Migration News

'My dream is to meet my dad': They crossed the border alone to reunite with parents
Damià Bonmatí, NBC News
They represent a big challenge to the Biden administration as it grapples with the ongoing issues on the nation's southern border: unaccompanied minors — children and adolescents who come to the United States alone or without any immediate family member. Some arrive with a name they have memorized, a phone number written down on a piece of paper, or a U.S. state they know by heart: the place where their father or mother now lives.

There’s no migrant ‘surge’ at the U.S. southern border. Here’s the data.
Tom K. Wong, Gabriel De Roche and Jesus Rojas Venzor, The Washington Post
Last week, at the U.S. border with Mexico, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declared that the recent increase in unaccompanied minors attempting to enter the United States was a “crisis … created by the presidential policies of this new administration.” We looked at data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to see whether there’s a “crisis” — or even a “surge,” as many news outlets have characterized it. We analyzed monthly CBP data from 2012 to now and found no crisis or surge that can be attributed to Biden administration policies. Rather, the current increase in apprehensions fits a predictable pattern of seasonal changes in undocumented immigration combined with a backlog of demand because of 2020’s coronavirus border closure.

Biden to meet with immigration advisers as delegation visits Texas facility
Reuters Staff
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with immigration advisers and top Cabinet officials on Wednesday while dispatching White House officials to a Texas resettlement facility as pressure mounts over a recent jump in migrant arrivals at the U.S. border. The officials, along with several members of Congress, will travel to a refugee resettlement center in Carrizo Springs, Texas, the White House said in a statement, adding that it would also allow limited media coverage of the visit. At the White House, Biden will meet with the heads of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, both of which are tasked with managing the migrants that have surged across the southern U.S. border with Mexico in recent weeks.

Biden installs Harris atop administration's immigration response
Eugene Daniels, POLITICO
Vice President Kamala Harris will be the White House's point person on immigration issues at the nation's southern border, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, tasking her with stemming the rising tide of migrants, many of them unaccompanied children, arriving in the U.S. "I can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this,” the president told reporters at the White House. Harris’ main focus, a senior administration official told reporters earlier Wednesday, will be two-pronged: working to slow the flow of “irregular migrants” by addressing “the root causes” that prompt them to leave their home countries as well as strengthening relationships with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries where the bulk of the migrants arriving at the U.S. border come from.

Pentagon says it has received HHS request to house migrant children at two bases
Michael Conte and Caroline Kelly, CNN
The Pentagon said Tuesday it has received a request from the Department of Health and Human Services to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children at Joint Base San Antonio and Fort Bliss in Texas. "We'll analyze it and evaluate it, just like we would any other request for assistance," Pentagon spokesperson retired Adm. John Kirby said in a news briefing. Noting that the department had "just received this request," Kirby added he did not know how many children were requested to be housed and that "there was a site visit to San Antonio last week."

Migrant Surge at U.S. Border Prompts White House Talks With Mexico, Guatemala
Santiago Pérez and Michelle Hackman, The Wall Street Journal
Senior White House officials are visiting Mexico and Guatemala this week in a bid to curtail a surge of migrants at the U.S. southern border that is raising pressure for the Biden administration to take more aggressive measures. The high-level meetings to discuss migration and development in southern Mexico and Central America come as apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border are on pace to hit highs not seen in 20 years.

Biden immigration reform: New citizenship bills and border closures and what that means for citizenship
Shelby Brown, CNET
The southern US border is closed just days after the House of Representatives passes two new immigration reform bills. Here's what it means for citizenship and green cards.

Minnesota Chamber Touts Economic Importance of State’s Immigrants
Burl Gilyard, Twin Cities Business
The Minnesota Chamber Foundation is calling new attention to the importance of immigrants to the state’s economy. The foundation released a new report on Tuesday to make its case. “The success of Minnesota’s economy, both now and in the future, is intrinsically linked to our immigrant communities,” said Laura Bordelon, senior vice president of advocacy at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, in a statement. “With a changing population, Minnesota needs immigrant entrepreneurs and workers. They embody the spirit of our homegrown economy and we can all do more to support their long-term success.”

Further Reading

Harnessing Immigrant and Refugee Healthcare Workers to Fight COVID: Immediate Answers
Georgetown Public Policy Review

Hundreds Missing In Aftermath Of Fire At Rohingya Refugee Camp
WKAR

There is no immigration crisis
The Week

As Border Challenges Persist, Let's Not Confuse the Real Threats
The Dispatch