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.
Harris was never ‘border czar,’ experts say, despite Republican claims
After President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee, Republicans quickly focused on Harris and her work on immigration issues, calling her a “border czar.” But was Harris appointed as border czar? Immigration experts say no. VOA’s immigration correspondent Aline Barros has the story.
US defers removal of some Lebanese, citing Israel-Hezbollah tensions
The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security. Reuters reports.
Hundreds of migrants in new caravan headed for US border
Hundreds of migrants from around a dozen countries left from Mexico’s southern border on foot Sunday, as they attempt to make it to the U.S. border. Some of the members of the group said they hoped to make it to the U.S. border before elections are held in November, because they fear that if Donald Trump wins, he will follow through on a promise to close the border to asylum-seekers. The Associated Press reports.
A migrant holds her baby on a small boat during a rescue by the Geo Barents migrant rescue ship, operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), in international waters between Tunisia and Lampedusa, in the central Mediterranean Sea, July 20, 2024.
Immigration around the world
Rights groups criticize efforts to displace migrants ahead of Paris Olympics
Rights groups accuse French authorities of “social cleansing” ahead of the Paris Olympics by uprooting migrants, sex workers and others around the capital — undermining promises of making these Games the most inclusive ever. The government says it’s simply trying to address a longstanding problem. Lisa Bryant has more from the French capital.
Rights advocates cite uptick in Uyghur refugee detentions in Turkey
Over the past three weeks, Shirali Abdurehim, a 39-year-old Uyghur honey seller in Istanbul, has been detained in an immigration detention center. Abdurehim, a father of nine children, has lived in Turkey with his wife since 2013 as a refugee after fleeing repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. He is one of at least a dozen Uyghurs who have been detained in recent weeks, according to detainees, lawyers and rights advocates. VOA has also seen at least four posts on the social media site Facebook calling for the release of family members since last weekend. Kasim Kashgar reports.
News Brief
—The presidential proclamation that suspends the entry of certain noncitizens across the southern border — including both the southwest land and southern coastal borders — has been in effect for seven weeks. These measures, according to the U.S. government, have helped reduce the number of encounters at the southwest border by 55%.
