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Refugee resettlement data for June was published Tuesday evening, with the U.S. resettling 2,457 total refugees, a 29% increase from the 1,900 resettled in May — marking the highest resettlement total so far, this fiscal year. An improvement’s an improvement, but with three months left in that year, the U.S. is on track to resettle only 20,133 refugees total. That’s a Trump-era number and, as our policy expert Danilo Zak notes, nowhere near the Biden administration’s maximum of 125,000. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, recently estimated that more than 2 million refugees will be in need of resettlement in 2023. Digging into the data, Danilo notes that the number of Ukrainian refugees resettled in June nearly doubled from May — to 142. In other words, "we continue to rely on less-permanent parole programs" as the administration looks to resettle 100,000 Ukrainians. As for Western Hemisphere refugees, the administration’s commitment to resettle 20,000 in 2023 and 2024 will require work: In June we resettled 199. On the upside, 1,292 Afghan Special Immigrant Visas were granted in June, a 91% increase from May and easily the most this fiscal year. As we approach the anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal, that’s promising. Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. DACA HEARING — Kevin McGill of the Associated Press reports on Wednesday’s appeals court hearing on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The U.S. Justice Department and allies defended the program amid a challenge by Texas and eight other states. The government invoked the longstanding principle of prosecutorial discretion: "DHS has limited resources," Brian Boynton of the Justice Department argued. "It’s unable to remove 11 million people in the country. It has to decide who it’s going to target first." No matter the appeals court’s ruling, the case likely will be appealed to the Supreme Court, per Suzanne Monyak of Roll Call. As a quick reminder, here is a statement ahead of the hearing and our recent summary of where DACA stands. And for a look at what an end to DACA could mean for colleges and universities, read the new Inside Higher Ed piece by Miriam Feldblum and Jose Magaña-Salgado of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. SPLIT DECISIONS — Appeals court judges in separate districts have ruled differently on whether the Biden administration has the authority to create immigration enforcement priorities, reports Elizabeth Trovall of the Houston Chronicle. That makes it more likely the Supreme Court will take up the question. As it stands now, a 5th Circuit ruling means anyone in the country without authorization can be prioritized for deportation, regardless of other factors such as criminal record. "They (ICE) can just arrest anybody like before, for any reason," said Zenobia Lai, immigration attorney and director at the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative. Separately, some county officials in South Texas want Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to use state resources to deport migrants, despite deportation being a core, and exclusive, federal government function, James Barragán reports for The Texas Tribune. DETENTION BEDS — According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data, the U.S. government pays to guarantee that 30,000 immigration detention beds are available for use in four dozen facilities across the country. On average, only about half of the beds this fiscal year have been occupied, reports Amy Taxin of the Associated Press. Specifically, the California-based Adelanto facility can house almost 2,000 immigrants who may be facing deportation, but these days it’s nearly empty due to a federal judge’s 2020 pandemic-related ruling. "It’s really concerning [that ICE is] still getting paid for all the beds every single day. It’s empty," said Lizbeth Abeln, deportation defense director at the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice in Southern California. ‘LITTLE GIFT’ — After 6-year-old Asra Hajizada and her family fled Afghanistan, she experienced elevated levels of anxiety in her new kindergarten in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, per Jenny Roberts for The Morning Call. "It was the first time that she was being separated from her family, so there was a lot of anxiety coming into school, leaving her parents and just being uncertain of the environment," said Hilari Takacs, Asra’s English teacher. But with help from the school, Asra conquered her fears and gained confidence. "She would go from that observer role to by the end of the school year, she was running the [recess] games," Takacs explained. "... She’s just this little gift." Today’s local stories:
Thanks for reading, Dan P.S. As usual, Storm Lake Times Pilot editor Art Cullen doesn’t mince words in looking at last week’s migrant deaths in Texas as the latest in a long line of immigration failures. "Our immigration policies shame our ideals. They always have. We could change them," he writes. Meanwhile, for Al Jazeera, Jeff Abbott explains how the tragedy "highlight[s] a growing desperation in Guatemala," as families and communities mourn the loss of two local teens who were in pursuit of a better life. |
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