Immigration
Homeland Security formalizes process that won immigrant workers a $3 million settlement
In a victory for labor organizers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a streamlined process last week, giving workers a clear and accessible path to request protection from immigration-related intimidation by abusive employers. Effective immediately, the new process will expedite requests for deportation relief —such as deferred action, parole, or stay of removal — […]
U.S. Supreme Court temporarily keeps Title 42 immigration program in effect
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is keeping Title 42 in place until the justices can review whether the pandemic-era program should be lifted or continue. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in an order on Monday stayed a lower court’s ruling that would have allowed the program, which was put in place by the Centers for […]
Organizers call on Congress to pass last-minute immigration reform, pathway to citizenship
As a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, David Beltran Barajas lives his life two years at a time. The DACA program, created through an executive order by former President Barack Obama, protects eligible immigrants who arrived in the United States as children from deportation, but they have to repeatedly reapply. The legality of […]
Talks over protecting Dreamers pick up in Congress, but agreement still elusive
WASHINGTON — In a last-minute push, U.S. senators are working on a bipartisan agreement to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. But the success of any major immigration deal appears unlikely, as a lame-duck session of Congress dwindles into its last days. Democrats are […]
End of Title 42 a hard-won victory, but the work of creating a humane approach to migration remains
A Federal District Court judge in D.C. ordered the Department of Homeland Security to end the use of Title 42 at the U.S. border on Tuesday night. Frustratingly, in spite of the fact that it has been in place for close to three years, Title 42 never got the attention it deserved as a devastating […]
U.S. district court strikes down use of Title 42 to expel migrants
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the government from continuing Title 42 — a controversial pandemic-era health policy used by both the Trump and Biden administrations to expel nearly 2 million migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The request to halt the use of Title 42 had been filed by immigrant advocacy groups and […]
Nevada’s newest citizens eager to vote for the first time
Culinary union member Angelica Landa Bonilla is one of tens of thousands of immigrants who have been naturalized in Nevada over the past several years and who will help determine the outcome of the midterms elections, according to a new report. The University of California’s U.S. Immigration Policy Center identified nearly 43,000 “newly naturalized” immigrants […]
DeSantis and Abbott pull from segregationists’ playbook with their anti-immigration stunts
As a historian of racism and white supremacy in the United States, I’ve become accustomed to callous actions like those of Republican governors who organized transportation for Latin American migrants to states run by their political opponents. Governors Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida are following the playbook of segregationists who provided […]
DHS finalizes end to Trump-era ‘public charge’ rule for immigrants
The Biden administration finalized a new public charge rule on Thursday that would eliminate Trump-era policies that penalized low-income immigrants seeking health benefits and other services. The new rule from the Department of Homeland Security will roll back the types of assistance immigration officers can consider when evaluating immigrants for a green card and deciding […]
Feds unveil process to protect immigrant workers facing employer retaliation
The U.S. Department of Labor rolled out new guidance Wednesday aimed at protecting workers from immigration-related intimidation when they participate in investigations on labor abuses. For the first time, the agency outlined steps workers can take to get support from government officials when seeking deportation relief —such as deferred action, parole, or stay of removal […]
Federal judge allows continued Title 42 migrant expulsions at the border
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Louisiana on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42, a designation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that has allowed border patrol officials to turn migrants away at the border. The order from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Summerhays for a preliminary nationwide injunction […]
How race and religion have always played a role in who gets refuge in the U.S.
In the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians have fled the country as refugees. Hundreds of those refugees have now arrived at the southern border of the United States seeking asylum, after flying to Mexico on tourist visas. At the border, Ukrainians, alongside thousands of other asylum seekers, must navigate two policies meant […]