On April 2, Rosario sent her daughter across the border–alone. She knew that an unaccompanied minor would be allowed to stay, but not a mother and daughter. Now 15-year-old Adriana is safe with family in the United States. Rosario died trying to cross the border to safety. (Los Angeles Times)
“The deputy wrapped the body in a white sheet. He then lifted it into a gray bag and helped the funeral director load it into the back of his Ford Explorer for transport to the sheriff’s morgue. It would be fingerprinted and tested for the coronavirus. The men found no trace of a name. It would be days before fingerprints told investigators that the woman was Rosario Yanira Girón de Orellana, a 41-year-old single mother who had traveled more than 1,500 miles from El Salvador….
“The deputy checked her pockets: nothing. She wore no jewelry, just a plastic rosary and a string of rainbow beads with a medallion that said, in Spanish, ‘Virgin, please guide my path.'”
In June, Attorney General Merrick Garland vacated the Trump administration decision that barred asylum for victims of domestic violence. Now the woman whose plea for asylum was rejected by Jeff Sessions has received asylum.(Fuller Project)
“A 40-year-old domestic abuse survivor from El Salvador learned Wednesday that the immigration court review board approved the asylum application she filed seven years ago. …
“’I didn’t totally understand at first what my case meant, but with time and with my attorneys’ help, I came to see that they used my case as a foundation,’ A.B., identified only by her initials for her safety, told The Fuller Project in Spanish through a translator. ‘So many women have died at the hands of their ex-partner. They are not here now to tell their stories of what they lived through.’”
The latest Customs and Border Protection figures show more than a million “encounters” in this fiscal year, including more than 188,000 in June—but those numbers are somewhat misleading. (Washington Post)
“The government’s tally of individual people stopped at the border, as opposed to total apprehensions, shows 455,000 have been taken into custody so far this fiscal year, compared with nearly 490,000 at this time in 2019….
“Single adults are the largest group of those apprehended while attempting to cross, though their numbers dipped 3 percent in June, to just over 117,600 people. Eighty-two percent of them were expelled….
“Apprehensions of unaccompanied children rose to 15,253 in June, an 8 percent increase over May. The number of migrant families taken into custody at the border jumped 25 percent, to 55,805, still ‘well below”’the peak of 88,587 in May 2019, officials said.”
After 17 years in the United States, Yazmin Bruno Valdez finally got DACA in June, and quickly got her Kansas driver’s license, “marveling at how it felt to drive home, free from the fear that one harmless traffic infraction could lead to an encounter with immigration officials who could eject her from the country. (CNN)
“But that brief sense of freedom and possibility vanished on Friday night when a federal judge in Texas ruled that the 2012 DACA program created by former President Barack Obama was illegal. US District Judge Andrew Hanen, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, said DACA recipients can maintain their status for now and may continue to renew it every two years. But the program will cease to exist for the tens of thousands of applicants who were waiting in the DACA pipeline
“It was another cruel twist of fate in Bruno-Valdez’s journey, one that has left her awash in fear, guilt and uncertainty. When the ruling came down Friday night, she said she felt as though she had been granted Willy Wonka’s ‘golden ticket; just before that privilege was snatched away from so many others who she feels deserved it just as much….
“Even though Bruno-Valdez made it into the program before it was ruled illegal, that doesn’t give her much peace of mind. ‘What if the (DACA) program ends completely and now they have our exact location,’ Bruno-Valdez said. ‘They have our address. They have every bit of information that they can possibly need to deport us on. And what if there is another ruling that just takes away these protections?'”
Even in Utah, even conservatives, back a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS, and essential workers. (CNN)
“Utah Business leaders, Republican lawmakers and immigration advocates came together at the World Trade Center in Salt Lake City Wednesday to urge Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to pass bipartisan legislation on immigration reform.
“The group emphasized the critical role immigrants have had in the workforce and economy, especially during the last year. Derek Miller, CEO of The Salt Lake Chamber, said Utah is slowly returning to its pre-pandemic unemployment rate, but businesses are still having difficulty finding workers….
“The group urged senators to pass bipartisan legislation like the DREAM Act of 2021, Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and Emergency Act, the SECURE Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.”
Immigration news 