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.
US Federal Judge Accepts Settlement in Family Separation Case
Following a five-year legal battle, the settlement of a class action lawsuit concerning the practice of separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border has been approved, and importantly, it bars the use of a similar policy for the next eight years. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the lawsuit in 2018 to stop the forcible separation of children from their parents after they illegally crossed the border into the United States. VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros has more.
Biden, Congress Mulling Big Changes on Immigration
U.S. President Joe Biden is taking a more active role in Senate negotiations over changes to the immigration system that Republicans are demanding in exchange for providing money to Ukraine in its fight against Russia and Israel for the war with Hamas. The Democratic president has said he is willing to make "significant compromises on the border" as Republicans block the wartime aid in Congress. The White House is expected to get more involved in talks as the impasse over changes to border policy has deepened and the funds remaining for Ukraine have dwindled. The Associated Press reports.
Mexican Journalist Granted US Asylum After 15-Year Journey
After a 15-year case before the U.S. immigration courts, Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto has been granted asylum. Media advocates say at-risk journalists like him need a fast track to safety. VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros has more. Camera: Saqib Islam.
As Gravity on US Immigration Shifts to the Right, Parties Seek Deal
It was a decade ago that Capitol Hill was consumed by an urgency to overhaul the nation's immigration system, fueled in no small part by Republicans who felt a political imperative to make inroads with minority voters by embracing more generous policies. But nothing ever became law, and in the time since, Washington's center of gravity on immigration has shifted demonstrably to the right, with the debate now focused on measures meant to keep migrants out as Republicans sense they have the political upper hand. The Associated Press reports.
VOA, Day in Photos: A migrant child jumps to cross the border wall through a gap into the U.S. from Mexico, as the number of migrants surges in the border town of Lukeville, Arizona, December 12, 2023.
Immigration around the world
VOA60 Africa: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vows to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
(( https://www.voanews.com/a/voa60-africa---uk-prime-minister-rishi-sunak-vows-to-send-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda/7388384.html ))
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vows to "get flights off the ground" at a news conference on the government's controversial policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a policy that has been beset with court challenges.
Europe Fears Surge in African Migration as Niger Repeals Trafficking Law
The European Union has voiced concerns about a surge in migration from Africa after Niger repealed a law that criminalized the transport of migrants in the country. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
Pakistan Official: US Did Not Oppose Deportation of Afghans in Country Illegally
Pakistani officials said Tuesday the United States did not object to Islamabad’s deportation of Afghan nationals who are illegally residing in the country but requested the process be slowed down during winter. The crackdown on undocumented foreigners, including 1.7 million Afghans, came under discussion at a meeting with a visiting U.S. delegation led by Julieta Valls Noyes, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Ayaz Gul reports for VOA from Islamabad, Pakistan.
Britain Proposes Bypassing Rights Laws to Let Rwanda Plan Take Off
Britain published draft emergency legislation it hopes will allow its Rwandan migrant deportation plan to finally take off by bypassing domestic and international human rights laws that might block it. The Safety of Rwanda Bill, published the day after Britain signed a new treaty with Rwanda, is designed to overcome a ruling by the United Kingdom Supreme Court that the government's proposed initiative to send thousands of asylum-seekers to the East African country was unlawful. Reuters reports.
Pakistan Says 450,000 Undocumented Afghans Returned Home
A Pakistani diplomat said Wednesday that nearly 450,000 Afghan nationals returned to their home country since his government announced two months ago that it would deport all undocumented foreigners. Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan, shared the latest data while addressing a seminar in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. He spoke on a day the United Nations renewed its warning that Afghans returning from Pakistan “face a precarious, uncertain future” in their crisis-hit and impoverished nation. Ayaz Gul reports for VOA from Islamabad, Pakistan.
News Brief
— The U.S. Homeland Security Department releases guidance to help people with pending “form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support filed for a Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, or Venezuelan (CHNV) and are seeking case status updates.”
— The Homeland Security Investigations team and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Malas Manas transnational criminal organization — a human smuggling and narcotics trafficking organization based in Sonora, Mexico.
