In today’s immigration news: Asylum seekers at the border; Minnesota’s Cameroonian immigrant community; more.
Asylum seekers already at the southern border felt despair as they heard about President Biden’s new order blocking them from entering or applying for asylum. Salome Hernandez, her little sister, mother, cousin, and grandfather were among those waiting at the border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.
[The Guardian] “The 20-year-old and her family had to flee from Medellín, Colombia, in late May, she said, after her grandfather received death threats for being a leader of the Community Action Board, a social organization there.
“Hernandez’s grandfather, who did not give his name for safety reasons, said that men in military fatigues gave him an ultimatum – to drop his environmental activism to stop deforestation in a natural reserve in the Valle del Cauca and Riseralda region, or face being killed.
“’We do not have a plan, and we cannot return,’ the 64-year-old man said, upon learning about the new executive order. ‘This is a low blow.’”
And in other news
Sahan Journal looks at Minnesota’s small but growing Cameroonian immigrant community.In 2022, the Cameroonian immigrant community in Minnesota numbered about 3,600. The Cameroonian immigrant community in the United States is about 89,000, with the largest population located in Maryland.
[Sahan Journal] “The state’s Cameroonian population has more than doubled since 2016, when peaceful protests in the country’s Anglophone regions escalated into civil war with the French-speaking majority.
“’The media doesn’t say much about it,’ said Adrian Abongmbu, a Cameroonian immigrant and county manager at Alight, a humanitarian aid agency. ‘But we see it because I know from our community how many family members have been lost and how many have fled for their safety.’”
As border enforcement shifts from one sector to another, immigrants move to sectors that they hear are “safer” or easier crossings. As CBP and Mexican authorities learn of new paths for border crossers, enforcement moves with them–and then both smugglers and migrants move again. The balloon metaphor describes the border as bulging at one point and then, when squeezed near that point, bulging somewhere else. The bulge moved from Texas to San Diego, and now to Arizona.
[New York Times] “For the first time in 25 years, the San Diego region has become a top destination for migrants along the southern United States border, surpassing the number of illegal crossings at areas in Arizona and Texas for several weeks this year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection….
“Migration patterns along the southern border have become harder to predict in recent years and can change rapidly. Border crossings at the Tucson sector in Arizona had been in decline, but recently saw an uptick that surpassed the number of crossings in San Diego.
Arizona may put an anti-immigrant measure, similar to the Texas SB-4 law, on the ballot in November.
[New York Times] “The proposal would give local police officers the power to arrest and jail unauthorized migrants, and would allow state judges to order deportations.
“While immigration is the focus of campaigns across the country, the measure in Arizona is significant because it places the border crisis directly onto the ballot in a swing state that is seen as crucial in the presidential race. …
“Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has denounced the effort, but she does not have veto power to block Republicans from sending the measure directly to voters.
“The measure, which would need a simple majority of voters to pass, is called the Secure the Border Act.”
Immigration news 