Migration News

4 Takeaways From Our Investigation Into ICE’s Mishandling of Covid-19
Isabelle Niu and Emily Rhyne, The New York Times
The United States currently has the largest immigration detention system in the world. On any given day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, holds tens of thousands of people in about 200 facilities across the country. And throughout the pandemic, these facilities have become some of the most dangerous places in the United States when it comes to Covid-19 outbreaks. Our analysis compared estimated infection rates in ICE detention centers with infection rates in prisons and in the general population. As Covid-19 cases rose last June, ICE detention facilities had an average infection rate five times that of prisons and 20 times that of the general population.

Supreme Court won't let Texas immediately defend Trump-era 'public charge' immigration rule
Ariane de Vogue and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN
The Supreme Court on Monday denied, for now, a bid by Texas and 13 other states to defend a controversial Trump-era rule that makes it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they use certain benefits, such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers. The justices said that the states had to go to the lower court to make their request. Last month, court agreed to dismiss a pending challenge to the so-called "public charge" rule at the request of the Biden administration, which changed its position in the case. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the time that the 2019 public charge rule "was not in keeping with our nation's values."

Biden's first 100 days: Where he stands on key promises
Alexandra Jaffe, Aamer Madhani and Kevin Vineys, Associated Press/Minneapolis Star Tribune
As he rounds out his first 100 days in office, President Joe Biden's focus on reining in the coronavirus during the early months of his administration seems to have paid off: He can check off nearly all his campaign promises centered on the pandemic. Biden has delivered on a number of his biggest campaign pledges focused on climate change and the economy as well. But some issues have proved to be tougher for the administration — including immigration, where Biden is grappling with how to enact promised reforms in the face of a steep increase in unaccompanied minors seeking to cross the border. On some of his promises, Biden is waiting for Congress to act.

How Evangelicals Pushed Back on Biden’s Refugee Reversal
Stefani McDade, Christianity Today
Evangelical advocates played a crucial role in holding President Joe Biden accountable to a promise to raise the limits for refugees coming to America. Publicly and privately, they pushed back on the administration’s explanation for continuing Trump-era limits for another six months, framed the change as a betrayal of a promise, and reiterated the moral argument for accepting refugees. Within a few hours of a presidential memo on April 16 telling the State Department to keep the number of refugee admissions at 15,000 instead of raising it to the promised 62,500, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated there had been “some confusion,” and the administration started to reverse course. That evening, a deputy national security advisor held an emergency conference call with advocacy groups, including World Relief, to offer assurances that the administration would welcome more refugees with haste.

New temporary migrant facility operational in Yuma
AZFamily/Associated Press
A new tent-like temporary migrant processing facility in Yuma, Arizona, began operations earlier this week to house people seeking asylum in the U.S., according to a Border Patrol official. The 90,000-square-foot structure, which was built in 20 days in a parking lot behind the Yuma Sector Headquarters building, can accommodate up to 500 people, the Yuma Sun reported. Yuma Sector Border Patrol spokesperson Vincent Dulesky said that with social distancing the facility can hold 250 people, providing additional space to hold families and unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Harris: Immigration efforts designed to 'give people some sense of hope'
Allie Bice, POLITICO
Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday the ultimate goal of diplomatic efforts on immigration by the Biden administration is to “give people some sense of hope.” “We have to give people some sense of hope, that if they stay, that help is on the way,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash on the “State of the Union.” “It’s not going to be solved overnight, it’s a complex issue. If it were easy, it would’ve been solved years ago.” The vice president has taken a lead on immigration in recent months, following spikes in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Harris said the task to lead these efforts was not assigned by President Joe Biden, but that he asked her “to carry on the work that he did” as vice president under former President Barack Obama.

They missed their U.S. court dates because they were kidnapped. Now they’re blocked from applying for asylum.
Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post
Many missed their court dates because they were kidnapped and held hostage, or detained by Mexican officials, or because they couldn’t find a safe way to get to the border in the middle of the night, when most were told to arrive for their hearings, according to lawyers, advocates and the migrants themselves. Some had medical emergencies related to the conditions in which they waited. An untold number, their asylum cases now closed, remain in hiding in northern Mexico. The Biden administration ended MPP in February and is now bringing those whose cases remain active into the United States. But unwinding the policy has proved complicated.

Further Reading

Don’t use public health to rationalize keeping the Mexico border closed to asylum seekers
The Boston Globe

Concord company helps immigrant families wade through tax code
Concord Monitor

3 new novels spotlight the Asian American immigrant experience
SF Chronicle Datebook

Giving a voice to Latina immigrant mothers affected by COVID-19
Mirage News

Former refugee Iginas Gasengayire inspires students by teaching at his old high school
ABC News