ImmigrationProf Blog

Dems in Congress Push Back on President's Border Policies

Official White House Photo

 

Newsweek reports that

"In recent months, some have argued Biden's border policies have begun to resemble those of his predecessor, including fixes to physical barriers at the border some have equated to a wall as well as changes in policy that have come amid increasing pressure from the GOP majority in the House of Representatives for his administration to take action on the border.

Now some of the most powerful Democrats in Congress are publicly pushing back against him.

Over the weekend, a group of 19 Democratic Senators led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Whip Richard Durbin released a letter calling on Biden to reverse course, saying the policy once deployed by former President Donald Trump as well as his predecessor, Barack Obama, had a `disastrous effects on migrant families and children' without any corresponding improvement in border security or deterrence.

According to numbers from the Department of Homeland Security, the letter read, the detention policy actually corresponded with an increase in unique encounters of children and individuals in families by an average of 57 percent annually, with the total cost of the program eclipsing $866 million over the course of three years to detain approximately 3,000 families." (bold added)

KJ

Helping an undocumented immigrant in Florida could soon be against the law

 

https://t.co/7NgAwgGIbh - Helping an undocumented immigrant in Florida could soon be against the law….my oped on why this is an unnecessary and particularly cruel law..

— Elizabeth Aranda (@drlizaaranda) March 26, 2023

News from Florida.  Professor Elizabeth Aranda writes:

"Imagine driving your elderly mother to a doctor’s appointment and being charged with a third-degree felony. Or having your neighbor over for dinner, only to be arrested. Imagine your pastor giving a young couple shelter in your church, only to be taken into police custody.

If passed, SB 1718 would criminalize lending a helping hand if the object of that help is an undocumented immigrant — it tears up the very fabric of social ties and trust that brings cohesion to a community. This isn’t about punishing immigrants who help immigrants — U.S. citizens would be criminalized too for lending support. Which leads to the question: What is the real purpose of this bill?

SB 1718 is intended not only to completely isolate undocumented immigrants from their support networks, but it will instill harm; it is sanctioned state violence against immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, and it is bad policy likely intended to be weaponized politically."

KJ

 

A Roadmap for immigration reform?

A report from Brookings ("A roadmap for immigration reform:  Identifying weak links in the labor supply chain" by Dany Bahar and Greg Wright) offers a labor market justification for immigration reform.  Download the full report here.  "This report aims to support these necessary reforms by highlighting the areas of the economy that are most in need of workers. Importantly, our approach not only highlights occupations that are—and will continue to be—in greatest demand, but also the occupations that are most complementary to the existing workforce, ensuring that efforts to meet these labor market needs will support all workers. "

KJ

Deadly fire at detention center raises questions about asylum seeker safety in Mexico

 

President Trump's Remain in Mexico policy required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims were being decided.  The assumption was that the noncitizens would be safe there.  A number of President Biden's policies rest on similar assumptions. 

Is the assumption of safety for asylum seekers in Mexico justified?  ImmigrationProf has posted (here, here) on the tragic fire at an immigrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.  Mexico's President Obrador publicly stated that immigrant detainees set mattresses on fire in protest of their deportation.  One news report offered thoughts on the incident:

"At least 40 people died. The victims are mostly migrants from Guatemala and Venezuela. 

The incident raises questions about Mexico's ability to protect refugees who are forced to wait on U.S. asylum cases there under President Joe Biden's latest immigration strategy. 

`I don't know what specifically they were supposed to have done, but I think they clearly did not have systems in place to prevent this type of disaster,' said Sara Ramey, an immigration attorney and director of the Migrant Center for Human Rights. `They should have.'" 

KJ

 

 

UK's Proposed "Illegal Migration Bill"

The UK's new proposed "Illegal Migration Bill" would expand detention, deny bail to persons who are detained, place caps on the numbers of refugees, among other punitive measures. The bill would also return many migrants back to a third country, such as Rwanda. For a BBC summary of the bill's components, see this article.

The Bill has drawn sharp criticism from nonprofit organizations, scholars, and other stakeholders. More than 60 stakeholders have written to Prime Minister Rishni Sunak asking that the bill be withdrawn as it will deny the right to asylum and result in other human rights abuses. As the Guardian reports, the bill would also allow for the detention of women, children and other vulnerable migrants. Former Prime Minister Theresa May has criticized the bill for not creating exemptions for modern slavery victims.

IE

University of St. Thomas School of Law Journal of Law and Public Policy Symposium: The Immigration and Refugee Crisis

On April 14, 2023, the University of St. Thomas School of Law Journal of Law and Public Policy is hosting a Symposium on The Immigration and Refugee Crisis. 

The conference will feature local, national, and international speakers. 

Here is a description of the conference theme:

The twin crises of mass immigration and refugees present the world with the prospect of a human catastrophe of enormous dimensions. Millions of persons around the world are on the move. They may be driven from their homes in the Middle East or in Eastern Europe by war; forced from their places of origin in Latin America or Africa by economic upheaval; or have been begrudgingly evacuated from their home islands before calamitous climate change erases the entire piece of land.

For the agenda or to register, check the conference page here.

IE

Tragedy at Detention Center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

From the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights:

El Paso, Texas – The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights expresses its deepest condolences for the families of the 39 migrants who lost their lives, and for the 29 migrants who were injured in a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez on Monday night.  

We also use this opportunity to call attention to the dual and unequal nature of the migration regime that enables the mobility of those privileged to own passports and visas while controlling and criminalizing the mobility of primarily people of color, who are escaping poverty, climate, social, and military disasters. 

The Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Institute of Migration) of Mexico confirmed there were a total of 68 men from Central and South America in the detention facility, indicating that every person detained was harmed or killed in the fire. 

This tragedy, like the many others that have become a normal feature of our immigration and asylum systems,  will continue to happen if policymakers are unwilling to transition to rights-centered policies to address international migration. Despite the thousands of documented deaths, disappearances, and systematic human rights abuses, the Biden administration continues to enact policies that restrict access to live-saving protection, including asylum bans and outsourcing asylum responsibilities to other countries. International displacement and survival migration should not be criminalized and people in vulnerable situations should never be detained.

NNIRR stands in solidarity with the families of migrants who have perished, those who were injured, and the thousands of others who have disappeared or lost their lives along their migration journeys. Deterrence policies, militarization, and the criminalization of those internationally displaced cannot continue to be the default response to migration. We urge the Biden administration and governments in the region to  address the dual crisis of human rights and humanitarian protection at the border. 

NNIRR joins our partners and allies in calling on the administration and congress to save lives and expand the availability of pathways for regular and safe migration, and to take measures that guarantee the full recognition of migrants’ human rights, their dignity, integrity, and well-being, regardless of immigration status.

bh

125th Anniversary Celebration of birthright citizenship in birthplace of Wong Kim Ark

Two hundred people packed into SF Chinatown to mark the 125-year anniversary of a court ruling that guaranteed birthright citizenship in the United States over the weekend. The celebration, hosted jointly by the 6 companies and the Chinese Historical Society of America, featured commemorations from public officials and a lively discussion among a group of law professors and legal historians researching the legacy of Wong Kim Ark. Panelists included Professor Charles McClain, Professor Gabriel Jack Chin, Professor Amanda Frost, and 1990 Dirctor Susana Liu-Hedberg. Yours truly moderated.  (Coverage from Channel 7 news (timestamp is 9:26) and English and Chinese-language newspapers continues to unfold as the week of events culminates today, March 28, 2023. Photo, L-R Chen, McClain, Chin, Frost, Liu-Hedberg.)

In addition, the Center for Race, Immigration, Citizenship, and Equality (RICE) at UC Law San Francisco hosted a March 23 lecture from Professor Sam Erman (video posted) and a Chinatown tour that included a stop (and selfie) in front of Wong Kim Ark's birthplace. (Photo, L-R: Ming Hsu Chen, Amanda Frost, Rachel Rosenbloom, Sam Erman.)

Continuing coverage of the Wong Kim Ark decision will be added to this thread: Professor Amanda Frost wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post and Jack Chin spoke with NPR.

MHC

 

ICE Detainees Sue GEO Group Over Use of Hazardous Chemicals

From NPR:

A new lawsuit filed against one of the nation's largest for-profit prison operators, GEO Group Inc., alleges the company improperly used toxic chemicals to clean its detention centers, causing inmates to get sick.

The Social Justice Legal Foundation is representing seven currently and formerly incarcerated individuals of the immigration detention facility in Adelanto, Calif. Attorneys for the company claim that while Adelanto had used the chemical, HDQ Neutral, for at least 10 years, staff at the facility increased the spraying of the product at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.

The attorneys for SJLF allege that due to the detainees' months-long, near-constant exposure to this chemical from February 2020 to April 2021, they suffered symptoms like persistent cough, throat and nasal irritation, skin irritation, rashes and headaches.

Plaintiffs say they found blood in their mouths and saliva, suffered from debilitating headaches, felt dizzy and lightheaded, and now deal with long-term chronic health issues as a result of their exposure to the chemical. Read more...

bh

Jayapal to Biden: Do Not Detain Families

Over 100 Members Urge the Administration to Not Detain Migrant Families, Expand Legal Pathways

The Letter is led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Lou Correa (CA-46), David Trone (MD-06), and Veronica Escobar (TX-16)

WASHINGTON – In response to reports that the Biden Administration is considering restarting family detention, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) is leading 102 Members of Congress in urging the Administration to maintain their commitment to not detain migrant families and children and to instead expand legal pathways and invest in community-based alternatives to detention.

“The harm of detaining children is clear,” wrote the members. “Even short periods of detention can cause psychological trauma and long-term mental health risks for children. We urge you to maintain your commitment to not detaining families and children and not return to a cruel policy of the past.”

There is no evidence that even a short stay in detention is “safe” for children and studies have shown that children and parents often continue to suffer from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following detention. In fact, the psychological and physical repercussions of detention were not mitigated in shorter detentions lasting less than 20 days.

“We have seen how legal pathways can work,” continued the members. “When the Biden administration created new legal pathways for nationals of Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, crossings between ports of entry for nationals of those countries fell 97 percent. Further, case management has a proven record of ensuring compliance with immigration obligations while allowing individuals to remain in communities.”

There are sensible, humane solutions to process families and ensure compliance with immigration obligations. The Biden Administration’s work to expand legal pathways successfully reduced crossings between ports of entry for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans by 98 percent. Further, case management that provides assistance and guidance on navigating the immigration system to families produced a 99 percent compliance rate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and immigration court requirements at a fraction of the cost of detention.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP) is a promising solution to ensure that individuals can navigate immigration proceedings and comply with the process while reducing reliance on immigration detention. Case management is also more cost-effective and humane compared to immigration detention. In February, Jayapal, Nadler, and Barragan led a letter calling for the program to be fully funded in the FY2024 budget.

The letter is being co-led by Representatives Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Lou Correa (CA-46), David Trone (MD-06), and Veronica Escobar (TX-16), and is co-signed by Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Becca Balint (VT), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Jason Crow (CO-06), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Daniel S. Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Mike Levin (CA-49), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Dean Phillips (MN-03), Katie Porter (CA-47), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam Schiff (CA-30), David Scott (GA-13), Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Adam Smith (WA-09), Darren Soto (FL-09), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Mark Takano (CA-39), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

The full text of the letter can be found here.

bj

Dozens of Migrants Killed in Mexican Detention Center

WaPo reports that at least 39 Central American migrants died overnight in a fire at a Ciudad Juárez detention center run by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migración. It appears that the fire was started by detainees protesting their deportation. 

-KitJ

 

How To Become An Immigration Judge

The U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), is looking to hire immigration judges.

To that end, they are hosting an information session on Thursday, March 30 from 12-1 Eastern where senior EOIR staff will discuss the immigration judge career path, duties, qualifications, and benefits of being an immigration judge. You'll also learn how to apply for immigration judge positions when they become available and have the opportunity to ask questions about the immigration judge position and application process.

You can register for Thursday's information session at this link.

-KitJ

Death on the Border Continues: Migrants Die in Train Car, Found in Uvalde, Texas

 

Official City of Uvalde, Texas Photo

 

In 2022, Uvalde, Texas was the site of a horrendous school shooting.  On a more commonplace note as migrants on a daily basis die on the U.S./Mexico border, CNN reported over the weekend that two migrants were found dead in a shipping container on a train the authorities stopped east of Uvalde, Texas. One other person was left in serious condition and another in critical condition.

In a news release, Uvalde police said they “received a 911 phone call from an unknown third-party caller advising there were numerous undocumented immigrants ‘suffocating’ inside of a train car.” The Border Patrol stopped the train northeast of Uvalde.  17 people were found on the train; 15 men and two women. 

 

 

KJ

Supreme Court Oral Argument Preview: Does the federal law that prohibits encouraging or inducing unlawful immigration violate the First Amendment?

Photo Courtesy of the Official Supreme Court website

 

Amanda Shanor for SCOTUSBlog.com previews an immigration and First Amendment case that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this morning.  She writes

"For four years, Helaman Hansen falsely promised undocumented immigrants that they could, for a substantial fee, become U.S. citizens through `adult adoption.' Although Hansen persuaded more than 450 people to pay him for his services, the program was a ruse that would not lead to citizenship.

On Monday, in United States v. Hansen, the Supreme Court will consider whether 8 U.S.C. §1324(a)(1)(iv), the federal law that criminalizes `encouraging or inducing unlawful immigration,' violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free of speech. The case will have potentially significant effects on immigration enforcement. But it may have an even bigger effect on First Amendment law, with significant implications for dissent, incitement, solicitation and aiding and abetting liability, and social media regulation."

Shanor offers no predictions:  "Hansen may also offer us insight into this court’s approach to speech law. Will it continue an earlier court’s trend of adopting ever more speech-protective rules or chart a different course?

We’ll have to wait and see. The only wager I’ll make is that at argument we will hear many wild hypotheticals."

 

For commentary on the case for potential First Amendment implications for journalists covering immigration, click here.

For an NPR discussion with Amanda Shanor, see

 

The argument can be livestreamed later this morning on the Supreme Court website.  It is second on the oral argument calendar that begins at 10 a.m. EST.

 

UPDATE (March 28):  Here is the transcript of the argument.  According to Josh Gerstein for Politico, "[a] majority of the Supreme Court seemed unwilling on Monday to strike down a federal ban on encouraging immigrants to remain in the U.S. illegally, despite arguments that the law violates the First Amendment."

UPDATE (March 29):  Amanda Shanor for SCOTUSBlog recaps the argument:  

"As the argument came to an end, it appeared that the government had persuaded at least Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Barrett, and possibly Roberts. And Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson were inclined to hold that the statute violates the First Amendment. Will this be a case that does not shake out along partisan lines, with Kavanaugh and perhaps the Chief joining with the liberals to strike down the law or interpret it more narrowly? Perhaps. Or perhaps a majority will adopt a version of the government’s position."

KJ

Lincoln, Meacham, and a Sense of Hope in these Times

Friends

In these divided political times, it's easy to lose hope. An old friend emailed me this message. 

"I am really fearful for the first time of the direction our nation is taking—my level of hope is waning.  I have placed a quote from the epilogue of Meacham’s book on Lincoln that does provide a little insight for me though."

 

“Abraham Lincoln did not bring about heaven on earth. Yet he defended the possibilities of democracy and the pursuit of justice at an hour in which the means of amendment, adjustment, and reform were under assault.  What if the constitutional order had failed and the durable oligarchical white Southern slave empire, surely strengthened and possible expanded, would have emerged from the war; and, as Lincoln saw, the viability of popular self-government would have been in ruins.

In life, Lincoln’s motives were moral as well as political- a reminder that our finest presidents are those committed to bringing a flawed nation closer to the light, a mission that requires an understanding that politics divorced form conscience is fatal to the American experiment in liberty under law.  In years of peril he pointed the country toward a future that was superior to the past and to the present; in years of strife he held steady.  Lincoln’s life shows us that progress can be made by fallible and fallen presidents and peoples – which in a fallible and fallen world, should give us hope.” 

 

And there was light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggles, Jon Meacham, p. 419, 420, Random House Books, 2022, ISBN 9780553393965

I share my friend's sense of despair and worry.  Not just in terms of unjust immigration policies and enforcement, but in terms of other important social justice matters. I sincerely hope that those in the middle from whom we do not often hear are generous and kind people with open hearts.

bh

New U.S.-Canada Agreement on Asylum Seekers

WaPo reports today that Biden and Trudeau have reached an new agreement regarding asylum seekers allowing "each country turn away asylum seekers who reach their border at unofficial crossings." The U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement already in place allows Canada to turn back asylum seekers from official ports of entry, but not unofficial crossing points.

In return for helping Canada "stem the rising number of asylum seekers" who have made unauthorized crossings from the U.S. into Canada, Canada "has agreed to create a pathway for 15,000 refugees to legally enter the country, an effort to help mitigate the growing influx of migrants entering the United States from Mexico."

-KitJ

Immigration Article of the Day: Keeping Counsel by Natasha Phillips

Photo: Natasha Phillips, Linkedin

Natasha Lee is a 2022 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. She recently published a Note with the Michigan Journal of Race and Law entitled Keeping Counsel: Challenging Immigration Detention Transfers as a Violation of the Right to Retained Counsel. 27 Mich. J. Race & L. 375 (2022). Check out the abstract:

In 2019 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) incarcerated nearly 500,000 individuals. More than half of the individuals detained by ICE were transferred between detention facilities, and roughly thirty percent of those transferred were moved between federal circuit court jurisdictions. Detention transfers are isolating, bewildering, and scary for the detained noncitizen and their family. They can devastate the noncitizen's legal defense by destroying an existing attorney-client relationship or the noncitizen's ability to obtain representation. Transfers also obstruct the noncitizen's ability to gather evidence and may prejudicially change governing case law. This Note describes the legal framework for transfers and their legal and non-legal impacts. It contends that transfers violate noncitizens' constitutional and statutory rights to retained counsel by obstructing the attorney-client relationship. Further, it argues that federal courts have jurisdiction to review right to counsel challenges to transfers under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Written with practitioners in mind, this Note canvasses the practical and legal difficulties of making such a challenge.

Congratulations on the publication, Natasha! I look forward to reading this piece.

-KitJ

Profile on U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar

Guest blogger: Angelica Soria, Masters in Migration Studies Student, University of San Francisco:

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar was born on October 4^th, 1982, in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. At the age of 2, her mother had unfortunately passed away, leaving Omar and her 6 siblings to be raised by their father and aunts on their family compound in Baydhabo. However, in 1991 the Somalian civil war pushed Omar and her family out of the country and into a Kenyan refugee camp for about four years. One of her better-known quotes, “By principle, I’m anti-war because I survived a war” was said in an interview with Rolling Stone after she was asked about former President Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria. Later in 1995, Omar’s family had been granted asylum in the United States where they first settled in Virginia but then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis has the largest population of Somali refugees. By the age of 17 in the year 2000, she became a United States citizen.

Ilhan Omar’s love for politics stems from her trips to the Democratic Party caucuses with her grandfather where she interpreted the meetings for him. She eventually graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in Political Science and International Studies in 2011 and after graduation became the campaign manager for Kari Dziedzic’s reelection campaign for Minnesota State Senate. In 2013, she managed Andrew Johnson’s campaign for Minneapolis City Council then served as his senior policy aide for 2 years. She made history in 2016 by being the first Somali-American lawmaker when she unseated a 44-year incumbent in the Minnesota House. Then in 2018, she was elected into the US House of Representatives where she marked multiple firsts; first Somali-American, first naturalized citizen from America, first non-white woman elected from Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress. Following her election, the 1837 ban on head coverings in the US House of Representatives- which had originally represented the break from the British House of Commons- had been altered to allow Omar to enter the House floor with her hijab.

Through their first term, Omar along with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, and Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley were deemed “The Squad” because of their fearlessness in advocating for more left leaning legislation. All four members of The Squad are women of color have had targets on their backs from President Trump and his followers because of their leftist ideals. Trump signed an Executive Order in January of 2017, commonly known as the Muslim Travel Ban that banned a number of countries who had majority Muslim populations. Since this, Omar has outright spoken against the Trump era’s racist (and other discriminatory) remarks and legislations. After one particular tweet from Trump in 2019 in which he said Omar and other members of The Squad should “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” Omar replied, “His nightmare is seeking a Somali immigrant refugee rise to Congress […] and so we are going to continue to be a nightmare to the president.” Holding true to that, Omar had been one of the first representatives to draft impeachment articles after the January 6^th insurrection, actually announcing her intent the day of.

Representative Ilhan Omar’s most prominent stances are in issues regarding immigration, workers and economy, education, environmental justice, healthcare, and foreign policy. Omar supports more rights being given to undocumented immigrants living in the US and the revival of US refugee resettlement agencies as well as the conscious reformation of existing US foreign policies. Omar has been an avid advocate of a $15 minimum wage in order to close the gap between wage and the rising costs-of-living. Along similar lines, she believes in eliminating existing student loan debt and the implementation of tuition-free colleges. The Green New Deal has been one of her more well-known passions in her effort to reduce the United State’s carbon footprint. Another well-known piece of legislation that Omar has loudly supported is Medicare for All. In her interview with the Rolling Stone, she says, “I work every day to make sure we are living in a more tolerant world” which is what we see as she continues her work in Congress.

bh

Grief and Unaccompanied Minors

Guest blogger: Ailleene Maldonado, Masters in Migration Studies Student, University of San Francisco:

            It is easy as adults to see children as not having the emotional capacity to deal with loss. To some, loss is associated with death, but working with unaccompanied minors, I have come to witness that loss does not always have to deal with death. Instead loss can mean leaving a home even if that home had flaws. Loss can be not ever knowing a parent. Loss can be witnessing domestic violence, gang violence, and femicides. Loss is letting go of your child-like innocence.

            I have encountered children who have endured so much that in spite of the trauma they have experienced, they are able to understand either their circumstance or their experience in a way that one might not think a child is capable of. I met a 12 year old boy during a declaration appointment. It was the first time we had ever met, and up until this point, most of the tender age boys that I have met struggle wanting to tell their story to a stranger. But this boy in particular was different. We started the process by confirming his full name, age, and parents. I then begin to ask the questions that start to make them anxious.

How was your relationship with your absent parent (in this case, like most of the cases, his father)?

He then starts by saying he had a normal relationship, like any father son relationship. He remembered in detail their affectionate interactions. These interactions were few because his father drank a lot and every time his father drank, he would hit his mother. He would sit witnessing the violence, crying and yelling for his dad to stop who would then get hit trying to defend his mother. He was about or around 2 to 4 years of age. He wanted to have a normal, loving father son relationship.

Why did you come to the U.S.?

His mother decided to move them to the U.S. because when they were walking on the street as a family, they were approached by gang members. The gang members, from the perspective of the 12 year old boy, just wanted to steal their shoes and money. He stayed with his grandparents who live in rural Guatemala for some days.

This is the point where I would normally ask how their relationship with their absent parent made them feel or leaving their home. With him, I didn’t have to because of how eloquent, and well spoken he was.

He then proceeds to tell me that everything he witnessed back home left him very traumatized. So did his journey to the U.S. Normally, in declarations I do not ask about their journey to the U.S. because it's not really relevant for SIJS cases. I normally ask this question when I conduct legal screenings to the children in the ORR shelter I visit, but it felt important for him, so I let him describe his journey. He told me it took him and his mother a very long time to arrive and they had to get on a train called La Bestia. This train would take them to the U.S. Mexico Border. He described the train as scary and huge. Because he was still little he had a hard time clinging on to the train and not falling down. He held onto his mom’s leg and the railing, aware that his mother also had to hold herself to keep from falling, so he tried to not be a disturbance for her. When they crossed the desert, they hadn’t eaten or drank water for days. All they had were crackers. He refused to eat them because he knew that his mom was bigger and needed more strength, and once again, didn’t want to be a bother for her. He also decided to not drink water so that his mom could have enough and so that he didn’t need to use the bathroom to not get them lost.

He then continues to tell me that everything he experienced and witnessed in his home country and on the way to the U.S. was very traumatizing for him. To this day, he still has nightmares about La Bestia  and about his father.

When was the last time you had contact with your father?  

The last time was on his birthday a year ago. On his birthdays, he always wants to talk to his father, to see if he remembers and to speak to him. He wants to have a relationship with his dad even though he knows that his dad made his mom and himself suffer.

How is your relationship with your mother?

He has a great relationship with his mother. He is a support system for her and she is his. When her asylum application got denied, his mom was in bed crying for two weeks. He wanted me to know that during these two weeks, he never left her side, not even to go to school. He knows that his mother has been through a lot and he will always be there to take care of her.

In this case, I believe that this child was able to verbalize his experience in a unique way that most children his age can’t, but that doesn't mean that he is the only one who can comprehend and grieve at this level. It is easy to think and see these children as weak and oblivious, but working with unaccompanied minors has shown me the various ways that a person can grieve.

bh

Immigration fuels Canada's largest population growth of over 1 million

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

BBC News reports that Canada's population for the first time grew by more than a million people last year, the Canadiam government has said.

The country's population increased from 38,516,138 to 39,566,248 people, Statistics Canada said.  It also marked Canada's highest annual population growth rate - 2.7% - since 1957.  The increase was in part fueled by government efforts to recruit migrants to the country to ease labor shortages.  The country also depends on migration to support an aging population.

Statistics Canada said the surge in the number of permanent and temporary immigrants could "also represent additional challenges for some regions of the country related to housing, infrastructure and transportation, and service delivery to the population."

The Statistics Canada press release stated in part that

"The increase seen in international migration is related to efforts by the Government of Canada to ease labour shortages in key sectors of the economy. High job vacancies and labour shortages are occurring in a context where population aging has accelerated in Canada and the unemployment rate remains near record low. A rise in the number of permanent and temporary immigrants could also represent additional challenges for some regions of the country related to housing, infrastructure and transportation, and service delivery to the population.

Temporary immigration is the leading contributor to Canada's growth."

KJH

 

 

International migration accounted for nearly 96% of the population growth, according to the news release.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made efforts to attract more immigrants to the country since gaining power in 2015. Last year, the government announced a plan to welcome half a million immigrants a year by 2025.

The Canadian government has also been accepting people affected by conflicts like the Ukraine war, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.