[[link removed]] Your weekly summary from the Council.
LATEST ANALYSIS
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While Federal Firings Focus on Immigration Processing, Funding for Immigration Enforcement Expands [[link removed]]
In recent weeks, significant personnel reductions throughout the federal government supposedly made in the name of eliminating “waste” have caused concerns about the government’s ability to continue providing timely services. Agencies that provide immigration-related services have not been spared from these cuts, which may lead to reduction in services and increased delays across the immigration system.
The Texas Dream Act: Protecting Undocumented Students’ Access to Higher Education Is Economic, Educational Imperative [[link removed]]
In 2001, Texas set a precedent by enacting House Bill 1403, commonly known as the Texas Dream Act, which grants eligible undocumented students access to in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. However, recent developments, such as the 10 bills filed in Texas underscore the pressing need to safeguard the state’s commitment to educational accessibility.
Beyond the Red Carpet: ‘A Lien’ and the Power of Film [[link removed]]
The 97th Academy Awards included several nominated films that engaged directly with contemporary complexities of human movement and migration, offering a people-centered perspective on issues often reduced to simplistic narratives. One film in particular, A Lien, captures the heartbreaking reality faced by thousands of mixed-status families in the United States today.
FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to reopen a family detention center in Dilley, Texas that is known for its horrendous conditions and treatment toward children.
The 2,400-bed South Texas Family Residential Center (STFRC), known as “baby jail” or “Dilley” to advocates, opened in early 2015. Its use as a family detention center was ended by the Biden administration in 2021.
In this blog from the American Immigration Council, we highlight six first-hand stories that illustrate why the Dilley detention center should remain closed.
Read more: 6 Firsthand Stories That Reveal the Problem with Family Detention [[link removed]]
ACROSS THE NATION
Amid rising labor shortages, New Mexico is facing increased demand for healthcare workers that international medical graduates and other internationally trained healthcare workers can help meet.
New research from the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants in New Mexico made up over 9.9% of the state’s healthcare workers despite accounting for only 9.1% of the population.
The Council’s new report highlights the contributions that immigrants make in high-demand healthcare occupations that require a professional or occupational license.
The Council’s new report highlights the contributions that immigrants make in high-demand healthcare occupations that require a professional or occupational license.
Read more: The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers in New Mexico [[link removed]]
The Council and the National Immigration Project submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that seeks records and data from USCIS about how the agency determines whether a migrant “smuggled” another person into the United States. Information about this process is crucial to individuals who could be subject to this form of inadmissibility when they prepare applications for immigration relief once they are in the country.
Read more: The Council and NIP File FOIA on How USCIS’ Alien Smuggling Determinations Impact Approval of Immigration Benefits [[link removed]]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“There are huge costs to immigration and there are huge benefits. When you net them out, immigration is perhaps the greatest competitive advantage our country has... it helps keep our workforce young, it brings entrepreneurs, it brings consumers, and it brings people who can fill key gaps in the economy that let us grow.”
– Jeremy Robbins, executive director at the American Immigration Council [[link removed]]
FURTHER READING
CNN: How Trump’s immigration crackdown could backfire [[link removed]]
Dallas Morning News: Texas GOP lawmakers want to tap local law enforcement for immigration duties [[link removed].]
Bloomberg: Cheap US Beef at Risk as Trump Seeks to Deport Haitian Workers [[link removed]]
The Guardian: He was tortured in Turkey. Then he faced a US immigration judge who almost never grants asylum [[link removed]]
Axios: Business groups quietly push back on Trump's immigration raids [[link removed]]
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