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BORDER ROUTES — Single adult migrants crossing the border made up nearly two-thirds of Border Patrol encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in April. But as more migrants cross via treacherous routes to avoid being caught and sent back to Mexico, they face a greater risk of death, report Eugene Garcia and Adriana Gomez Licon of the Associated Press. "People die here. People get lost. People are never heard of again. They go missing," said Eduardo Canales, director of the South Texas Human Rights Center. Some smugglers leave migrants to walk long distances in the area, anywhere from 15 to 50 miles with temperatures sometimes above 100 degrees. While some migrants stranded in remote areas are able to make emergency calls to aid groups like Canales’, which then coordinate with local officials or the Border Patrol on rescues, "[l]ocal officials are expecting to find more bodies as summer nears, temperatures rise and expulsions continue." ROOT CAUSES — As part of a series on immigration insights from the George W. Bush Institute, Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Chertoff Group, discussed what it will take to address immigration reform while simultaneously tackling border security: "We have to use all the tools in the toolbox, and that means both creating a pathway for legitimate migration, that gives us visibility and control over who comes in, as well as toughening up the ability to prevent people from sneaking in illegally." At 11:30 a.m. CT today, the series continues with a conversation featuring panelists from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras breaking down the root causes of migration and how the region can create a path to sustained economic growth. JUDGES — Senate Judiciary Committee leaders on Monday sent a letter urging Attorney General Merrick Garland "to recognize the immigration judges’ union and reverse the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle it," Suzanne Monyak reports for Roll Call. In the letter, Committee Chairman Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois) and immigration subcommittee Chairman Alex Padilla (D-California) asked Garland to restore independence for immigration judges after the Trump administration sought to decertify the union. Speaking of immigration courts, Border Report’s Sandra Sanchez writes that following a Biden administration memo last week, advocates are "cautiously optimistic" that the legal representation afforded in civil cases "could one day be extended to immigration courts."
ARIZONA DREAMERS — There are five reasons why extending in-state tuition to Dreamers benefits everyone in Arizona, write state Sen. Paul Boyer (R) and Reyna Montoya, a DACA recipient and founder & CEO of Aliento, in an op-ed for the Arizona Republic. In addition to helping keep local talent in the state, allowing Dreamers to pay in-state tuition will boost the state’s economy, they write — and cement a solution that’s popular statewide: A recent poll of Arizona’s registered voters found that 62% support in-state tuition for Dreamers. EMBROIDERY — Harriet Kean at CNN tells the story of Larissa von Planta, a sustainable fashion designer previously based in Lebanon who moved to London just two days before a devastating explosion destroyed Beirut's city center last year. Compelled to help from the U.K., von Planta contacted Meike Ziervogel, CEO of the nonprofit Alsama, to set up a project to collaborate with Syrian and Palestinian embroiderers in one of Lebanon’s refugee camps. "I wanted to provide work for these women," von Planta said. "I knew … that the embroiderers had slumped into a huge depression. They live such precarious lifestyles; they aren't Lebanese citizens so there's a lot of instability. They can't go back to their countries. I wanted to make sure work was coming in so they had one less concern." Said Fatima Khalifa, who runs Alsama Studios: "Alsama is a surrogate family and gives the women strength so they can inspire the next generation, their children, to leave the camp one day." Thanks for reading, Ali |
