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ICE VACCINATIONS — To ramp up COVID-19 vaccination efforts at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, the Department of Homeland Security is administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to immigrant detainees, reports Priscilla Alvarez of CNN. A nationwide distribution effort is underway with an initial allocation of 10,000 doses, and will be replenished on a rolling basis, notes Alvarez. The efforts come after three whistleblowers urged the Biden administration to do more to stop the spread of COVID-19 in ICE facilities. ICE facilities "have wrestled with a growing number of positive cases, totaling more than 19,879 confirmed cases and nine deaths," writes Alvarez. As of July 9, there were more than 27,600 immigrants in ICE custody. DRIVER DATA — In partnership with Univision and HuffPost, Kimberly Cataudella and Alexia Fernández Campbell report for the Center for Public Integrity that ICE is using driver’s license data to gain intel on undocumented immigrants. Sixteen states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., allow undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses or driving privilege cards. Expanding access to driver’s licenses has been shown to improve safety and decrease poverty, Cataudella and Fernández Campbell write, and more states are considering similar measures. But since January 2020, at least seven states have shared drivers’ personal information with ICE, and only four states require a court order or warrant before providing the info (two more, California and Hawaii, have laws that prohibit sharing information "solely related to immigration enforcement" with ICE). Said Mayra Cedano, executive director of Utah’s Comunidades Unidas: "A lot of folks in our communities said, ‘I won’t risk it. I won’t renew to risk being deported just to drive.’" DACA BACKLOG — To address a growing backlog, the Biden administration is assigning more immigration officers to review DACA applications, Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News reports. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) "is also increasing public outreach efforts to ensure that immigrant communities across the country have access to information on how to apply for benefits for which they may be eligible," said USCIS spokesperson Victoria Palmer. By the end of June, the backlog of pending first-time DACA applications had reached 81,000 petitions — a 48% increase from late March.
BORDER FACTS — "Republicans are better than Democrats at border theater, utilizing immigration to cudgel their opponents, and setting the terms of the debate," author and Northwestern University professor Geraldo Cadava writes in an op-ed for Slate. " By cherry-picking facts surrounding the border and hiding truths that give perspective to the border narrative, he writes, the GOP is building a story of problems at the border that only they can solve. "Republican and Democratic voters alike should demand from their leaders the whole truth about immigration, even if it doesn’t support their party’s line," he concludes. This is not an abstract debate: Jake Bleiber and Elliot Spagat report for the Associated Press that the CDC "will issue an order this week about how migrant children are treated under a public health order that has prevented people from seeking asylum at the nation’s borders." REFUGEE PARALYMPIAN — Abbas Karimi was born without arms and fled his home country of Afghanistan at only 16. Now, he’ll be competing at the Paralympics in Tokyo this summer as a butterfly swimmer, Don Gonyea and Allison Hagan report for WBUR News. Karimi is part of the Paralympic Refugee Team, a group of six refugee athletes who represent more than 80 million displaced people worldwide, including 12 million who currently live with a disability. Karimi says the team hopes to "make the world a better place" for everyone, and that he’s honored to represent other displaced people. "We all want to do something positive," he said. "And sport can build friendships … and we can create peace through sport." Thanks for reading, Ali |
