Venezuelans Increasingly Stuck in Mexico, Lowering Illegal Crossings to US
MEXICO CITY — Venezuelan migrants often have a quick answer when asked to name the most difficult stretch of their eight-country journey to the U.S. border, and it’s not the dayslong jungle trek through Colombia and Panama with its venomous vipers, giant spiders and scorpions. It’s Mexico. “In the jungle, you have to prepare for animals. In Mexico, you have to prepare for humans,” Daniel Ventura, 37, said after three days walking through the Darien Gap and four months waiting in Mexico to enter the U.S. legally using the government’s online appointment system, called CBP One. He and his family of six were headed to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, where he has a relative. Mexico’s crackdown on immigration in recent months — at the urging of the Biden administration — has hit Venezuelans especially hard. The development highlights how much the U.S. depends on Mexico to control migration, which has reached unprecedented levels and is a top issue for voters as President Joe Biden seeks reelection. Arrests of migrants for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped so this year after a record high in December. The biggest decline was among Venezuelans, whose arrests plummeted to 3,184 in February and 4,422 in …
Poll: Many Americans Say Immigrants Contribute to Economy
WASHINGTON — Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans, while Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration, a new poll shows. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that substantial shares of U.S. adults believe that immigrants contribute to the country’s economic growth and offer important contributions to American culture. But when it comes to legal immigrants, U.S. adults see fewer major benefits than they did in the past, and more major risks. About 4 in 10 Americans say that when immigrants come to the U.S. legally, it’s a major benefit for American companies to get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology. A similar share (38%) also say that legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture and values. Both those figures were down compared with 2017, when 59% of Americans said skilled immigrant workers who enter the country legally were a major benefit, and half said legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture. Meanwhile, the share of Americans who say …
Central American, Mexican Families Mourn Missing Bridge Workers
AZACUALPA, Honduras — The construction workers who went missing in the Baltimore bridge collapse all hailed from Mexico or Central America before they settled in the Maryland area. Police managed to close bridge traffic seconds before a cargo ship slammed into one of the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s supports early Tuesday, causing the span to fall into the frigid Patapsco River. There wasn’t time for a maintenance crew filling potholes on the span to get to safety. At least eight people fell into the water and two were rescued. The other six are missing and presumed dead, but the search continued Wednesday. The governments of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras confirmed that their citizens were among the missing. Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, was the youngest of eight siblings from Azacualpa, a rural mountainous area in northwestern Honduras along the border with Guatemala. Eighteen years ago, he set out on his own for the United States looking for opportunities. He had worked as an industrial technician in Honduras, repairing equipment in the large assembly plants, but the pay was too low to get ahead, one of his brothers, Martín Suazo Sandoval, said Wednesday while standing in the dirt street in …
Texas’ Migrant Arrest Law on Hold for Now Under Latest Court Ruling
NEW ORLEANS — A Texas law that allows the state to arrest and deport migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. will remain on hold for now, a federal appeals court ruled. The 2-1 ruling late Tuesday from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals followed a March 20 hearing by a three-judge panel of the court. It’s just the latest move in a seesaw legal case over Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s strict new immigration law that is not yet ended. The Justice Department has argued that Texas’ law is a clear violation of federal authority and would create chaos at the border. Texas has argued that President Joe Biden’s administration isn’t doing enough to control the border and that the state has a right to take action. Judge Andrew Oldham, an appointee of former President Donald Trump and a former aide to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, dissented with the majority decision. Oldham wrote that the Biden administration faced a high bar to take sovereign power that Texas has to enforce a law its people and leaders want. The judge predicted the same 2-1 split when the merits of the case are considered while the legal challenge …
US Adds 12,000 Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans; Advocates Say More Needed
washington — U.S. lawmakers included in the $1.2 trillion package of spending bills an additional 12,000 Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghans who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and extended the program through the end of 2025. While advocates welcomed the news, they said it is still 20,000 short of what they requested. President Joe Biden signed the much-awaited spending bills into law Saturday, hours after Congress approved them, avoiding the possibility of a partial government shutdown. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a refugee resettlement agency, wrote in a statement that it is “encouraging” to see congressional bipartisanship. “But it’s still deeply concerning that it took the Biden administration and Congress being on the brink of a government shutdown to take action.” The SIV program is a congressionally authorized program with a limit of 38,500 SIVs available. It offers a path to permanent residence that can eventually lead to U.S. citizenship. The application process for SIVs, including decision-making and approval, takes an average of three years, while resettlement through the refugee program can take up to five years. Applications to either program begin outside the United States. Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican and chairman of the …
US Vice President to Meet Guatemalan Leader on Immigration, Anti-Corruption Drive
Washington — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to meet on Monday with President Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala as the U.S. grapples with an influx of migrants to its southern border, thousands from that Central American nation. The two leaders are expected to discuss the Biden administration’s use of so-called “safe mobility offices,” which were set up in Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador in the fall, among other immigration matters. The safe mobility offices are designed to streamline the U.S. refugee process so migrants apply where they are and avoid paying smugglers to make the journey north. As the 2024 election heats up, immigration has become a rising bipartisan concern. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress say the system is broken, but efforts by lawmakers to address the problems have failed. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with working to address the reasons people choose to leave their homelands to migrate to the U.S. Harris and Arévalo will also discuss Arévalo’s anti-corruption agenda and how the U.S. can support the effort, according to a White House official, previewing the talks on the condition of anonymity. Arévalo won the presidency in August, beating the establishment candidate by a comfortable margin. He …
Arrests for Illegal Border Crossings Up in February, Among Lowest of Biden Term
washington — The number of arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico nudged upward February over the previous month. But at a time when immigration is increasingly a concern for voters, the numbers were still among the lowest of Joe Biden’s presidency. According to figures from Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents made 140,644 arrests of people attempting to enter the country between the legal border crossing points during February. The figures are part of a range of data related to immigration, trade and fentanyl seizures that is released monthly by CBP. The immigration-related figures are a closely watched metric at a time of intense political scrutiny over who is entering the country and whether the Biden administration has a handle on the issue. Republicans have charged that Biden’s policies have encouraged migrants to attempt to come to the U.S. and that the border is out of control. The Biden administration counters that Republicans failed to work with Democrats to fund a key border security bill and argues that what is happening on the southern border is part of a worldwide phenomenon of more people fleeing their homes to seek safety. The numbers come after a December …
Ignoring Syrian Crisis Risks Destabilizing Region, Experts Say
GENEVA — More than 13 years after Syria erupted into civil war, the United Nations says the country has become a more dangerous place for civilians, noting that the oppressive government of President Bashir al-Assad that sparked the flames of conflict remains in power and continues to escalate hostilities on multiple fronts. “The Syria crisis remains one of the most deadly to civilians in the world. Hostilities continue to plague various parts of Syria and have recently seen a sharp spike, particularly in the north,” said Adam Abdelmoula, resident and humanitarian coordinator for Syria, at a news conference in Geneva Friday. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, says 454 civilians, including 88 women and 115 children, were killed in the first 10 months of 2023 because of the conflict. Those casualties are the latest manifestation of the toll taken by the war on Syria’s population. The U.N. estimates that since the start of the war on March 15, 2011, 300,000 people have been killed, more than 12 million have been displaced — 6.8 million inside Syria and 5.4 million as refugees in five neighboring countries. Speaking from the capital, Damascus, Abdelmoula said, “Today, a staggering 16.7 …
Canada Moves to Limit Number of Temporary Residents
Halifax, Canada — Canada, one of the developed world’s most welcoming countries for new immigrants, has announced plans to scale back the number of temporary residents over the next three years. Thursday’s announcement by Immigration Minister Marc Miller was the second dramatic reversal of the Trudeau administration’s pro-immigration stance, following a cap on the number of international student visas announced earlier this year. Global News, covering the announcement, quoted Miller as saying Canada was home to 2.5 million temporary residents in 2023, amounting to 6.2% of its total population. Miller said that, over the next three years, the government plans to bring that percentage down to 5%. “To set these targets, I’ll be convening a meeting with my provincial and territorial counterparts, as well as other relevant ministers, in early May,” Miller told journalists. “Provinces and territories know their unique labor needs and capacity, and need to assume responsibility for the people that they bring in as well.” Canada is a favored destination for immigrants and refugees from around the world, owing to its reputation as a friendly, safe and developed country with a successful and harmonious multicultural atmosphere. But in recent years it has faced skyrocketing housing shortages and medical …
Inside El Paso’s Massive Migrant Processing Center
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has set up temporary centers to help expedite the processing of migrants entering the country. Cesar Contreras toured one of the facilities opened last year in El Paso, Texas, in this story narrated by Veronica Villafañe. …
US Official in Guatemala for Talks, Says Texas Migrant Law Unconstitutional
Guatemala city — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday that a Texas law giving state authorities the power to arrest and deport migrants who have entered the country illegally is unconstitutional. “It is our strongly held view as a matter of law that SB4 [the Texas law] … is unconstitutional and it is our hope and confidence that the courts will strike it down with finality,” Mayorkas said during a joint news conference with Guatemala President Bernardo Arevalo in the Guatemalan capital. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the Texas law Wednesday but did not rule. The law is on hold for now. Mayorkas was in Guatemala to work on the U.S.-led regional strategy toward immigration. He described it as seeking to “build lawful, safe and orderly pathways for people to reach safety from their place of persecution and, at the same time, returning people to their countries as a consequence when they do not take advantage of those lawful pathways.” Among those safe pathways is a U.S. effort to streamline the process for those seeking U.S. asylum in the region through so-called safe mobility offices. They allow migrants to start …
Attacks on US Palestinians Put Arab Americans on Edge
Arab Americans and US Muslims fear bias attacks after Hamas Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza …
Supreme Court Extends Block on Texas Law Allowing Migrant Arrests
washington — The Supreme Court on Monday continued to block, for now, a Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. Meanwhile, the legal battle the law sparked over immigration authority continues to play out. A one-page order signed by Justice Samuel Alito indefinitely prevented Texas from enforcing a sweeping state immigration enforcement law that had been set to take effect this month. The language of the order strongly suggested the court would take additional action, but it was unclear when. The order marked the second time Alito has extended a pause on the law, known as Senate Bill 4, which the Justice Department has argued would step on the federal government’s immigration powers. The extension came a few minutes after a 5 p.m. deadline the court had set for itself, creating momentary confusion about the measure’s status. Opponents have called the law the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since an Arizona law more than a decade ago, portions of which were struck down by the Supreme Court. The office of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said the state’s law mirrored federal law and “was adopted …
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