Your weekly summary from the Council

 LATEST ANALYSIS 

• US Policy Toward Haitian Immigrants Is Part of a Long, Troubled History
  
  The Biden administration’s treatment of Haitian migrants has received extensive criticism. Yet its actions are a continuation of a long history of mistreating Haitian migrants. The largest mass refugee crisis from Haiti in modern history arose in 1991 after a military coup. Initially, the U.S. Coast Guard turned thousands back to Haiti, often to imprisonment or death. Read More »
   
• Biden Administration Reopens Protection Program for At-Risk Central American Children
  
  The Departments of State and Homeland Security announced recently that they will be accepting new applications for the Central American Minors (CAM) Program, created to process immigrant children into the United States in a humane and efficient manner. Read More »
   
• Del Rio Migrant Camp Shows How Biden Administration Is Not Living Up to Its Promises
  
  Roughly 14,000 Haitians arrived at the border across from Del Rio, Texas in mid-September and walked across the Rio Grande to seek asylum. Many first left Haiti in 2010 following a devastating earthquake that killed over 100,000 people and have been pushed from country to country ever since. Read More »
   
• Immigration Reform in Budget Reconciliation Is Off to a Rocky Start but Much Is Yet to Come
  
  Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected Democrats’ initial attempt to include immigration reform provisions in a $3.5 trillion spending bill currently making its way through Congress. Senate Democrats are already formulating alternative proposals for MacDonough to consider in the days ahead. Read More »

 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW  

• Photos and videos showing the confrontation of U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback chasing Haitian migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border sparked widespread criticism and questions about border agents’ treatment of Haitian migrants and people found along the U.S. southern border. 

  This special report from the American Immigration Council provides a historical overview of how the U.S. Border Patrol has been steeped in institutional racism and has committed violent acts with near impunity since its founding nearly 100 years ago. 

  Read more: The Legacy of Racism within the U.S. Border Patrol

 ACROSS THE NATION 

• The American Immigration Council joined a coalition of over 38 civil rights and immigrant advocacy organizations in a letter sent to the White House calling on President Biden to halt the deportations of Haitian migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

  The letter calls on President Biden to live up to commitments made on the campaign trail to uphold the United States’ obligation to asylum and described the moment as “an inflection point” for the administration’s commitment to a humane immigration policy. 

  Read more: Coalition Letter Urges Biden Administration to Uphold Commitment to Create a Humane Immigration System 

 MAKE A CONTRIBUTION 

 QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

In a case challenging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) unlawful detention of immigrant youth, a court ordered the agency on Tuesday to change its practices and procedures to avoid further unlawful detentions.

“No child should be locked up by ICE on their 18th birthday. ICE’s stubborn refusal to follow our immigration laws designed to protect immigrant teenagers has resulted in the unnecessary and unlawful detention of thousands of vulnerable teenagers. The court’s order establishes a much-needed accountability for an agency that operates with a ‘lock-them-up’ ethos. We hope this order marks a change in the agency’s policies, practice, and culture with respect to immigrant youth.”

– Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of litigation at the American Immigration Council

 FURTHER READING 

• Vox: Why America keeps turning its back on Haitian migrants
   

• Los Angeles Times: Biden and Harris hold their own immigration policies at arm's length
   

• CNN: The pandemic has hit the restaurant business hard. That's creating an opportunity for some immigrant women in Denver

         

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