Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.
Canadian High Court Weighs Immigration Agreement With US
Canada’s highest court is deliberating whether to overturn a nearly 20-year-old immigration agreement with the United States on the grounds that asylum-seekers cannot safely be returned to Canada’s southern neighbor. The story by Craig McCulloch and VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros.
Venezuelan Migrants in Mexico Protest New US Border Policy
Venezuelan migrants hoping to enter the United States from Mexico protested over the weekend a new U.S. program granting legal entry to 24,000 people from the crisis-wracked country while deporting all those who cross the southern border illegally, Agence France-Presse reports.
US Policy Prompts Some Venezuelan Migrants to Change Route
Venezuelan Gilbert Fernandez still plans to cross the dangerous Darien jungle into Panama and head toward the United States over land, despite a U.S. announcement that it will grant conditional humanitarian permits only to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants arriving by air, The Associated Press reports.
New York City Opens Tent Shelter for Hundreds of Migrant Men
New York City Wednesday opened an emergency tent shelter to alleviate some of the strain the city has felt recently from the steady stream of migrants who have arrived on buses sent by officials in Texas and other southern U.S. states. The Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center on Randall's Island, east of Manhattan, will be the temporary home for 500 single migrant men who arrived in the city after their long journeys that began in Venezuela and other places south of the U.S. border, The Associated Press reports.
Migration around the world
New Arrivals: Afghan Refugees Camped in Brazilian Airport
About 150 refugees from Afghanistan are camped out in the main airport of Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial capital and most populous city. Many more are expected to arrive in the coming months, but aid workers say the government has no plans for a wide-scale response to the growing crisis. For VOA, Yan Boechat has this report from Sao Paulo, Brazil, with Heather Murdock in Istanbul.
Migrants Caught in Middle as Turkey-Greece Tensions Escalate
A photograph of migrants found exposed, without clothing, along the border of Greece and Turkey last week shocked the world and is raising international concerns that migrants and refugees are becoming the latest victims of a growing dispute between Turkey and Greece. From Istanbul, Dorian Jones reports both nations blame each other for the incident.
Botswana Expresses Concerns Over Influx of Asylum-Seekers
Botswana has expressed concern over an influx of asylum-seekers who fled from countries where they had been granted refugee status. Nearly 700 refugees have arrived from neighboring Zimbabwe, citing poor conditions at the refugee camps, while others have come from South Africa, driven out by xenophobic attacks. Mqondisi Dube reports for VOA from Botswana.
News Brief
— The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced updates to remove barriers to naturalization for applicants with disabilities.
— A new asylum process for Venezuelans is now online.
— The Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report following its initial review of the Afghan special immigrant visa (SIV) program. The OIG made nine new recommendations “that are intended to further improve the Afghan SIV program” including revising the Standard Operating Procedures for Quarterly Congressional Reports, develop and implement procedures to establish ongoing interagency coordination until the Afghan SIV program concludes, and implement an updated staffing plan to adjust resources for all Department of State offices involved with the Afghan SIV program, among others.
