Migration News 

Biden says undocumented immigrants should be able to get Covid vaccine without fear of ICE 

Dartunorro Clark, NBC News 

President Joe Biden said during an interview Friday that undocumented immigrants should be able to have access to the Covid-19 vaccine without fear of deportation. “I want to make sure they all are able to get vaccinated and so they're protected from Covid, without the ICE or anyone else interfering," Biden said. "They should not be arrested for showing up for being able to get a vaccination." 

Maryland grants stimulus aid to undocumented immigrants, other noncitizens 

Erin Cox, The Washington Post 

Maryland lawmakers on Friday approved giving lump-sum payments to low-income noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants, becoming one of the few states in the nation to extend stimulus benefits to people without Social Security numbers. The legislation — which Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will let become law, his spokesman said — qualifies all taxpaying residents, regardless of immigration status, to receive the state’s earned income tax credit for the next three years. 

Sen. Casey: All migrant families released from Berks detention facility 

Brian Sheehan and Ali Reid, WFMZ Allentown 

A years-long effort to release undocumented migrant children and their families from the Berks County Residential Center appears to be over. Sunday afternoon, U.S. Senator Bob Casey revealed the remaining individuals were released within the past few days. Casey's office said an ICE official told them those migrant families were released from the Berks facility around 1 p.m. Friday. But, few details are available and everyone involved in the efforts to release those individuals are being mum on what ultimately prompted the decision to release them. 

Psaki Describes Migrant Facility For Children As Most ‘Humane’ Option 

Jemima McEvoy, Forbes 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday defended the Biden administration’s decision to reopen a controversial migrant facility for children constructed under former President Trump, describing the Texas facility—scrutinized by immigration lawyers and advocates—as the most “humane” option available. 

Democratic lawmakers wrestle with how to proceed on immigration 

Priscilla Alvarez, Lauren Fox and Daniella Diaz, CNN 

Democratic lawmakers are wrestling with how to move forward with a series of immigration bills that would legalize undocumented immigrants, with some pushing for sweeping immigration revisions out of the gate and others urging caution. Lawmakers are hoping to resurface immigration bills on the House floor before April 1, a period in which they can introduce legislation in the new session that's already passed in the chamber without going through committee again. Those bills would grant legal status to thousands of undocumented farmworkers and address immigrants who came to the US illegally as children, as well as two other programs, Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, that offer temporary relief. 

ICE investigators used a private utility database covering millions to pursue immigration violations 

Drew Harwell, The Washington Post 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have tapped a private database containing hundreds of millions of phone, water, electricity and other utility records while pursuing immigration violations, according to public documents uncovered by Georgetown Law researchers and shared with The Washington Post. ICE’s use of the private database is another example of how government agencies have exploited commercial sources to access information they are not authorized to compile on their own. It also highlights how real-world surveillance efforts are being fueled by information people may never have expected would land in the hands of law enforcement. 

Immigration Bill Shows Need To End Employment-Based Immigrant Backlog 

Stuart Anderson, Forbes 

Without a change in immigration law, it will be sometime in the year 2216—195 years from now—when the last person born in India waiting today in the employment-based immigrant backlog is expected to receive a green card. Barring advances in human longevity, businesses and high-skilled foreign nationals must rely on Congress to solve this problem and enact reasonable policies to welcome highly skilled people who want to become Americans. 

‘I’ve been waiting for an opportunity’: Triangle Immigrants feel left out of vaccine process 

Heidi Pérez-Moreno, The Daily Tar Heel 

Katherine Ward, a community organizer for Refugee Community Partnership, said vaccinating immigrants is especially important because they have fewer opportunities to receive federal or state aid if they were to lose their jobs or stop working due to the virus. “They have to keep working,” Ward said. “They have to keep putting themselves at risk, and so to be able to get vaccinated to reduce some of that risk is really important.” 

California to give hotel rooms to migrants seeking asylum 

Josh Friedman, Cal Coast Times 

California officials plan to allocate as much as $28 million in state funds toward providing hotel rooms and other services to migrants arriving from Mexico as they await court hearings in the United States. The funds are expected to last through June and to pay for asylum seekers quarantining before going to their final destinations, which could be across the country. California will also fund health services for short stays, including coronavirus testing. 

Processing of seekers of asylum expanding 

Maria Verza, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 

The processing of asylum-seekers waiting to enter the United States expanded to a third border crossing Friday, even as nongovernmental organizations called for more effort to protect the thousands still in Mexican border cities. A week after the U.S. government began processing those with active cases made to wait in Mexico during the Trump administration at a border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego, the process expanded last week to the Matamoros-Brownsville crossing and to Ciudad Juarez-El Paso. 

Further Reading 

Change In Asylum Policy Allows Some Migrants To Wait In U.S. 

NPR 

‘Rain In A Dry Land’ Discusses The Refugee Experience 

The Heights