Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Afghanistan Feeds U.S. Immigration Crisis –The crisis around the U.S. withdrawal, fall of the Afghan government, and rise of the Taliban is just the latest in a string of migration emergencies that have fallen on President Biden and put additional strain on the understaffed and underfunded immigration system, already struggling with COVID-19, poverty and violence in Central America, and the earthquake in Haiti. The administration is working on new regulations to expedite asylum, has sped up the SIV processes, set up dozens of emergency shelters, used parole to quickly bring Afghans to the U.S. and has begun offering vaccines to vulnerable migrants.
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Mexican Soldiers and Immigration Agents Violently Detain Asylum Seekers – Human Rights Watch found thousands of asylum seekers without work, housing, or food, often sleeping on the streets in Tapachula, where the Mexican authorities keep immigrants waiting to cross the U.S. border. Although they are technically permitted to travel anywhere in the state of Chiapas until their cases are resolved, immigration checkpoints prevented them from leaving Tapachula. Over the past week, Mexican immigration agents and National Guard members have been deployed to southern Mexico to break up a series of caravans of asylum seekers, including families and children. According to reporters and activists traveling with the caravan, Mexican authorities have separated families, kicked, and beaten migrants, broken into private homes in search of migrants, and assaulted journalists, activists, and representatives of Mexico’s human rights commission.
Thursday, September 9, 2021
US Citizenship Act Passing Would Reunite Working Families- If passed and enacted, the U.S. Citizenship Act will offer a path to citizenship for nearly 5 million essential workers to reunite their families and increase opportunities for legal immigration. They inaction of the act will also contribute to the economic growth – it is reported that that the immigrant population across the country added $2 trillion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2016 and nearly $500 billion in taxes in 2018.
Former Immigration Judges: Appellate Review Crucial to Fix Errors – Nearly three dozen former immigration judges have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal appeals courts have the power to review immigration court rulings on whether individuals are eligible for relief from deportation. Lawyers from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher wrote on behalf of the 35 former judges that court review of non-discretionary decisions by overburdened immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals is necessary to catch and rectify legal errors.
Friday, September 10, 2021
Democrats’ Efforts to Include Immigration in Their Economic Agenda Bill – Senate Democrats made their case to include a path to legalization for millions of immigrants in their $3.5 trillion bill. They argued that allowing recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, people with Temporary Protected Status, farm workers, and other essential workers to apply for Legal Permanent Residency would make them eligible for social programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and other health benefits. That eligibility aides estimated would add $139 billion to the deficit.
Census Bureau – More Than 10 Million US Citizens Live With An Undocumented Immigrant – According to the Census Bureau, more than 10 million U.S. citizens share a household with an undocumented immigrant. 4.9 million of them are children who have at least one undocumented parent and 1.7 million more are married to an undocumented immigrant. If immigration provisions are included in the upcoming $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, advocates expect as many as 8 million people – DACA recipients, TPS beneficiaries, essential and farm workers, to be covered in the bill, gaining access to legal permanent residency.
