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‘I BESEECH YOU’ — Over the weekend, The Times’ Natalie Kitroeff reported that the Supreme Court’s order that the Biden administration restart the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) "brought some measure of relief" to administration officials. Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, took to The Washington Post to urge President Biden to improve the living conditions migrants face. "In the name of God and in the spirit of decency that has been a hallmark of Americans for generations, I beseech you: If this policy must continue, let us find a way to end the worst cruelties that have defined it thus far." Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz told Elket Rodríguez of Fellowship Southwest: "It’s a type of torture. MPP kills and ends families." DESIGN — A potential solution lies just west of Tijuana. There, Teddy Cruz, a Guatemalan-born architect, and Fonna Forman, a political scientist from Milwaukee, are designing a permanent, sustainable structure for homeless refugees, reports Alastair Gordon for The New York Times. Working with pastors Gustavo Banda Aceves and Zaida Guillén, "they set out to develop not just emergency housing but a stable community that made use of the resources at hand." Meanwhile, the ACLU of San Diego asked an appellate court last Wednesday to reinstate a federal order so asylum seekers could regain access to legal counsel, reports Elizabeth Ireland for Times of San Diego.
MIGRANT CHILDREN — Per data obtained by Axios, the U.S. government has lost contact with thousands of migrant children released from its custody, Stef W. Kight reports. "Roughly one-in-three calls made to released migrant kids or their sponsors between January and May went unanswered, raising questions about the government’s ability to protect minors after they’re released to family members or others in the U.S.," notes Kight. "While we make every effort to voluntarily check on children after we unite them with parents or sponsors and offer certain post-unification services, we no longer have legal oversight once they leave our custody," an HHS spokesperson told Axios, adding that many sponsors do not return calls nor do they want to be contacted. PUBLIC SAFETY — Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson was elected in 2019 based, in large part, on his immigration positions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Dave Chanen reports. Those positions are still in place — in June, Hutchinson issued a directive to "greatly limit the use of immigration detainer warrants to hold people in jail who should otherwise be released." He told Chanen he sees the change as a way to improve public safety and improve trust with immigrant communities: "New Americans are often crime victims because they are vulnerable. We are doing all we can for the county. We are not the federal government." Thanks for reading, |
