The Federal Government Is Cutting Aid for Migrant Shelters and Services. What Will States Do Now?
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
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.
|
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 |
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
|
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
|
