Having her family fall victim to the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which criminally prosecuted immigrants that crossed the US border without documentation and separated families as a consequence, Estela Juarez has written a children’s book with the help of Lissette Norman and illustrator Teresa Martin, titled “Until Someone Listens.” The book offers a personal account of Estela’s story of loss and lack of protection under our current immigration system, in the hopes that all who read will listen to the pressing need for immigration reform.
Read moreImmigration Nation
The six-part Netflix docuseries Immigration Nation, which the Trump administration tried to block the release of until after the election, offers an in-depth look into the inner workings of US immigration agencies under the Trump administration. The series focuses on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that increased arrests of immigrants by forty-two percent in the first eight months of the Trump presidency. Filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau were granted rare access to ICE agents working in New York City, Charlotte, North Carolina, and on the border outside Tucson, Arizona as well as inside detention facilities. The show follows immigration officers, supervisors, administrators, and judges as well as immigrants, including one elderly asylum-seeker detained for fleeing gang violence, a former cop from El Salvador who fled to America, and war veterans who have been deported, as well as parents separated from their underage children. After viewing the series, Sonia Saraiya writes in Vanity Fair: “There still exists the idea of America as a nation that welcomes all—and then there is the country we actually live in, where we send refugees back to near-certain death at the hands of vicious gangs. It seems we’ve gotten so busy punishing people for wanting to be here that we’ve forgotten to be a country worth immigrating to.”
Trump Administration Allows International Students to Attend Online Only Programs in Fall 2020
The Trump administration is now allowing international students to enter the US to attend colleges and universities even if all their courses for the fall 2020 semester are online. The administration rescinded a temporary rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their college or university held classes entirely online because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The rescission of the temporary rule comes after Harvard, MIT, and other colleges and universities filed suit, and university leaders, students, and educational advocates criticized the temporary rule noting that it would have jeopardized the health of students, teachers, and university staff and led to a potential dramatic loss of revenue for many educational institutions and the towns where they are located.
Read moreThe Washington Post: “FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration Customs Enforcement agents use state department of motor vehicle databases for facial-recognition purposes, reveal newly released documents. These records, obtained by researchers with Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology and shared with The Washington Post, contain thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents, and emails over the past five years.The Washington Post reports that “DMV records contain the photos of a vast majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a crime,” affecting millions of Americans whose photos are being used without their knowledge. Lawmakers across the aisle have criticized the technology as a “dangerous, pervasive and error-prone surveillance tool.”
Read moreThe Washington Post: “Parents separated from their kids returned to the U.S. to be reunited. They’ve been detained for almost a month.”
Twenty-nine parents who were separated from their children and removed to their home countries in Central America last year traveled to the US/Mexico border last month with the hope of reuniting with their children in the US. The twenty-nine parents, some who have been separated from their children for nearly a year, presented themselves at the US/Mexico border on March 2. The parents asked to be allowed back into the US to resume their asylum applications and to be reunited with their children, who are in American foster homes, shelters, or with relatives.
Read moreThe Washington Post: “How a flight attendant from Texas ended up in an ICE detention center for six weeks.”
DACA beneficiary Selene Saavedra Roman from Peru, who has lived in the US for twenty-five years and is a flight attendant for Mesa Airlines, was detained shortly after she landed in Houston on a return flight from Mexico in February. Saavedra Roman remained in custody for six weeks and was released last Friday, but advocates are pointing to her case as an example of how the Trump administration’s attempts to end DACA continue to confuse program beneficiaries, their families, government agencies, and private employers.
Read moreThe Washington Post: "Shutdown worsens strain on US immigration system"
The ongoing partial US government shutdown is causing a further strain on US immigration courts as well as creating potential hardships for US Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and other front-line Department of Homeland Security who are considered “essential” workers and must continue to work without pay during the shutdown. Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, says that the federal employees including CBP officers and agriculture inspectors stationed at border crossings and airports are “key to our nation’s security and economic success, and they do not deserve to be treated this way.” CBP agents are taking into custody more than 2,000 migrants per day on average and, with nowhere to detain them, the governments has been releasing hundreds onto the streets in El Paso, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and other border cities.
Read moreThe New York Times: “$10 Million from FEMA Diverted to Pay for Immigration Detention Centers, Document Shows”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reallocated funds for use by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for hurricanes and natural disaster relief to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in order to pay for additional detention centers and removal operations, according to a document released by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon last week. Merkley released the thirty-nine-page document to The Washington Post as Hurricane Florence approached the East Coast. The document notes a transfer of funds, originally meant for efforts including “Preparedness and Protection” and “Response and Recovery,” that was transferred to ICE for detention beds, transportation, and removal programs. “At the start of hurricane season – when American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are still suffering from FEMA’s inadequate recovery efforts – the administration transferred millions of dollars away from FEMA. And for what? To implement their profoundly misguided ‘zero-tolerance’ policy,” Merkley says.
Read moreTime: “Children ‘Don’t Need Jail.’ Immigration Advocates Say President Trump’s Executive Order Creates Even More Problems”
Last month President Trump signed an executive order that ends the separation of children from their parents under the zero-tolerance policy, which criminally prosecutes immigrants that cross the border without documentation. While President Trump made it clear that the zero-tolerance policy will remain in effect, the executive order states that it is now the administration’s intention to keep immigrant families together throughout the criminal proceedings process. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,” Trump said at the signing. “At the same time, we are keeping a very powerful border, but continue to be zero tolerance.”
Read moreUSCIS Updates Notice to Appear Policy Guidance to Support DHS Enforcement Priorities
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued updated guidance that changes when individuals can be put in removal proceedings. The updated guidance aligns USCIS policy for issuing Form I-862, Notice to Appear—a document given to foreign nationals that instructs them to appear before an immigration judge on a specific date and commences removal proceedings against them—with the immigration enforcement priorities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
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