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After President Joe Biden signed three executive orders dealing with immigrant family separation and asylum seekers, activists from Pennsylvania and other states convened Wednesday in Washington D.C.

They called on Biden to do away with another immigration policy: one that keeps immigrant families together, but in detention.

Were asking for what seems to me like basic human rights, to not be imprisoned, said Armando Jimenez, a lead organizer with immigrant advocacy group Make The Road Pennsylvania. A child three years old, locked up for 10 months, for what because the child and the parent came to the country seeking a better life, fleeing violence?

A group of around 100 activists from about 20 different civic groups convened at Freedom Plaza.

A number of groups came from Pennsylvania, in large part because Berks County is home to one of only three family detention centers in the nation. The other two are in Texas.

The Shut Down Berks Coalition, a collection of organizations working to end family detention in Pennsylvania, say asylum-seeking families should be released to live with families or sponsors in the United States.

There are 33 men, women and children detained at the Berks County Residential Center, also known as the Berks Family Residential Center, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. There are 433 people held in the South Texas Family Center and 78 in the Karnes County Family Residential Center, according to ICE officials.

All of the groups pleas didnt fall squarely on Biden. They also called on Congress to act. There are already Pennsylvania members of Congress who support ending family detention.

Among themare six Democrats, including Rep. Dwight Evansand Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

Casey said in a January interview that he would push Biden just as he did with the Trump Administration to find an alternative to family detention.

I dont care whether its a Democratic president, someone I have great respect for and as a friend of mine, but were going to continue to advocate aggressively and persistently for these families, Casey said.

Bidens immigration platformsays he wants to end prolonged detention and reinvest in a case management program, and in the summer he tweeted thatchildren should be released from detention along with their parents. But his plan does not outright say he plans to no longer detain families.

Civic groups from the commonwealth included Make The Road Pennsylvania, Sunrise Berks, and Free Migration Project. They were joined by the regional advocacy group CASA, and national groups such as the Japanese American Citizens League, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and Church World Service.

One of Bidens executive orders signed Tuesday established a task force that will try to identify all children separated from their parents at the border under Trump.

The civic groups said they want to see the reunification of all families that were separated by deportation and detention policies, including a right for people who have been deported to return to the United States.

The groups also called for an expedited citizenship path for essential workers and their families, and all 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Biden has proposed an immigration reform bill with an eight-year path to citizenship, which the Congress has not yet taken up. But some aspects of the billmay become law through other bills.

Bidens immigration policy proposals are facing opposition from groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, a nonprofit that promotes conservative positions on immigration.

The administrations actions are an endorsement of the unbalanced and failed policy of mass family chain migration that dominates our legal immigration system and applies it to our policy of dealing with illegal immigration and human trafficking, Dan Stein, president of FAIR, said in a statement this week. Not only will people who immigrate here legally be entitled to reunite with family members they left behind, now illegal aliens will be able to do the same.

We all support keeping families united, but there is nothing that says that reunification can only occur in this country, Stein said.

Paulina Martinez of Chester County is an agriculture worker, an immigrant from Mexico and member of CASA. She accompanied the group on their trip to Washington D.C.

Martinez shared an experience of when immigration agents once entered her home, frightening her family as they searched for someone who had lived there previously.

My biggest fear as a mother is that more families are going through this same situation that is causing trauma to our children, just for seeking a better life for our loved ones, Martinez said.

Read more from our partners, WITF.

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Biden's Executive Orders Skip Family Detention, PA And National Groups Push For More - 90.5 WESA

Lincoln County commissioners joined a chorus of lawmakers in criticizing federal policies regarding illegal aliens after a Somali national was released from custody following a border crossing and high speed chase last month.

Authorities remain on the lookout for Naseem Ali Saleh Mohammed, 22, following the Jan. 23 incident. Along with three others, Mohammed fled law enforcement after illegally crossing into the U.S. from Canada near West Kootenai Road.

U.S. Border Patrol, working with local law enforcement, detained the men after bringing the chase to an end outside of Whitefish. Three of the men were identified and kept in custody ahead of court proceedings.

But Mohammed, who gave authorities a fake name, was released. Officials only later learned that he was connected to gang violence in Canada and a suspect in several homicides in two provinces, according to the Daily Inter Lake.

They give him a ticket for crossing the border illegally and turn him loose in Whitefish, said County Commissioner Mark Peck (D-1). Im not blaming the border patrol. Im blaming the policy in this country.

Officials submitted Mohammeds fingerprints to IDENT, AIS and NGI, but turned up no criminal or immigration history for him. All three are systems federal agencies and law enforcement use to identify individuals.

U.S. law enforcement discovered Mohammeds criminal history after speaking with their colleagues across the border, according to charging documents. Mohammed is a Somali national and legal permanent resident in Canada, court documents said.

I think the local guys did their job, Peck said. They caught them coming across the border. How in the world could a guy like that get released because they cant prove hes not a U.S. citizen? If the guy is not a U.S. citizen youre not going to be able to find anything on him.

County Commissioner Jerry Bennett (D-2) said he suspected that Mohammed would not have flown under the radar very long in the U.S. given his track record.

Give him three months and you can bet he would be in the system somewhere, Bennett said.

The trio of commissioners joined U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in criticizing the policies that led to Mohammeds release. In a statement, Rosendale revealed that, along with providing a pseudonym, Mohammed claimed U.S. citizenship.

The policies and procedures that allowed a criminal alien to be set free in our community need to be examined, Rosendale said. Im following up with the Border Patrol for more information to ensure that Montanans are protected against foreign criminal elements.

Daines described the situation as unacceptable.

We must work together with law enforcement to protect innocent Montanans and ensure that our laws are working for Americans, not illegal aliens, he said in a statement.

Both Daines and Rosendales offices said the lawmakers received briefings on the incident and were monitoring the search for Mohammed.

Sheriffs offices in northwest Montana have posted wanted posters for Mohammed on social media. Standing at 5-foot-5, Mohammed is described as having a medium build, black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants and high cut boots. Authorities urged anyone who comes across Mohammed to call 911. They discouraged residents from approaching him.

According to the Vancouver Sun, Mohammed is a rapper with ties to the Brothers Keepers gang.

The three other men involved in the cross border incursion face criminal charges in U.S. District Court. Rastesfaye Neil is charged with transporting and harboring illegal immigrants. Afrah Ahmed Abdi is charged with improper entry by an alien. Christopher White faces a charge of being an alien in the U.S. after deportation.

Neil is a native U.S. citizen while Abdi is a Somali national but permanent resident of the U.S. White is a Jamaican national who was deported from the U.S. last year.

Abdi was on the run from second-degree murder charges after allegedly shooting an Ahtahkakoop First Nation man in Saskatoon last year.

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Western News - The Western News

I gave testimony on Jan. 26 via Zoom on House Bill 200 at the House Judiciary hearing. HB 200 prevents Montana cities from becoming sanctuary jurisdictions. Such jurisdictions prevent cooperation between federal immigration officials and local law enforcement.

The AP news story today (Jan. 27) misrepresented supporters of this bill by saying proponents voiced negative views of immigrants thus failing to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. All discussion at this hearing was related to illegal immigration and there was no discussion of legal immigrants here with visas or green cards.

What AP is really saying and without proof, is that those against illegal immigration are anti-immigrant. This is a political judgment and certainly not objective news.

To see what else is happening in Gallatin County subscribe to the online paper.

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Letter to the editor: Supporters of HB 200 aren't anti-immigrant - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Shkumbin Lala, aged 22, was arrested after a police raid at a property on Rock Street, Burngreave, Sheffield, revealed a cannabis growing operation in the property, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

James Gould, prosecuting, told the hearing on February 3: Despite knocking on the door no one answered so entry was forced. As officers ran up the stairs the defendant was seen to exit an attic window and leave on the roof.

Lala was directed back to the property and arrested, according to Mr Gould, and the defendant claimed he had been in Sheffield a matter of weeks and the plants were not his but he was responsible for watering them.

Mr Gould added the cellar, attic and two bedrooms had been converted to cultivate cannabis and police found 147 plants with an estimated potential street value of 80,000.

Lala, who had an Albanian interpreter, initially told police he had agreed to pay 17,000 to enter the UK illegally in October 2019, he still owed 15,000 and he had worked in London in the construction industry but that stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The defendant, who has no previous convictions, told police he was paid to look after the plants and he had been told he would receive 25 per cent of profits from their sale.

Lala, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to producing the class B controlled drugs after the raid on August 5 last year.

Ayman Khokhar, defending, told the court Lala finally accepted he had willingly entered the county illegally after he made an agreement with people in Belgium despite a Home Office investigation having been launched into whether he had been trafficked or a modern slavery victim.

Mr Khokhar said: His end of the bargain was to work as a gardener to cannabis plants in residential properties.

He added Lala will be subject to immigration proceedings and it is unlikely he will remain in the UK after his sentence.

Judge Sarah Wright sentenced Lala to 30 months of custody.

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Illegal immigrant is jailed after he was caught with 80,000 worth of cannabis plants at a Sheffield house - The Star

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Two freshman Republican state representatives want to stop undocumented immigrants from being able to pay in-state tuition at Texas public universities, they announced Friday. Immigrant advocacy groups immediately criticized the plan as insensitive and dehumanizing.

State Reps. Jeff Cason of Bedford and Bryan Slaton of Royse City said the bill they are co-authoring will allow colleges to determine a students residency status and decide if they then qualify for in-state tuition.

In 2001, Texas became the first state to allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition. There have been multiple attempts to repeal the law since then, but each has failed in the Republican-dominated Legislature. Most recently in 2019, state Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, filed a similar measure, but it did not make it past the House Higher Education Committee, which was chaired by a Democrat.

The 2021 committee chairs have not been appointed yet. That could determine whether such a bill will advance to the full chamber this year.

Texans tax dollars should not be used to reward and encourage illegal immigration to our state and nation, Cason said in a statement.

Juan Manuel Guzman, state and local advocacy strategist for United We Dream, said if a bill like this were to pass in Texas, it would be devastating for immigrant youth who want to go to school and improve their chances in life, as well as their families.

Guzman said the rhetoric Republican lawmakers often use in reference to undocumented immigrants can be very divisive and dehumanizing. Even with in-state tuition, Guzman said, the pathway to higher education for undocumented students is extremely difficult because they do not have access to all the financial aid and scholarship opportunities that other students have.

Why would you end a policy that works? Why would you stop young people from going to school? Guzman said. [The policy has] been a blessing for a lot of undocumented students, just the possibility of having a first shot and going to school.

Cason and Slaton did not respond to requests for comment.

If the bill were to become law, it would make tuition prices unaffordable for many students. Out-of-state tuition rates are typically three times higher than in-state rates, on average.

In his statement, Cason called in-state tuition rates for undocumented students handouts from the Legislature that frustrate Texans whose property taxes are rising. Property taxes do help fund community college districts. But voters typically approve the creation of such districts.

In Texas, property taxes dont subsidize four-year public universities. And property taxes also do not go to the state government, so they are not a revenue stream that lawmakers can directly tap when writing the state budget.

Under current state law, undocumented students who have lived in Texas for at least three years, graduated from a Texas high school and pledged to apply for legal status as soon as possible are eligible to pay in-state tuition rates.

In a statement, Slaton said the GOP-controlled Legislature shouldnt allow taxpayer-funded magnets for undocumented residents to exist while ignoring issues like property tax relief. But that comment comes after Slatons party successfully championed a landmark property tax reform bill in 2019 that limited when local governments can increase tax collections without voter approval and demystified the property appraisal and tax processes.

Fatima Menendez, legislative staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said access to higher education is not a reward, but it does allow the state to reap the rewards of an educated workforce. Any attempts to take that access away will harm the states economy and well-being, Menendez said.

Increasing access to higher education improves the earning potential of each student and allows each student to contribute more to our states economy, Menendez said in an email. Avenues that allow for more students to access an affordable post-secondary education are crucial to Texas meeting its objective of having sixty percent of Texans ages 25-34 earn a certificate or degree by 2030.

As of February 2019, the income of college graduates who benefited from the current law totaled $19.7 billion, and without these graduates, Texas would lose hundreds of millions in wage earnings in just one year, according to research by New American Economy. If the bill becomes law, many undocumented students will not be able to graduate.

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Texas lawmakers want to block in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants - The Texas Tribune