Welcome to our new(s) segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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ICE Is Watching You (and Me and All of Us)
Vice Media takes a deep dive into the mass surveillance state created by and on behalf of ICE and anti-immigration enforcement. Most people do not know that ICE is allowed to operate up to 100 miles inside the US border, which covers 90% of densely populated areas. And when we say ‘operate’ we mean “install surveillance cameras on your property without your permission”.
This surveillance dragnet includes everything from your Amazon purchases to your Netflix queue to the emails you swap with people outside the US. Silicon Valley is cashing in big, and it impacts the privacy and safety of immigrants and non-immigrants.
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Tim Walz has a Slim but Hopeful Record on Immigration
Most governors (outside of a few MAGA notables) do not get heavily involved in immigration issues. That said, Walz has been clear in the past that he understands the basic needs and humanity of refugees and asylum seekers, supporting and signing a bill that allowed any eligible person, regardless of immigration status, to receive a Minnesota driver’s license. Walz has also voiced support for a “path to citizenship” as a way to resolve the backlogs and congestion in the current system, but without giving any specifics.
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In a piece of good news, the US is expanding areas where migrants can apply for asylum across the southern border. After Biden suspended all processing for border crossings that were not scheduled through the CBP One app, his administration now seems to be giving immigrants a modicum of aid. Still being forced to rely heavily on the often-glitchy app, migrants will soon be able to apply in the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco, sparing them a lengthy and dangerous trek to Mexico City just to submit an application online.
“We have managed to decompress our (northern) border in a very meaningful way and that has helped ... our relationship with the United States be very, very dynamic and very positive,” Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, said Friday.
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Green Card Process Improved for “Mixed Status” Families
As part of recent changes that included the abrupt border closure rules we’ve covered, President Biden also loosened restrictions on how spouses and children of US citizens can apply for green cards. Previously, they had to leave the US and apply from outside, which was often not safe or practical. Now, some people who have been in the US for at least 10 years can apply for “parole in place” which lets them get a green card without having to leave. Also, immigrants with U.S. college degrees and job offers will now get priority for green cards, a boon to many DACA-covered people who have been stuck in limbo since the Obama years.
Finally, the Biden administration will double the locations for the Executive Office Immigration Review, a program that provides volunteer attorneys in immigration courts for those without legal representation. As we’ve noted before, the lack of such lawyers is a huge obstacle to people trying to immigrate to the US.
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Appeals Court: Texas’ Deadly Border Buoys Remain in Place
Texas’ very conservative appeals court gave the state the green light to keep intact the floating razor-wire wall along the Rio Grande. The consensus was achieved by the majority of an otherwise split court due to territory-related technicalities, stating that federal law didn’t have jurisdiction in that stretch of water where the buoys were erected. Furthermore, the judges claimed there was no “proof” that the barrier “threatens the safety of people” despite the deaths of people who attempted to cross them.
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