Migration News 

Senate majority leader announces approximately $900 billion deal on emergency relief package
Jeff Stein and Mike DeBonis, Washington Post 
Senate leadership announced a bipartisan deal on an approximately $900 billion economic relief package late Sunday afternoon that would deliver emergency aid to a faltering economy and a nation besieged by surging coronavirus cases. The deal would include stimulus payments for families in which one of the parents is not a citizen, but not for undocumented immigrants themselves.

Congress to approve $1.375 billion for border wall in 2021
Niv Elis, The Hill 
Congress will approve $1.375 billion for a wall along the southern border as part of the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill for the next fiscal year, according to GOP sources. Congress is expected to pass the measure on Monday along with a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill. The White House signaled Sunday evening that President Trump would sign it.

Biden and Mexico's López Obrador discuss "new approach" to migration issues
Rebecca Falconer, Axios 
President-elect Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador discussed in a phone call Saturday working together on a "new approach" to migration that "offers alternatives to undertaking the dangerous journey" to the U.S.

Baltimore offers financial relief for immigrants affected by coronavirus
Emily Opilo, Baltimore Sun 
Baltimore is stepping up its assistance to members of the Hispanic community suffering from the coronavirus, giving them priority for financial assistance, city officials announced Friday. In April, the city founded an Emergency Relief for Immigrant Families fund, which has helped city residents affected by the pandemic who are not eligible for federal benefits due to their immigration status. Now, the city will give people who have tested positive for COVID-19 the highest priority for receiving aid from the fund, officials said during a news conference held Friday by Mayor Brandon Scott. The fund provides one-time payments of $400 for individuals and $800 for families. Applicants must be city residents, have tested positive for the disease and demonstrate limited access to federal benefits.

DHS Inspectors Found ICE Detainees Who Were Kept In Solitary Confinement For 300 Days
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News 

Nearly a dozen immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement were kept in solitary confinement for more than two months, including two people who were isolated for more than 300 days, according to a draft Department of Homeland Security Inspector General’s report obtained by BuzzFeed News. The draft, which highlighted a February inspection of the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California, also documented how food at the facility had expired and gone moldy.

Surgeon general: Immigration status should not be barrier to receiving COVID-19 vaccine
John Bowden, The Hill 
Surgeon General Jerome Adams encouraged undocumented immigrants across the U.S. to get vaccinated for COVID-19 when shots become available, saying during an interview on Sunday that it is a public health priority to see as many people vaccinated as possible. Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," the nation's top doctor said that a person's immigration status should not serve as a barrier between them and a COVID-19 vaccine. "No one should be denied a shot in the arm due to their documentation status," said Adams.

Worth a Read 

If COVID-19 Vaccines Bring An End To The Pandemic, America Has Immigrants To Thank
NPR 

Immigrant Neighborhoods Shifted Red as the Country Chose Blue
The New York Times

Instead of a Crisis, Can Biden Treat an Immigration Surge as an Opportunity?
Mother Jones

As COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, undocumented immigrants fear deportation after seeking dose
USA Today