MPI's Migration Information Source Newsletter

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May 2, 2022

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Feature
Persistent COVID-19 Vaccine Inequity Has Significant Implications for Refugees and Other Vulnerable Migrants
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/refugees-access-covid-19-vaccine-inequity
Most of the world's refugees live in low-income countries where rates of COVID-19 vaccination remain low. Although refugees have been formally included in many governments' vaccination plans, a combination of factors has made access to jabs difficult, as this article explains.

U.S. Policy Beat
For Overwhelmed Immigration Court System, New ICE Guidelines Could Lead to Dismissal of Many Low-Priority Cases
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigration-court-ice-guidelines
New Biden administration guidelines encourage immigration prosecutors to support dismissing many low-priority deportation cases and focus on criminals, threats to national security, and other priorities. This move could have a major impact on clearing backlogs in the overstretched U.S. immigration court system, resulting in quicker determinations in removal and asylum cases, where wait times can presently stretch for years.


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EDITOR'S NOTE

One of the most surprising takeaways from France's presidential election campaign might be the extent to which immigration--long the driving force for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and her supporters--occupied a relatively minor place in the political debate. Le Pen, who despite an historic performance earned less than 42 percent of the vote during the April 24 runoff and was defeated by President Emmanuel Macron, had promised to suspend all immigration to France and included in her platform efforts to revise France's constitution to dramatically reduce the number of new arrivals.

But Le Pen's campaign had focused less on the topic as it tried to make itself more palatable to mainstream voters, instead prioritizing pocketbook issues such as the cost of living. Outside factors also played a role, most importantly Russia's invasion of Ukraine (although Le Pen, perhaps surprisingly, supported the arrival of Ukrainian refugees). And the race was complicated by the candidacy of Éric Zemmour, a political pundit convicted of racist hate speech regarding unaccompanied migrant children, who carved out a space even further to the right than Le Pen. (Zemmour finished fourth in the initial vote and did not proceed to the runoff).

It would be far too much to say that the election was a sign of anything approaching a sea change for political figures such as Le Pen, who counts admirers in the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere. Indeed, the change in tone could be read as a sign that on Le Pen's signature issue, the rest of the field had moved closer to her. Since first defeating Le Pen in 2017, Macron has repeatedly tightened France's immigration rules, while the candidate for the center-right Républicains party of former Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac, Valérie Pécresse, leaned into increasingly restrictive rhetoric on her way to a fifth-place finish.

For France, the outcome likely means more of the same, at least with regard to immigration policy. Yet the challenges facing Macron during his second term are different than in previous years. In the past, Macron and others had drawn a sharp distinction between migrants coming from elsewhere in Europe's free-movement area and those from non-EU countries. Now, Macron and other European leaders must reckon with the more than 5.4 million people who have fled Ukraine since late February.

Notably, France holds the rotating presidency of EU Council through June. And ahead of the election, the leaders of Germany, Portugal, and Spain issued a remarkable endorsement for the incumbent. As perhaps the European Union's most visible leader, Macron still has the opportunity to shape not only his own country's response to new arrivals, but to an extent that of the European Union.

Best regards,

Julian Hattem

Editor, Migration Information Source

[email protected]

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NEW FROM MPI

Destination-Country Policies to Foster Diaspora Engagement in Development
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/destination-country-diaspora-development
By Kathleen Newland

The UK-Rwanda Agreement Represents Another Blow to Territorial Asylum
www.migrationpolicy.org/news/uk-rwanda-asylum-agreement
By Hanne Beirens and Samuel Davidoff-Gore

Leveraging the Skills of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in Illinois and Chicago
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/immigrant-health-professionals-illinois
By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix

Digital Health Credentials and COVID-19: Can Vaccine and Testing Requirements Restart Global Mobility?
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/digital-health-credentials-covid19
By Lawrence Huang


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HAVE YOU READ?

Mounting Backlogs Undermine U.S. Immigration System and Impede Biden Policy Changes
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/us-immigration-backlogs-mounting-undermine-biden

Gaps in India's Treatment of Refugees and Vulnerable Internal Migrants Are Exposed by the Pandemic
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/gaps-india-refugees-vulnerable-internal-migrants-pandemic

Dependent on Remittances, Tajikistan's Long-Term Prospects for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Remain Dim
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/dependent-remittances-tajikistan-prospects-dim-economic-growth


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MEDIA CORNER

"The Beats in Mexico," by David Stephen Calonne, analyzes why U.S. writers such as Jack Kerouac were fascinated by their country's neighbor to the south.
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-beats-in-mexico/9781978828728

Antje Missbach critiques common narratives of irregular migration in "The Criminalisation of People Smuggling in Indonesia and Australia: Asylum Out of Reach."
www.routledge.com/The-Criminalisation-of-People-Smuggling-in-Indonesia-and-Australia-Asylum/Missbach/p/book/9781032074771

Literary critic Mary Jacobus explores the meanings of being an outsider through analysis of multiple artistic works in "On Belonging and Not Belonging: Translation, Migration, Displacement."
[link removed]

U.S. immigration courts come under heightened scrutiny in Alison Peck's "The Accidental History of the U.S. Immigration Courts: War, Fear, and the Roots of Dysfunction."
www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389663/the-accidental-history-of-the-us-immigration-courts

"Migration Law, Policy and Human Rights: The Impact of Crisis in Europe," by Rachael Dickson, looks at EU migration law through the human-rights lens.
www.routledge.com/Migration-Law-Policy-and-Human-Rights-The-Impact-of-Crisis-in-Europe/Dickson/p/book/9780367261122

Geetika Rudra explores early generations of South Asian immigrants in the United States in "Here to Stay: Uncovering South Asian American History."
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/here-to-stay/9780813584034


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