[[link removed]] Your weekly summary from the Council.
LATEST ANALYSIS
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The Federal Government Is Cutting Aid for Migrant Shelters and Services. What Will States Do Now? [[link removed]]
Congress has cut $150 million from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding allows states, localities, and NGOs to recuperate some of the costs they sustain in providing services, such as shelter and medical care, to migrants. The cuts to SSP funding threaten to undermine the critical infrastructures that states and localities have employed to welcome newly arrived migrants over the past two years.
FY 2024 Government Funding Package Is a Mixed-Bag on Immigration [[link removed]]
President Biden signed the final funding package for fiscal year (FY) 2024, which includes funding for the agencies that implement our immigration laws. This was the culmination of months of negotiations mired by attempts to insert restrictive border and immigration policy changes into the budget. While the compromise package doesn’t include these policy changes, it does provide large increases in enforcement and detention funding. However, it also includes modest but meaningful items related to legal immigration policy, backlog reduction, and transparency.
FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
New research from the American Immigration Council highlights the key role immigrants play in the city of Dallas, Texas. The new report found that new Americans in Dallas have contributed billions in taxes and consumer spending, are helping fill essential roles, and much more!
Read more: Economic Impact Report: New Americans in Dallas [[link removed]]
ACROSS THE NATION
The Department of Homeland Security announced implementation of the Families Expedited Removal Management (FERM) program in May 2023. Under FERM, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement places heads of households of asylum-seeking families detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the U.S.-Mexico border under surveillance with ankle monitors and a curfew. This program only applies to certain nationalities and is active in 45 cities throughout the country.
Last year, the Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association filed requests under FOIA with ICE and CBP to find out more about the program. Neither ICE nor CBP responded, and the Council filed a lawsuit to compel disclosure. The lawsuit was filed on April 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Read more: Council Files Lawsuit to Get Records about Program that Monitors Families Seeking Asylum [[link removed]]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The U.S. isn’t full. Its people are demonstrating every day that they can make more room; that they can support newcomers and therefore lead them to better support themselves. America still loves a refugee. It’s just not clear whether the American government is up to the task.”
– [“The U.S. isn’t full. Its people are demonstrating every day that they can make more room; that they can support newcomers and therefore lead them to better support themselves. America still loves a refugee. It’s just not clear whether the American government is up to the task.”] [[link removed]] Dara Lind, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council [“The U.S. isn’t full. Its people are demonstrating every day that they can make more room; that they can support newcomers and therefore lead them to better support themselves. America still loves a refugee. It’s just not clear whether the American government is up to the task.”]
DEEP DIVE
A new report from the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago outlines the results from a multi-faceted study to understand how Afghan evacuees are doing post-arrival, and how the broader community and resettlement field has responded to their complex needs. The report also includes insights for policymakers and other stakeholders on how to assist Afghan arrivals in the near term, as well as better prepare ourselves to welcome future arrivals.
Read more: Examining Afghan Evacuees’ Resettlement: Insights and Lessons for Future Humanitarian Populations [[link removed]]
FURTHER READING
MSNBC: The Chris Hayes Podcast: The Stakes of Immigration with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick [[link removed]]
Inside Nova : Immigrant to Northern Virginia explains what it’s really like to cross the border [[link removed]]
NPR: The Senate impeachment trial of Mayorkas has been delayed. Here's what to know [[link removed]]
Rolling Stone: Congress Could Expand Immigrant Surveillance — And Make Many Companies Snitch [[link removed]]
HuffPost: Republicans Are Lying About One Major Way Biden Has Decreased U.S.-Mexico Border Crossings [[link removed]]
Baltimore Banner: How racist, anti-immigrant disinformation added to the Key Bridge tragedy [[link removed]]
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