|
|
"We all tried, but we couldn’t get an appointment," said Kemp Granges, a Venezuelan national who tried to enter the U.S. at Eagle Pass recently. A senior Customs and Border Protection official said a higher number of migrant crossings is likely to continue in the near term, Priscilla Alvarez, Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt of CNN report. Border Patrol agents arrested nearly 9,000 people on Sunday and about 7,500 on Saturday. Many of the migrants have left poor conditions in Venezuela and are following the social-media advice of human smuggling organizations. New enforcement commitments from Mexico should help as they are implemented, the official said. Separately, José Ignacio Castañeda Perez of the Arizona Republic shares personal stories of the bonds migrants are forming through shared struggles, routines and activities while they wait at border shelters. "Remember where you come from," said Carlos Roberto, a shelter resident. "If you can help migrants, help them." Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Ashling Lee, Clara Villatoro and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. DENIED — One Afghan man’s asylum case offers a look into the weighted-down immigration court system, reports Julie Watson of the Associated Press. A former professor of human rights and an ethnic minority in Afghanistan, Mohammad’s case for asylum seemed clear cut. He was shocked then to find that his request had been denied and he had unknowingly waived his right to appeal. Given an immigration-courts backlog of more than 2 million cases, we’d note again that the Afghan Adjustment Act would help. FLORIDA’S FERNS — Florida’s $70-million-a-year fern industry is particularly affected by the state’s new immigration law, reports Massiel Leyva of Spectrum News. The law mandates that businesses with 25 or more employees use the E-Verify system to check the immigration status of workers. As a result, in Volusia County, many farmworkers fearing detention or job loss have chosen to leave the state and seek opportunities elsewhere. COMPLEX SITUATION — The Biden administration’s move to make more Venezuelan migrants eligible for work permits is just part of a complex situation, report Michelle Hackman, Ginger Adams Otis and Tarini Parti of The Wall Street Journal. For example, Venezuelans represent only a quarter of the 60,000 migrants in New York City shelters. Still, in the words of new arrival Mayling Martinez RaFermis Freites, "It will make things better, for sure, to be able to look for work. I don’t want to always live off the government in a hotel." Ron Brownstein of The Atlantic goes in-depth on the pressures facing the Biden administration around the decision to expand Temporary Protected Status together with new enforcement proposals. A SHUTDOWN’S EFFECTS — A potential government shutdown starting Sunday could slow certain immigration processing significantly, Andy J. Semotiuk writes in Forbes. While fee-funded agencies such as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can operate, programs dependent on appropriated funds, like E-Verify, could be suspended. Some border and visa applications also may face delays. Thanks for reading, Dan P.S. Churches in Cleveland are welcoming more immigrants and advocating for newcomers’ needs, WKYC reports as it highlights Hispanic Heritage Month.
|
|
