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MIDDLE-CLASS MIGRANTS — Per authorities and aid workers, more middle-class migrants from South America are flying to Mexico and then crossing into the United States illegally to request asylum, reports Alicia A. Caldwell for The Wall Street Journal. According to the International Monetary Fund, South America and the Caribbean last year lost about 26 million jobs — the biggest economic contraction of any region in the world, notes Caldwell. "The global recession really made people lose hope," said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute. "It’s a big deal to go from being middle class in your country to be undocumented in the United States." WAGE THEFT — Mexican immigrant Audelia Molina used to earn 10 cents for every garment she trimmed at a factory in Los Angeles, often working 11 hours to make ends meet. But after her request for a raise got denied, she quit in July 2017, "and turned to a labor-rights attorney to help her file an unpaid-wage complaint with the California Labor Commissioner," report Susan Ferriss and Joe Yerardi in The Associated Press. Molina is not alone — 42% of all workers performing cut-and-sew garment assembly are immigrants, and according to The Center for Public Integrity’s analysis, the cut-and-sew garment industry has the second highest rate of federal wage-violation cases over the last 15 years. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-California) signed a law on Sept. 27 that will bar piece-rate pay for garment workers, which goes into effect in 2022.
AFGHAN RESETTLEMENT — Roll Call’s Caroline Simon reports that only about 7,000 Afghan refugees who have arrived in the United States have been "matched with resettlement agencies and affiliates to join communities in 46 states across the country where they will receive initial relocation services." Simon adds that "an infusion of $6.3 billion in government funds, allocated in the stopgap spending bill signed into law Sept. 30, could provide a much-needed boost to the resettlement effort." A majority of the evacuees — more than 53,000 — are waiting at one of eight domestic U.S. military bases, with an additional 15,000 being vetted at overseas sites before they can enter. "[T]he additional resources can go a long way towards stabilizing capacity," said Meredith Owen, director of policy and advocacy at Church World Service. Local communities continue to support and offer aid to Afghan refugees as well:
RECONCILIATION – Senate Democrats continue efforts to include immigration in the budget reconciliation package currently being negotiated in Congress, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Luke Broadwater of The New York Times report. Senate Democrats are considering a proposal which would include "language in the president’s sweeping social safety net package to provide legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants," per three congressional officials and others familiar with the plans. The measure, if endorsed by the parliamentarian, would serve approximately 8 million undocumented immigrants. Thanks for reading, Ali |
