President Biden will announce a pair of new programs today, one focused on certain mixed-status families and another one to ease employment-based processing for graduates of American colleges and universities, per a White House fact sheet.
The family provision will open up access to residency and citizenship in the United States to nearly 500,000 unauthorized immigrants married to U.S. citizens, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News.
"Our current immigration system allows undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain green cards, but the legalization process requires leaving the U.S. — with the possibility of not being allowed back in for 10 years," Jennie noted in our statement yesterday. "Providing temporary protections and work authorization to spouses of U.S. citizens would be a positive step to keep these families together. Expanding
work opportunities for Dreamers would be another step forward."
But, as with addressing crucial border challenges, "executive actions represent only a temporary fix and could be subject to court challenges," she said. "Republicans and Democrats in Congress must provide lasting immigration solutions."
Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher ruled yesterday that Iowa’s new immigration law is likely unconstitutional, blocking it for now pending further court proceedings, reports Katarina Sostaric of Iowa Public Radio.
The law, which was scheduled to take effect July 1, would make "illegal reentry" into Iowa a state crime and "allow state and local law enforcement to arrest immigrants who were previously deported or denied entry to the U.S."
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) and Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) plan to appeal the decision, reports William Morris of the Des Moines Register.
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, Samantha Siedow, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
RURAL COMMUNITIES — Immigration can help breathe new life into rural America, writes Denny Spinner in an op-ed for The Hill. With populations in rural communities at an all-time low and continuing to decrease, Spinner points to Huntingburg, Indiana, where he served as mayor, as an example of "the reversal of decades of decline" thanks to hard work on the part of the community and its leaders.
COLOMBIA — While the city of Chicago handles nearly 30,000 Venezuelan migrants, alongside photographs by Anthony Vazquez, Chip Mitchell of WBEZ Chicago examines how the nation of Colombia has addressed 2.9 million arriving Venezuelans, including more than 600,000 in Bogotá alone. For starters, Colombia has granted temporary protection to 1.9 million of them, opening doors to jobs, health care, pensions, education and the financial system. The migration narrative in Colombia may be shifting even though research indicates long-term benefits of formal integration, Mitchell notes.
SOLITARY — Five Venezuelan men say they were put in solitary confinement at a privately run detention center after staging a hunger strike, reports Austin Fisher of Source New Mexico. The men were protesting U.S. policy that would send them to Mexico, where they expect to face violence. Lawyers with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and ACLU-New Mexico are seeking a federal
investigation into possible violations of nine ICE detention standards.
SETTLING — A year after their arrival, an immigrant family from Ecuador reflects on the welcome they have received in Western New York, reports Natalie Brophy of The Buffalo News. "It really was hard for us to leave our country, but it was necessary in order to save the life of every person in our family," said the father. " ... "Better times are coming. Everything that’s
happening now is preparing us for the future. I want to thank the community for receiving us."
