Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, have criticized the Biden administration’s decision to allow Haitian nationals who are in the U.S. to apply for permission to stay under a legal classification called Temporary Protected Status. Here is what this designation means and how it’s made.
Immigration
Banning Asylum Is No Way to an Immigration Fix
Under both U.S. and international law, anyone fleeing persecution in another country has a right to request asylum and have their claim assessed. But both the Trump and Biden administrations have dramatically undermined these protections. Most recently, Biden’s executive order and accompanying federal rule on “Securing the Border” — which effectively closed the U.S.-Mexico border this June — all but suspended the right to asylum altogether.
DeSantis Says Undocumented Immigrants Will ‘Regret’ Coming to Florida as He Signs Harsher Penalties Into Law
One bill doesn’t mention migrants specifically but imposes a mandatory 10-day jail sentence for a third or subsequent conviction for driving without a license or with a license that has been suspended, cancelled, or revoked. Another bumps criminal penalties for people who commit felonies after having been deported and returning to the United States.
Legal Or Not, Only Immigrants Can Save America
The United States avoided a recession largely because of a surge in immigration, and its economic output is expected to be $7 trillion higher over the next 10 years largely because of immigration–legal or not: the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t distinguish between the two. As native-born fertility declines and Americans age, the country cannot afford to close its borders. Those immigrants at the border aren’t an invasion. They’re not a crisis. They’re a lifeline: theirs and ours.
Immigrant Activists Rally Against ‘Consistent Dehumanization’ in Florida as They Face More Bills Targeting Them
Seven months after one of the strictest immigration laws in the nation went into effect, dozens of immigrant rights activists gathered in the state Capitol building on Thursday to speak out about what one person called the “never ending attacks on immigrants” in Florida.
High-Profile Attorney Jose Baez Takes Over Defense of Migrant Virgilio Mendez Accused in Death of Sheriff’s Deputy After Arrest
Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant facing a manslaughter charge in the heart-attack death of a St. Johns County sheriff’s deputy following Mendez’s arrest on a minor charge, is now represented by Jose Baez, the Miami attorney and one of the most successful and high-profile trial lawyers in the country. Baez’s involvement and a petition that has gathered 600,000 signatures for Mendez’s release reflect the reach of the case far beyond St. Johns County, and shock over a charge that, according to the medical examiner’s conclusion, is disconnected from deputy Michael Kunovich’s heart attack.
This Hyper Talk of a Border ‘Invasion’ Is an Old American Playbook
With persecution, poverty, and climate change driving large numbers of migrants to the southern border, some in politics and the media are again pushing the panic button and purposely but inaccurately using words like “invasion” to describe problems at the border.
Defense Calls Out Sharp Inaccuracies in Arrest Account of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Death of Deputy
The defense lawyer for Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant held for over eight months on an aggravated manslaughter of an officer charge in the death of a St. Johns County deputy, is calling his arrest “legally insufficient,” describing his arrest report as a series of misrepresentations and misapplications of the law, and citing the medical examiner’s report to conclude that the death of the deputy was unrelated to the arrest.
Judge Rules Migrant Held Responsible for Death of Deputy After Arrest Is Incompetent to Stand Trial
Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith ruled that Vergilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant held responsible for the death of a St. Johns County deputy of a cardiac episode several minutes after Mendez was arrested, is incompetent to proceed to trial and is to receive “competency restoration” while held at the Volusia County Branch Jail. The order suspends further criminal proceedings, but may be abrogated over the next 60 days should the treatment restore competency to the court’s satisfaction.
Judge Mulls Trial Competency of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Sudden Death of Deputy After Arrest
Declaring it a “complex situation,” Circuit Court Judge R. Lee Smith at the end of a three-hour hearing today said he needed time to think before issuing a decision on whether Vergilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant controversially charged with manslaughter in the death of a St. Johns County deputy Michael Kunovich last May, is competent to stand trial. Kunovich died several minutes after Mendez was arrested for resisting arrest after a stop-and-frisk encounter in St. Augustine.
Statewide Grand Jury Attacks Organizations That Help Migrants and Calls for Further Crackdowns
A statewide grand jury has issued a 146-page report that calls for taking a series of steps to try to curb illegal immigration. The report includes calling for further attempts to crack down on businesses that hire undocumented immigrants, probing non-government organizations and collecting fees on transfers of money from Florida to other countries.
Lawsuit Calls Florida’s New Immigration Law Unconstitutional and ‘Xenophobic’
A coalition of groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court over Florida’s recently enacted immigration law, specifically challenging the section of the law that makes it a felony for individuals to transport an undocumented immigrant across state lines as being unconstitutional.
A Memorial Month for Our Rights
Tuesday begins a month of memorial days as we watch our Supreme Court continue to roll back those very rights soldiers died for, trampling them more effectively than any enemy foreign or, for the most part, domestic, ever has.
DeSantis Signs Most Restrictive Bill Against Undocumented Migrants in the Country
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed what both he and his critics agree is the strongest anti-illegal immigration bill passed by any state legislature in the country on Wednesday. Speaking in Jacksonville behind a podium with a sign reading, “Biden’s Border Crisis,” the governor blasted the president for the large influx of undocumented immigrants that has occurred across the U.S.-Mexican border over the past couple of years.
End Language that Dehumanizes Immigrants
Sensationalizing, stigmatizing, and misleading imagery and rhetoric surrounding immigration leads to near-constant use of the term “illegal” or “unlawful” to describe unauthorized crossings. An advocate for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and trafficking is alarmed by the use of this language to describe a migrant’s attempt to survive.
Republican Lawmakers Prepared to Spend $10 Million on Migrant Expulsions from Florida
The Florida Senate on Wednesday likely will take up a plan that would bolster Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to send migrants to “sanctuary” cities and states, as Republicans and Democrats battle over the issue.
In 1st Visit to Mexico Border, Joe Biden Tours a City Overrun By Record Surge of Migrants
The visit to the border for the president is politically fraught — as Republicans have accused Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of neglecting border security and immigration issues as the number of migrant arrests this past year reached never before seen heights.
Qatar Is ‘Sportswashing.’ Fans Don’t Really Care.
“Sportswashing” is using sport as a tool of soft power, to clean up (and distract from) a murky political or humanitarian reputation. The World Cup is a massive deal. The last one, hosted by another controversial host nation, Russia, attracted 3.5 billion viewers across the world.
Florida Center for Government Accountability Sues DeSantis Over Migrant Flight Records
The Florida Center for Government Accountability filed the lawsuit in Leon County circuit court and alleged that the governor’s office did not comply with requests to release a series of records about the migrant flights.
Lawsuit Cites DeSantis Trickery in Seeking to Block Further Migrant Flights
Lawyers representing asylum seekers who were allegedly “tricked” into going from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard on flights funded by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration said Wednesday they are seeking a nationwide injunction to block the governor from luring immigrants to travel across state lines.
DeSantis’s Martha’s Vineyard Trafficking May Be Illegal
Transporting consenting migrants who have the paperwork to be in the U.S. is legal. But certain factors – like DeSantis’ intent and knowledge of the migrants’ immigration status – could create potential civil and criminal liability.
DeSantis Pulls From Segregationists’ Playbook with Anti-Immigration Stunt
Governors Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida are following the playbook of segregationists who provided one-way bus tickets to Northern cities for Black Southerners in the 1960s. At that time, the fight for racial equality was attracting national attention and support from many white Americans, inspiring some to join interracial Freedom Rides organized by civil rights groups.
DeSantis Pledges More Migrant Flights Out of Florida at State’s Expense
The flights Wednesday mostly involved Venezuelan migrants and included about 10 children. Two planes went from San Antonio, Texas, to the Florida Panhandle community of Crestview before going north.
Our Thirty Years’ War: Schlesinger’s The Disuniting of America
What historian Arthur Schlesinger had detected in 1992 in a few trends is now orthodoxy–from both sides, neither for the better. The “ethnic rage” of diversity-preaching liberals and the fundamentalist, doctrinaire “monoculturalism” of conservatives has the country in a state of paralysis. Schlesinger wanted a renewed melting pot. But that’s not the solution.
DeSantis Ramps Up Inaccurate Anti-Asylum Rhetoric In Legally-Dubious Assault on Federal Policy
Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Legislature to give him $8 million to ship asylum seekers transported by the Biden administration into Florida off to other states in an expanding initiative against what the governor inaccurately calls President Joe Biden’s “open borders policy.” Republicans’ overall complaint vastly distorts Biden’s policy, according to an analysis published by the libertarian Cato Institute.
On Refugees, Joe Biden Should Emulate Canada: Go Big
The capacity of private American citizens to resettle refugees is large and untapped. It may even bridge the divide over immigration in the United States. Now is the time for Biden to ask the American people to invite homeless and war-ravaged Afghan refugees into their homes and their communities.
This Is What Happens to Child Migrants at the Border
Behind huge numbers of migrants are individual children, many of whom have suffered from repeated trauma. Legally, the U.S. is obligated to care for these children from the moment they arrive until they turn 18, according to carefully defined procedures.
When Americans Recall their Roots, they Open Up to Immigration
Reminding Americans of where they came from – such as the statements by Biden administration officials – creates empathy for immigrants, generating more favorable attitudes toward immigration.
Crisis at the Border: Sheriff Staly’s On-the-Ground Report on a ‘Failed Immigration Policy’ Affecting All Communities
Earlier this month Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly took part in a fact-finding trip along the Texas side of the border with Mexico with several other law enforcement officials and U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla. “The border crisis,” he argues, “is coming to you whether you like it or not.”
Martin Luther King Jr’s Vision of Democratic Socialism Is Still America’s Best Guide to Realize the Dream
Martin Luther King Jr.’s democratic socialism in the authors’ view is the fusion of King’s prophetic social vision, fully including his radical critiques not only of racism but also of capitalism and militarism, with his revolutionary methods of social change.
Stop Calling It a ‘Border Crisis’
Children are being jailed in deplorable conditions where they are susceptible to heightened and enduring trauma. Meanwhile our border remains largely shuttered to adult survivors fleeing rape and horrific gender-based persecution because the new administration has yet to repeal an illegal policy implemented under the last one.
All Undocumented Americans Deserve a Pathway to Citizenship
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) known as the Dream Act survived years of attack from the Trump administration. It temporarily protects undocumented people, most of whom immigrated to the U.S. as young children, from deportation. families deserved this moment of relief.
After the Muslim Ban
Before we let the horrors of the Trump administration fade away like a fever dream, we have to ask ourselves how we got here. Otherwise, it’s going to become a recurring nightmare, argues Domenica Ghanem.
Ending Trump’s Lies About Immigrants
“Relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes,” a study finds.
The Bigotry Behind Judge Barrett’s Judicial Hijab
We don’t have to imagine what Amy Barrett’s jurisprudence will look like regarding gay rights, abortion, women’s rights, sex discrimination, even human rights and the separation of church and state. Reactionaries can party like it’s Deuteronomy again.
Florida’s ‘Dreamers’ Hail Supreme Court Decision Barring Immediate Deportation
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 majority found that Trump failed to adequately justify the decision to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, but the door remains open for him to do so.
Volusia/Flagler Chapter Marks ACLU’s Centennial With “Future Voters Essay Contest” and $500 Prize
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ‘s Volusia/Flagler chapter is celebrating the ACLU’s 100th birthday with an essay contest open to all students, with a $500 prize and publication of the winning essay in FlaglerLive.
DeSantis Favors Senate Bill That Would Require All Public and Many Private Employers to E-Verify
All public employers including school districts, state agencies and public universities and private employers with at least 50 employees would have to use the federal system, or one that the state Department of Economic Opportunity deems is “substantially equivalent” to E-Verify.
Lessons from the Border
Even if people know a little about the border with Mexico, many Americans simply have no idea about the U.S. policies that have created the displacement crisis, including American support for a criminal Honduran president.
Inside the Cell Where a Sick 16-Year-Old Boy Died in Border Patrol Care
Video obtained by ProPublica shows the Border Patrol held a sick teen in a concrete cell without proper medical attention and did not discover his body until his cellmate alerted guards. The video doesn’t match the Border Patrol’s account of his death.
What “Abolish ICE” Really Means
All evidence suggests that immigrants are far from the national security threat the Trump administration claims they are. Regardless of status, they’re more law-abiding than native-born citizens.
Bi-Lingual Elections A Go: Florida Preparing Spanish-Language Ballots Statewide for 2020
The issue has been the subject of a federal lawsuit filed last August, three months before the 2018 general election, by groups representing Spanish-speaking Floridians.
Go Back Where You Came From
No American can tell another to go back where he or she came from, at least not with a straight face: We’re all carpetbaggers in America going back to the original ones who crossed over the Bering Strait.
Both Republicans, One Florida Senator Wants to Protect Undocumented Migrants, Another Wants to Punish Them
Senate Judiciary Chairman David Simmons would give undocumented immigrants legal permits to work and drive in Florida while Sen. Joe Gruters would harshen up penalties for the undocumented.
The Broader Attack Behind Trump’s ‘Go Back’ Where They Came From Slur
It would be a mistake to reduce President Trump’s tweets against four members of Congress to their racism. Rather, argues Jeffrey C. Isaac, they also articulated a broader reactionary agenda that goes beyond racism and that targets the left in general.
Citing Police Role and Trust, South Miami Will Challenge New Law Banning Sanctuary Cities
“As soon as [police] are seen as somebody who might turn you in if you called for assistance, they’re no longer trusted and they can no longer do their primary job,” the South Miami mayor says.
Our Immigrant Prisons Are An Atrocity
As reports surface about immigrant children sleeping on concrete floors and people being forced to drink water from toilets, one fact has become unmistakably clear: It’s well past time to demand an end to Trump’s cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants.
Inside the Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Where Agents Joke About Migrant Deaths and Post Sexist Memes
The three-year-old group, which has roughly 9,500 members, shared derogatory comments about Latina lawmakers who plan to visit a controversial Texas detention facility on Monday, calling them “scum buckets” and “hoes.”
Citing Trump’s ‘Contrived’ Reasoning, Supreme Court Blocks Citizenship Question on Census–For Now
The 5-4 decision, however, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the majority opinion, leaves open the possibility that the Trump Administration could readdress the citizenship question, if it can justify it.
DeSantis Says ‘We Don’t Want’ Migrants Federal Government Plans to Send to Florida
U.S. Customs and Border Protection could start sending about 135 migrants awaiting asylum hearings twice a week to Palm Beach and Broward counties, to alleviate overcrowding in border facilities.