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To know the journey of Antonio Marquez all he has accomplished to graduate from college and the promise his future holds would make it hard to deny him the right to become an American citizen.

Antonios dream was to become a broadcast journalist and draw attention to the value of immigrants. He did well in high school and community college. During his long journey, he picked fruit in rural Washington state, worked at McDonalds, and cleaned bathrooms while working for enough credit and the grades needed to get into San Diego State University, where I serve as president.

Antonio, now 34, is one of more than 800,000 people brought to the United States as a child by parents or other family members without legal documentation.

Congress first discussed protecting people like Antonio in 2001, when the initial version of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors legislation, DREAM for short, was introduced.

At least 11 versions of the bill surfaced over the past 20 years, but none have passed. In 2012, President Obama gave Dreamers like Antonio partial relief by establishing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or DACA, by executive order.

Obey the law, stay in school or enlist in the military and DACA participants could work, study and pursue their dream of a better life in America without worrying about deportation.

Antonio graduated last month with a degree in journalism. In the fall, he begins a graduate program in liberal arts and sciences. In 2017, the last time a national survey of Dreamers was done, 91 percent were employed, and half were in school. The same year as the survey, then-President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump touts record, blasts Dems in return to stage Trump demands China pay 'reparations' for role in coronavirus pandemic Trump endorses Rep. Ted Budd for Senate MORE moved to end DACA in his crackdown of undocumented immigrants.

In the Southwest, this visceral feeling of fear of deportation is not new in many Latino communities where inequities in our immigration system can tear families apart at a moments notice. I still feel this fear today and can imagine the fear of our students. I need only to look back at the experience of witnessing my own Mexican immigrant grandmother being taken away to be interrogated by immigration officers about her legal status after we returned from visiting relatives in Mexico after a brief trip. Despite living in the United States for over 50 years, sending her only son to fight in WWII, raising two daughters as a single working parent, and raising my sister and I, her brown skin, accented English, and a faded green card were enough to threaten us with her deportation. Although my experience was decades ago, we must stop this cruel fear and recognize the true value and contribution of these students and families.

DACA is again being debated in Congress. Biden has also called for comprehensive immigration reform. But even with the vast majority of Americans in favor of protecting DACA and bipartisan support, its future remains uncertain.

If the fate of DACA participants remains tied to the prospects of comprehensive immigration reform winning approval in our volatile political climate, people like Antonio will remain at risk. At the same time, children who have never known DACA or even had the opportunity to become Dreamers are starting and finishing high school, applying to colleges, and trying to sustain jobs and careers with even less security.

Thats why Congress should consider DACA apart from broader reform measures and finally give Dreamers the path to American citizenship they have earned.

Incremental progress is not always valued in politics. I understand the desire for a big immigration fix, and what some see as the strategic imperative to tie DACA and Dreamers to some larger reform. But if we continue to insist on bold political wins or nothing, we are likely to again get nothing in return.

We cant allow another generation of American children in all but name to continue to graduate, work and succeed among their peers while still looking over their shoulders for immigration agents as Congress remains paralyzed by partisan political warfare. Take the incremental step of solving the DACA stalemate and give our Dreamers the peace of mind.

Adela de la Torre is the president of San Diego State University.

The rest is here:
It's beyond time to protect DACA | TheHill - The Hill

LA JOYA, Texas (KVEO)Illegal border traffic is ata 20-year-high andsmall cities in South Texas are seeing thebiggesteffects of it.

Since October 2020, 726,401 people have been encountered by U.S. Border Patrol personnel.

A majority of them crossing through small Texas border towns of the Rio Grande Valley like La Joya, Roma, Hidalgo, Mission, and Rio Grande City.

I had a conversation this morning with individuals that had immigrants in their backyards and yes, we are having an influx of immigrants and its affecting our municipalities, said Joel Villarreal, Mayor of Rio Grande City. Our residents are concerned and sometimes its a divide should I handle this as a humanitarian standpoint or do I handle this with a risk of threat or harm.

Its a question, Villareal asks himself time and time again.

Villareal has been the mayor of the Starr County city for more than six years and says the immigration increase is not a city issue, but a federal problem that needs a serious solution from Washington D.C.

We have not had a truly comprehensive plan or reform, so why not? Why is it so difficult for us to have true immigration reform and whether its republicans or democrats in power, that hasnt occurred, said Villarreal. Are we ready as a country to truly have immigration reform or are we going to continue pushing the can and let someone else handle it? Right now it doesnt seem like it and it does get politized.

In the last six months, U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley have apprehended more than 200,000 for illegally entering the country, which a majority of those entries are happening in the smaller towns that make up the Rio Grande Valley.

In La Joya, which has a population of about 4,500 people, there remains whats left of an unfinished border wall.

When the Biden administration took over, border wall construction stopped and now the mayor of La Joya says its triggered an increase in immigration to his city.

In the past few months weve had a huge increase in illegals coming across, said Mayor Isidro Casanova, Since January it started picking up a lot.

Mayor Casanova, who was formally the Chief of Police for La Joya, says what concerns him is how its impacting the local police department.

Unfortunately, we have to get them off the streets and help out Border Patrol to babysit these people as they wait for transport and of course with all the crossing, said Casanova. Theyre getting off the road, so they have to chase them behind fences, in peoples yards so it is taking a toll on our local police department.

Another big concern for city officials is the way illegal immigration is affecting residents who call the quiet, tight-knit border town theirhome.

They cross and then they jump into peoples backyards, some of them have had their property damaged like their fences torn down, said Casanova. I understand theyre upset, but we are trying the best thatwe can with the personnel that we have.

Starting in La Joya and driving west into Starr County, youll see a sea of Texas DPS Troopers parked every few feet patrolling the roads for Operation Lone Star.

The operation, put in place by Governor Greg Abbott, to crack down on human trafficking, drugs, and illegal immigration has the troopers in the full force of the border communities.

We welcome them, we really do, we are a border community and we welcome the law enforcement, said Villarreal.

Both mayors agree that permanent immigration reform is needed and a presidential visit should be a priority.

I really would like someone from the White House to come down here and see and witness first hand whats really going on, said Casanova, Especially for us little, small border towns, we need help and assistance, so hopefully itll make a difference.

With the nation staring at South Texas through a microscope, Villarreal wants the reality to shine through, which is far from the narrative being portrayed in the national spotlight.

We are more than what is being portrayed at the national level. The Rio Grande Valley is a great place to live and forge the American dream and we need to continue to promote that narrative. This is a great place to live, said Villarreal.

Both mayors say their local police departments are in constant with Border Patrol because of the increase in immigration in their cities.

Both police departments participate in Operation Stonegarden, a federally funded program that allows local police to assist federal agents in the stop of illegal traffic.

In the last six months, there have been more than 250 human stash houses shut down in the Rio Grande Valley andagents have encountered 60 groups of 100 or more people.

The majority of these large groups are composed of family members and unaccompanied children.

Read the original:
Small South Texas towns overwhelmed by immigration influx - KGBT-TV

June 6, 2021 - SACRAMENTO Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturdayissued a proclamationdeclaring June 2021, as Immigrant Heritage Monthin the State of California.

The text of the proclamationis below:

PROCLAMATION

Immigrant Heritage Month is a time to remember that nearly all of us can trace our heritage to another nation. We must never forget that many of us are here because our ancestors believed in the promise of this place. We honor and celebrate the many and varied contributions of immigrants who came to this country to work hard, to seek opportunity or protection and to give a better life to their children.

Nowhere are those contributions more evident than in the many immigrants who worked on the front lines of our fight against COVID-19 providing lifesaving care in our hospitals, serving our most vulnerable loved ones in skilled nursing facilities, maintaining the food supply chain and more.

The pandemic underscored what we already knew to be true, immigrants are essential and federal immigration reform is long overdue. The time is now to ensure a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants that will also support a stronger and more equitable recovery. As our nation works to ensure a pathway to citizenship, California will continue to lead in building more inclusive and just policies.

In California, we understand that our strength is in our diversity. Our economy, our universities and our communities are stronger and more vibrant because of the nearly 11 million immigrants who call California home about a quarter of all foreign-born people nationwide. Half of all children in California have at least one immigrant parent. California will always support and stand with immigrant families and newly arrived immigrants who are just beginning their next chapter in America.

During Immigrant Heritage Month and every month, let us continue to recognize and celebrate the immigrants of the past, present and future, as we live out the meaning of e pluribus unum out of many, one.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as Immigrant Heritage Month.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 4th day of June 2021.

GAVIN NEWSOM Governor of California

ATTEST:

SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D. Secretary of State

Source: Office of the Governor

Read the original:
Governor Gavin Newsom Issues A Proclamation Declaring June 2021, As Immigrant Heritage Month In The State Of California - Sierra Sun Times

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The following statement was issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in response to the Department of Homeland Security formally terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program:

"Today's announcement by the Department of Homeland Security that the United States is formally withdrawing from the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) agreement with Mexico erases all doubt that the policy of the Biden administration is completely open borders and an end to all meaningful enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

"Anyone who might have thought that the chaos that has gripped our southern border since the day President Biden took office was the result of incompetence or misplaced humanitarianism can no longer harbor such illusions. The border crisis is a design feature of the Biden policy, not a flaw in its policy.

"MPP was the most successful tool in stemming the flood of migrants attempting to reach the United States and defraud our political asylum system. It deterred those with specious claims from attempting to abuse our asylum system by sending a clear message that they would not succeed which is precisely why the Biden administration, driven by radical left extremists, immediately put it on ice and is now doing away with it entirely.

"Even though the MPP has been suspended since January, the agreement still provides the United States with a brake on runaway illegal immigration should we choose to use it. The formal repudiation of the MPP means that that tool will no longer be available.

"In his announcement, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also indicated that the last line of defense to unchecked illegal immigration, Title 42, a legal provision invoked by the Trump administration to protect public health in the face of a global pandemic, is also on the chopping block. Despite new outbreaks and new strains of COVID that could threaten public health and our economy, even that protection may soon fall victim to the open borders zealots in the White House."

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [emailprotected]

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

http://www.fairus.org

Visit link:
Biden Administration Formally Ends MPP Agreement with Mexico Leaving No Doubt That Border Chaos is the Policy, Charges FAIR - PRNewswire

To the editor:

Anybody whos lived in America for any amount of time has probably heard debate about our immigration policy.

Some think that we should completely seal the borders, and send all immigrants back to their native country, while others think that we should relax border security and allow an easier path to citizenship.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 placed strict limitations on undocumented immigrants if they had been in the U.S. 180 to 365 days and left, they cant return for a year. If theyre in this country for more than a year and they leave, theyre barred from entry for a decade unless they have a waiver.

If they enter without a waiver, they need to wait another decade to get a waiver. This was in an attempt to tighten border control and security, and yet, illegal border crossings continued.

And not all of those who came into the U.S. chose to come, nor were they in control. Yet they still faced the same dangers of deportation and the same bars from many aspects of life. Who were these people? Children.

To combat this, in 2001 Congress passed the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. This was a revolutionary act. It stated that undocumented children who had come to theU.S. under the age of 16 could get higher education, something that would have previously been much harder to attain.

It also stated that if the person in question met a certain set of criteria, the attorney general could close the case for their deportation. This added a safety net for undocumented immigrants, but in a few years, even more protection was awaiting the undocumented children of America.

2012 was a monumental year for immigration policy in theU.S. for one reason: DACA. Introduced as an executive order from then-President Obama, DACA promised to give a stable place in America to hundreds of thousands of undocumented minors.

Despite its importance, many people are still fairly uneducated about immigration in the U.S. So I think it's important that we as a community take the time to learn and educate ourselves about immigration.

One of the best ways we can help those seeking a life in this country is to take ourselves out of blissful ignorance and to become better advocates for those who cannot speak for themselves, or have been silenced.

Katherine Daignault

Newburyport

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LETTER: Getting educated about immigration | Letters To The Editor | newburyportnews.com - The Daily News of Newburyport