Migratory Notes 38
Fathers and kids at the border; Travel Ban 4.0?
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Families Crossing Borders
It’s called the “human smuggling disruption initiative.” The target? Parents or guardians who have “smuggled” their children into the country. From June through August 444 immigrants were apprehended through the program, reports the Dallas Morning News in an in-depth feature.
Fathers and their children are crossing the border in larger numbers, overwhelming limited detention facilities. They are mostly Central American, Buzzfeed News reports, and are an unintended consequence of the Trump administration’s crackdown on women and children. Detention centers don’t always have the space to house father-led families, and immigration authorities have let hundreds of them leave each week.
While the number of father-led family crossings may be up, The Washington Times reports the top border official predicts that overall 2017 could be the lowest level of illegal crossings in over 45 years. Yet the deaths crossing the border have remained constant, as the boundary becomes more militarized, HuffPost reports on an Arizona town whose “backyard has become a graveyard” and where retirees are on patrol.
Building the Wall, Lying on the Job
A series of prototypes for Trump’s extended border wall have gone up in the desert outside San Diego. New York Magazine assesses each border wall model for its design grade, key attributes and chance of being built. Spoiler alert: they say the likelihood any of these new walls will be built is zero.
The process to arrive at the prototypes was often a confusing and haphazard one, USA Today reports based on nearly 200 pages of emails they acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The use of polygraphs in job interviews for Border Patrol has inspired some applicants to confess to serious crimes such as child pornography and sex with minors, further exacerbating the agency’s staffing crisis, reports The Verge. To increase the pool of applicants, lawmakers are trying to get rid of the polygraph test altogether. On average, two-thirds of applicants who take the polygraph test fail, an investigation by The Los Angeles Times found earlier this year.
Refugee Reconfigurations or Travel Ban 4.0?
Back in June, Trump halted refugee admissions for 120 days as part of his travel ban. With the order expiring, refugee admission will open up again but with a series of changes. All refugees will face expanded screening, including doubling from 5 to 10 years the period from which the agency requests back data and must provide contact information for family members, reports Politico.
In addition, refugees from 11 countries in Africa and the Middle East will face more restrictions, reports Reuters, while a family reunification program for some refugees will be placed on hold.
The countries facing additional restrictions haven’t been formally named, but multiple outlets are reporting they are Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen (The Atlantic). Of these countries, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Iran send the most refugees to the U.S. Under the administration’s new guidelines, refugees from these countries will only be admitted if their entry is in the national interest or poses no security threats (Politico).
Abortions and Detention
A federal appeals court judge ruled in favor of a pregnant undocumented teen’s right to get an abortion after weeks of wrangling with the Trump administration’s attempt to stop the procedure. A report by the Texas Observer accuses shelter staff of forcing the pregnant teen to call and confess her pregnancy to her abusive parents. The teen spoke with Vice News after she received counseling for the procedure.
Immigration is Local Politics
Vox’s podcast, The Weeds, explores how immigration has become a lightning rod issue in the Virginia governor’s race.
No sanctuary municipalities exist in South Carolina, but that is not enough for the governor. He is backing a harsh anti-immigrant measure forcing local municipalities to prove they are not “sanctuary cities, McClatchy reports.
Inching Forward on DACA
Senate Republicans are quietly discussing a long-term fix for DACA, reports Politico, though it’s likely that any measure will include controversial enforcement provisions such as border investment and further limiting migration. Without any action, the work permits of hundreds of thousands of DACA youth will expire next year. One option hinted at by Paul Ryan is that a legislative fix may be included in a spending bill at the end of the year, reports HuffPost.
Enforcement
A 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who has lived in the US since she was three months old faces deportation after Border Patrol agents stopped the ambulance she was riding in, The New York Times reports. During the girl’s emergency surgery, federal agents waited outside her hospital room and when it was completed placed her in removal proceedings immediately after she was medically discharged from Driscoll Children’s Hospital on Wednesday morning, reports the Corpus Christi Caller Times.
A cellphone video of ICE agents arresting a man in Oregon has gone viral and set off criticism of ICE’s home-raid tactics, reports The New York Times. Two Oregon senators have raised concerns that the video shows illegal entry by ICE, reports The Oregonian. Watch the full video.
Dirty Jobs
More people may die cleaning up after Harvey and Irma than in the storms themselves, The Guardian reports. Unlike the post-9/11 cleanup, from which more than 1,000 workers died, the laborers in Texas are generally not unionized or documented. Cuts at OSHA and decreased regulation, as well as deportation fears, could put them at increased risk.
A study taking advantage of data from Obama’s first-term deportation spree shows that when “enforcement intensified the most, the wages of American-born workers actually did worse,” The New York Times’ Eduardo Porter writes. He dissects how agriculture could be the most impacted by Trump’s immigration crackdown and how farmers are unlikely to raise wages to employ Americans.
Mar-A-Lago and GEO
A Chinese dissident’s status as a member of the Mar-a-Lago resort may have weighed into Trump’s decision to reconsider trying to deport him, reports Vanity Fair.
A golf resort owned by the president was the site of a GEO Group conference this year, an example of the efforts private prison companies have taken to endear themselves to Trump, reports The Washington Post. Geo Group has already secured the Trump administration’s first contract for a new immigration detention center.
Follows — Arpaio verdict, Kate Steinle murder trial, ankle monitors, immigrant recruits
- Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio may have been pardoned by the Trump administration, but a federal judge won’t drop most of the rulings against Arpaio from the record as the administration requested. (Politico)
- Opening statements have begun in the murder trial of Kate Steinle, whose killing by an undocumented immigrant spurred calls for more aggressive border enforcement. (CNN) Los Angeles Times Columnist Robin Abcarian asks why Steinle’s killer had a gun in the first place, and places the blame on the owner of the stolen loaded weapon that ended up on San Francisco’s Pier 14.
- The federal government has launched an investigation into whether Libre by Nexus, a Virginia-based company that makes ankle bracelet monitors, is illegally acting as a lender and preying on undocumented immigrants. (Washington Post)
- A U. S. judge stopped the Pentagon from blocking fast-tracked citizenship applications for about 2,000 foreign-born U.S. Army Reserve soldiers. (Washington Post)
JOB POSTINGS & OPPORTUNITIES
Selected Resources
- DACA studies/ guides:
- Who are the DACA recipients (Urban Institute) also check out Local Insights from DACA (Brookings)
- DACA, the DREAM Act and undocumented immigrants: A primer for journalists (Journalist’s Resource/ Shorenstein Center)
- Guide for DACA recipients (Immigrant Legal Resource Center)
- The Migration Policy Institute released a report about the education and work profiles of the DACA set
- Define American DACA #FactsMatter sheet
- Center for American Progress produced a report on DACA Recipients’ Economic and Educational Gains
- Immigration related curriculum
- Re-imagining immigration has resources and lessons to teach about migration, immigration, refugees, and civic empowerment through history, literature, and the sciences
- The Advocates for Human Rights and the Immigration History Research Center at UMN recently released a free curriculum that helps students learn about U.S. immigration through personal narratives: Teaching Immigration with the Immigrant Stories Project
- Imm-print published an Immigration Detention Syllabus
- Recently released immigration books and reports (got one, send it over)
- New Italian Migrations to the United States, including reports on role shaping 1965 immigration laws.
- Special report released on the Politics of Immigration and Education from the journal Education Policy.
- Immigration reporting tools and tips
- New tool from Trac maps cases pending in immigration court
- Tips on covering immigration when you do not live near the border (Daniel Connolly, from IRE 2017)
- Podcasts to check out
- The New American Songbook from Groundtruth Project looks at the stories behind the songs of immigrants.
- Voices in America
- Mash-Up American
Immigration Jobs and Opportunities
- Managing Editor — Southern California Public Radio
- Program Manager and Interns for Spring and Summer — Hello Neighbor
- Communications Consultant — Global Detention Project
- Resource and Organizational Development Director — America’s Voice
- Associate Editor, Investigations Think Progress
- PRI’s Global Nation is accepting pitches for stories about immigration and diversity
That’s all for Migratory Notes 38. If there’s a story you think we should consider, please send us an email.
Special thanks to writer Yana Kunichoff and intern Dalia Espinosa. Thanks to Jacque Boltik for creating our template. Daniel Kowalski, Audrey Singer, Michele Henry, Jason Alcorn, Voice of San Diego Border Report, Global Nation Exchange FB group, Migration Information Source, and countless tweeters.
*Daniela Gerson is an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge with a focus on community, ethnic, and participatory media. She is also a senior fellow at the Democracy Fund. Before that she was a community engagement editor at the LA Times; founding editor of a trilingual hyperlocal publication, Alhambra Source; staff immigration reporter for the New York Sun; and a contributor to outlets including WNYC: New York Public Radio, The World, Der Spiegel, Financial Times, CNN, and The New York Times. She recently wrote How can collaborations between ethnic and mainstream outlets serve communities in the digital age? for American Press Institute. You can find her on Twitter @dhgerson
*Elizabeth Aguilera is a multimedia reporter for CALmatters covering health and social services, including immigration. Previously she reported on community health, for Southern California Public Radio. She’s also reported on immigration for the San Diego Union-Tribune, where she won a Best of the West award for her work on sex trafficking between the U.S. and Mexico; and before that she covered a variety of beats and issues for the Denver Post including urban affairs and immigration. Her latest story is California lags in testing toddlers for lead exposure. You can find her on Twitter @1eaguilera
