[This is a bi-weekly publication produced by Senior Policy Associate, Cheasty Anderson. New issues will be posted here on this blog or you can subscribe to have them delivered directly to your inbox.]
Image of South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX via Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
Dear Partners and Friends,
Thank you so much for wanting to stay up to date on what’s happening. Here’s the latest roundup of immigration-related news, and our bi-weekly action opportunity. Please let me know as things cross your desk that you think might be of value for our next newsletter, and as always, feel free to forward to folks who might want to join our list. Due to the holiday season, the next newsletter will go out in mid-January.
Lead Stories:
Despite Warnings, Trump Moves to Expand Migrant Family Detention
“The administration wants to expand the system of secure facilities where migrant families can be incarcerated for months or longer. In late November, Justice Department lawyers appealed a federal judge’s decision that blocked the government’s attempt to eliminate a 20-day time limit on most family detentions.” Read more here.
Appeals Court Lifts Some Rulings Blocking Trump ‘Public Charge’ Rule for Immigrants.
“A divided federal appeals court has lifted several injunctions blocking the Trump administration from implementing [the rule]. However, the policy remains on hold because judges in Maryland and New York City also blocked the new rules nationwide and their decisions are unaffected by the ruling from the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over nine Western states. The Justice Department is also appealing the other injunctions.” Learn more.
Action Items:
1. Sign this Petition
Please sign this petition asking for the release of several women who were transferred from Karnes to the Adams County Correctional Facility in Mississippi. Several of these women suffer from severe medical conditions and are not receiving adequate medical care. RAICES has been circulating this petition for individual sign-ons to support their release from detention. The signatures on this petition will be submitted at their bond hearings TOMORROW. Please sign and share with your colleagues. To learn more about their individual stories and to see words from these women, please see RAICES’ twitter and Instagram accounts.
2. Comment on USCIS’s Proposed Fee Hike by December 30th (changed from 16th)
“The Trump Administration has published a proposed rule that would make it impossible for many immigrants who aren’t wealthy to gain status or citizenship.” The PIF campaign has made it easy to submit a comment: In less than 3 minutes you can submit a comment opposing the fee for asylum applicants or the increased fee for naturalization.
3. Comment on the State Department’s Proposed Public Charge Form by December 23rd
“The Department of State (DOS) has published an interim final public charge rule that will restrict people who aren’t white and wealthy from immigrating to the United States.” The PIF campaign drafted this template comment to help you submit a comment opposing the form.
4. Share information to fight the fear of Public Charge
“Late last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction granted by the district courts in Washington state that prevented DHS’s public charge policy from taking effect nationwide. However, DHS’s public charge rule remains blocked due to nationwide injunctions issued in district courts in Maryland and New York; their decisions are not affected by the ruling from the 9th Circuit.” The PIF campaign invites you to broadly share the PIF “Know Your Rights” materials, available in English, Spanish and several other languages and to amplify this tweet thread from CLASP.
Public Charge Resources:
The PIF campaign has great new resources (with LOTS of language translations) to help people stay informed on public charge. You can find them at: protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/know-your-rights
Other Recent News of Interest:
- Trump Gave States the Power to Ban Refugees. Conservative Utah Wants More of Them
- Rejection Rate for Asylum Seekers has Exploded in NYC
- U.S. Flies 3 Central American Asylum Seekers to Guatemala
- How McKinsey Helped the Trump Administration Carry out Its Immigration Policies
- Trump Deploys ‘Surge’ of Park Rangers to Patrol Mexican Border
- The Sole Airline Willing to Fly “High-Risk” Deportations is Price-Gouging ICE
- Appeals Court Lifts Some Rulings Blocking Trump ‘Public Charge’ Rule for Immigrants
- Trump is Trying to Make it Too Expensive for Poor American Immigrants to Stay
- A Judge Says Thousands of Detainees May Sue a Prison Company for Using Them as a “Captive Labor Force”
- The U.S. Government Has Taken at Least 1,100 Children Away From Their Families Since Family Separations Officially Ended
- A Border Patrol Janitor Turned Migrant’s Confiscated Stuff Into Photo Exhibit
- More Migrants From Africa Are Trying to Reach The U.S. From Mexico
- Church’s Nativity Scene Depicts Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a Family Separated at the Border
- A Child’s Forehead Partially Removed, Four Deaths, the Wrong Medicine: A Secret Report Exposes Health Care For Jailed Immigrants.
- US immigration agency deported 12,000 family members and unaccompanied children in one year, new statistics show
- Here’s What Life Is Like For Child Migrants At Mexico’s Southern Border
- The US Is Deporting Asylum Seekers to Random, Dangerous Countries
Thanks so much for reading and staying informed.