Immigration

When it comes to the subject of immigration, humanity and common sense matter. That’s where every conversation on the topic should begin.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to unlatch a gateway to citizenship for young Dreamers, migrant farmworkers and immigrants who’ve fled war or natural disasters, giving Democrats wins in the year’s first votes on an issue that faces an uphill climb in the Senate.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government has stopped taking immigrant teenagers to a converted camp for oilfield workers in West Texas as it faces questions about the safety of emergency sites it is quickly standing up to hold children crossing the southern border.

“The excessive behavior of Chilean police is reminiscent of repressive tactics used by police during the country’s dictatorship era, where thousands were killed, tortured, and disappeared,” organizers said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Department of Homeland Security pushed back Wednesday against Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s border policies, refusing to say that the increase of migrant children entering the United States is a “crisis.”

“We will also not waver in our values and our principles as a Nation. Our goal is a safe, legal, and orderly immigration system that is based on our bedrock priorities: to keep our borders secure, address the plight of children as the law requires, and enable families to be together,” Mayorkas said.

DALLAS (AP) — The U.S. government plans to house up to 3,000 immigrant teenagers at a convention center in downtown Dallas as it struggles to find space for migrant children at the border who have strained the immigration system just two months into the Biden administration.

Many U visa applicants are women and children who have endured horrific abuse or trafficking.

HOUSTON (AP) — Hundreds of immigrant children and teenagers have been detained at a Border Patrol tent facility in packed conditions, with some sleeping on the floor because there aren’t enough mats, according to nonprofit lawyers who conduct oversight of immigrant detention centers.

This time it was Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, coordinator for the southern border and a special assistant to President Biden.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — As he ended Texas’ coronavirus restrictions Wednesday over the objections of public health officials, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has tried shifting concern about the virus’ spread to migrants with COVID-19 crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, though without evidence they are a significant factor.

“Well, humanity will always be a value from the President on down. But you are right that we are continuing to work to convey to people in the region that this is not the time to come, that the majority of people who come to the border will be turned away, which is factually accurate,” White House press secretary said on Tuesday.

CHICAGO (AP) — A Trump-era immigration rule denying green cards to immigrants who use public benefits like food stamps was dealt likely fatal blows Tuesday after the Biden administration dropped legal challenges, including before the Supreme Court.

As ICE and Berks County Commissioners continue private negotiations to convert the Berks facility into a women’s prison, organizations and grassroots groups call on the Biden Administration to terminate any and all ICE and DHS contracts with the county.

Maritime farming and seafood-processing industries, typically reliant on foreign labor, will be hit hard by the ban, with Mexico and Jamaica among the top source countries of temporary foreign workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday made it harder for longtime immigrants who have been convicted of a crime to avoid deportation.

CMS said that the report comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate immigrant communities and vaccine distribution in New York City has been uneven across racial and socioeconomic groups.

DHS Secretary Mayorkas invited to hear directly from communities that have suffered abuse at the hands of ICE.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The processing of asylum seekers waiting to enter the United States expanded to a third border crossing Friday, even as nongovernmental organizations called for more effort to protect the thousands still in Mexican border cities.

Migrant workers in Canada have suffered tremendously during COVID-19.

Whenever people are in ICE custody, lives are in jeopardy.