Migration News 

Mexican camp that was symbol of migrant misery empties out under Biden 

Laura Gottesdiener, Reuters 

A sprawling camp in the Mexican city of Matamoros, within sight of the Texan border, has since 2019 been one of the most powerful reminders of the human toll of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep migrants out of the United States. The camp has emptied out in recent days, after hundreds of asylum seekers living there were finally allowed to cross the border to…

Migration News 

ELCA leaders call on Congress to pass US Citizenship Act of 2021 in new letter 

Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Network 

Pastors, bishops and the head of the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States are calling on Congress to support the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which President Joe Biden proposed on the first day of his administration. In a letter published Thursday (March 4), leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America threw their support…

Migration News 

Texas family detention centers expected to transform into rapid-processing hubs 

Maria Sacchetti, Nick Miroff and Silvia Foster-Frau, The Washington Post 

The Biden administration is preparing to convert its immigrant family detention centers in South Texas into Ellis Island-style rapid-processing hubs that will screen migrant parents and children with a goal of releasing them into the United States within 72 hours, according to Department of Homeland Security draft plans…

Migration News 

S.U.V. Packed With 25 Passengers Crashes Near California Border, Killing 13 

Miriam Jordan and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, The New York Times 

At least 13 people were killed early Tuesday in what appeared to be one of the deadliest border-related crashes in recent decades, as a big rig slammed into an S.U.V. crammed with more than two dozen people. The crash occurred just after sunrise on the outskirts of Holtville, Calif., in the Imperial Valley, a rich agricultural region and…

Migration News 

Thousands of Farmworkers Are Prioritized for the Coronavirus Vaccine 

Miriam Jordan, The New York Times 

Mainly undocumented immigrants, they have borne the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic in California: In some areas, up to 40 percent of the workers tested for the virus had positive results. The Rev. Francisco Gómez at Our Lady of Soledad church in Coachella said his parish had been averaging 10 burials a week. “You’re talking about an apocalyptic situation,” he said. …

Migration News 

Biden says undocumented immigrants should be able to get Covid vaccine without fear of ICE 

Dartunorro Clark, NBC News 

President Joe Biden said during an interview Friday that undocumented immigrants should be able to have access to the Covid-19 vaccine without fear of deportation. “I want to make sure they all are able to get vaccinated and so they're protected from Covid, without the ICE or anyone else interfering," Biden said. "They should not be arrested for showing up…

Migration News 

U.S. moves to speed up releases of unaccompanied migrant children 

Ted Hesson, Reuters 

The U.S. government is taking new steps to speed up releases of unaccompanied children to parents or other sponsors as the Biden administration grapples with a growing number of underage migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, earlier this month reversed a policy put in place by former Republican President Donald Trump that allowed U.S. authorities to…

Migration News

Judge bans enforcement of Biden’s 100-day deportation pause 

Nomaan Merchant, AP News 

A federal judge late Tuesday indefinitely banned President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction sought by Texas, which argued the moratorium violated federal law and risked imposing additional costs on the state. Biden proposed the 100-day pause on deportations during his…