Tag: Asylum-Seekers

Judge Allows Biden Admin Program That Lets in 30,000 Asylum-Seekers a Month

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A federal judge on Friday dismissed a challenge from 21 states against a Biden administration program that allows 30,000 asylum-seekers into the U.S. from four countries each month. 

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled that Texas and 20 other Republican-led states didn’t have legal standing in the lawsuit because they didn’t demonstrate suffered financial harm from the federal program, the Associated Press reported. The program lets a total of up to 30,000 asylum-seekers enter the U.S. each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. 

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Biden DOJ Sues SpaceX for Preferring American Citizens over Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Its Hiring Practices

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On Thursday, the Biden Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, accusing the company of discrimination for preferring American citizens over asylum seekers and refugees in its hiring practices.

In its 13-page complaint, the Justice Dept. alleges that SpaceX “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).”  The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division seeks to force SpaceX to give “fair compensation” to non-citizens that were not hired.

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Human Rights Group Warns FBI: Cuban Regime Members Are Masquerading as Asylum Seekers

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A project from the Florida-based Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba that works with activists and victims of political persecution in Cuba recently reported the presence of an alleged repressor of the Cuban communist regime in the United States. Cuban Repressors, a program of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FDHC), filed a formal complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Jan. 4, against 55-year old Cuban citizen Iran Septiem Suarez, accusing him of “advising and participating in the repressive political persecution of Cuban activists on the island,” according to former political prisoner and Florida Cuban Repressors Director Rolando Cartaya told ADN Cuba.

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Connecticut Attorney General Joins Brief Against ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy

Bradley Vasoli
William Tong and Kwame Raoul

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) joined 17other state attorneys general in signing onto an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end the federal “remain in Mexico” immigration policy.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) has spearheaded the effort among liberal state prosecutors to persuade the high court to reverse the Trump-era policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The policy stipulates that asylum seekers generally must await their U.S. asylum hearings in Mexico. The Biden White House has criticized the protocols but the courts have prevented him from reversing it.

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Rep. Boebert Introduces Legislation to Ban Federal Settlement Payments to Illegal Migrants

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, the fiery House GOP freshman from Colorado, is introducing legislation to prohibit the federal government from making settlement payments to illegal immigrants who have sued because their families were separated at the border.

“In Biden’s America, it is better to be a criminal than a law enforcement officer,” Boebert said this week when she rolled out her new bill. “Over half of Border Patrol agents may be fired because of Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees, but illegal aliens get a free pass into our country and could receive a $450,000 check. For contrast, the highest-paid Border Patrol agents make less than half that in yearly salary after 20 years of service.”

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Demands Response from Biden Administration over ‘Laissez-Faire’ Policy Toward Migrants with COVID-19 Entering the Country

Rachel Alexander

Concerned about the lack of testing of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, demanding to know what the Biden administration is doing to ensure that migrants apprehended crossing the border who are infected with COVID-19 or who have been exposed to it are not coming into contact with Americans. He gave Becerra until October 1 to respond. Considering Brnovich has sued the Biden administration multiple times, it appeared to be a threat that he would file another lawsuit if nothing was done.

Brnovich said in his letter, “The Biden administration has chosen the path of increasing government regulation at opposing individual liberties when it comes to handling COVID-19 in the midst of American communities. Yet this same administration has been nothing short of laissez-faire in dealing with tens of thousands of migrants that are pouring across our open border and being ferried across our nation during the same world-wide pandemic. This hypocrisy is stunning and fundamentally unfair to American citizens.” 

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Virginia Attorney General Joins Amicus Brief Aimed to Block Trump Administration’s New Rules for Asylum Seekers

Zachery Schmidt

  Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring joined an amicus brief Tuesday that disputes the Trump administration’s new rules pertaining to asylum seekers’ employment authorization. The Trump administration announced in June that asylum seekers must wait a year before applying for employment authorization rather than 150 days. Also, the administration eliminated the rule that employment authorization forms be processed in 30 days, according to Herring’s press release. These new rules will take place on August 25, according to Fox News. Chad Wolf, who is the secretary of Homeland Security, said that asylum claims have been used by illegal aliens to obtain work authorization” for far too long. “This abuse of the system is unfair to legitimate asylum seekers, diminishes job opportunities for Americans, & disrespects the rule of law,” Wolf said on Twitter. For too long, frivolous & fraudulent asylum claims have been used by illegal aliens to obtain work authorization. This abuse of the system is unfair to legitimate asylum seekers, diminishes job opportunities for Americans, & disrespects the rule of law. https://t.co/SLhpNGC23k pic.twitter.com/SNJr8fKaRq — Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) June 23, 2020 However, Herring does not see it like this. The attorney general said that “individuals” who come to…

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Commentary: To End Border Crisis, Trump Administration Restricts Central American Asylum Claims

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by Robert Romano   Under current immigration and asylum regulations, it was impossible to enforce the law on the southern border. The hundreds of thousands of Central Americans flooding the border the past several months gamed the system, betting that a compassionate America would let them in. Afterward, the families were released into the U.S. pending hearings, but those that showed up did so only to the extent they might be granted asylum, and upon rejection were never heard from again. It’s mandatory catch-and-release. Because of the way the regulations were written. As a result, the number of family units showing up on the border has been skyrocketing. In all of FY 2018, 161,113 family units were apprehended, and 58,660 unaccompanied children. Now family units are up to 427,881 in FY 2019, an increase of 165 percent and unaccompanied children is up 14 percent to 67,116, with three more months remaining in the fiscal year. Now, to get a handle on the problem and to deter future migrant waves, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are using their powers under the law to provide for additional restrictions and have issued a new rule telling asylum seekers…

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US-Guatemala Talks on Central American Asylum Seekers Hit Impasse

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  Major differences have surfaced between the United States and Guatemala over a proposed agreement to block Central Americans from seeking asylum in the U.S., dashing the Trump administration’s hopes for a quick resolution of talks, according to an internal U.S. State Department report on the first full day of talks Thursday in Guatemala. A three-member State Department delegation traveled to Guatemala in search of approval of a seven-page draft White House agreement that would establish a “safe third country” protocol between the U.S. and Guatemala, as VOA first reported Thursday. Under the terms of the proposed deal, migrants fleeing persecution in El Salvador and Honduras would be forced to request asylum in Guatemala, a gateway to Mexico and the United States. In all but rare exceptions, those migrants who chose to continue north to the United States without first exploring their chances in Guatemala would be returned to their home country by U.S. immigration forces. The pending agreement with Guatemala, if signed, would be the first such agreement between the U.S. and a Latin American country in U.S. history. But the State Department readout on the first day of talks suggested that there had been a “complete misinterpretation” by…

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US, Guatemala Close to Deal to Block Central American Asylum-Seekers

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  The Trump administration hopes within days to conclude a deal with Guatemala that would block Central Americans from seeking asylum in the U.S. VOA has obtained an unsigned copy of a seven-page draft White House agreement which would establish a “safe third country” protocol between the U.S. and Guatemala. The draft is set to be presented to the government in Guatemala City this week. Under the terms of the agreement, migrants fleeing persecution in El Salvador and Honduras would be required to seek asylum in Guatemala, a gateway to Mexico and the United States. With few exceptions, those who continue north to the U.S. without testing their chances in Guatemala would be sent back to Guatemala by U.S. immigration authorities. Mexico has resisted entering a “safe third country” agreement as part of its recent deal with the Trump administration to avoid punishing tariffs. But talks of a regional pact emerged shortly after President Donald Trump revealed he had agreed to terms with Mexico to curb migration levels through increased Mexican enforcement. In May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) registered the highest monthly total of southwest border apprehensions in 13 years, setting up Trump’s most recent showdown with his…

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More Asylum-Seekers Sue Trump Administration

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  A group of detained asylum-seekers sued the U.S. government Thursday claiming immigration officials in five Southern states are systematically denying them parole. In the second lawsuit of its kind filed against the Trump administration, legal advocacy groups representing 12 plaintiffs are seeking class-action status on behalf of hundreds of asylum seekers being held in detention centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. In addition to Central American migrants, the plaintiffs include a member of a Cameroonian opposition party and Cuban and Venezuelan political dissidents. Migrants who arrive at U.S. ports of entry and ask for refuge in the United States are not eligible for bond hearings in front of a judge, but they can be released from detention on parole for humanitarian reasons under a 2009 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy. Denying parole The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, claims that in recent months there has been an “unwritten policy and practice of categorically denying parole to asylum-seekers” that violates the government’s “own directive and guidelines.” According to ICE data cited in the complaint, the New Orleans Field Office, which…

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Report: Trump Administration Orders Asylum Officers to Get Tougher with Applicants

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by Jason Hopkins   A directive from the White House is reportedly ordering asylum screeners to be more skeptical and confrontational with applicants, marking the administration’s latest attempt to weed out fraud. Asylum officers are to more aggressively pursue inconsistencies they see from applicants who claim they are facing persecution in their home countries, according to emails and documents obtained by The Washington Post. Officers will also be required to provide comprehensive justifications prior to determining an applicant has a legitimate fear of harm if deported from the U.S. Additionally, officers are to focus on any discrepancies between what a migrant might have told an arresting Border Patrol officer and what the migrant said during an asylum application interview. “Officers conducting credible fear interviews should also be addressing any more detailed inconsistencies between the applicant’s testimony during the credible fear interview and other testimony in sworn statement,” read a staff email from John Lafferty, the chief of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) asylum division, obtained by The Washington Post. The new directive follows numerous other changes the Trump administration made to clamp down on immigration fraud at the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Patrol agents are rolling out a DNA-testing…

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Attorney General Expands Indefinite Detention for Asylum-Seekers

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Illegal Alien Detention center

The U.S. Attorney General on Tuesday struck down a decision that had allowed some asylum-seekers to ask for bond in front of an immigration judge, in a ruling that expands indefinite detention for some migrants who must wait months or years for their cases to be heard. The first immigration court ruling from President Donald Trump’s newly appointed Attorney General William Barr is in keeping with the administration’s moves to clamp down on the asylum process as tens of thousands of mostly Central Americans cross into the United States asking for refuge. U.S. immigration courts are overseen by the Justice Department and the Attorney General can rule in cases to set legal precedent. Barr’s ruling is the latest instance of the Trump administration taking a hard line on immigration. This year the administration implemented a policy to return some asylum-seekers to Mexico while their cases work their way through backlogged courts, a policy that has been challenged with a lawsuit. Several top officials at the Department of Homeland Security were forced out this month over Trump’s frustrations with an influx of migrants seeking refuge at the U.S. southern border. Migrants crossing illegally Barr’s decision applies to migrants who crossed illegally…

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Report: Trump Making Immigration Move After Favorable Ruling from 9th Circuit

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by Grace Carr   The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to return asylum seekers to Mexico while they await immigration hearings following a temporary lift on an injunction barring the administration from action. Staff at the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are preparing to enforce President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which returns asylum seekers to Mexico while they await a hearing. USCIS officials told staffers to ready themselves for enforcement of the policy, according to emails obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The “Remain in Mexico” policy is intended to help immigration officials who face a growing crisis at the border. The policy has likely contributed to growing numbers of immigrants trying to cross the border illegally rather than through ports of entry, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The move comes after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California temporarily lifted an injunction preventing the administration from enforcing the policy. The temporary lift followed San Francisco Judge Richard Seeborg’s April 8 order for the administration to halt the deportation of asylum seekers, according to The Associated Press. An internal memo referenced the 9th Circuit’s decision “that granted the government’s emergency…

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Guatemalan Migrant Recruiter: It’s ‘Never Been Easier’ to Get Illegals Into the US

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by Jason Hopkins   Word is spreading among Central Americans that, if one reaches the U.S.-Mexico border with a child and claims asylum, it’s fairly easy to evade deportation. “It’s never been easier for us to get families in,” Germán, a client recruiter for human smugglers, said in an interview with The Guardian. Germán works in Huehuetenango, a Guatemalan district that has experienced the highest rate of migration in the country. “People want to leave, and we help them,” said Germán, 34. “And I happen to make money in the process.” Migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached their highest in over a decade, causing what the Trump administration has dubbed an “emergency crisis.” Unlike years prior, the vast majority of the foreign nationals currently trying to get into the country hail from Central America and belong to family units. Originally intended to manage mostly adult, Mexican men traveling alone, the U.S. immigration system has buckled under the weight of Central American families and unaccompanied alien children arriving at the border — many of them actively seeking out border agents and immediately requesting asylum. A major motivation for migrants to make the dangerous trek across Mexico has been the…

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The Trump Administration Is Expanding a Program That Boots Asylum Seekers Back to Mexico

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by Jason Hopkins   The Trump administration will be increasing the number of Central American asylum seekers who are sent back to Mexico to await their court case. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Monday she will be expanding the “Migrant Protection Protocols” program, more popularly known as “Remain in Mexico.” Nielsen, in a memo sent to the federal border chief, ordered Customs and Border Protection agents deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border to begin reviewing hundreds of migrant cases a day to determine if they should be booted back to Mexico. “[The Department of Homeland Security] will require more migrants to wait in Mexico, with appropriate humanitarian protections, during their immigration proceedings to prevent fraud & ensure they don’t escape the law and disappear into the country,” Nielsen tweeted Monday. That is why @DHSgov will require more migrants to wait in Mexico, with appropriate humanitarian protections, during their immigration proceedings to prevent fraud & ensure they don’t escape the law and disappear into the country. — Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) April 2, 2019 The “Remain in Mexico” program, which started in late 2018, bars non-Mexican immigrants from immediately entering the U.S. interior after claiming asylum at the U.S. southern border.…

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Incoming Mexico Government Says No Deal to Hosting Asylum-Seekers

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  Mexico’s incoming government denied a report Saturday that it planned to allow asylum seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through U.S. immigration courts, one of several options the Trump administration has been pursuing in negotiations for months. “There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U.S. government,” future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement. Hours earlier, The Washington Post quoted her as saying that the incoming administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had agreed to allow migrants to stay in Mexico as a “short-term solution” while the U.S. considered their applications for asylum. Lopez Obrador will take office Dec. 1. The statement shared with The Associated Press said the future government’s principal concern related to the migrants was their well-being while in Mexico. Sanchez said the government did not plan for Mexico to become a “third safe country.” The Post reported Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had won support from the Mexican president-elect’s team for a plan dubbed “Remain in Mexico.” The newspaper also quoted Sanchez as saying: “For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico.” Sanchez did not…

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