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Migrant Justice Newsletter - November 2022

In this montly newsletter, please read about : (1) Immigration Court in Cleveland, OH: Nicaraguans rank #1 in deportation proceedings filed; (2) - Recent Border Trends: Why We See so Many Nicaraguans and Venezuelans Arriving at the U.S. Southern Border; (3) Title 42: Expelling Migrants in the Name of Health Measures: Biden Urges Mexico to Take Migrants under COVID Expulsion Order He Promised to End; (4) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Increase in ICE’s use of Ankle Monitors and Smartphones to Monitor Immigrants and Detention Numbers; (5) At The Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border. TAKE ACTION ITEMS: After reading the articles, please take a few moments to advocate for migrant justice with our TAKE ACTION items: (1) Support Ohio Immigrant and Refugee Businesses this Holiday Season; (2) ​​​​​Urge Congress to Support and Pass Permanent Pathways to Citizenship (3) Stop the illegal and immoral transportation of migrants by certain governors to other states and Washington, DC.

 

Migrant Justice Newsletter - October 2022

As we have seen over the past couple months already, numbers in Venezuelan and Cuban migrants have skyrocketed, and Venezuelans now rank #1 in the number of deportation proceedings filed in Ohio. In light of this new wave of migrants arriving at the southern U.S. border, the Biden Administration has urged Mexico to take in more migrants, while upholding xenophobic border policies and allowing for continued incidents of abuse, persecution and torture along the Mexican side of the border. Just as things seem to be moving in the right direction, it once again becomes clear that there are many legal gaps and tricks embracing a migrant’s state of uncertainty while, at the same time on paper, working to lift some barriers to the asylum process (e.g., Remain in Mexico, aka MPP).

IRTF's Work in Reproductive Rights Defense

Abortion around the world is often clandestine and costly. It is differentially risky according to one’s social and economic position. It is related to domestic violence, sexual harassment, the gendered pay gap, the murders of gendered environmental land defenders and Indigenous water protectors in rural areas. Those most harmed by the criminalization of abortion are all people with the capacity to gestate with the fewest economic resources, including those who cannot pay for abortion. The right to abortion is inseparable from the demand for guaranteed public health system which includes abortion and comprehensive sexual education allowing for more inclusive sexual expressions, and relationships. The right to abortion isn’t merely an individual right, our bodies can not be policed as private property. We contain multitudes and worlds. 

In this post, see a collection of the work IRTF has done over the years in Reproductive Rights Defense.

Migrant Justice Newsletter and Urgent Actions: August 2022

With all the faults the U.S. immigration system has, one specific issue is often overlooked: the processing of stateless persons seeking protection in a world that is governed by nation-states and designed only to protect and ensure rights to those with a nationality. Moreover, anti-immigrant policies like Title 42 continue to deny the right to asylum to many people crossing the U.S. border, sending more migrants back on expulsion flights each month. And although the immigration court backlog is not getting smaller, immigration courts across the nation seem to order deportations at alarmingly high rates. Here is an overview of recent updates on U.S. immigration and what has been happening at the border!

Migrant Justice Newsletter and Urgent Actions: July 2022

After the legal discussions around Title 42, expulsion flights under the questionable health proclamation continued to increase this month, as did the number of people enrolled in ICE’s electronic monitoring program Alternatives to Detention. While the general focus on migrant justice issues and the U.S. immigration system within the public has been increasing, the numbers are not showing much progress, and the Biden administration as well as the Department of Homeland Security/ICE are working towards a more enforced border and detention/surveillance system, rather than a more humane way of treating individuals who are coming to the U.S. in search for refuge and community.

Migrant Justice Newsletter and Urgent Actions: June 2022

This newsletter is all about numbers--from deportation proceedings filed, to ordered deportations, to expulsions and removal flights. But we are not just trying to overwhelm you with figures and percentages. These numbers tell stories. They paint us a picture of what immigration enforcement in the U.S. looks like right now, and with almost all numbers increasing significantly this will not be a pretty picture. The continuation of Title 42 and an overall shift in society towards xenophobia and the “replacement theory” have had a severe impact on pushbacks at the border and immigration enforcement throughout the country, including anywhere within the 100-mile “border zone,” where ⅔ of the US population resides. Let us give you an overview of recent updates on U.S. immigration and what has been happening at the border!
This newsletter is all about numbers--from deportation proceedings filed, to ordered deportations, to expulsions and removal flights. But we are not just trying to overwhelm you with figures and percentages. These numbers tell stories. They paint us a picture of what immigration enforcement in the U.S. looks like right now, and with almost all numbers increasing significantly this will not be a pretty picture. The continuation of Title 42 and an overall shift in society towards xenophobia and the “replacement theory” have had a severe impact on pushbacks at the border and immigration enforcement throughout the country, including anywhere within the 100-mile “border zone,” where ⅔ of the US population resides. Let us give you an overview of recent updates on U.S. immigration and what has been happening at the border!

Migrant Justice Newsletter and Urgent Actions: May 2022

Detentions, Deportations, Debates - those three words round up the current political situation around immigration policies and the border pretty accurately. Migrants are being arrested and detained by ICE in cooperation with local law enforcement officers, they are still being deported and expelled in high numbers on grounds of racist policies like Title 42, and Republican and Democratic senators are discussing and debating on whether to keep these policies in place, or finally initiate the long-overdue reform of the U.S. immigration system. Once again, politicians are passionately defending their opinions, which mostly revolve around what is best for them and their legislative power, and not for the people who have to face these policies and return to dangerous environments because of them. Let us give you an overview of recent updates on U.S. immigration and what has been happening at the southern border!

Migrant Justice Newsletter and Urgent Actions: April 2022

In recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have apprehended more than 13,000 migrants a day, according to the New York Times. Most are caught and either expelled immediately or put into overcrowded detention centers to await their immigration hearings, a process that can take several years. As the Biden administration has announced that it will end the use of a public health proclamation known as Title 42, and has started plans to reform the U.S. asylum system, some expect that the numbers of people coming to the border will rise in the coming months. But this argument, currently often used by politicians opposing immigration and the end of Title 42, does not mean that overhauling the asylum system is a mistake. It shows that it is long overdue. Let us give you an overview of recent updates on U.S. immigration and what has been happening at the southern border!

Migrant Justice Newsletter and Urgent Actions: March 2022

Every day there are thousands of people apprehended at the US southern border. Most of them are caught by either Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and sent back or put in detention. It is hard to say which of these options is more dehumanizing: staying in an overcrowded, badly maintained detention center in the midst of a global health crisis for an infinite period of time, or being sent to Mexico–a  country you may never have stepped foot in before–to await your immigration court proceedings for an unspecified period of time. And while ICE reports show a significant drop in deportations and immigration arrest since Biden’s inauguration, this decrease in deportations is immediately offset by the over 1.7 million people who have been pushed back at the border and expelled under a racist public health regulation known as Title 42, that favors migrants from some countries and leaves behind those from others.

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