Migration News 

DOJ rescinds ‘zero tolerance’ immigration rule
Michael Balsamo and Colleen Long, AP 
The Justice Department rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation on Tuesday, saying the department would return to its longstanding previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Biden's 100-day deportation moratorium
Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News 
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily halted the Biden administration's 100-day moratorium on certain deportations of immigrants already in the U.S. in an early legal battle over President Joe Biden's immigration policy. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas agreed to pause the policy for at least 14 days while he considered a lawsuit filed by Texas' Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, who argued in a complaint on Friday that the deportation freeze violated immigration law and a legal agreement the state brokered with the Trump administration before Mr. Biden took office. The moratorium, one of Mr. Biden's campaign promises, shielded most immigrants facing deportation from being removed from the U.S., as long as they entered the country before November 1, 2020. It does not apply to those who pose a national security risk or are suspected of terrorism or espionage. Immigrants could also agree to voluntarily leave the country.

Biden weighs putting an end to private immigration detention facilities
Laura Barrón-López, Tyler Pager, and Sam Stein, Politico 
President Joe Biden is considering an executive order to phase out government contracts with private immigrant detention facilities, multiple sources with knowledge of the process say. But he has no immediate plans to issue such an order and the White House would only say that it “will take additional action in the future relating to the detention of undocumented immigrants.” The policy was part of a promise that Biden made while on the trail, in which he pledged to end “the federal government’s use of private prisons,” and “make clear that the federal government should not use private facilities for any detention, including detention of undocumented immigrants."

Refugee resettlement hits 20-year low amid pandemic, U.S. cuts - U.N.
Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters 
Barely 1.6% of 1.44 million people with refugee status who were prioritised for resettlement in another country of asylum last year found new homelands through the U.N. refugee agency, the lowest number in nearly two decades, it said on Monday. The drop to 22,770 admissions was due to lower quotas set by recipient countries, limited flights and delays in processing during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. In 2019, it resettled 63,696 refugees in need of transfer from one asylum country to another.

Democrats Reintroduce Legislation To ‘Decriminalize Immigration’
Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, Huffington Post 
Democrats are pushing sweeping legislation to decriminalize immigration and disrupt the “prison-to-deportation” pipeline.  On Tuesday, Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) and co-sponsors Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) held a virtual press conference discussing their New Way Forward Act — originally introduced in 2019, alongside Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.). It would ban for-profit immigration detention facilities, end the use of local police for immigration enforcement and decriminalize border crossings. It also would eliminate mandatory deportation, for instance in the case of people with previous criminal records, to instead allow judges to use their discretion in deciding cases.

Worth a Read 

Rebuilding refugee resettlement to make it better than it was under Trump—or Obama
Christian Century interview with LIRS CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah 

Immigration reform to test Biden, Harris and Bay Area lawmakers
San Francisco Chronicle 

Biden's immigration changes too late for grandfather deported on Inauguration Day
Reuters 

The long road to sorting out US refugee resettlement
The New Humanitarian 

The Reality Behind Biden’s Plan to Legalize 11 Million Immigrants
The New York Times 

Biden reverses Trump’s ‘Muslim ban.’ Americans support the decision.
The Washington Post