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.
Border arrests plunge 29% in June to the lowest of Biden’s presidency
Arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico plunged 29% in June, the lowest month of Joe Biden’s presidency, according to figures released Monday that provide another window on the impact of a new rule to temporarily suspend asylum. Arrests totaled 83,536 in June, down from 117,901 in May to mark the lowest tally since January 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The Associated Press reports.
Republicans lean into Trump’s border message during a convention night focused on immigration
Immigration took center stage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, with speakers spotlighting a key element of former president Donald Trump’s political brand that helped endear him to the party’s base when he began his first campaign in 2015. By The Associated Press.
Housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children accused of sexual abuse
Employees of the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. have repeatedly sexually abused and harassed children in their care over the past eight years, the Justice Department alleges. Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, have raped, touched or solicited sex and nude images of children since at least 2015, the DOJ alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. At least two employees have been charged since 2020, according to the lawsuit. By The Associated Press.
VOA60 Africa – US pledges additional $203 million to help Sudan refugees
The United States pledged an additional $203 million to help the millions of civilians affected by the war in Sudan, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday. The U.N. says nearly 25 million people, half of Sudan’s population, need aid.
Immigration around the world
40 migrants die after boat catches fire off Haiti
At least 40 migrants died and several others were injured when the boat they were traveling in caught fire off the northern coast of Haiti, a U.N. agency said Friday. The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration reported that the Haitian Coast Guard rescued 41 survivors, 11 of whom were hospitalized, including some for burns. By Agence France-Presse
Libya orders arrest of airline official over transport of migrants to Nicaragua
Libyan authorities on Monday ordered the arrest of an airline official on charges of helping to illegally transport migrants to the United States via Nicaragua. The commercial director of Ghadames Air was under investigation for “committing an activity harmful to the interests of the country,” said a statement from the Tripoli-based Attorney General’s office, which did not name the suspect. By Reuters.
Hunger drives starving Sudanese to seek refuge abroad
Hunger and looming famine are driving a growing number of people to flee war-torn Sudan in search of refuge in neighboring countries, according to World Health Organization officials. Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO representative to Sudan, recently told journalists that he met Sudanese refugees on a recent mission to Chad who’d left home only because of hunger. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
First Myanmar refugees from Thai camps move to US under new resettlement program
The first group of refugees from Myanmar living in Thailand and eligible for a new resettlement program flew out of Bangkok for the United States last week, more than a year after the plan was first announced, U.S. and U.N. officials have told VOA. Some 90,000 refugees now live in nine sealed-off camps inside Thailand along the country’s border with Myanmar, driven from their homes by decades of fighting between the Myanmar military and a number of ethnic minority armed groups vying for autonomy. By Zsombor Peter.
Volunteers in Indonesia teach young refugees
In a middle school level class, students are learning about planetary science from the gases of Jupiter to the exosphere on Mercury. That might seem no different than lessons at many schools around the world, but this session is happening at a learning center for refugees in Indonesia. By Dave Grunebaum.
Activists say Rohingya refugees are hounded in India
Since entering India in 2017, Rohingya refugee Noor Mohammad and his wife have been forced to move at least a dozen times to escape unsafe conditions in the refugee camps and to avoid deportation. Over the past seven years, shanties where they lived were destroyed twice when unexplained fires swept through Rohingya refugee camps in the northern Indian cities of Jammu and Nuh. By Shaikh Azizur Rahman.
News Brief
— The Executive Office for Immigration Review is establishing a new leadership position within its office of the director. This role is expected to focus on improving access to the immigration system and developing innovative strategies to increase representation rates for noncitizens in immigration court.
— Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday announced the extension and redesignation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, from September 18, 2024, to March 17, 2026, because of conditions in Somalia that prevent individuals from safely returning.
