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Issue #58 — September 20, 2019
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U.S. (Im)migration News
"Asylum ban" takes effect: The Supreme Court last week allowed a sweeping Trump administration rule to take effect that will effectively bar most migrants from being able to seek asylum at the southern border (Reuters). The “asylum ban” deems migrants ineligible for asylum if they have not first applied for — and been denied — asylum in a country they traversed en route to the U.S. The policy is now being implemented across the southern border. The Supreme Court’s brief, unsigned decision will stay in place at least until December, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a legal challenge to the policy (Mother Jones). In the meantime, immigrant advocates say the policy endangers asylum seekers by forcing them to live in danger of kidnapping — or worse — in Mexico. Related: More than 125 migrant mothers and children sue U.S. over asylum ban (Reuters). See also: Is Trump’s America tougher on asylum than other countries? (The New York Times).
What we’re watching:
- More reports of kidnapping and deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border: The Trump administration has sent more than 45,000 migrants back to Mexico since January under its "remain in Mexico" policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols. Many wait in grave danger as their asylum claims wind through U.S. courts. There have been some 200 reports of rape, kidnapping and assault, according to a new report by Human Rights First. Meanwhile, migrants appearing in newly created "tent courts" at the border tell judges of the horrors they face in Mexico as they plead to remain in the U.S. (Texas Observer). Related: More immigrant children are dying as the Trump administration sends people back to Mexico (BuzzFeed News). See also: Trump's asylum policies sent him back to Mexico. He was kidnapped five hours later by a cartel (Vice News).
- USCIS reinstates ‘deferred removal’: The Trump administration has reversed itself and will again allow undocumented immigrants facing serious illnesses to remain in the U.S. to get medical care without feat of deportation (Miami Herald). The announcement came after uproar from activists and Democratic leaders who said the move would have put vulnerable people at risk of being deported to death (CNN).
What we’re reading:
- Associated Press: U.S., El Salvador to sign "cooperative asylum agreement."
- Washington Post: Trump officials considering plan to divert billions of dollars in additional funds for border barrier.
- Los Angeles Times: Border Patrol agents, rather than asylum officers, are interviewing families for “credible fear.”
- Al Jazeera: The Trump administration is considering further cuts to the annual cap on refugees.
- Vox: A rare bipartisan bill on green cards has tanked in the Senate.
- BuzzFeed News: USCIS wants the power to reveal the personal information of refugees and asylees who are accused of crimes.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution: In Gainesville, Georgia, ‘poultry capital of the world,’ the stakes are high for an industry dependant on immigrant labor.
- The Atlantic: The capricious use of solitary confinement against detained immigrants.
- San Francisco Chronicle: Watch the videos introducing immigrants to U.S. courts.
- BuzzFeed News: The Trump administration wants to charge immigrants nearly $1,000 to appeal deportation cases.
- The Nation: A Nepali TPS holder and domestic worker describes what it’s like to live in the US without papers and to fight for workers’ rights.
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Nasir Zakaria, right, a Rohingya refugee who was resettled to Chicago, at his naturalization ceremony. Read about his journey from statelessness to U.S. citizen here. Photo by Tania Karas/PRI's The World.
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Longreads:
- The New York Times: A small German village where far-right parties were popular welcomed Syrian refugees to save its struggling local school.
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Time: How refugees summon joy — and why they hide it from us.
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Associated Press: The first part in a new series tells the stories of migrants stranded for months in a shelter in Ciudad Juarez.
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Houston Chronicle: Two brothers who came to the U.S. ‘the right way’ face deportation after the government shut down the program that had granted them entry.
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El Pais: Since March this year, the EU’s naval mission to fight migrant smuggling has operated without any ships.
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Around the World
New Greek government cracks down on refugees as arrivals increase: Arrivals of refugees on the Greek islands increased this summer to their highest point since the EU and Turkey signed a deal in 2016 to stem migration. More than 30,000 have landed in Greece so far this year — a 47 percent increase over the same period last year (IOM). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again threatened to “open the gates” and allow refugees into Europe if Turkey was not given more funds (The New York Times). New arrivals face harsh conditions on the Greek islands. The infamous Moria camp on the island of Lesvos is over three times its capacity: More than 9,600 people are living in a space meant for 3,000 (Deutsche Welle). Aid groups have reported dozens of instances of children self-harming or attempting suicide (The Guardian).
Greece’s newly elected New Democracy ruling party has put migration at the top of its agenda and announced a series of emergency measures to address the increase in arrivals (Macropolis). Most controversially, the new government announced it would abolish the body which hears appeals from rejected asylum applications. An appeals process is mandatory under European and international humanitarian law, and the proposals have sparked outcry from human rights groups and the judiciary (Al Jazeera). Related: New Greek government cracks down on migrant squats (Politico).
Italy softens stance on rescue ships: Italy’s new government has, for the first time this year, given permission to an NGO rescue ship carrying 82 migrants to come ashore (Reuters). Hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini and his party were pushed out of the government when their coalition collapsed at the start of September. Since then, the center-left Democratic Party made a change in migration policy a condition of joining the government, and the new interior minister is a career civil servant known for organizing migrant integration programs (The Guardian). But Italy says it gave permission only because of an ad hoc arrangement for other EU countries to accept most of the disembarked migrants, and is still calling for an “automatic” system to distribute future arrivals (Reuters).
What we’re reading:
Americas:
- The New Humanitarian: Haitians fear deportation from Bahamas after storm disaster.
- CBC: A special immigration program for Canada’s Atlantic populations is being targeted by a scam, in which immigrants pay a large fee for a fake job offer qualifying them for a visa.
- Al Jazeera: Since 2016 more than 100,000 Venezuelans have fled to Argentina, but their prospects are limited in a country facing a serious recession.
Middle East & North Africa:
- IOM: A Sudanese migrant fleeing Libya was killed hours after the boat he was on was intercepted and returned to Tripoli by the coast guard.
- Irish Times: Rwanda is set to welcome hundreds of migrants being evacuated from Libya by the UN, under a new deal partly funded by the EU.
- The New Humanitarian: Syrian deportations leave behind hardship, fear in Lebanon.
- Voice of America: Hundreds of Palestinian refugees facing deteriorating conditions in Lebanon are now asking for asylum in Canada and Australia.
Europe:
- Al Jazeera: Italian navy and coast guard officials have been indicted by a judge in Rome on charges of allowing migrants to die by delaying a rescue in 2013.
- Irish Times: Three men accused of torturing and extorting migrants while working as guards in a Libyan detention center have been arrested in Italy.
- France24: French police are clearing a migrant camp in northern France, dispersing around 1,000 people to shelters around the region.
- Deutsche Welle: Refugee system in Cyprus close to tipping point as more and more migrants arrive from Turkey.
Sub-Saharan Africa:
- Al Jazeera: Nigeria has repatriated 600 of its nationals from South Africa after violence against foreigners killed at least 12 people and forced hundreds to seek refuge.
- Defense Post: Since September, fighting between rival militias has forced 13,000 people in the Central African Republic to flee their homes.
- Mail & Guardian: Nigerians who’ve returned from Libya under a UN voluntary repatriation program are burdened with large debts and struggle to reintegrate.
- Foreign Policy: South Africans are used to being targets of racist hatred. Now, with attacks on refugees and asylum seekers, they’ve become the haters.
Asia-Pacific:
- Radio New Zealand: New Zealand has simplified its temporary work immigration system, replacing six programs with a single visa; advocates worry the change won’t address the risk of exploitation.
- SBS: A UN official who will soon have unlimited access to Australia's detention facilities says there are "systematic issues" with the country's policies.
- Al Jazeera: A 20-year old student who was expelled from her university in Bangladesh for being Rohingya has become the face of a campaign for refugees’ rights to study.
- The Guardian: Australia’s funding cuts force hundreds of homeless refugees to plead to be taken into immigration detention.
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Miscellaneous Things We Love
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PRI's The World: What it’s like to become a U.S. citizen after a lifetime of statelessness.
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Mirror: Refugee turned mayor in the UK opens a pay-it-forward cafe to help homeless and struggling families.
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Associated Press: As Trump closes the door to immigrants, some U.S. citizens open their homes to them.
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Thomson Reuters: UN honors activist who helped thousands of refugees return to Congo.
- Huffington Post: Couple separated by Trump’s “Muslim ban” reunited after HuffPost report.
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Welcome to our biweekly newsletter on global migration policy, with a U.S. focus.
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Tania Karas is a reporter and editor covering immigration for PRI's The World. She has reported from Greece, Turkey and Lebanon and was previously a staff reporter for the New York Law Journal. Find her on Twitter at @TaniaKaras.
Lolita Brayman is a U.S.-based immigrant rights attorney focusing on refugee and asylum issues and a staff attorney with the Defending Vulnerable Populations Program with CLINIC. Find her on Twitter at @lolzlita.
Moira Lavelle is a freelance reporter focusing on gender, migration, and borders. She has written for Broadly, Rewire, and PRI. Find her on Twitter @alohamoira.
Fergus Peace is a researcher and journalist writing about refugees and migration. He's recently written for the Financial Times and Apolitical, and tweets at @FergusPeace.
Logo design by John Kapenga.
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