Migration News 

Trump's Controversial Leader Of The Department Of Homeland Security Has Resigned
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News 
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said he is resigning late Monday, more than a year after being selected for the role by President Donald Trump. Wolf’s resignation marks the end of a tumultuous run for DHS during the Trump administration. Wolf led an agency that has seen an unprecedented level of turnover during the last…

Migration News 

US judge blocks Trump administration’s sweeping asylum rules
Suman Naishadham, AP 
A U.S. judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s most sweeping set of asylum restrictions less than two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The rules had been set to take effect Monday. The court order has limited immediate impact because the government has largely suspended asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border during the coronavirus pandemic, citing public health concerns.…

Migration News 

Court Upholds Ban on Order Letting States Refuse Refugees
AP
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a ruling halting an executive order by President Donald Trump that gave state and local governments the ability to shut out refugees. The three-judge panel said the executive order that required both state and local entities to give their consent before allowing refugees to be placed in their areas “would cause inequitable treatment of refugees and undermine…

The 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled against a Trump administration executive order requiring state and local governments to issue explicit consent in order to continue refugee resettlement in their jurisdictions. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, along with two other resettlement agencies, filed a complaint challenging the executive order in November 2019 and won a preliminary injunction in January 2020.

“This ruling provides critical relief,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah,…

Migration News 

LIRS Statement on the Storming and Occupation of the Capitol
LIRS 

Donald Trump administration touts completion of 450 miles of border wall
Lauren Villagran, El Paso Times 
It was the promise that helped elect President Trump in 2016, a campaign rally chant that became reality. At the close of the administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has erected 450 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. "The border wall system proves its worth every day with every…

On January 7, a mob of supporters loyal to President Trump stormed the Capitol, halting Congress’s counting of the electoral votes to confirm President-elect Biden’s victory. Police evacuated lawmakers from the building in a scene of violence and chaos that has rattled the foundations of American democracy.

The following is a statement from Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service:

“I am heartbroken to witness a violent assault on our democracy and…

The following includes news from over the holiday period. 

Migration News 

President Trump extends immigrant and work visa limits into Biden presidency
Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News
President Trump on Thursday extended a pandemic-era suspension of certain immigrant and work visas, ensuring that his sweeping limits on legal immigration will remain in place when Joe Biden is sworn in. Through a proclamation issued 20 days before Inauguration Day, Mr. Trump ordered a three-month…