In today’s immigration news: Myth-busting about immigration; tight job market in U.S. attracts immigrants; relief for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens under consideration; more.
NOTE: You didn’t miss the June 11 and 12 editions of this blog—I did. And I may miss a few more in the coming weeks, due to some family medical issues.
Myths and misunderstandings about immigration feed public concern but also hide the real contributions that immigrants make to the economy–contributions that are essential to continued economic growth in the United States.
[New Yorker] “The tropes that tend to dominate public discussion often have little basis in fact, and the facts that should be at the center of the discussion often go ignored. Take, for example, the claim often made by Republicans that the country is being ‘swamped’ by migrants crossing the southern border. It’s certainly true that a surge in unauthorized immigration during the past couple of years has created considerable challenges for communities in border states, and for cities such as New York and Chicago, which have received large inflows of migrants. But it is barely mentioned that this recent surge—which is largely rooted in people fleeing poverty and dysfunction in troubled Latin American countries, such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela—comes after a decade in which the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States declined.
“According to recent estimates by the Department of Homeland Security, in 2010 there were 11.6 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. In 2022, there were eleven million. So, even though the number of unauthorized arrivals has risen sharply in the past couple of years, this follows a period in which large numbers of undocumented immigrants returned home, especially to Mexico, causing the over-all number still living here to fall slightly. It’s also true that during the past two decades the number of foreign-born people living in the United States has increased significantly—from 31.1 million in 2000 to 46.2 million in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. But legal immigration has accounted for most of this jump, and many of the arrivals have been skilled workers. ‘Since 2000, net immigration has become massively more concentrated among highly educated workers,’ Peri, of the Global Migration Center, pointed out. …
“The second important reality is that, in the coming decades, we are going to need many more of these types of workers to keep the U.S. economy growing and to fill essential jobs in industries such as construction, agriculture, food processing, hospitality, and long-term care.”
And in other news
A new study shows a direct relationship between tight job markets in the United States and increased migration.
[Center for Global Development] “People come whenever there are jobs to be filled in the American economy. It is true today, and it has been true for decades.
“That is the main finding from my new study analyzing nearly 25 years of data of both crossings through the US Southwest border and a measure of labor market tightness in the US, which is the number of vacancies in the economy per unemployed person. …
“Furthermore, contrary to many narratives out there, this relationship between labor market tightness and border crossings is a feature of the data that survives all presidential administrations, from both major parties, since 2000 until today: George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. As such, the results from my research suggest that, to put it bluntly, any administration facing a labor market as tight as President Biden currently faces would have also experienced such an unusual number of border crossings. Thus, it is not about migration enforcement, but rather about labor markets dynamics.”
Four officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described possible steps to protect undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens. They emphasized that no final decision has been made.
[New York Times] “The program said to be under consideration is known as “parole in place,” which has been used in the past for other populations, like families of military members. It gives undocumented immigrants in the United States protection from deportation for a certain period of time and access to a work permit.
“Crucially, it also makes it easier for some undocumented immigrants to gain new access to a green card and a path to U.S. citizenship.
“Generally, unlawful entry into the country blocks people’s access to U.S. citizenship in cases in which they would have otherwise been eligible, like being married to a U.S. citizen. Parole in place, however, helps some immigrants obtain a “lawful immigration status” and become eligible to begin the process of becoming citizens.”
A heat wave with temperatures spiking to 106 degrees in El Paso endangers migrants at the border or trying to cross the border.
[The Guardian] “The US border patrol in El Paso said it had identified four people who died last weekend from ‘heatstroke and dehydration’. At least two others who are presumed to be migrants died this week, US Customs and Border Protection told the Guardian – though the individuals’ identities and causes of death have yet to be confirmed by the local coroner’s office.” …
“Increasingly, many of those attempting to cross into the US are fleeing extreme weather and climate disasters in their home countries. US policies at the border, Hidalgo added, ‘are not centering human life’.
“The actual number of migrant deaths in the region may be up to four times higher than official counts, according to a report released in March by the aid group No More Deaths, which provides water and first-aid care to migrants.”
As migrants travel through Mexico, they are often extorted by Mexican law enforcement or migration officials. But that is not the end of the story. Instead of deporting migrants or granting them transit visas, Mexico transports them to far southern areas and strands them without resources.
[AP] “Mexican authorities refer to the temporary detentions as ‘humanitarian rescues.’
“Venezuelan Keilly Bolaños says there is nothing human about them. She and her four children have been sent to southern Mexico six times. The 25-year-old single mother wants asylum so her 4-year-old daughter can get treatment for leukemia, unavailable to her in Venezuela.
“Days earlier, she was captured in the northern state of Chihuahua, where she said members of the military beat her in front of her crying children, then loaded them onto a bus for the two-day journey to Villahermosa.
“’How can you run when you have four children? You can’t,’ Bolaños said.”
More migrants are seeking asylum in Minnesota, and more migrants are in deportation proceedings. Most of the deportation cases involve claims for asylum. Over the past 30 years, immigration courts found that two-thirds of asylum seekers are eligible to remain in the United States, and about one-third are ordered deported.
[MinnPost] “If a migrant is able to make an asylum claim at the border — which no one can do until the border is reopened — he or she has a good chance of winning the right to stay. …
“Not only has the numbers of migrants to Minnesota increased dramatically, but there’s also been a shift in where they have come from.
“Last year, about a third, or 6,017, deportation cases involved migrants from Ecuador. In 2022, Ecuadorians were also by far the largest group of migrants to Minnesota. …
“Michele Garnett McKenzie of Advocates for Human Rights said Minnesota’s new Ecuadorian migrants, like most immigrants to the United States, often seek out communities where they have relatives or friends. …
“’People don’t leave their country unless there is a fairly significant reason,’ McKenzie said.”
A Texas judge dismissed riot charges against immigrants, saying the charges had been improperly filed.
[Border Report] “Deficiencies in the criminal complaint affidavits submitted by Texas state law enforcement have been a factor cited in prior dismissals against foreign nationals who allegedly cut the Texas razor wire by the Rio Grande levee and barreled through Texas Army National Guard troops on March 21 and April 12. In previous hearings, prosecutors complained to jail magistrates of not having sufficient time to present witnesses or more evidence. They defended the content of complaint affidavits that vary little from defendant to defendant.”
ICE plans to close the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
[Reuters] “Dilley was opened in 2014 to house migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, a contentious practice the Biden administration halted by early 2022.
“The center, operated by the private company CoreCivic(CXW.N), held around 1,800 people as of June 6, the bulk of whom were women with no criminal records, ICE records show.”
The Department of Justice, as well as Iowa plaintiffs and advocacy groups, have filed court challenges to the new Iowa anti-immigrant law, which is scheduled to go into effect on July 1. An initial hearing took place on June 10, with the judge saying he planned to issue a preliminary ruling before July 1.
[Iowa Capital Dispatch] “The law would give state law enforcement officials the ability to charge undocumented immigrants with an aggravated misdemeanor if they are found in the state after having been previously deported, denied admission or removed from the U.S., or if they have an order to leave the country.
State courts are allowed to order the deportation of people charged under the law, and law enforcement and state agencies would be able to transport migrants to U.S. ports of entry to ensure they leave the country. Failure to comply with a deportation order would be a felony.”
Immigration news 