MIGRATION UPDATE
CMS Migration Update is a weekly digest of news and other information related to national and international migration.  It is designed to educate faith leaders regarding vulnerable immigrant populations, developments in the immigration field, pastoral resources and the religious touchstones of diverse faith traditions on migrants and newcomers. It should not be relied upon to provide advice or counsel in immigration cases. The publication is provided by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), an educational institute/think-tank devoted to the study of international migration, to the promotion of understanding between immigrants and receiving communities, and to public policies that safeguard the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees and newcomers. CMS is a member of the Scalabrini International Migration Network, an international network of shelters, welcoming centers, and other ministries for migrants.
Thomas J. Shea
Editor
Rachel Reyes
Communications Coordinator
April 28, 2015

Spain About to Offer Citizenship to 2.2 Million Jews

Spain wants to make amends for expelling Jews from the country in 1492

Time (March 30, 2015)
 
An estimated 90,000 to 2.2 million people may obtain Spanish citizenship under a bill that is expected to become law at the end of the year. Once law, the Sephardic Ancestry Bill will permit the descendants of Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 to apply for Spanish citizenship.  Prospective beneficiaries must prove that they have a direct ancestor who fled Spain because of the Edict of Expulsion -- 523 years ago. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued the order requiring all Jews to either convert to Catholicism or depart the country. The bill is an effort by the Spanish government to correct an historical mistake and allow Sephardic Jews to regain what should never have been taken away from them -- their Spanish citizenship.
 
To read more, visit http://time.com/3763381/spain-sephardic-jews-citizenship/.
 

More Than 800 Dead In Mediterranean Migrant Tragedy (Audio)

National Public Radio (April 21, 2015)
 
The worst migrant disaster ever on the Mediterranean Sea reportedly occurred on April 19th when a ship, overloaded with hundreds of migrants, capsized and sank off the coast of Libya. More than 800 migrants died, many of them locked in the hold of the ship. Twenty-eight people survived and were brought to Italy. Among them were the captain and first mate, who were arrested for murder, smuggling, and causing the shipwreck. Almost 2,000 migrants have died this year on the Mediterranean trying to flee violence and poverty in Africa and Asia. It is unclear whether this tragedy will finally spur European leaders to take action to help prevent future migrant deaths at sea.
 
To read more, visit http://www.npr.org/2015/04/21/401318889/more-than-800-dead-in-mediterranean-migrant-tragedy.

Germany’s Small Towns Feel the Cost of Europe’s Migrant Crisis

The New York Times (April 22, 2015)
 
In 2014, 200,000 people applied for asylum in Germany. This year, the country is preparing to receive an estimated 300,000 asylum applications while trying to integrate the migrants from last year. This article uses a small town of Vorra, Germany as an example of how tensions can rise in otherwise hospitable places when coping with an influx of refugees.
 
To read more, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/world/europe/germany-immigration-refugees-asylum-integration.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150422&nlid=47251438&tntemail0=y&_r=0.
 
 

Without Reform, State Policies Remain Crucial to Immigrant Healthcare

ImmigrationImpact (April 23, 2015)
 
The author writes that, while the nation waits for comprehensive immigration reform on the federal level, state policies have a huge impact on the lives of undocumented immigrants, particularly in the area of public health. Although it might be self-evident that broad access to healthcare will lead to healthier communities, undocumented immigrants face many barriers in obtaining healthcare. States can play a primary role in creating or eliminating those barriers.
 
To learn more, visit http://immigrationimpact.com/2015/04/23/without-reform-state-policies-remain-crucial-to-immigrant-healthcare/.

Living Like Prisoners: Women Talk about US Detention Centers

The National Catholic Reporter, Global Sisters Report (April 23, 2015)
 
The author writes about five Central American women who were detained at the Karnes County Residential Center which is located about 55 miles southeast of San Antonio, Texas. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracted with The GEO Group, Inc., a for-profit prison company, to run the detention facility. The center holds 180 women and child asylum seekers. The women described the GEO Group staff as creating an “atmosphere of humiliation and intimidation” by enforcing overly regimented living conditions and threatening to use any violations of the rules against the women in their immigration cases. The women questioned why they and their children were being punished with detention when they are merely seeking refuge in the United States.
 
To read more, visit http://globalsistersreport.org/migration/living-prisoners-women-talk-about-us-detention-centers-23901.

An Unending Refugee Tragedy: Europe's Path to Deadly Partition

Spiegel Online International (April 24, 2015)
 
The authors lay out their perspective on the migrant policy developments in the European Union from October 2013, when hundreds of migrants drowned off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, to this month, when approximately 800 migrants died when a boat fleeing Libya capsized and sank in the Mediterranean Sea. According to this article, European leaders can prevent the deaths of refugees fleeing over the Mediterranean but they lack the will to do so.
 
To read more, visit http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/eu-policies-worsen-an-already-deadly-situation-for-immigrants-a-1030550.html.
 

If you are a migrant or pastoral worker and wish to submit an article or reflection to the CMS Migration Update, please email Tom Shea at tshea@cmsny.org

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