Migration News

HHS investigating abuse allegations at Texas migrant shelter, White House says
Betsy Klein, CNN
The US Department of Health and Human Services is investigating allegations of abuse at a site sheltering unaccompanied minors in Texas, the White House said Thursday, after Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott alleged the state had received tips that children inside the facility were being abused and called for it to be shut down. "The Biden Administration takes the safety and well-being of children in its care very seriously," a White House spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. "Currently we see no basis for Governor Abbott's call to shut down the San Antonio Freeman Coliseum as an intake site, however, his claims will be looked into and investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services."

With U.S. Asylum System Closed to Many, Some Find Sanctuary in Mexico
Kirk Semple, The New York Times
Record numbers of asylum seekers are applying for sanctuary in Mexico — some after arriving at the southwest border of the United States hoping to find a safe haven under President Biden, but hitting a closed door. In March, the Mexican government received asylum petitions from more than 9,000 people, the highest monthly tally ever, officials said. And they predicted that the surging demand, evident in recent month, would continue, possibly reaching a total of 90,000 asylum requests by the end of the year, which would also be an all-time high. The soaring numbers of asylum petitions in Mexico are in part a reflection of the turmoil at the American border, where the Biden administration is struggling to deal with a surge in undocumented migration and has prevented many asylum seekers from presenting their cases to immigration officials.

Biden officials defend border response as number of migrant children in U.S. custody tops 20,000
Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News
The Biden administration is defending its response to the historic number of migrant children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone, touting efforts to open more than 20,000 beds for the minors, as well as assistance to Central American communities suffering from poverty, violence and natural disasters. "We have made significant progress," one senior Biden administration who requested anonymity said during a call with reporters on Wednesday. The official, however, cautioned that "nobody should have the expectation this is going to be solved overnight," saying the Biden administration is digging itself out of a "hole" created by former President Donald Trump's asylum restrictions and reluctance to expand shelter bed space for migrant children.

US border apprehensions soar 70% in March to 15-year high
AFP, RTL
Apprehensions of undocumented migrants on the US border with Mexico soared 70 percent in March to 172,331, hitting the highest level in 15 years, data showed Thursday, in a mounting challenge for the administration of President Joe Biden. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that the number of unaccompanied children they detained after crossing the border doubled in March from February to 18,663. Another 227 were intercepted by immigration officials at official border crossings, taking to 18,890 the number of migrant minors that the Biden administration has had to accept for resettlement, overwhelming its shelters and processing facilities.

Biden Claim on Migrant Families Being Expelled Not Bolstered by U.S. Data
Times of San Diego/Reuters
U.S. border agents expelled roughly a third of migrant parents and children traveling together and caught crossing the southwestern border in March, according to U.S. government data, undercutting a claim by President Biden that most families are being sent back to Mexico. About 17,000 of the nearly 53,000 parents and children caught at the border in March were expelled under a COVID-related public health order known as Title 42, an administration official said during a background briefing with reporters on Wednesday. The rest were placed in U.S. immigration proceedings, in keeping with the practice before Title 42, which was implemented under former President Trump in March 2020.

Shining a Spotlight on Schools That Serve Immigrant Communities
Foluke Omosun, WKSU
The multilingual chatter of parents dropping off their kids at Akron’s Findley Community Learning Center fills the air. Only a few weeks ago, all of Akron Public Schools’ students had been online. The school doors are open once again, but for many immigrant students, the challenges remain. Findley and neighboring North High School serve the North Hill area of Akron, a vibrant community of immigrants and refugees. Half of Findley and North High’s students are English learners. They come from 22 countries, and many have been hurt by months of remote learning.

Immigrant workers petition the president to rollback Trump policies and return the deported
Roslyn Anderson, WLBT
Mississippi’s immigrant workers in the state say they are essential employees not getting the treatment they deserve while working long hours for low wages. The Immigrants Alliance for Justice and Equity wants safer workplaces, the end to deportation and the return of deported workers in detention. The workers are reaching out to the president for help. Latino community leader Efren Nunez carried a petition for President Joe Biden to the Mississippi Office of the Department of Labor demanding the end to what immigrants say are discriminatory practices against them. The Immigrants Alliance for Justice and Equity is calling on the president to undo the policies of the Trump administration that they say discriminate against them.

Immigrant leaders underscore need for culturally-sensitive halfway house
Beacon
Leaders of Maine’s immigrant community are asking state lawmakers to fund a culturally-sensitive treatment and recovery halfway house for immigrants transitioning out of the juvenile justice system. Community leaders consulted with state Rep. Heidi Brooks, a Democrat representing Lewiston, to craft a bill that requires the Maine Department of Corrections to establish a halfway house with staff from the New Mainer community that would deliver substance use disorder treatment, mental health treatment, education and job training to young people. Leaders say a culturally-sensitive halfway house would help address the fact that a disproportionate number of immigrant youth come into contact with Maine’s carceral system, compared to their white counterparts. Twenty-three percent of the state’s juvenile prison system population are people of color.

Bill in Washington state would ban private immigration jail
Gene Johnson, Associated Press/Northwest Asian Weekly
The Washington Legislature has approved a bill aimed at shutting down one of the country’s largest for-profit, privately run immigration jails. Led by majority Democrats, the state Senate voted 28-21 on March 30 in favor of a measure that would ban for-profit detention centers in the state. The only facility that meets that definition is the Northwest detention center in Tacoma, a 1,575-bed immigration jail operated by the GEO Group under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The measure already passed the House with bipartisan support and now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee, who opposes for-profit detention centers. It was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self of Mukilteo, who called it a “moral injustice’’ to profit from detaining people.

Further Reading

The Guatemalan asylum seeker who created a refuge for gay and transgender migrants on the US border
El Pais

Palestinian Refugees Welcome U.S. Decision to Restart Aid
Hamodia

The US needs an immigrant integration policy
Richmond County Daily Journal