Migration News

How Foster Families Are Stepping Up to House Unaccompanied Children Arriving at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Jasmine Aguilera, Time
Hundreds of foster families have taken on the short-term care of migrant children through organizations like Bethany, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), two other faith-based organization that assists with placing migrant children in temporary foster care. All three organizations however, are trying to work as quickly as possible to hire qualified staff and get more foster families certified to take in migrant children to try to meet the current need.

Fact-Checking Claims on the Migrant Surge at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Linda Qiu, The New York Times
With the number of migrants apprehended at the southwestern border expected to reach a two-decade high, Republicans are blaming President Biden for the surge, while Democrats argue that immigration system he inherited left him ill-prepared. Here’s a fact-check.

House Immigration Reform Measures Now To Be Considered By Senate
Andy J. Semotiuk, Forbes
Last week, as the surge of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the southern border escalated, the House of Representatives passed two immigration bills. The first was the Dream and Promise Act which would grant lawful permanent residence status and an eventual pathway to citizenship for over three million undocumented immigrant youth and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders. The second bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, would put about one million undocumented farmworkers and their families on the path to citizenship and improve the H-2A temporary worker program. A recent survey of Americans found broad support for these two initiatives: the DREAM Act had 72% support and citizenship for undocumented farmworkers had 71% support.

U.S. to place some migrant families in hotels in move away from detention centers
Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke, Reuters
Some migrant families arriving in the United States will be housed in hotels under a new program managed by nonprofit organizations, according to two people familiar with the plans, a move away from for-profit detention centers that have been criticized by Democrats and health experts. Endeavors, a San Antonio-based organization, will oversee what it calls “family reception sites” at hotels in Texas and Arizona, the two sources said. The organization, in partnership with other nonprofits, will initially provide beds in seven different brand-name hotels for families deemed vulnerable when caught at the border.

Asian American Activist Works to Empower Refugee Women Through Culinary Training
Yona Gavino, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
A North Texas Asian American woman's company is working to empower refugee women through culinary training and education. Jin-Ya Huang’s Dallas-based food company Break Bread, Break Borders is transforming lives and breaking barriers. Huang said the organization helps refugee women from war-torn countries find jobs in the foodservice industry by offering training and helping them acquire a food handler’s permit and a food manager’s license certification.

ICE taps nonprofit to house some migrant families in border-area hotels
Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to start housing some migrant families who cross the southern border without authorization in hotels in Texas and Arizona, the agency and a person familiar with the plan told CBS News. In a statement, interim ICE director Tae Johnson said the agency had signed an $86.9 million contract with Endeavors, a Texas-based nonprofit, to provide short-term housing to migrant families who are not expelled by U.S. border officials under a Trump-era public health order. Johnson said the contract will provide more than 1,200 beds.