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OVERSIGHT — Newly released data from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) shows that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not adequately complied with reporting or records retention requirements at detention facilities, Kylie Bielby reports for Homeland Security Today. The data in question pertains to ICE’s use of segregation at immigration detention facilities, a practice that has drawn widespread concern. "OIG found that ICE does not know the full extent of detention facilities’ use of segregation, which hinders its ability to ensure compliance with policy, and prevent and detect potential misuse of segregation," Bielby writes. ‘WE ARE NOT FREE’ — Afghan refugee resettlement efforts in the U.S. have been stymied by a series of challenges, including "a measles scare, a nationwide housing shortage and paperwork delays," report Ben Kesling and Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal. The resettlement delay means many Afghans "will have to remain for months in cramped barracks where supplies are often stretched," resulting in a "ripple effect" on some 10,000 evacuees currently living on American military installations overseas. "I don’t want to complain because we are in the U.S., and they are trying their best," said Sahar Mohammad, an Afghan former translator awaiting resettlement. "But it is hard. We can’t start our own lives or send our kids to school. We feel like we are not free." Despite the challenges, local communities continue to aid Afghan evacuees:
HAITIAN MIGRANTS — The U.S. government’s treatment of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas, last month "has galvanized civil rights groups and others to press for change," reports Eileen Sullivan of The New York Times. What happened in Del Rio, advocates say, is emblematic of "the poor treatment of Black migrants that has spanned administrations, often overshadowed by the larger debate about the broken immigration system and a persistent focus on waves of migrants from Central America." The images of immigration agents on horseback were a painful reminder not just for immigration advocates, but for Black Americans and civil rights leaders as well, said Advancement Project Executive Director Judith Browne Dianis. "[A]ccountability requires that the Biden administration act, because all Black people saw [the images], and we can’t unsee it." IMMIGRANT GARDENERS — For The New York Times, photographer Stella Kalinina gives us a first-person look at the San Pedro Community Gardens in Los Angeles. The city-owned land, centered in an otherwise industrial area, "has provided physical and spiritual nourishment to multiple generations of immigrant Angelenos, ever since gardeners first began working the soil here in the 1960s," Kalinina writes. "As many rural people were pushed into cities and across borders by industrialization and urbanization, some turned to the gardens for refuge, connection to home and a means of preserving and passing on their cultural heritage." Thanks for reading, Ali P.S. The American Values Coalition has launched a new initiative to build bridges for Americans who value family, tradition, and integrity. So glad they’re doing this. |
