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Check out this week's digest of news, resources, faith reflections, and analysis of international migration and refugee protection, brought to you by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS).
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Crux (September 12, 2021)
Through his anti-immigrant rhetoric, Prime Minister Victor Orban of Hungary has promoted a nationalist xenophobic sentiment at odds with Pope Francis’ call for welcoming and integrating immigrants. During a trip to Hungary on September 12, Pope Francis stated that “the cross is, yes, an invitation to uphold Christian roots, but also a call to be open to everyone.” Hungary is a transit country for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants, a majority of whom are Muslim and are fleeing poverty, conflict and “climate-change related crises.” They pass through Hungary, usually intending to settle in wealthier European countries. Referencing the anti-immigrant sentiment in the country, Pope Francis said, “The cross urges us to keep our roots firm, but without defensiveness; to draw from the wellsprings, opening ourselves to the thirst of the men and women of our time. . . . My wish is that you be like that: grounded and open, rooted and considerate.”
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The Hill (September 12, 2021)
The Biden administration ended the Trump-era Migration Protection Protocols (MPP), more commonly known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, but a federal court recently ordered the administration to resume the policy. The US Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling. Since its implementation by the Trump administration in 2018, more than 70,000 asylum-seekers were expelled from the United States and forced to wait in Mexico for their US court hearings. The Biden administration must now decide whether to resume a policy that it pledged to end during his presidential campaign or find another way to permit asylum seekers to enter the United States and present their claims. Immigrant advocates urge the Biden administration to rewrite the memo terminating MPP to remove its legal defects and make it more difficult to attack, in order to protect asylum-seekers’ right to apply for asylum within the United States.
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The Catholic Register (September 9, 2021)
Deacon Rudy Ovcjack, director of the Office for Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto (ORAT), said that Canada’s Catholics are in a better position than most to support Pope Francis’ call to welcome migrants and refugees. In a message for the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 27th, Pope Francis said “This is the ideal of the new Jerusalem, where all peoples are united in peace and harmony, celebrating the goodness of God and the wonders of creation. To achieve this ideal, however, we must make every effort to break down the walls that separate us.” Deacon Ovcjack stated that because Canada permits its citizens to privately sponsor refugees through independent organizations, Canadian Catholics can take up Pope Francis’ challenge to welcome displaced people. “In Canada we have a unique situation through the private sponsorship of refugees program, where Catholics have the opportunity to be directly involved in coming to the aid of refugees.” Canada’s policy of private sponsorship of displaced people came about in response to the Vietnamese boat people crisis from 1978 to 1981. Under the policy, sponsoring groups assist newly arrived refugees with finances, lodging, material goods, and connecting to interpreters, language learning, schooling and medical care.
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Ignatian Solidarity Network (August 13, 2021)
When speaking about the recent difficulties Congress has faced trying to pass a budget resolution which includes a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS beneficiaries, and essential workers, Jose Arnulfo Cabrera, director of Education and Advocacy for Migration for the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN), recounts a story from his childhood. Cabrera recalls how his mother cleaned houses for most of his life, and how he would sometimes accompany and help her as a child. He remembers one particular house where the vacuum cleaner would always break and his mother would always have to fix it. One time, while he was using the vacuum cleaner, it broke, and his mother told him to fix it. When he could not fix it, she reprimanded him and said “Eres un mexicano y nosotros siempre encontramos nuestra maña!”—“You’re a Mexican. We always find our trick.” Alluding to the immigration reform measures before Congress now, he writes, “Life can be like an old broken vacuum, and you could spend hours trying to fix it. But you can’t give up. You must keep working on it until you find your maña (trick). I’ve spent most of my life working towards a pathway to citizenship for my undocumented community. We can’t just give up because some senators don’t have the moral courage.”
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The Hill (September 10, 2021)
Senate Democrats recently met with Senate Parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, to discuss a proposal to include in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill a plan to open a pathway to permanent residence (green cards) for approximately 8 million undocumented people living in the United States, including Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries, and agricultural and other essential workers. The Senate Parliamentarian is a non-partisan referee who will determine whether the legalization plan can be included in the budget reconciliation process. The Democrats are using the budget reconciliation process because it prevents the Senate Republicans from filibustering the measure. Senate rules, however, limit what measures can be included in the budget reconciliation process, and the Senate Parliamentarian will determine whether the rules prevent the legalization proposal to be included. Democrats will need to convince the Senate Parliamentarian that their legalization proposal will have “an impact on federal spending and revenues and that its impact [will not be] ‘merely incidental’ to its non-budgetary goals.”
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GZeroMedia (August 31, 2021)
Since 2014, approximately 5.4 million Venezuelans have fled their home country. Of those who fled, 80 percent reside in Latin America and the Caribbean. The largest share of displaced Venezuelans – 1.7 million people – live in neighboring Colombia. This graphic, created with data from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), shows how many Venezuelans reside in each country across the region.
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NEW FROM CMS
In the United States, 9.6 million children are living in poverty. Federal and state tax credits are among the most effective policy tools for fighting child poverty. However, one in six US citizen children who are living in poverty are not eligible to receive these tax credits because they have at least one undocumented parent.
Learn more in the new Journal on Migration and Human Security report, “Tax Equality for Immigrants: The Indispensable Ingredient for Remedying Child Poverty in the United States.”
Join the CMS and co-sponsors, the Price Center for Social Innovation at the University of Southern California, and NETWORK, the national Catholic social justice lobby, for the webinar, Tax Equality for Immigrants and Child Poverty, on September 15, 2021.
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POLICY UPDATE
Beginning today, September 14, 2021, new applications for the Central American Minors (CAM) program will be accepted. The program allows certain children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to enter the United States to reunite with their parents who are lawfully present. The first phase of reopening the CAM program began on March 10, 2021, when the US Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reopened cases that were pending in 2018 before CAM was terminated. In June, the agencies announced they would expand eligibility for the program. The CAM program is intended to protect child migrants who might otherwise attempt to travel to the United States through dangerous, irregular routes.
On Friday, September 10, 2021, Congressional Democrats presented arguments for including a pathway to citizenship in a budget reconciliation bill to the Senate Parliamentarian. Lawmakers have proposed legalization provisions for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, undocumented farmworkers, and other essential workers. In order to include these provisions in a budget reconciliation bill, the Senate Parliamentarian must rule that they relate directly to the budget. Unlike other legislation, a budget reconciliation bill can pass the Senate with a simple majority (51 votes) because it cannot be filibustered. The filibuster allows one member of the Senate to prevent a vote on a bill until 60 members support having a vote. A recent CMS study found that “median household income was $25,800, or 27 percent, higher for the naturalized population, compared to the population that had not naturalized.” Higher incomes could allow the United States to increase its tax revenue.
On September 9, 2021, DHS announced the automatic extension of TPS for beneficiaries from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. Work authorization and protection from deportation will continue under these country designations until December 31, 2022. The automatic extensions are permitted because court injunctions are blocking the termination of TPS. The September 9th announcement encouraged individuals from Haiti to reapply for TPS under the new 18-month designation, which became effective August 3. If the current injunction is lifted, TPS under the new designation will continue, but the older Haiti designation and the designations for other countries will be terminated. TPS provides temporary protection against deportation and work authorization to nationals of designated countries, who cannot return home safely due to armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched an online scheduling tool to allow individuals to book required check-in appointments with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Prior to the online tool launch on September 2, individuals had to book appointments by phone or in person. The new online tool is accessible in English and Spanish.
On September 2, 2021, a federal judge ruled that the practice of metering – limiting entry for asylum-seekers and forcing them to wait in Mexico “until space opens up to process claims” – is illegal. The ruling is the culmination of a lawsuit filed four years ago by Al Otro Lado, a binational service and advocacy organization, and 13 asylum seekers. The September 2nd ruling gave the US government and Al Otro Lado until October 1 to submit supplemental briefs on how to rectify the situation and to consider the impact of Title 42.
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ACTUALIZACIÓN DE POLÍTICA
A partir de hoy, 14 de septiembre de 2021, se aceptarán nuevas solicitudes para el programa de menores centroamericanos (CAM). El programa permite que ciertos niños de El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras ingresen a los Estados Unidos para reunirse con sus padres que están legalmente presentes. La primera fase de reapertura del programa CAM comenzó el 10 de marzo de 2021, cuando el Departamento de Estado (DOS) y el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) reabrieron los casos que estaban pendientes en 2018 antes de que se cancelara CAM. En junio, las agencias anunciaron que ampliarían la elegibilidad para el programa. El programa CAM está destinado a proteger a los niños migrantes que, de otro modo, podrían intentar viajar a los Estados Unidos a través de rutas peligrosas e irregulares.
El viernes 10 de septiembre de 2021, los demócratas del Congreso presentaron argumentos para incluir un camino hacia la ciudadanía en un proyecto de ley de reconciliación presupuestaria al parlamentario del Senado. Los legisladores han propuesto disposiciones de legalización para inmigrantes indocumentados traídos a los Estados Unidos cuando eran niños, titulares de Estado de Protección Temporal (TPS), trabajadores agrícolas indocumentados y otros trabajadores esenciales. Para incluir estas disposiciones en un proyecto de ley de conciliación presupuestaria, el parlamentario del Senado debe decidir que se relacionan directamente con el presupuesto. A diferencia de otras leyes, un proyecto de ley de conciliación presupuestaria puede aprobarse en el Senado por mayoría simple (51 votos) porque no puede ser filibusterado. El filibustero permite que un miembro del Senado impida la votación de un proyecto de ley hasta que 60 miembros apoyen la votación. Un estudio reciente de CMS encontró que "el ingreso familiar promedio era $ 25,800, o 27 por ciento, más alto para la población naturalizada, en comparación con la población que no se había naturalizado". Los ingresos más altos podrían permitir a Estados Unidos aumentar sus ingresos fiscales.
El 9 de septiembre de 2021, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) anunció la extensión automática del TPS para los beneficiarios de El Salvador, Haití, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua y Sudán. La autorización de trabajo y la protección contra la deportación continuarán bajo estas designaciones de países hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2022. Las extensiones automáticas están permitidas porque las órdenes judiciales están bloqueando la terminación del TPS. El anuncio del 9 de septiembre alentó a las personas de Haití a volver a solicitar el TPS bajo la nueva designación de 18 meses, que entró en vigencia el 3 de agosto. Si se levanta la orden judicial actual, el TPS bajo la nueva designación continuará, pero la anterior designación de Haití y las designaciones de otros países serán cancelados. TPS brinda protección temporal contra la deportación y autorización de trabajo a ciudadanos de países designados que no pueden regresar a sus hogares de manera segura debido a conflictos armados, desastres ambientales u otras condiciones extraordinarias.
El Servicio Control de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) lanzó una herramienta de programación en línea para permitir que las personas reserven las citas de registro requeridas con las Operaciones de cumplimiento y remoción de ICE. Antes del lanzamiento de la herramienta en línea el 2 de septiembre, las personas tenían que reservar citas por teléfono o en persona. La nueva herramienta en línea está disponible en inglés y español.
El 2 de septiembre de 2021, un juez federal dictaminó que la práctica de la medición, que limita la entrada de solicitantes de asilo y los obliga a esperar en México “hasta que se abra espacio para procesar reclamos”, es ilegal. El fallo es la culminación de una demanda presentada hace cuatro años por Al Otro Lado, una organización binacional de servicios y defensa, y 13 solicitantes de asilo. El fallo del 2 de septiembre dio al gobierno de Estados Unidos y a Al Otro Lado hasta el 1 de octubre para presentar informes complementarios sobre cómo rectificar la situación y considerar el impacto del Título 42.
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