A Pew Research Center survey published May 22 found that a majority of U.S. adults (68 percent) believe the federal government has a responsibility to provide medical care to undocumented immigrants who are sick with coronavirus. Only 32 percent believe that the government should provide economic relief, such as stimulus checks, to undocumented immigrants who […]
U.S. is the Largest Exporter of Coronavirus Due to Continuing Deportations
ICE is actively deporting both untested and positive-testing immigrants to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which are not equipped to deal with major outbreaks of the virus. ICE is continuing deportations to Haiti and recently knowingly put five deportees who had tested positive for Covid-19 on a packed flight, endangering fellow passengers, the […]
California Colleges Sue DeVos Over CARES Act Fund Restrictions
California Community Colleges filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for making undocumented students ineligible for federally funded coronavirus relief. In the suit, California Community Colleges argues that the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED’s) restrictions place an arbitrary burden on schools to find assistance for students who are ineligible for federal […]
First ICE Detainee Covid-19 Death Occurred This Week
A 57-year-old man from El Salvador who was being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California died from Covid-19 on Wednesday. This is the first confirmed death from the coronavirus at an ICE detention center. Carlos Escobar-Mejia has been detained at the center since Jan. 10 after having lived in the U.S. for […]
Trump Says He’s Halting All Immigration to the US Amid Pandemic
As the United States continues to suffer from the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he was going to issue an executive order suspending all immigration into the United States for an indefinite amount of time. In yet another tweet sent out by the president yesterday, he said, “In light of […]
Deportations Continue, Threaten Other Countries’ Health Security Amid Crisis
The Trump administration has continued the deportation of detainees, despite the global pandemic. The Trump administration has been deporting thousands to their home country including many infected persons, despite the threat of COVID-19. Specifically, in Guatemala dozens have tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from the United States through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). […]
ACLU Sues for Release of ICE Detainees Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued for the release of high-risk detainees at two detention centers in California as a rising number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees nationally are testing positive for COVID-19. Lawyers are arguing on the ground of humanitarian rights noting the over-populated facilities and poor health conditions of the […]
Coronavirus Pandemic Spreads to ICE Detention Facilities
A leaked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coronavirus report reveals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed nine detainees in medical isolation. This report coincides with ICE’s confirmation that a detainee in New Jersey has tested positive for COVID-19. These developments suggest that the coronavirus has begun spreading in ICE facilities, placing ICE’s nearly […]
ICE Continues Arrests as California Faces Coronavirus Pandemic
In the midst of California’s COVID-19 lockdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are continuing to make arrests, despite calls from immigration advocates for a suspension of enforcement activities. To limit the spread of COVID-19, Los Angeles has shut down a range of public services and business, including libraries, movie theaters, clubs, gyms, and concert […]
Immigration Courts to Stay Open During Coronavirus Pandemic
The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review declared “operations as usual” for proceedings involving non-detained immigrants on Sunday night. The decision comes after Seattle’s immigration court was shut down last week after a report of second-hand exposure to coronavirus; it will remain shut until April 10. The order states that master calendar dates, […]
Guatamalan Refugee Maria Celeste Ochoa Yoc de Ramirez Dies in ICE Custody
22-year-old Maria Celeste Ochoa Yoc de Ramirez died in ICE Custody in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday. This marks the eighth death in ICE Custody since October. The cause of death was “autoimmune hepatitis, complicated by septic shock and acute liver failure,” according to an ICE Press release. Ochoa Yoc de Ramírez had been hospitalized […]
Pulitzer Winner Talks Immigration at Literacy Event
Jose Antonio Vargas, critically-acclaimed author and winner of the Pulitzer prize, began his lecture at the Washtenaw Reads event put on by Ann Arbor District’s Library this past week by saying, “If you want to call ICE on me, please wait ‘til after the lecture.” The annual event in Michigan is designed to “promote reading […]
Women and Children Make Up Majority of Deportees to Guatemala Under New Deal
The majority of the nearly 400 asylum seekers that are being deported back to Guatemala under the Trump administration’s controversial deal with the country are women and children. U.S. immigration officials have denied the opportunity to seek asylum of 378 migrants from Honduras and El Salvador as of Tuesday of this week, forcing them to […]
New State Department Regulations Could Restrict Pregnant Women’s Ability to Come to the U.S.
A department official from the State Department and a congressional aide reportedly said Wednesday that the U.S. State Department has a plan that could potentially make it more difficult for pregnant women to acquire visas to visit the United States. These impending regulations are presumably the most recent in a string of attempts by the […]
Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments on DACA Case
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case. The Obama-era federal program that has allowed over 700,000 undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation, was rolled back by the Trump administration. The initiative allows children of undocumented immigrants who’ve arrived in the US when at a very […]
More Than 700 Women Lost in ICE Detention
More than 700 women were moved out of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, some with serious medical conditions, and lawyers have no information as to where they are. Starting in September, women were moved out of the Karnes County Residential Center and sent to detention centers around the country so the Texas center […]
Pregnant Migrant Woman Had Labor Stopped By American Doctors, Taken Back to Mexico By U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
An eight-and-a-half month pregnant migrant woman travelling from El Salvador was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande, and while the anonymous woman began experiencing labor contractions U.S. border agents took her to a hospital where American doctors gave her medications that would stop her labor and was quickly sent […]
Trump Administration Ends Deferred Action Program for Immigrants Seeking Medical Treatment
This week the Trump administration ended deferrals of deportation for immigrants with severe medical conditions, giving them only 33 days before they must leave the country and lose access to live saving treatment that they cannot receive in their home countries. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent out letters this week without any formal announcement […]
Department of Homeland Security Blocks Congressional Oversight Committee from Visiting Detention Centers
Rep. Elijah Cummings sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security yesterday expressing his alarm at DHS’s decision to block the House Oversight Committee from visiting 11 detention centers after previous visits revealed serious problems with the treatment of migrants being held in ICE custody. In his letter Cummings wrote that detainees had said in […]
Trump Administration Instates Rules to Detain Migrant Children Indefinitely
The Trump Administration has moved to enact new rules that would overturn protections that mandate safe and sanitary conditions at detention facilities and allow border agents to detain migrant children indefinitely, claiming it will allow them to keep families together. Currently, the Flores settlement mandates that the government has 20 days to transfer migrant children […]
