Archive for the ‘Illegal Immigration’ Category

Democrats hail Biden immigration moves that Trump brands ‘amnesty’ – Roll Call

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a new program aimed at helping some migrant families stay together by allowing noncitizen spouses and children to apply for lawful permanent residency without leaving the country and Donald Trump and other top Republicans already are crying foul.

The administration also said some recipients of deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and other so-called Dreamers would be able to more swiftly get work visas if they have earned a college degree at an accredited U.S. institution and received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree.

Todays a good day, a smiling Biden said to applause during an afternoon event in the East Room of the White House to announce his moves. Those who will be eligible for the spouse and children program would have been living in the United States for at least 10 years. These couples have been raising families, sending their kids to church and school, and paying taxes. They have contributed to our country for over 10 years or more.

Still, he described those individuals as living under a cloud of fear and uncertainty, adding: We can fix that. And thats what Im going to do today.

The White House estimates the new program could impact 500,000 noncitizen spouses, who on average have been inside the United States for 23 years. It also could affect up to 50,000 noncitizen children. During a briefing Tuesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sidestepped a question about whether federal entities could handle a spike in applications. We believe this can move forward, she said.

About the program for work visa-seeking college graduates, Biden said: Those who have been educated in U.S. colleges and universities should put their skills and knowledge to work here in America. We want to keep building the strongest economy in the world, with the best workforce in the world.

The new process is expected to be implemented later this summer, Biden said.

A fact sheet released by the administration said the moves would facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers.

The action comes after Biden was criticized by some Democrats for issuing an order on June 4 that would limit migrants asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border and allow immigration officials to swiftly deport individuals who illegally enter the United States. Republicans called the move too little, too late, or said it was motivated solely by election year politics.

Jean-Pierre said Tuesday the new action should not be assessed as a counterweight to the June 4 action. Were trying to deal with a broad stroke of issues here, she said, not ruling out additional executive moves.

Advocates for immigrant families were already praising the White Houses plans ahead of an event at the White House on Tuesday.

Immigrant spouses & children of U.S. citizens & Dreamers contribute to our economy & communities & enrich our culture. America is home. They deserve to be here and live their American Dream, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragn, D-Calif., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Through his actions, President Biden is helping half a million non-citizen spouses and step-children of Americans to remain with their families, including many from Asia and the Pacific Islands who have lived here for years. Easing visa processes for Dreamers will cut red tape and allow young people to secure a job of their choice and contribute to our communities and economy, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement.

Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia, D-Texas, said in a statement that with the move, the administration reaffirms its commitment to the immigrant community.

An estimated 55,000 immigrants in the Houston area are married to U.S. citizens and many of them will now be able to live, work and raise a family without the fear of deportation, she said. Additionally, providing work opportunities to some of the 270,000 Texans who are undocumented Dreamers and considered high-skilled workers will be a huge step forward.

Lanae Erickson, vice president for social policy, education and politics at the center-left Third Way think tank said in a statement that the folks who will be eligible to apply for this relief have been in this country for decades, working hard, contributing to their communities, and caring for their families. It makes no sense to upend their lives and send them back to a country they barely know.

Republican critics, however, blasted the move even before the White House formally announced it.

Biden is preparing to give MASS AMNESTY to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens! This is unsustainable and cant be allowed to continue! On day one, we will SHUT DOWN THE BORDER and start deporting millions of Bidens Illegal Criminals, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, wrote Monday on his social media site. We will once again put AMERICANS First and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!

A top Trump surrogate added more.

Bidens mass amnesty plan will undoubtedly lead to a greater surge in migrant crime, cost taxpayers millions of dollars they cannot afford, overwhelm public services, and steal Social Security and Medicare benefits from American seniors to fund benefits for illegals draining the programs Americans paid into their entire working lives, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Tuesday statement.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a Judiciary Committee member and candidate for Senate Republican leader in the next Congress, accused Biden of playing election year politics.

This is what the Border Patrol calls a pull factor. Its like a magnet, attracting people into the United States who know that if they wait long enough, President Biden will find some way to allow them to stay in the United States, even though they circumvent legal means of coming into the country, Cornyn said in a statement.

Now, I dont think anybody is fooled by President Bidens sudden interest in whats happening at the southern border, Cornyn added. This is a last-ditch attempt to turn down the heat on the border crisis in the lead up to the election, and the American people arent buying it.

Biden accused Trump of trying to play on migrants fears, adding his expected general election foe is solely interested in playing politics while Biden is focused on fixing the immigration system.

Among the Democratic lawmakers and officials standing on the stage behind Biden were Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.

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Democrats hail Biden immigration moves that Trump brands 'amnesty' - Roll Call

42,000 migrants crossed border since Biden’s executive order – New York Post

Some 42,000 migrants have illegally crossed the border from Mexico in the days since President Bidens crackdown took effect, The Post can reveal.

Border Patrol sources say that most of the migrants are still being given court dates and released into the US despite the Biden Administrations claim that the new measure would stem the flow of illegal immigrants into border towns and major cities.

Thousands are still released by the day, a source said.

They get their ICE appointment and theyre gone in the wind. You think theyre going to show up when they know they dont have a legitimate claim? Of course not.

The average number of crossings each day is about 3,200 since the order began June 5, according to internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data leaked to The Post.

The two weeks before that, there was an average of more than 3,900 crossings a day, suggesting that the policy hasnt had a dramatic impact on illegal immigration at the southern border.

Crossings also tend to dip as the summer progresses and the scorching heat makes the trek more dangerous.

Bidens order restricts migrants access to asylum when crossings average 2,500 per day and will only be overturned after crossings average 1,500 per day for a consecutive week.

Migrant crossings havent been that low since July 2020, when President Trump sealed the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the Biden policy is in effect, most migrants who cross the southern border illegally will be ineligible to pursue asylum in the US.

However, this doesnt mean that theyre being immediately deported after being caught.

If they are found to be ineligible, they will still have the chance to tell federal authorities that they have a fear of returning to their home country.

An asylum officer will then vet their fear claims and determine whether they are legitimate.

If a migrant doesnt have a fear claim, the federal government will attempt to remove them quickly. If they do have a valid fear claim, they will typically be released with a future court date.

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The system is still overwhelmed. This is a last ditch effort from this bullst administration to say we did something. We dont know why theyre still coming, the source said.

Too little too late. Its an election year and this administration knows theyre in deep shit.Theresstill thousands coming in by the day.

The restrictions, however, exclude large groups of migrants, including those who use the CBP One phone app to cross at a port of entry, enter as unaccompanied minors, or can prove they have suffered severe forms of trafficking or face medical emergencies.

Its all smoke and mirrors, Manny Bayon, the president of the National Border Patrol Council for San Diego, told The Post recently.

The San Diego sector has become the epicenter for illegal immigration at the southern border, where migrants from more than 100 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa are exempt from the executive orders restrictions and are being released into the country.

Migrants who are exempt from the order will have the chance to have their cases heard by an immigration judge.

However, under the Biden administration, 77% of migrants applying for asylum have been permitted to remain in the US, equating to 499,000 of the 648,000 applications. That is because immigration judges are dismissing hundreds of thousands of cases effectively allowing those migrants to stay in the country without the fear of deportation.

Migrants can also be ordered removed by immigration judge in absentia, meaning they failed to appear to hearings and were considered no shows.

Out of the more than 231,000 migrants ordered removed by an immigration judge in the financial year 2023, which ended in September 2023, roughly 159,000 failed to appear for their hearings, which resulted in deportation orders, according to federal data.

Each Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer has to manage an average of 7,000 cases, making it all the more difficult to track down migrants with deportation orders, according to Fox News.

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42,000 migrants crossed border since Biden's executive order - New York Post

Mexican cartels offering $15K VIP packages to help illegal immigrants sneak into US – New York Post

Mexican cartels are now offering VIP travel agency packages worth as much as $15,000 to help illegal immigrants sneak into the United States via a stream of underground tunnels.

The so-called VIP smuggling has become so lucrative that the cartels are now focusing roughly 70% of their criminal activity on getting migrants across the US-Mexico border instead of their usual drug trafficking, USA Today reported.

The La Linea cartel, for example, has allegedly been shepherding roughly 1,000 VIP migrants from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas every month, a senior Mexican official told the outlet.

Criminals have shifted from their primary business, which was drug trafficking. Now 60-70% of their focus is migrant smuggling, Arturo Velasco, the head of the Chihuahua attorney generals offices anti-kidnapping unit, said.

A kilo of cocaine might bring in $1,500, but the risk is very high, he continued. The cost-benefit of trafficking a person is $10,000, $12,000, $15,000.

The migration travel agency packages can range between $6,000 to $15,000 per person, according to both smugglers and migrants.

The VIP migrants are given a code, which identifies what cartel theyve paid to help them, so they can avoid being harassed by local cops or rival syndicates as they traverse through the tunnels, according to officials.

Mexican National Guard members and immigration bureaucrats, as well as local cops, are allegedly in on the VIP ruse and have been accepting bribes from cartels, officials claimed.

In some cases, cops are even kidnapping migrants and keeping them in safe houses until they can find the money to pay a cartel for a VIP package.

They load people onto their trucks, and they care for them, so that another cartel doesnt abduct them, one smuggler, identified only as Ricardo, said.

The cops then bring the VIPs to tunnel entrances and, in some instances, provide cover for the smugglers and migrants as they head to the border, he added.

Ricardo said he forks out nearly $600 per migrant for the police protection service.

Its millions of pesos in extortions and everyone is in on it, Tony Payan, director of The U.S.-Mexico Center at Rice University, said of the VIP scheme.

In other words, its an extortion force.

Meanwhile, Jurez municipal police chief Cesar Omar Muoz Morales denied allegations of corruption, insisting his department was clean and efficient.

Were doing the best we can, he said.

News of the cartels VIP migrant operation emerged after it was revealed some 42,000 migrants have illegally crossed the border from Mexico in the days sincePresident Biden issued a crackdown executive order earlier this month.

The June 4 order threatens to haltasylum processingatthe US border if the average number of illegal arrivalscrosses 2,500 per dayin a week.

The average number of crossings each day has been roughly 3,200 since the order began, internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data leaked to The Post shows.

Border Patrol sources said most of the migrants are still being given court dates and released into the US despite the Biden Administrations claim the new measure would stem the flowof illegal immigrants.

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Mexican cartels offering $15K VIP packages to help illegal immigrants sneak into US - New York Post

Romney, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Mandate E-Verify, Eliminate Key Driver of Illegal Immigration – Mitt Romney

WASHINGTONU.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), JD Vance (R-OH), and Joe Manchin (I-WV) today introduced the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2024, bipartisan legislation that would require all employers to use the federal electronic E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of their workforce. The senators bill comes on the heels of President Bidens recent attempt to restrict asylum claims, which does not affect the millions of illegal aliens who have already entered the United States since he took office and leaves in place the employment magnet that incentivizes illegal immigration.

President Bidens last-ditch effort to limit asylum is too little, too late. Millions of illegal immigrants have already flooded into our country under his watch, and his executive order falls short in stopping widespread illegal employment,Senator Romney said. By requiring all employers to use E-Verify, our legislation would ensure that businesses only hire legal workerseliminating a key driver of illegal immigration and protecting jobs for hardworking Americans.

American workers today compete against millions of illegal immigrants for too few jobsthats unfair. Ending the black market for illegal labor will open up jobs for Americans, Senator Cotton said. Our legislation will take the necessary steps to make sure every potential employer is hiring only legal workers.

E-verify protects employees and employers,said Dr. Cassidy.It is an essential tool in controlling immigration and protecting Americans jobs.

Im proud to introduce the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2024 to ensure businesses of all sizes are hiring legal workers, said Senator Manchin. Along with the E-Verify mandate, our bipartisan legislation would increase penalties for businesses that intentionally avoid E-Verify and hire unauthorized labor. Expanding E-Verify was a key component of the 2013 bipartisan immigration deal that passed the Senate and was our biggest opportunity to comprehensively fix our broken immigration system. I will continue to support all components of that compromise including E-Verify, stronger border security, and expanded pathways for legal immigration.

Background:

One of the leading causes of illegal immigration is the lack of adequate safeguards against unlawful employment in the U.S. job market.About7.8 millionillegal immigrants were in the U.S. labor force in 2021, and undocumented migrant encounters reported by U.S. Border Patrol have skyrocketed to more than9.6 millionsince then.According to Rasmussen Reports,68%of all likely voters believe the government should mandate employers to use E-Verify to help ensure they hire only legal workers for U.S. jobs.

TheMandatory E-Verify Act of 2024would:

Full text of the legislation can be foundhere, and a one pager is availablehere.

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Romney, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Mandate E-Verify, Eliminate Key Driver of Illegal Immigration - Mitt Romney

Governor claims dozens of illegal immigrants sent to Utah from Denver without approval – FOX 13 News Utah

SALT LAKE CITY Illegal immigrants have been sent to Utah from the city of Denver without local officials being aware or approving of the actions, according to statements from Governor Spencer Cox and his office.

In a social media post Friday, Cox accused Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, of sending the immigrants who are in the process of being allowed in the country to Utah without approval, calling the move "completely unacceptable."

When contacted by FOX 13 News, a spokesperson for Cox's office said they learned of the sending of immigrants to Salt Lake City on May 13.

"Denver did not consult with us prior to instigating this practice. We have now been told that 59 people have been bussed or flown to Salt Lake in the past 30 days," said Jennifer Napier-Pearce.

The governor's office added that one group of immigrants was allegedly sent to Salt Lake City International Airport with no resources or anywhere to go.

Mayor Erin Mendenhall said she is aware of migrants arriving from Denver and has recently spoken with Johnston, adding that her office is regularly briefed from federal and local agencies.

While Mendenhall says Salt Lake City has tried to connect families without local resources, her office says a consistent message has been delivered that local emergency services and shelter space is currently at full capacity.

More often, our metro area is seeing the arrival of families seeking asylum, who do not have existing connections or family in Utah. Contact and communication about their arrival would require other state and local governments or nonprofits outside Utah to connect with local service providers or officials in advance," said a spokesperson with Mendenhall's office. "Like many local governments working to navigate this increasing nationwide challenge, Utah does not have a formal entrance process for new arrivals, and often those who arrive in Salt Lake City spread out to locations across Salt Lake County and the region."

For his part, Cox is placing the blame on the Biden administration.

"All 50 states, including Utah, are now border states due to the failed immigration policies of President Biden and Congress," the governor wrote. "Once again we call on the Biden administration and Congress to solve this crisis."

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Governor claims dozens of illegal immigrants sent to Utah from Denver without approval - FOX 13 News Utah