Welcome to LAWG’s Migration News Brief, a compilation of recent top articles and reports related to issues of U.S. immigration and enforcement policy and migration from Central America and Mexico.
SPOTLIGHT
CALL NOW to tell Congress you believe in restoring asylum!
Latin America Working Group, July 21, 2022
“Did you know that the pandemic is STILL being used as justification for refusing, detaining, and expelling asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border? After almost three years, the good news is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already acted to revoke Title 42 thanks to your advocacy! Unfortunately, the courts have kept it in place.”
Updates on Border policies: Remain in Mexico & Title 42
Latin America Working Group, July 21, 2022
A series of infographics explaining Remain in Mexico and Title 42, and what next steps we can take as members of civil society to push against these policies, urging Biden to act now.
U.S. ENFORCEMENT
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN Politics, 15 de julio de 2022
“In the early morning hours, under beaming lights, groups of migrants turn the corner of the border wall, anxiously trying to reach US Border Patrol agents.”
The deadly connections between climate change and migration
Sarah Kennedy, Yale Climate Connections, July 20, 2022
“U.S. border security policy in the Southwest is designed to deter unauthorized migration at heavily guarded urban entry points. ”
Tiny Veracruz town mourns youth killed in San Antonio truck
Iván Sánchez, Pie de Página, July 15, 2022
“When you leave the town of San Marcos Atexquilapan, in the municipality of Naolinco, the fog is the last thing to say goodbye. ”
Uriel J. García and Jinitzail Hernández, The Texas Tribune, July 14, 2022
“Adela Betulia Ramírez Quezada was trying to reunite with her mother and two sisters in California. The morning that she climbed in to a trailer with dozens of others, she called her mother to say they would see each other soon.”
ICE Jail Nurse Sexually Assaulted Migrant Women, Complaint Letter Says
José Olivares and John Washington, The Intercept, July 13, 2022
“The first full day that Maria, an asylum-seeker from Venezuela, was in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, she was sent for a routine medical screening.”
Si no cambiamos, la tragedia de San Antonio seguirá repitiéndose
Óscar Chacón, El Faro, 13 de julio de 2022
“Evitarlas no pasa por usarlas como un momento aleccionador para pedirles que ‘no vengan’, sino por dar un giro dramático en las políticas y las prácticas de manejo de las migraciones, así como también del trato a las personas migrantes”.
ICE accused of ‘dumping’ detainees who are near death to avoid investigations and costs
City News Service, The Orange County Register, July 13, 2022
“Civil rights groups are suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles for allegedly wrongfully withholding documents linked to ICE’s practice of releasing people from custody when their deaths are imminent.”
Asylum wait lists at US border frustrate, confuse migrants
KPBS, July 13, 2022
“Opaque waiting lists at the Mexico border to gain a chance at obtaining asylum in the United States have persisted under President Joe Biden.”
D.C. aid groups overwhelmed as migrants arrive from Texas, Arizona
Vanessa G. Sánchez, The Washington Post, July 13, 2022
“Aid groups helping migrants coming to D.C. on buses from Texas and Arizona were overwhelmed this week after coronavirus quarantines sidelined many volunteers and area shelters filled up, leaving some of the migrants to sleep at Union Station after they arrived.”
AMLO y Biden liman asperezas, pero quedan a deberle a los inmigrantes
Genaro Lozano, The Washington Post, 13 de julio de 2022
“El presidente de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), volvió a Washington D.C. para un encuentro con el presidente Joe Biden. Entre dichos y protocolos, hay dos puntos a analizar de esta reunión bilateral.”
Mexico agrees to invest $1.5B in ‘smart’ border technology
Will Weissert and Zeke Miller, AP News, July 12, 2022
“Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador agreed to spend $1.5 billion over the next two years to improve “smart” border technology during meetings Tuesday with President Joe Biden.”
ICE banned from using contractors to arrest immigrants at California jails, prisons
Felicia Alvarez, The Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2022
“A California lawsuit has ended with a settlement that bans U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from leaning on private contractors to arrest immigrants at state prisons and jails and send them to deportation proceedings.”
CBP Concludes Investigation Into Del Rio Incident Without Interviewing Any Migrants
Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact, 12 de julio de 2022
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has concluded in a new report that Border Patrol agents on horseback did engage in the ‘unnecessary use of force’ against Haitian migrants entering the United States near Del Rio, Texas, on September 19, 2021.”
USCIS Restores Pathway to a Green Card for TPS Holders
Kjerstin Lewis, Immigration Impact, July 11, 2022
“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new policy memorandum on July 1 that eliminated a barrier for many Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and restored a pathway many have used to obtain a green card.”
MEXICAN ENFORCEMENT
Tres muertos y decenas de migrantes heridos tras accidente
The Associated Press, Telemundo Laredo, 20 de julio de 2022
“Tres migrantes y dos ciudadanos mexicanos murieron, y decenas de migrantes más resultaron lesionados, en un accidente vial en una carretera del norte de México, informó el Instituto Nacional de Migración”.
Migrants find new route into Mexico via Tabasco but also dangers
Mark Viales, Mexico News Daily, July 20, 2022
“As Tapachula, Chiapas, has become notorious as a place where migrants coming from Central America can be trapped in Mexico for months or even years in detention — or simply living on the streets waiting for paperwork with no way to legally earn income — a small Tabasco town on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala has become an increasingly popular route for migrant crossings and human trafficking.”
Guatemala encuentra en Amlo un apoyo a migración
Alfonso Yurrita Cuesta, Prensa Libre, 18 de julio de 2022
“El presidente de México llegó a tierra guatemalteca para reunirse con su homólogo Alejandro Giammattei con una crisis migratoria en que Andrés Manuel López Obrador propuso a Joe Biden la creación de ‘un programa atrevido del bienestar’ para migrantes centroamericanos y mexicanos”.
Migrants say US policy at border is leading to abuse by Mexican authorities
Alfredo Corchado, The Dallas Morning News, July 12, 2022
“A campaign by Mexican governors, under pressure by Gov. Greg Abbott, to stem the flow of migrants from Central America and beyond to Texas has led to a surge of complaints of abuse by state authorities, including violent attacks, extortion and even forcing migrants to disembark from private buses and continue their journey on foot for miles in temperatures that top 100 degrees.”
ROOT CAUSES
Abordan temas sobre migración irregular
Erick Estuardo Campos Rojas, Diario de Centro América, 21 de julio de 2022
“El fin de semana pasado concluyó la visita del secretario parlamentario de Relaciones Exteriores de Canadá, Maninder Sidhu, a Guatemala y Honduras, donde compartió información sobre el protocolo de atención a personas migrantes retornadas desde Estados Unidos y México, entre otros importantes desafíos”.
La crisis climática golpea los medios de vida e impulsa la migración en Centroamérica
Redacción EFE, Qué Pasa Media Network, 21 de julio de 2022
“Los efectos de la crisis climática golpean los medios de vida de las poblaciones más vulnerables y aceleran la migración en el Triángulo Norte de Centroamérica, región que requiere más fondos y un trabajo conjunto para afrontar los escenarios de mitigación y adaptación”.
Familiares de detenidos por pandillaje en El Salvador claman libertad e inocencia
France 24, 20 de julio de 2022
“Decenas de familiares de detenidos bajo un régimen de excepción, que este martes se extendió por un mes para combatir a las pandillas en El Salvador, marcharon exigiendo su liberación y alegando inocencia”.
El Salvador gangs: State of emergency extended again
Vanessa Buschschlüter, BBC News, July 20, 2022
“El Salvador’s government has extended a controversial state of emergency by another month for a fourth time. The special measures were declared in March to combat rampant gang violence.”
Matrícula escolar cae mientras cifras de migración de niños y adolescentes aumentan
Sergio Modales Rojas, Prensa Libre, 20 de julio de 2022
“El pasado fin de semana, retornaron al país los cuerpos de tres menores de edad que murieron el pasado 27 de junio por calor y deshidratación al quedar atrapados en el furgón de un tráiler en una carretera de San Antonio, Texas, EE. UU.”.
Risk Management is Key to USAID Localization and Root Causes Efforts
Kimberly Beaudreau, Refugees International, July 19, 2022
“Localization has been at the forefront of USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s agenda. One of the agency’s localization efforts is the Central America Initiative (CARI) to increase community resilience over poverty, violence, corruption, and climate change in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.”
US Shows Its Teeth on Engel List
Roman Gressier y José Luis Sanz, El Faro, July 18, 2022
“A leaked draft of the new additions to the U.S. State Department’s Engel List dealt a gut punch to five of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s closest confidants.”
Se cumplen dos años de la “desaparición de garífunas” de El Triunfo de la Cruz
Radioprogresohn, 18 de julio de 2022
“Dos años se cumplen hoy lunes del rapto de los cuatro pobladores de la comunidad El Triunfo de la Cruz, en Tela, Atlántida.”
Slain Honduran activist’s daughter seeks criminal probe
Jared Olson, AlJazeera, July 18, 2022
“A petition for a criminal probe against the Dutch state-run development bank FMO has been filed in the Netherlands for alleged complicity in bloodshed in Honduras.”
Migrant tragedies accumulating in small Guatemalan town
Esteban Biba, La Prensa Latina, 17 de julio de 2022
“A small indigenous town in western Guatemala is dealing with five migrant tragedies on a sad weekend during which the bodies of three minors and two sisters who died while seeking the “American Dream” were repatriated.”
Drought in northern Mexico threatening livelihoods
Fabiola Sánchez, AP News, July 17, 2022
“Restaurant owner Leticia Rodríguez celebrated the construction late last year of a new lakeside boulevard in this northern Mexico town that she hoped would draw more people to her business.”
ONU vuelve a pedir amnistía para migrantes en tránsito en Honduras
Proceso Digital, 17 de julio de 2022
“La Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) a través de su representante en Tegucigalpa volvió a pedir al gobierno de Honduras una amnistía para los migrantes en tránsito por el territorio nacional”.
Las detenciones bajo el régimen de excepción en El Salvador superan las 46.100
Infobae, 17 de julio de 2022
“Las autoridades de El Salvador han detenido a más de 46.100 personas, a las que acusa de ser pandilleros, desde finales de marzo al amparo de un régimen de excepción que suspende varios derechos constitucionales, según informó este viernes el Ministerio de Seguridad”.
4.2 magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of El Salvador
Nelson Renteria, Reuters, July 16, 2022
“A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador shortly after 7 p.m. on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.”
Autoridades en Honduras no ponen freno a muertes violentas de mujeres en 2022: Cattrachas
Criterio.hn, 15 de julio de 2022
“Al menos 160 muertes violentas de mujeres se han registrado en Honduras entre enero y el 13 de julio de 2022, y de estos únicamente 20 casos están en proceso de judicialización”.
ONG denuncia el asesinato de 149 mujeres en Honduras en lo que va de 2022
EFE, Proceso Digital, 14 de julio de 2022
“La ONG Centro de Derechos de Mujeres (CDM) denunció este jueves que entre enero y junio de este año al menos 149 mujeres murieron de forma violenta en Honduras”.
Justicia y derechos humanos sufren un deterioro en Guatemala, según expertos
Yahoo!Noticias, 14 de julio de 2022
“La Justicia y el respeto a los derechos humanos en Guatemala sufren un deterioro y debilitamiento en los últimos años”.
Centroamérica: “El retroceso de la democracia ha sido inmenso”
Ana María Méndez-Dardón, Washington Office on Latin America, 14 de julio de 2022
“Ana María Méndez-Dardón, Directora para Centroamérica de WOLA, dice que las democracias de la región viven uno de los momentos más frágiles de las últimas décadas”.
Caribbean Immigrants in the United States
Jane Lorenzi and Jeanne Batalova, Migration Policy Institute, July 7, 2022
“Approximately 4.5 million Caribbean immigrants resided in the United States in 2019, representing 10 percent of the nation’s 44.9 million total foreign-born population.”
ACTIONS, ALERTS, AND RESOURCES
El Salvador: Transgender People Denied Equal Rights
Human Rights Watch, July 18, 2022
“Transgender people in El Salvador experience significant discrimination in daily life because there is no procedure for legal gender recognition.”
Adam Isacson, Washington Office on Latin America, July 15, 2022
“With this series of weekly updates, WOLA seeks to cover the most important developments at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
Risch Portman “Solving the Border Crisis” Bill Analysis
Human Rights First, July 2022
“The S.4518 “Solving the Border Crisis” bill introduced in July 2022 by Senators Risch (R-Idaho) and Portman (R-Ohio) includes a wish list of inhumane, expensive, uninformed, and ineffective anti-immigrant measures.”
Engendering Safety: Addressing Femicide in Mexico
Mexico Institute, July 2022
“The Mexico Institute’s “Engendering Safety: Addressing Femicide in Mexico” initiative brings together major voices to 1) raise awareness, 2) explore the driving factors and enabling environment, and 3) outline action items.”
* The Migration News Brief is a selection of relevant news articles, all of which do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Latin America Working Group.
P.S. Do you know of someone who might be interested in receiving the Migration News Brief? Tell them to email ysanchezesparza@lawg.org.
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