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File Photo: Lithuanian soldiers install a razor wire on the border with Belarus on July 9, 2021 in Druskininkai, Lithuania.Reuters / Janice Raisans / File Photos

August 5, 2021

Warsaw (Reuters)-Poland has accused Belarus of sending immigrants across the border in retaliation for this weeks decision to evacuate to Belarusian athlete Kristina Zimanuskaya, who refused to return from the Tokyo Olympics.

Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said Thursday that Minsk is waging a hybrid war with the European Union with the help of illegal immigrants.

In recent weeks, neighboring EU member states Lithuania have reported a surge in illegal border crossings from Belarus, saying Minsk has been sending foreign migrants to the EU.

There are both young men and women with children. Belarus uses these migrants as a living weapon, Wasik told online broadcaster Telewizjaw Polsce.

Recently, there has been an increase in (immigrants). We treat it as a reaction to allowing Belarusian sprinters to asylum.

Belarusian government officials were not immediately asked for comment.

The Cold War-style asylum in Zimanuskaya aroused western tensions with Minsk when the EU accused President Alexander Lukashenko of using immigrants to counter EU sanctions.

The Polish Border Guard told Reuters that it detained a group of 71 migrants at the border with Belarus Wednesday to Thursday night and a group of 62 people (mainly Iraqi) on Wednesday.

This exceeds a total of 122 illegal immigrants who said border guards were detained along the frontier throughout last year. Last month, 242 migrants were intercepted.

According to Wasik, the most recently arrived migrants came not only from Iraq, but also from Afghanistan.

The Home Office did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

The EU summoned a Belarusian envoy in Brussels to discuss the issue of illegal immigration to the block with the Iraqi government.

(Report by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Agnieszka Barteczko, written by Alan Charlish, edited by William Maclean and Mark Heinrich)

Poland says Belarus will force migrants to cross the border in a hybrid war with the EU

Source link Poland says Belarus will force migrants to cross the border in a hybrid war with the EU

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Poland says Belarus will force migrants to cross the border in a "hybrid war" with the EU - Texasnewstoday.com

As the first director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who came up through the ranks, I have a clear understanding of what ICEs congressionally-mandated mission is, how its staff perform their national security work, and the need for clear priorities regarding immigration enforcement.

There are many threats and attempts to make America less safe, less secure, and less free. The hostile rhetoric towards law enforcement in general is at peak highs. The movement to abolish and defund police has already resulted in unprecedented crime in our largest cities. This desire to reject law and order, open our borders to public safety threats and disease, and to tolerate rampant illegal immigration is an attack on our safety and security, not to mention our freedom.

The Biden administration has nominated the Sheriff of Harris County, Texas, Ed Gonzalez, as the next ICE Director. As someone who sat in that chair and as someone who enforced immigration law for nearly 35 years as a border patrol agent and an ICE special agent, I can say without hesitation that Gonzalez is the wrong guy for the job.

His policies and rhetoric demonstrate very clearly his opposition to enforcing our nations immigration laws as currently written and enacted. This administration has already hobbled ICE and drastically reduced its arrest authority, which has resulted in the lowest numbers of arrests and removals in the history of the agency. This administration attempts to ignore federal law and fails to enforce any meaningful immigration law either on the border or within our country. Based on his time as Harris County sheriff, Gonzalez has given every indication that he agrees with these policies.

Our border is also in the middle of an unprecedented crisis, with the number of border apprehensions at an all-time high and that doesnt count the illegal aliens who escape apprehension every day. Yet ICE has the lowest number of arrests in its history. This isnt by accident, mismanagement, or incompetence: It is by design.

In the midst of the current border crisis and rise in crime across our country, ICE needs a strong and experienced leader at the helm. Gonzalez is neither of those things.

Just one month into office as Harris County sheriff, Gonzalez ended the countys nine-year 287(g) partnership with ICE, which provided for the safe removal of criminal aliens from communities.

He was a strong opponent of SB4, which banned sanctuary cities in Texas and required local officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Gonzalez wrote op-eds in opposition; one can only imagine his policies on the ground.

When we fail to enforce the rule of law, criminal illegal aliens are undeterred from entering the country. The lack of border and immigration enforcement only drives more vulnerable people to put themselves at the mercy of criminal cartels, risking rape, robbery, and death.

This lack of enforcement results in continued human trafficking operations and drug smuggling, allowing drug cartels to make millions of dollars a day at the expense of our communities and taxpayers. Ending critical partnerships like 287(g) that are essential to keep communities safe was nothing more than a political move and showed total disregard for public safety and officer safety. Despite what Gonzalez has said in confirmation hearings, his actions indicate he does not believe in coordination of immigration enforcement to protect our nation from terrorists and drug smugglers.

Gonzalez was a vocal critic of ICE and enforcement of our federal immigration laws, despite having no experience in immigration or federal law enforcement. He is wholly unprepared to lead ICE.

Gonzalez running ICE would not only kill what little morale remains in ICE, but would render the agency inert, without actually disbanding it. His confirmation would mean there will be no meaningful enforcement of our nations immigration law, and that will result in more people coming illegally into the U.S.

The Senate should stand firm in favor of public servants who will restore our security and secure our borders.

Tom Homan is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a senior fellow at theImmigration Reform Law Institute.

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Ed Gonzalez is the wrong pick to lead ICE | TheHill - The Hill

Congressman Mike Johnson talks about the news that ICE has bussed Haitian immigrants to Shreveport the news that there may be more to come.

More than 75 Haitian immigrants were dropped off late last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Shreveport officials say there may be more busloads to come.

Buses carrying the Haitians left them at downtown's SporTran Terminal. The arrival of the immigrants came with little or no warning to city government.

"This is a crisis," says Johnson, saying that he and Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins heard the news of the buses about the same time. "I told the mayor that he needs to call the White House and get President Biden's attention, like I and my Republican colleagues are trying to do. We could fix this mess today, but President Biden and his administration are doubling down on...their crazy policies."

Here's what Johnson told KEEL News on Monday morning:

"We're going to continue to see this surge of immigrants and illegal aliens dropped all over the country for the foreseeable future until the White House reverses course.

I was told by ICE that these people have been in custody for some time. They (ICE) got an inexplicable order from Washington to empty out the facilities."

The Congressman then expresses more frustration that, with the COVID Delta variant surging, nothing is know about the medical conditions of those being turned loose. "The (ICE) don't know anything. They told me that almost none of the people that their dropping off speak English, most have no money and no plans once they arrive at these destinations like Shreveport...or wherever else they're going. They have no picture ID, no verification of identity. Their not COVID tested when they come across the border. This is a crisis. There's no law and order and it look intentional."

Look: How Shreveport-Bossier Has Changed from 2007 to Now

Could This Empty Building Be the New Shreveport Police Headquarters?

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Over 75 Illegal Immigrants Dropped in Shreveport, More on the Way - News Radio 710 KEEL

London At least 430 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the English Channel to reach the U.K. on Monday, the highest number to make the dangerous journey from Europe ever recorded, according to reports. The record daily crossings came as U.K. lawmakers debated an immigration bill that would make attempting the crossing even to make a legitimate asylum claim a crime.

The Nationality and Borders Bill, proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government and currently under consideration by parliamentarians, would continue to grant access to the U.K.'s asylum system for those who make authorized arrivals, on an airplane with a travel visa, for instance. But any person attempting to make an unauthorized entry into the U.K., like by crossing the English Channel on a small boat, would not be eligible for asylum in Britain, could be sent for processing to a "safe third country," and could face up to four years in jail.

Nearly 8,000 people have reached the U.K. in small boats so far this year, most coming ashore along the southern English coast, according to the BBC.

The Refugee Council, a British charity that works with asylum seekers and refugees, says between 9,000 and 21,600 people who currently qualify for refugee status no longer would if the law is passed.

"What the U.K. have attempted to do is to discourage people from entering the U.K. to claim asylum," Andy Hewett, Head of Advocacy at the Refugee Council, told CBS News. "If every other country in the world, certainly if every other Western country in the world, followed suit with similar legislation, then that completely undermines the 1951 Refugee Convention, the whole notion of responsibility-sharing, and our obligations under the convention that we should recognize people in need of protection."

Hewett said the bill would create a two-tier system, where some pre-authorized asylum seekers would have access to the refugee system while others who make unauthorized journeys to Britain would not.

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"The new Nationality & Borders Bill includes sweeping penalties for refugees who arrive spontaneously in the UK," the United Nations refugee agency in the U.K. said on Twitter. "The UK risks breaching commitments under the Refugee Convention that clearly protect the universal right to seek asylum and for refugees to access basic rights."

"There is an unacceptable rise in dangerous small boat crossings across the channel because of a surge in illegal migration across Europe," the U.K. Home Office said in a statement. "People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and not risk their lives making these dangerous crossings. We are continuing to pursue the criminals behind these illegal crossings."

Dr. Waheed Arian, a medical doctor who came to Britain as a refugee and has worked on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, published an open letter on Tuesday opposing the bill.

"Under this Government's proposed plans, I would not have been given the chance to become an NHS doctor, let alone learn English or study medicine at Cambridge University. I would have been classed as an 'illegal arrival', denied access to the asylum system, prosecuted for breaking the law, and summarily removed from the country," Arian wrote.

He's calling on British lawmakers to vote against the legislation.

"A person fleeing war or persecution will be criminalized if their arrival is not pre-authorized through, for example, a resettlement scheme. Most people running for their lives don't have the 'luxury' of requesting pre-approval. In Afghanistan, there was no 'legal' escape route available to me. I know too well that when your life is in danger, you don't stop moving until you feel safe," Arian wrote.

The proposed legislation has echoes of U.S. immigration policy under former President Trump, who sought to restrict asylum eligibility for those arriving at the border with Mexico.

The Trump administration tried to disqualify people who entered the U.S. without permission from getting asylum, and it also instituted a short-lived "zero tolerance" policy under which it criminally prosecuted people for entering without permission. If parents received criminal charges, they were separated from their children. A court struck down the first part of the policy, while the latter practice, which led to the separation of thousands of migrant families, was discontinued in the wake of mass public outcry.

Under Mr. Trump, the U.S. also brokered "safe third country" agreements with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in a bid to re-route asylum-seekers to these countries. Those deals have been scrapped by the Biden administration.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.

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Record number of migrants and asylum seekers reach U.K. by boat in a single day - CBS News

Congress has been focusing on agricultural labor in several ways this year. A Senate hearing on Wednesday will look at immigrant labor, the H-2A program and possible reforms for farmers to bring in more guest workers. The debate on these proposals often centers around whether to legalize hundreds of thousands of farm workers now in the country who are undocumented. (DTN file photo)

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to do what he can to reform the H-2A guest-worker program to bring in legal year-round labor for agriculture, as long as any piece of reform legislation does not include "mass amnesty" for the hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers in the country now illegally.

Grassley, a Republican and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke to reporters Tuesday morning about a Judiciary Committee hearing set for Wednesday, "Immigrant Farmworkers are Essential to Feeding America." The hearing will include Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, as well as the president emeritus of United Farm Workers of America, an Illinois farmer, an Oregon farmer, a former Department of Labor official, and the president of the National Pork Producers Council.

The hearing is expected to focus on flaws in the H-2A program, which brought in about 275,000 workers in FY 2020, and brought in nearly 166,000 in the first half of FY 2021, the most updated figures from the Department of Labor. Five states typically dominate the numbers of H-2A guest workers -- Florida, Georgia, California, Washington and North Carolina. They account for about 55% of all H-2A jobs. For many farmers and states, H-2A isn't well-suited for their labor needs.

"Employers in Iowa -- animal agriculture, agricultural processing -- is not a seasonal business, and that's what the H-2A program is for is seasonal workers," Grassley said. "So I hear from farmers and business who just can't find people to work."

H-2A should focus on providing access to a stable and legal workforce, Grassley said. But that should include expanding the program to cover year-round agricultural industries. The program should also be streamlined and the red tape reduced to deal with the high cost of using the H-2A program. And any changes to H-2A should also broadly implement the E-Verify program for agriculture as well, "so that we know that the people in the program are legally in the country."

Grassley followed up, though, stressing that any agricultural reforms for labor "should not include a mass amnesty of currently illegal immigrant farm workers." The senator again drew back to the 1986 immigration reform bill -- the last major immigration bill passed by Congress -- which legalized most undocumented immigrants who had arrived in the country before 1982. "We ought to learn from the mistakes of 1986," Grassley said., "Are we going to repeat them again?"

There are somewhere between 500,000 to 1 million agricultural workers in the country illegally. The number is difficult to pin down because the totals are unknown. Grassley recognized, "it's kind of a political complication," saying Democrats want to legalize everyone and Republicans don't believe these workers should be relieved of any responsibility for violating the law. "As a practical matter, I don't know how many millions of people would fall into that category of being agricultural, illegal people in the country," he said. "But you aren't going to hold them up and get them out of the country, I suppose the only answer is if you don't give them amnesty, they're still going to be in the dark."

Link:
Immigration Reform for H-2A and Undocumented Farm Labor - DTN The Progressive Farmer - DTN The Progressive Farmer