It includes apprehensions, encounters, and removals, among other actions. But what do those terms mean? Apprehensions CBP defines an apprehension as “the physical control or …
Why Are Students Choosing Trade Programs Instead of College?
Almost every category of higher education in the U.S. has declining enrollments. But trade programs – short certificates that offer real-world skills like auto repair and industrial automation – are a hit. The Hechinger Report’s Olivia Sanchez looks at one program in Tennessee to discover why: students love the flexibility, practicality and high wages. Read her story published by The Associated Press. (April 2023) …
To Help Students, Some Colleges Provide Double the Teachers
Terrica Purvis squinted through goggles as her hands carefully guided a pipette full of indigo-tinted fluid into clear glass test tubes. It was the last chemistry lab of the winter quarter at Everett Community College. Purvis was working through the steps of what chemistry professor Valerie Mosser jokingly refers to as the “post-apocalypse survival” lab — an experiment using boiled red cabbage water to test the acidity of common household chemicals. Purvis, 27, is in her first year of study for an associate degree in nursing at Everett Community College. She is also one of more than 6,000 Washington community and technical college students enrolled in the state’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program. Students who need extra help in subjects such as algebra struggle to learn if the content is taught in an abstract way, educators say. So I-BEST programs feature two teachers in the classroom: One provides job training and the other teaches basic skills in reading, math or English language. Nationally, two-year community colleges have the worst completion rates in higher education, with only slightly more than 40% earning degrees within six years. In Washington state, students in the program graduate at a higher rate. …
Migrants Walking Through Mexico Threaten Road Blockades
Around 3,000 migrants walking through southern Mexico in a mass protest procession threatened Monday to block roads or harm themselves unless the government agrees to talks or provides them with buses. The migrants set out walking from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on Sunday and by Monday they reached the town of Huehuetán, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) away. The migrants want the closure of detention centers like the one that caught fire last month, killing 40 migrants. Protest organizer Irineo Mújica said the migrants would begin flagellating themselves or blocking highways to force the government to agree to talks. The migrants also want exit visas or other papers that would allow them to make it to the U.S. border. The migrant caravan phenomenon began years ago when activists organized processions — often with a religious theme — during Holy Week to dramatize the hardships and needs of migrants. In 2018 a minority of those involved wound up traveling all the way to the U.S. border. This year’s mass walk began well after Holy Week had ended, but Mújica, a leader of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras activist group, called it a “Viacrucis,” or stations of the cross …
What’s the Landscape for International Students in 2023?
A survey of more than 1,000 global education agents from five continents found that there will be a surge in applications this year. However, students’ top concerns vary – Chinese students care most about rankings, while students from the Middle East and Africa worry more about costs. Dive into the research in this report from INTO University Partnerships. (April 2023) …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, April 16-22: US-Mexico Border Encounters Rise
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. US-Mexico Border Encounters Increase in March The number of migrants encountered at the United States-Mexico border increased 25% from February (130,024 encounters) to March (162,317), according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Yet the March encounters are 23% lower than in March 2022 (211,181 encounters) and the month-over-month change is the lowest seasonal increase in two years, the agency said in its monthly border enforcement report. It added that the increase in encounters from February to March is typical as the weather gets warmer. Story by VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros. Biden Hosting Colombian Leader Petro U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed Colombian President Gustavo Petro to the White House for talks Thursday that were expected to cover migration, climate change and efforts to counter drug trafficking. The meeting came just over a week after the United States, Colombia and Panama announced an agreement on a two-month campaign to try to stop migrants from passing through the Darien Gap, a key route used by migrants traveling from South America to the southern U.S. border. VOA News reports. Immigration …
What’s a ‘Practical Major’?
French! That’s according to writer Freddie DeBoer, who cites the hundreds of millions of French speakers across Africa. DeBoer argues that “safe majors” like business or computer science often suffer from high competition, low educational standards, volatile demand and susceptibility to artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, the idea of a “practical major” is meaningless, constantly changing and used to blame people for economic issues beyond their control. Read his take on the topic in New York Magazine. (April 2023) …
Why Does the United Nations Think Global Education is ‘Seriously off Track’?
The latest session of the U.N. Commission on Population and Development is happening this week in New York. Attendees have discussed how women and girls are still denied equal access to education, how aging in rich countries and high birth rates in poorer ones affect public schooling, and how the pandemic may have punched a hole in the goal of equal education for all. Read a summary of their discussion in this U.N. press release. (April 2023) …
Taraji P. Henson Partners With HBCUs on Mental Wellness
Alabama State University is partnering on a new project to make free mental health resources more widely available to students at historically Black colleges and universities, The Associated Press reported. The “She Care Wellness Pods” will give students access to therapy sessions, workshops, yoga and quiet spaces. Actress Taraji P. Henson’s Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is partnering with the Kate Spade Foundation to place the pods on HBCU campuses. Alabama State is the first to participate in the program, AP reported. Henson said the foundations are trying to make resources more available and eradicate the stigma around mental health issues in the Black community. She said mental health challenges are a significant factor in why students drop out of college. Read the AP story. (April 2023) …
Is College in the US a ‘Business’?
The authors of a new book, “Campus Economics: How Economic Thinking Can Help Improve College and University Decisions,” think so. Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson weigh in on the future of tenure, the effects of high inflation and why colleges don’t shut down unpopular majors. Weigh their arguments for yourself in this interview with Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. (April 2023) …
US-Mexico Border Encounters Increase in March
The number of migrants encountered at the United States-Mexico border increased 25% from February (130,024 encounters) to March (162,317), according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Yet the March encounters are 23% lower than in March 2022 (211,181 encounters), and the month-over-month change is the lowest seasonal increase in two years, the agency said in its monthly border enforcement report. It added that the increase in encounters from February to March is typical as the weather gets warmer. “We continue to respond to the challenges presented by increasing global migration. CBP will continue to enforce our immigration laws and ramp up efforts to combat smuggler misinformation as we prepare to return to expedited removal proceedings under Title 8 authorities, which carry stricter consequences like a five-year ban on reentry and potential criminal prosecution for unlawful entry,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller wrote in a statement. CBP officials credited a parole program for reducing some migrant numbers at the border. The parole program 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 three months. The humanitarian parole program …
Could Gun Violence in the US Drive International Students Away?
In a 2019 survey, more than 40% of East and South Asian students said gun violence is their biggest fear when it comes to studying in the U.S. Meanwhile, English-speaking countries with less gun violence, such as Canada, Australia and Britain, have seen a rise in international education. Are the two related? Liam Knox of Inside Higher Ed has more. (April 2023) …
How Much Should the US Government Interfere With the Colleges It Helps Fund?
Florida is home to New College, whose roughly 700 students largely devise their own degree programs. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has accused Florida’s public education system of indoctrinating students in left-wing ideas and has removed New College’s president and board. (DeSantis is expected to announce this summer as a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race.) Supporters of his actions say it brings accountability to colleges run with taxpayer money; opponents claim it threatens academic freedom. Dan Friedell from VOA Learning English examines the controversy, based on a report from The Associated Press. (April 2023) …
Does Joint Research Between the US and China Have a Future?
The Biden administration announced it would end the China Initiative, a Trump-era plan to investigate academic espionage by China. However, the Biden administration has set new compliance, disclosure and privacy rules, and research collaboration has declined. Many researchers, especially Asian American ones, report being afraid to work alongside their Chinese peers. Can the U.S. balance national security with academic openness? Karin Fischer of the Chronicle of Higher Education looks at both sides of the issue. (April 2023) …
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, April 9–15
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. Growing Number of Migrants from China Arriving at US-Mexico Border According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 4,366 migrants from China encountered Border Patrol officials after crossing the southern border without authorization from October 2022 to February 2023. That compares with the 421 migrants who were encountered during the same period in 2021 and 2022. VOA Mandarin Service’s Tracy Wen Liu and VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros have the story. UN Warns of Spike in Migrants Crossing the Darien Gap Two United Nations agencies said Thursday that more than 100,000 migrants have made the treacherous journey through the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia this year trying to reach the United States. The U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration said in a joint statement that the spike in numbers is a “worrying increase.” VOA News reports. US, Panama and Colombia Aim to Stop Darien Gap Migration The United States, Panama and Colombia announced Tuesday that they will launch a 60-day campaign aimed at halting illegal migration through the treacherous Darien Gap, where the …
Is AI a Curse for College Educators or a Gift?
Tulane University President Michael Fitts thinks that AI can make creative work easier but will never replace human creativity itself. AI “can find an answer, but it can’t be the first to ask the question,” he wrote. As long as that remains the case, universities will need to train human minds, he added. Read the op-ed from Michael Fitts in USA Today. (April 2023) …
UN Warns of Spike in Migrants Crossing the Darien Gap
Two United Nations agencies said Thursday that more 100,000 migrants have made the treacherous journey through the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia this year trying to reach the United States. The UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration said in a joint statement that the spike in numbers is a “worrying increase.” The increase shows six times more people made the dangerous trip than this time last year. In addition to the criminal gangs the migrants could encounter in crossing the roadless terrain of the jungle, they can also face rushing rivers and venomous snakes. Most of the people who risked crossing the Darien last year were Venezuelans, Haitians and Ecuadorans. Others included Asians from China and India, as well as Africans, mainly from Cameroon and Somalia. Last year, 250,000 migrants made the dangerous journey through the Darien Gap. “Panama is facing one of the most challenging crises of mixed movements in the last decade, as part of an unprecedented displacement across the Americas,” the agencies said in a joint statement. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. …
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