Editor's note: We want you to know what's happening, why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.
United States: New regulation penalizes green card applicants over public benefit use.
The Trump administration this week moved to further limit who can obtain U.S. residency based on which public benefits they use, even if they are legally entitled to them.
— VOA Immigration Reporter Aline Barros breaks down which benefits might put someone's immigration status at risk, and why the government is doing this. Immigrant rights advocates call the new regulation "xenophobic and classist."
Bangladesh: U.N. moves forward on ensuring Rohingya are no longer undocumented
Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh are getting identity documents — some for the first time — that the United Nations claims are "fraud-proof." Roughly half a million of the estimated 900,000 people living in the Cox's Bazar camp have the new registration cards, which show the country of origin as Myanmar. Such documentation serves multiple purposes, including ensuring access to benefits, and the right of refugees to return to their home country, which in some cases would not recognize them as nationals.
From the Feds: U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued six children — including an 8-month-old — and six adults from the Rio Grande in Texas this week. Agents on the U.S. side of the border repeatedly warn the public of the danger in crossing the boundary river, which is studded with small islands, rocky outcroppings and steep underwater drop offs.
