https://www.voanews.com/z/5362 Recent stories about U.S. immigration policy, enforcement and the people who come to the U.S. as students, workers and refugees. https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/5362 en 2026 - VOA 60 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 14:00:21 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA PENTAGON — U.S. government lawyers are expected to face off with attorneys for civil and immigration rights groups over the use of a U.S. naval base in Cuba to hold migrants slated for deportation. Arguments in the two lawsuits over operations at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, filed against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem, are set for a U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday. The suits allege that the U.S. government has overstepped its bounds by denying migrants sent to Guantanamo Bay access to legal representation and also by attempting to send migrants to the base's facilities without the proper legal authority in violation of the U.S. Constitution. DHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the upcoming hearing, but they have repeatedly denied the allegations while criticizing the groups bringing the lawsuits. "The American Civil Liberties Union appears far more interested in promoting open borders and disrupting public safety missions than in protecting the civil liberties of Americans," a DHS spokesperson told VOA in a statement earlier this month, declining to be named. "They should consider changing their name," the spokesperson added, further describing the legal challenges as "baseless." President Donald Trump first raised the idea of using the U.S. naval base in Cuba as part of his administration's plans for mass deportations shortly after taking office in January. Homeland Security's Noem said the base, which features a secure prison to hold captured terrorists, would be used to house "the worst of the worst." Trump and other U.S. officials also suggested the base could be used to hold up to 30,000 migrants while they awaited deportation. Those plans, however, never fully materialized. The U.S. began sending what officials described as "high threat illegal aliens" to Guantanamo Bay's detention center in early February, followed by other nonviolent migrants, who stayed at other facilities. At times, the facilities held close to 200 detainees, many of whom were deported to Honduras, Venezuela or other countries. But despite efforts to prepare the facilities for more migrants, capacity has been limited. According to a U.S. defense official, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity, the prison as currently configured can hold only 130 detainees, while the base's Migrant Operations Center and a temporary tent city can hold, at most, 550 people. As VOA first reported, DHS officials decided to remove all 40 remaining migrants from the prison and other facilities at Guantanamo Bay this past Tuesday, flying them instead to the U.S. southern state of Louisiana. Neither DHS nor its subagency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have responded to requests for comment on the decision to evacuate migrants from the naval base or on their status or whereabouts since being returned to the U.S. mainland. The move — and lack of communication — has drawn criticism from immigrants' rights groups, including some of those involved in the current litigation. "The arbitrary and secret shuttling of people between Guantanamo and the U.S. demonstrates a complete disregard for human dignity, an affront to the rule of law, and a waste of public resources," said the International Refugee Assistance Project's Pedro Sepulveda. "No one should be detained at Guantanamo," Sepulveda added. "The Trump administration must stop these ill-conceived and cruel transfers and stop detaining immigrants at Guantanamo once and for all." https://www.voanews.com/a/homeland-security-rights-group-to-meet-in-court-over-migrants-at-guantanamo-bay-/8010057.html https://www.voanews.com/a/homeland-security-rights-group-to-meet-in-court-over-migrants-at-guantanamo-bay-/8010057.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 19:09:03 -0400 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Jeff Seldin) WASHINGTON — Donald Trump took the fight over his attempt to restrict automatic U.S. birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court on Thursday as the Republican president's administration asked the justices to narrow a judicial block imposed on this key element of his hardline approach toward immigration. The Justice Department made the request challenging the scope of three nationwide injunctions issued against Trump's order by federal courts in Washington state, Massachusetts and Maryland. The administration said the injunctions should be scaled back from applying universally and limited to just the plaintiffs that brought the cases and are "actually within the courts' power." "Universal injunctions have reached epidemic proportions since the start of the current administration," the Justice Department said in the filing. "This court should declare that enough is enough before district courts' burgeoning reliance on universal injunctions becomes further entrenched." Trump's order, signed on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of U.S.-born children who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident. The order was intended to apply starting Feb. 19 but has been blocked nationwide by multiple federal judges. Trump's action has drawn a series of lawsuits from plaintiffs, including 22 Democratic state attorneys general, immigrant rights advocates and expectant mothers. They argue among other things that Trump's order violates a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that provides that anyone born in the United States is a citizen. The 14th Amendment's citizenship clause states that all "persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." The administration contends that the 14th Amendment, long understood to confer citizenship to virtually anyone born in the United States, does not extend to immigrants who are in the country illegally or even to immigrants whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as university students or those on work visas. Its request to the justices marks its latest trip to the top U.S. judicial body to defend Trump's actions. The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term as president. Trump's push to restrict birthright citizenship is part of a broader immigration and border crackdown that includes tasking the U.S. military with aiding border security and issuing a broad ban on asylum. The judges who ruled against Trump's order faulted it as conflicting with the Constitution. An 1898 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case called United States v. Wong Kim Ark long has been interpreted as guaranteeing that children born in the United States to noncitizen parents are entitled to American citizenship. Trump's Justice Department has argued that the court's ruling in that case was narrower, applying to children whose parents had a "permanent domicile and residence in the United States." https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-asks-supreme-court-to-intervene-in-bid-to-curb-birthright-citizenship/8009956.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-asks-supreme-court-to-intervene-in-bid-to-curb-birthright-citizenship/8009956.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:15:52 -0400 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Washington — The recent arrest of Palestinian activist and U.S. legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil, who played a prominent role in last year's Columbia University protests over the war in Gaza, has prompted questions about the limits of a green card. A green card holder since 2024, Khalil was granted lawful permanent residency status in the U.S. But green card holders can lose their status and face deportation if they violate immigration law. A federal judge on Wednesday extended efforts to halt Khalil’s deportation, and the New York resident remains in detention in Louisiana although he has not been charged with any crime. It is not a criminal offense to disagree, even openly, with the U.S. government's policy or actions, and the Bill of Rights protects free speech and the right to assemble. The why Green cards can be revoked, New York-based immigration lawyer Linda Dakin-Grimm told VOA. “It’s not that common, but it also isn’t rare. People lose their green cards most often when they’re convicted of crimes. … A green card is not citizenship. It’s seen as a privilege that you earn, but you can also lose it if you engage in conduct that is contrary to the conditions that green card holders live under,” she said. Examples of crimes that can cause a green card holder can lose their status include aggravated felonies, drug offenses, fraud, or national security concerns such as ties to a terrorist group. Green card holders can also lose their status and lawful permanent residency status for being deemed a threat to national security. If a green card holder is accused of a crime, their criminal case will go through the justice system. But the process to revoke their permanent status takes place in immigration court, where officials must present evidence to justify revoking a green card. The how Revoking a green card is a legal process that starts when the U.S. government determines that an individual has violated immigration laws. The case can come to the government’s attention in different ways, either through a routine immigration check, law enforcement investigation, or whistleblower. “It could theoretically be a whistleblower. Someone who has some information. … Could they call the State Department? Maybe. Could they call the ICE hotline? Maybe,” Dakin-Grimm said. The Department of Homeland Security usually initiates the process. The green card holder will receive a document known as a Notice to Appear in immigration court or, in serious cases, they may be arrested and detained. White House officials said Wednesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority to revoke a green card or any visa if an individual’s activities in the United States “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” to the country. Rubio has said that Khalil’s case is not about free speech. “No one has a right to a green card, by the way. … If you told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in,” Rubio said on Wednesday. “If you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out.” The authority for the secretary of state to intervene in a case like Khalil’s stems from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. A provision in the law allows the secretary of state to deem a non-citizen deportable if their presence or activities are believed to significantly harm U.S. foreign policy interests. According to Khalil’s NTA, Rubio has made that determination. Khalil has been ordered to appear in front of an immigration judge on March 27 at the Lasalle Detention Facility in Louisiana. The court In immigration court, the burden of proof is on the government; it must show the person violated immigration laws. In a case like Khalil’s, ICE attorneys will ask for deportation, but they will have to prove he is a threat to national security. The green card holder can also present a defense. In the criminal justice system, if a person cannot afford an attorney, the government must provide a public defender. In immigration court, however, immigrants have the right to their own attorney, but the government does not have to provide one. If immigrants cannot afford an attorney or cannot find one to represent them pro bono, they do will not have access to legal representation. Dakin-Grimm says the process can sometimes go fast, but it is also complex. In the immigration court system, the decision to revoke a green card is an administrative procedure conducted by the Department of Justice, under an office known as the Executive Office for Immigration Review. “It’s kind of like the government is prosecuting a case, and the judge is also the government,” Dakin-Grimm said. The outcome If the immigration judge rules against the green card holder, they can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). And if the BIA agrees with the government, the green card holder can appeal to a Federal Court of Appeals. Although the case can end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, Dakin-Grimm says that rarely happens, mostly because the Supreme Court has complete discretion over the cases it chooses. “Most people can’t afford to do this kind of legal work themselves. It’s just very, very expensive — you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars to take a case from the trial court level all the way to the Supreme Court,” she said. “But in the immigration space, you tend to see nonprofit agencies, law school clinics, working pro bono, working for free in significant cases like this.” A final decision If the green card is revoked and all appeals fail, the person is usually deported from the U.S. If the appeal is successful, the person keeps their green card and is allowed to stay in the country. Dakin-Grimm said many green card holders think because it is called “permanent residency,” the status is actually permanent. “But it’s only permanent as long as you follow the rules,” she said. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report. https://www.voanews.com/a/under-what-circumstances-can-a-us-green-card-be-revoked/8009714.html https://www.voanews.com/a/under-what-circumstances-can-a-us-green-card-be-revoked/8009714.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:44:50 -0400 ImmigrationUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Aline Barros) NEW YORK — A U.S. judge on Wednesday extended his order blocking federal authorities from deporting a detained Columbia University student, in a case that has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration's pledge to deport some pro-Palestinian college activists. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman had temporarily blocked Mahmoud Khalil's deportation earlier this week and extended the prohibition on Wednesday in a written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court to allow himself more time to consider whether the arrest was unconstitutional. The Department of Homeland Security says Khalil, 30, is subject to deportation under a legal provision holding that migrants whose presence in the country are deemed by the U.S. Secretary of State to be incompatible with foreign policy may be removed, according to a document seen by Reuters. "The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States," read the DHS document, dated March 9, ordering Khalil to appear before an immigration judge on March 27. The document did not provide additional detail. The DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Khalil's lawyers say his arrest on Saturday by DHS agents outside his university residence in Manhattan was in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel's military assault on Gaza following the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, a U.S.- designated terrorist group, and thus violated Khalil's right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. "Mr. Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights," Khalil's lawyer, Ramzi Kassem, said in court. In her first media interview, Noora Abdalla, Khalil's wife, told Reuters after the hearing she hoped her husband would be free and back in New York in time for the birth of their first child, who is due next month. "It's been so hard not having him here," she said. "There's a lot of emotions and pain. He's been there for me truly every step of the way." Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Kassem told reporters that the legal provision DHS referred to was rarely used and was not meant to silence dissent. Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2022, becoming a permanent resident last year. He was a prominent member of Columbia's protest movement against Israel's military assault on Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump has said on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, but his administration has not charged him with a crime and has not provided evidence to show Khalil's alleged support for Hamas. The Trump administration says pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. "This is not about free speech," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters earlier on Wednesday during a trip to Ireland. "Being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down ... If you told us that's what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in." Refusing to stay silent' The case could ultimately test where immigration courts draw the line between protected free speech and alleged support for groups the United States calls terrorists. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, holding signs reading "Release Mahmoud Khalil" and chanting "Down, down with deportation, up, up with liberation." At the hearing, Brandon Waterman, a lawyer for the government, said Khalil's challenge to his arrest should be moved to New Jersey, where he was held when his lawyers first sought his release, or Louisiana, where he is currently being held. Furman also ordered that Khalil be allowed two hourlong private phone calls with his lawyers, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, after Kassem said Khalil's sole phone call with a member of his legal team from detention in Louisiana so far was cut off prematurely and was on a line recorded and monitored by the government. Even before Furman blocked it, there was no indication Khalil's deportation was imminent. Khalil has the right to plead his case to avoid deportation before a separate judge in immigration court, a potentially lengthy process. https://www.voanews.com/a/judge-extends-ban-on-columbia-student-s-deportation-from-us/8009106.html https://www.voanews.com/a/judge-extends-ban-on-columbia-student-s-deportation-from-us/8009106.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 01:56:37 -0400 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice dropped a civil rights lawsuit filed last year against the national nonprofit Southwest Key Programs that alleged its employees had sexually abused unaccompanied minors who were housed in its shelters after entering the country illegally, according to a court filing on Wednesday. The department decided to drop the lawsuit after the Department of Health and Human Services stopped the placement of unaccompanied migrant children in shelters operated by Southwest Key and initiated a review of its grants with the organization, HHS said in a press release on Wednesday. The health department said it has moved all children in Southwest Key shelters to other shelters. "For too long, pernicious actors have exploited such children both before and after they enter the United States," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in the release. "Today’s action is a significant step toward ending this appalling abuse of innocents." Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Key contracts with the federal government to care for young migrants arriving in the U.S. without parents or legal guardians, and has operated 27 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California. It is the largest provider of shelter to unaccompanied minor children. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in July 2024 in the Western District of Texas alleging a "pattern" of "severe or pervasive sexual harassment" going back to at least 2015 in the network of Southwest Key shelters. The complaint included alleged cases of "severe sexual abuse and rape, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures." Lawyers representing the Justice Department and Southwest Key submitted a joint motion for dismissal on Wednesday, the court record shows. Southwest Key denied the allegations. "Southwest Key strongly denied the claims relating to child sexual abuse in our shelters, and there is no settlement or payment required. We are glad this matter is now concluded. We always believed the facts would prove the allegations to be without merit," its spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that Southwest Key was furloughing about 5,000 program employees, citing a federal funding freeze. The plans to dismiss the case were first reported by Bloomberg. The news outlet reported that an attorney for Southwest Key had reached out to the Justice Department and asked it to dismiss the matter, saying the case could hinder the crackdown on illegal immigration by President Donald Trump's administration. The abrupt reversal by the Justice Department comes at a time when Attorney General Pam Bondi has made combating illegal immigration a priority over other initiatives that were pursued during President Joe Biden's administration. In response to the Justice Department's decision, the National Center for Youth Law sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright seeking to intervene in the case, in a bid to keep the case alive. The center asked Albright to delay a ruling on the Justice Department's motion to dismiss by 30 days and allow it to file an intervening motion "on behalf of intervenors whose interests are no longer protected by the United States," according to the letter written by the center's co-director of litigation, David Hinojosa. "Until today, the United States has faithfully sought to uphold the rule of law by prosecuting claims and seeking relief that would help both protect unaccompanied children and compensate them for their damages," Hinojosa wrote. "Countless children now risk being denied any recourse for the terrible harms suffered while in the care of Southwest Key." The court record shows Albright accepted the joint motion to dismiss and ordered the case closed. The National Center for Youth Law also wrote a letter to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley urging him to call on the Justice Department to explain its reasons for dropping the lawsuit and identify who made the decision. "Given your history of advocating for the safety of unaccompanied children, we respectfully request your office’s continued leadership to protect these children and hold accountable all entities - public or private - that jeopardize their welfare," wrote Johnathan Smith, the center's chief of staff and general counsel. Grassley's spokesperson Clare Slattery said the senator has contacted the Justice Department seeking clarity about the lawsuit's dismissal, and "looks forward to a follow-up conversation soon." https://www.voanews.com/a/us-drops-lawsuit-against-shelter-provider-accused-of-sexual-abuse-of-migrant-children/8008470.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-drops-lawsuit-against-shelter-provider-accused-of-sexual-abuse-of-migrant-children/8008470.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 15:12:44 -0400 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) PENTAGON — The United States has cleared out the last migrants being held at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sending them back to the U.S. mainland as they await deportation. Two U.S. defense officials told VOA on Wednesday that 40 detainees, including 23 “high-threat illegal aliens” incarcerated at the base’s detention center, were flown to Louisiana on Tuesday. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, said the detainees were flown aboard a nonmilitary aircraft at the direction of officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Neither ICE nor its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, have responded to requests for comment. Last week, in response to a request for updates on the detainees being held at Guantanamo, an ICE spokesperson declined comment “due to pending litigation.” ICE and DHS, which has been spearheading the U.S. deportation efforts under President Donald Trump, have repeatedly declined to respond to questions about the identities of the detainees, their countries of origin or the crimes with which they are charged. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media that many of the “high-threat illegal aliens” sent to Guantanamo are members of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua and have confessed to or been charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, weapons trafficking and drug crimes. The Trump administration announced plans to use the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay to hold migrants slated for deportation in late January. At the time, Noem told reporters that the facilities would be used to house “the worst of the worst.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also speaking in late January, called the detention center at Guantanamo Bay “the prefect place” to hold criminals slated for removal, but also said the base’s migrant operations center, first built in the 1990s, would also be opened for nonviolent migrants awaiting deportation. The first detainees began arriving at Guantanamo Bay in February aboard U.S. military cargo jets, some staying for days or weeks before being deported. At times, the base held nearly 200 detainees between its prison and migrant facilities. Last month, ICE at one point deported 177 detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras, from which they were to be taken to Venezuela for repatriation, before bringing in more detainees. Immigration rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed multiple lawsuits against the U.S. government over its use of Guantanamo Bay. One suit, filed earlier this month, seeks to stop U.S. officials from transferring migrants to the base, alleging the moves violate U.S. law. An earlier lawsuit filed in February alleged the U.S. government had prevented family members and lawyers from contacting the detainees. DHS has dismissed the allegations in the lawsuits. “The American Civil Liberties Union appears far more interested in promoting open borders and disrupting public safety missions than in protecting the civil liberties of Americans — they should consider changing their name,” a DHS spokesperson told VOA in a statement earlier this month. “In the meantime, we will continue working with DOJ (Department of Justice) to fend off these baseless legal challenges.” https://www.voanews.com/a/us-clears-out-remaining-migrants-from-guantanamo-bay/8008349.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-clears-out-remaining-migrants-from-guantanamo-bay/8008349.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:13:51 -0400 ImmigrationUSAAmericaswebdesk@voanews.com (Jeff Seldin) WASHINGTON — The arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza has sparked questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are protected against being deported from the U.S. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Homeland Security officials and President Donald Trump have indicated that the arrest was directly tied to his role in the protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City. Khalil is being held at an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, while he awaits immigration court proceedings that could eventually lead to his deportation. His arrest has drawn criticism that he's being unfairly and unlawfully targeted for his activism while the federal government has essentially described him as a terrorist sympathizer. Here is a look at what the protections for foreign students and green card holders are and what might be next for Khalil: Can someone with a green card be deported? A green card holder is someone who has lawful permanent residence status in the United States. Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer teaches immigration law at Cornell Law School. She said lawful permanent residents generally have many protections and "should be the most protected short of a U.S. citizen." But that protection is not absolute. Green card holders can still be deported for committing certain crimes, failing to notify immigration officials of a change in address, or engaging in marriage fraud, for example. The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was taken into custody because of Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. Trump has argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of antisemitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also includes Jewish students and groups. But the protest coalition, at times, has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Islamist organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group. Khalil has not been convicted of any terrorist-related activity or charged with any wrongdoing. But experts say the federal government has fairly broad authority to arrest and try to deport a green card holder on terrorism grounds. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders do not need to be convicted of something to be "removable," Kelley-Widmer said. They could be deported if the secretary of homeland security or the attorney general have reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in, or are likely to engage in, terrorist activities, she said. But, she said, she has never seen a case where the alleged terrorist activity happened in the U.S., and she questioned whether taking part in protests as Khalil did qualifies. What did ICE say about why they were arresting him? One of the key issues in Khalil's case is what ICE agents said to his lawyer at the time he was arrested. His lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agents who took him into custody at his university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa. But when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead. What are the next steps in his case? Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message posted Sunday on X that the administration will be "revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." If someone is in the country on a student visa, the State Department does have authority to revoke it if the person violates certain conditions. For example, said Florida immigration attorney John Gihon, it's quite common for the State Department to cancel visas of foreign students who get arrested for drunk driving. But when it comes to someone who's a lawful permanent resident, that generally requires an immigration judge to determine whether they can be deported. Gihon said the next step is that Khalil would receive charging documents explaining why he's being detained and why the government wants to remove him, as well as a notice to appear in immigration court. Generally, he should receive those within 72 hours of being arrested, and then he would make an initial appearance before an immigration judge. That could take from 10 days to a month, Gihon said. But he cautioned that right now he's seeing extensive delays across the immigration court system, with clients often moved around the country to different facilities. "We are having people who are detained and then they're bounced around to multiple different detention facilities. And then sometimes they're transferred across the country," he said. Khalil's lawyers have also filed a lawsuit challenging his detention. A federal judge in New York City ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considered his case. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. https://www.voanews.com/a/activist-s-arrest-raises-questions-on-us-protections-for-foreign-students-green-card-holders/8006257.html https://www.voanews.com/a/activist-s-arrest-raises-questions-on-us-protections-for-foreign-students-green-card-holders/8006257.html Mon, 10 Mar 2025 21:13:19 -0400 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) WASHINGTON — The Trump administration rolled out a new app Monday that will allow immigrants who are in the United States illegally to "self deport" rather than face possible arrest and detention, building on President Donald Trump's deportation push. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection app, called CBP Home, will offer an option for someone to signal their "intent to depart," the agency said. “The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. "If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.” Trump, a Republican, has vowed to deport record numbers of migrants in the U.S. illegally. Trump's initial deportation numbers lagged behind the monthly average in fiscal year 2024 under Democrat Joe Biden, although Biden's deportations included many recent border crossers. The Trump administration has taken other steps that could pressure illegal immigrants to leave the United States. A Trump administration regulation set to take effect April 11 would require people lacking legal status to register with the federal government or face fines or jail time. CBP Home replaces an app known as CBP One that was launched under Biden. The Biden-era app included a feature that allowed some 1 million migrants in Mexico to schedule an appointment to request entry at a legal border crossing. Republicans criticized the Biden program, saying it facilitated mass migration to the United States and did not adequately vet migrants. Trump shut down CBP One hours after taking office, leaving migrants with pending appointments stranded and unsure of next steps. https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-administration-launches-new-self-deportation-app-/8005948.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-administration-launches-new-self-deportation-app-/8005948.html Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:13:48 -0400 ImmigrationUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Panama City — After weeks of lawsuits and human rights criticism, Panama on Saturday released dozens of migrants who were held for weeks in a remote camp after being deported from the United States, telling them they have 30 days to leave the Central American nation. It thrust many like Hayatullah Omagh, a 29-year-old who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban took control, into a legal limbo, scrambling to find a path forward. “We are refugees. We do not have money. We cannot pay for a hotel in Panama City, we do not have relatives,” Omagh told the Associated Press in an interview. “I can’t go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances ... It is under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I go back?" Authorities have said deportees will have the option of extending their stay by 60 days if they need it, but after that many like Omagh don’t know what they will do. Omagh climbed off a bus in Panama City alongside 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and other nations after spending weeks detained in poor conditions by the Panamanian government, which has said it wants to work with the Trump administration “to send a signal of deterrence” to people hoping to migrate. Human rights groups and lawyers advocating for the migrants were waiting at the bus terminal, and scrambled to find the released migrants shelter and other resources. Dozens of other people remained in the camp. Among those getting off buses were migrants fleeing violence and repression in Pakistan and Iran, and 27-year-old Nikita Gaponov, who fled Russia due to repression for being part of the LGBTQ+ community and who said he was detained at the U.S. border but not allowed to make an asylum claim. “Once I get off the bus, I'll be sleeping on the ground tonight," Gaponov said. Others turned their eyes north once again, saying that even though they had already been deported, they had no other option than to continue after crossing the world to reach the U.S. The deportees, largely from Asian countries, were part of a deal stuck between the Trump administration and Panama and Costa Rica as the U.S. government attempts to speed up deportations. The administration sent hundreds of people, many families with children, to the two Central American countries as a stopover while authorities organize a way to send them back to their countries of origin. Critics described it as a way for the U.S. to export its deportation process. The agreement fueled human rights concerns when hundreds of deportees detained in a hotel in Panama City held up notes to their windows pleading for help and saying they were scared to return to their own countries. Under international refugee law, people have the right to apply for asylum when they are fleeing conflict or persecution. Those that refused to return home were later sent to a remote camp near Panama's border with Colombia, where they spent weeks in poor conditions, were stripped of their phones, unable to access legal council and were not told where they were going next. Lawyers and human rights defenders warned that Panama and Costa Rica were turning into “black holes” for deportees, and said their release was a way for Panamanian authorities to wash their hands of the deportees amid mounting human rights criticism. Upon being released Saturday night, human rights lawyers identified at least three people who required medical attention. One has been vomiting for over a week, another deportee had diabetes and hadn't had access to insulin in the camp and another person had HIV and also didn't have access to medicine in detention. Those who were released, like Omagh, said they could not return home. As an atheist and member of an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan known as the Hazara, he said returning home under the rule of the Taliban — which swept back into power after the Biden administration pulled out of the country — would mean he would be killed. He only went to the U.S. after trying for years to live in Pakistan, Iran and other countries but being denied visas. Omagh was deported after presenting himself to American authorities and asking to seek asylum in the U.S., which he was denied. “My hope was freedom. Just freedom,” he said. “They didn't give me the chance. I asked many times to speak to an asylum officer and they told me ‘No, no, no, no, no.’” Still, he said that leaving the camp was a relief. Omagh and other migrants who spoke to the AP detailed scarce food, sweltering heat with little relief and aggressive Panamanian authorities. In one case, Omagh and others said, a Chinese man went on a weeklong hunger strike. In another, a small riot broke out because guards refused to give a migrant their phone. The riot, they said, was suppressed by armed guards. Panamanian authorities denied accusations about camp conditions, but blocked journalists from accessing the camp and canceled a planned press visit last week. While international aid organizations said they would organize travel to a third country for people who didn’t want to return home, Panamanian authorities said the people released had already refused help. Omagh said he was told in the camp he could be sent to a third country if it gives people from Afghanistan visas. He said that would be incredibly difficult because few nations open their doors to people with an Afghan passport. He said he asked authorities in the camp multiple times if he could seek asylum in Panama, and said he was told that “we do not accept asylum.” “None of them wants to stay in Panama. They want to go to the U.S.,” said Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez, Panama’s deputy foreign minister, in an interview with the AP last month. That was the case for some, like one Chinese woman who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions from Panamanian authorities. Upon getting off the bus, the first thing she wanted to do was find a Coca-Cola. Then, she'd find a way back to the U.S. "I still want to continue to go to the United States and fulfill my American dream," she said. https://www.voanews.com/a/panama-releases-dozens-of-detained-deportees-from-us-into-limbo/8004560.html https://www.voanews.com/a/panama-releases-dozens-of-detained-deportees-from-us-into-limbo/8004560.html Sun, 09 Mar 2025 19:46:54 -0400 AmericasUSAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Washington — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appointed new leadership at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday as the agency struggles to meet President Donald Trump's stated goal of massive deportation operations aimed at undocumented immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Trump's administration deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security data first reported by Reuters last month show, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of Joe Biden's administration. Trump made the promise of deporting millions of people from the United States a centerpiece of his campaign. The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Caleb Vitello, was reassigned last month for failing to meet expectations, Reuters previously reported. Noem said she was promoting Todd Lyons, ICE's acting executive associate director, to be the agency's acting director, and Madison Sheahan, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, to serve as deputy director. "I am appointing new ICE leadership to deliver results that President Trump and the American people rightfully demand," Noem said in a statement, adding that Lyons and Sheahan would "lead the men and women of ICE to achieve the American people's mandate to target, arrest and deport illegal aliens." https://www.voanews.com/a/us-homeland-security-chief-replaces-ice-leadership-over-lagging-deportations/8004545.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-homeland-security-chief-replaces-ice-leadership-over-lagging-deportations/8004545.html Sun, 09 Mar 2025 18:54:11 -0400 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) The U.S. government has revived a five-year contract with a private detention center in Texas that was designed to hold migrant families. The multimillion-dollar agreement was in effect for 10 years until 2024. Click here for the full story in Spanish.   https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-spanish-immigrant-detention-center-to-resume-operations-in-texas/8003420.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-spanish-immigrant-detention-center-to-resume-operations-in-texas/8003420.html Sun, 09 Mar 2025 01:44:23 -0500 ImmigrationUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Laura Sepúlveda) U.S. Vice President JD Vance led a trio of White House officials on a visit Wednesday to a key crossing point on the Texas-Mexico border, where he echoed President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration push and assured Americans that U.S. forces don’t plan to invade Mexico. His trip to the small border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, comes on the heels of Trump’s defiant Tuesday night address before Congress, where Trump described his program of arrests and deportations as "getting them out and getting them out fast." Vance’s words also follow Trump’s move to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. "I'm not going to make any announcements about any invasions of Mexico here today," Vance said. "The president has a megaphone and of course, he'll speak to these issues as he feels necessary. But what designating cartel organizations allows us to do is deploy the full resources of the United States military to engage in serious border enforcement." Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who accompanied Vance, echoed him, saying, "Our objective is to keep the American people safe." Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, also in Texas with Vance and Gabbard, emphasized that he thinks "border security is national security," and clarified what role troops might serve, as they are legally prohibited from performing civilian law enforcement actions. "The Defense Department has assets that we can bring to bear, not just troops, not just surveillance, not just equipment, but actual planning and capabilities that enhance what Border Patrol is already doing," he said. Immigration advocates told VOA that the current lull in border crossings, which Vance also touted, might be misleading and criticized Trump’s enforcement-based strategy. "The ebb and flow of border numbers — under Trump and under [former President Joe] Biden — demonstrate why global migration is complicated, and why we need a full immigration overhaul from Congress to equip America for 21st century migration and to align with our interests and values, not the enforcement-only agenda of this administration," Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, told VOA via email. "The reality is that the Trump administration’s immigration policies aren’t making Americans more safe or secure, and certainly aren’t advancing our economic interests or common sense. Instead, they come at a high cost for all Americans and move us further from the real solutions we need," Cardenas said. Meanwhile, in Washington, Representative James Comer, the Republican leader of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, grilled four big-city mayors on their policies that limit law enforcement’s cooperation with immigration enforcement. "Sanctuary cities make us all less safe and are a public safety nightmare," Comer said. "We cannot let pro-criminal alien policies in obstructionist sanctuary cities continue to endanger American communities and the safety of federal immigration enforcement officers." The mayor of Colorado’s most populous city pushed back at lawmakers. "Americans expect us to do more than point fingers," said Mayor Mike Johnston, who is a Democrat. "They expect us to solve problems. So, if Denver can find a way to put aside our ideological differences long enough to manage a crisis we didn't choose or create, it seems only fair to ask that the body that is actually charged with solving this national problem, this Congress, can finally commit to do the same." In his address to Congress, Trump asked the legislative body for more funding for immigration enforcement, even as they stare down a mid-March budget resolution. https://www.voanews.com/a/vance-visits-mexico-border-says-us-won-t-invade-mexico-/8000678.html https://www.voanews.com/a/vance-visits-mexico-border-says-us-won-t-invade-mexico-/8000678.html Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:26:04 -0500 ImmigrationUSAAmericaswebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) A group of senior U.S. officials, led by Vice President JD Vance, arrived at the country's southern border on Wednesday to observe surveillance operations. Meanwhile, in Washington, Democratic mayors answered questions from legislators related to immigration. Click here for the full story in Spanish.  https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-spanish-vp-vance-visits-border-sanctuary-city-mayors-testify-before-congress-/7999666.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-spanish-vp-vance-visits-border-sanctuary-city-mayors-testify-before-congress-/7999666.html Wed, 05 Mar 2025 20:57:56 -0500 USAAmericasImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Salome Ramirez) Before a congressional committee Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson defended his city’s status as a “sanctuary city” — a jurisdiction that guides local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more. https://www.voanews.com/a/mayors-appear-before-us-congress-to-defend-sanctuary-city-policies/7999366.html https://www.voanews.com/a/mayors-appear-before-us-congress-to-defend-sanctuary-city-policies/7999366.html Wed, 05 Mar 2025 19:06:19 -0500 ImmigrationUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh) Mayors of four of the largest cities in the U.S. appeared before lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday to defend their so-called "sanctuary city" laws, which restrict local officials in helping enforce federal immigration regulations. The Republicans who lead the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have long criticized such laws, as has U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January promising to deport more unauthorized immigrants, including asylum-seekers, than his predecessors. In opening remarks, Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, all Democrats, that Congress should vote against sending even "a single penny" of federal funding to sanctuary cities. "These reckless sanctuary policies also force federal immigration officers to go into local communities to apprehend criminal illegal aliens," Comer said. "If sanctuary cities were to simply communicate and work with federal immigration authorities, then federal agents could arrest criminal illegal aliens in a secure environment like a state or local jail." The mayors defended the laws as making all their residents safer, even as lawmakers on the committee, which is known for its sometimes combative hearings, interrupted some answers that went beyond a “yes” or “no.” State and municipal officials have said the U.S. Constitution's Tenth Amendment prevents the U.S. government from commandeering local officials to enforce federal law. All the mayors said they have always and will always honor criminal arrest warrants issued by courts. The specifics of sanctuary laws vary from city to city, and some have been on the books for decades, but they are generally intended to afford migrants similar due-process rights as those of citizens. Ranking Member Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, said sanctuary city laws are "in full compliance of federal law." "They do not obstruct ICE from carrying out its duties," Connolly said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, adding that local police, not federal agents, were in the best position to ensure public safety. New York Mayor Eric Adams has said he is willing to help with Trump's deportation efforts as he tries to get Trump to dismiss a federal criminal indictment charging him with corruption. Some Republicans questioned Adams, a Democrat, more gently than they did the other mayors, while at least three Democrats asked Adams if, as some federal prosecutors have alleged, the mayor had struck an improper agreement with the Trump administration to escape prosecution. "There's no deal, there's no quid pro quo, and I did nothing wrong," Adams replied to Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, who also called on Adams to resign. Adams, who is running for reelection, has said he wants the city's laws weakened to allow cooperation with the federal government's deportation efforts where a migrant has been only accused, but not convicted, of a serious crime. He also wants to allow federal immigration agents back on Rikers Island, the city's main jail complex. New York City Council members have said they will not weaken the law. In his remarks to the House, Adams said New York City always complies with local, state and federal law. He said he had no tolerance for criminals, but also that he "must create an atmosphere that allows every law-abiding resident, documented or not, to access vital services without fear of being turned over to federal authorities." "If an undocumented person refuses to seek medical care until they have a medical emergency, our city's health care system will be strained, and if an undocumented individual witnesses a crime but is afraid to call 911 for fear of being turned over to federal authorities, criminals will roam free," Adams said. His fellow mayors relayed similar concerns about migrant children and parents being afraid of going to schools, police stations, churches or clinics, including migrants who had acquired legal permanent residency or U.S. citizenship but feared being profiled because of their accent or skin color. "A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told the lawmakers, at times translating her remarks into Spanish and other languages. In most cases, sanctuary laws forbid local officials from arresting or detaining a person the federal government suspects of violating its immigration laws unless a judge has issued an arrest warrant. Even in sanctuary cities, ICE officials are free to arrest people they have cause to believe are living in the U.S. without authorization, typically a civil, not criminal, violation. ICE has a major field office in Manhattan, and its officers arrest hundreds of migrants across New York City each year under both Republican and Democratic presidents. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security can deport non-citizens once an immigration judge issues a final order of removal. The main point of contention has been over how cities handle what ICE calls detainer requests for the minority of migrants who end up in local custody. ICE officials routinely ask local prison, jail or police officials to continue to detain a migrant who was free to leave custody for up to 48 additional hours: the migrant has posted bail, a judge has ordered their release, or they have completed a prison sentence. The majority of these requests come without a judge's warrant, which some federal judges have ruled violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. In New York City and elsewhere, local officials must ignore the requests unless they come with a judge's warrant and the migrant has been convicted of a violent felony. ICE officials must instead arrest the migrant independently, typically at their home or place of work, which they say makes their job more difficult and dangerous. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told the panel his city had honored more than 1,200 criminal arrest warrants from ICE in recent years. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-mayors-defend-sanctuary-city-laws-protecting-migrants-in-congressional-hearing/7999114.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-mayors-defend-sanctuary-city-laws-protecting-migrants-in-congressional-hearing/7999114.html Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:55:46 -0500 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) WASHINGTON — A U.S. civil rights group sued Saturday to block the Trump administration from potentially transferring 10 migrants from the U.S. to a naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detailing harsh conditions and suicide attempts among migrants held there.  The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington, said the transfers violate U.S. immigration law by moving the detainees outside of the country and aim to stoke fear without a legitimate rationale.  The 10 detainees in the lawsuit are men from Venezuela, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan with final deportation orders, including some who have been threatened with transfer to Guantanamo, the ACLU said. The men, currently held in Texas, Arizona and Virginia, are not gang members or high-risk criminals, the ACLU said.   President Donald Trump has vowed to deport record numbers of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. As part of the efforts to expand deportations, the administration in early February began sending migrants to a detention camp on the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, best known for holding foreign terrorism suspects.  Cuban and Haitian migrants intercepted at sea have been held at a migrant facility on the base in previous decades. However, the Trump administration effort was the first to transfer migrants there from the U.S., according to the ACLU.  U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said they are sending "the worst of the worst" to Guantanamo, but about a third of the initial group of 177 Venezuelans had no criminal record, according to the department.  The ACLU lawsuit alleges that migrants detained at Guantanamo have been held in windowless rooms for at least 23 hours a day, been subjected to invasive strip searches, and are unable to contact family members.  The suit said that guards "engage in verbal and physical abuse," including strapping detainees to a chair, withholding water, threatening to shoot detainees, and fracturing one person's hand.  "These degrading conditions and extreme isolation have led to several suicide attempts," the complaint said.  A federal judge blocked the possible transfer of several Venezuelan migrants to Guantanamo in mid-February but the men — also represented by the ACLU — were then deported to Venezuela.  In a separate lawsuit filed Friday, immigrant rights organizations and others sued to block Trump's moves to end former President Joe Biden's immigration parole programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of people with U.S. sponsors or fleeing danger to enter legally.  The lawsuit, filed in a Massachusetts federal court, argues the administration failed to follow proper regulatory steps when it abruptly ended programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Ukrainians with U.S. sponsors, as well as a program for Afghans who fled the Taliban takeover.  https://www.voanews.com/a/aclu-sues-to-block-migrant-transfers-to-guantanamo-/7993844.html https://www.voanews.com/a/aclu-sues-to-block-migrant-transfers-to-guantanamo-/7993844.html Sat, 01 Mar 2025 17:21:33 -0500 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said Saturday. Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the U.S. frontier with Mexico on his first day in office. "Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division" will be sent to the border, along with "approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade," NORTHCOM said in a statement. "Tasks carried out by 2nd SBCT will include detection and monitoring; administrative support; transportation support; warehousing and logistic support; vehicle maintenance; and engineering support. Personnel will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations," it said. Troops from the aviation unit will "assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities," NORTHCOM said. "These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border," its commander, General Gregory Guillot, said. The Trump administration has launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations, including via the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Trump unveiled a surprise plan last month to hold up to 30,000 migrants at the base — a facility notorious for abuses against terror suspects detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and U.S. forces have detained dozens of people there in recent weeks, many of whom have since been deported. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-deploy-more-troops-to-southern-border/7993778.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-deploy-more-troops-to-southern-border/7993778.html Sat, 01 Mar 2025 14:04:35 -0500 USAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) U.S. President Donald Trump revealed the "gold card" visa on Thursday, raising the threshold for foreign investment immigration to $5 million. Purchasing a gold card would be a way to obtain U.S. citizenship. The information has attracted the attention of Chinese immigrant applicants. Some say that the United States is the preferred option for Chinese immigrants, and that people with considerable assets might participate. Other experts suggest that wealthy people won’t spend large amounts to buy the gold card visa.  Click here for the full story in Mandarin. https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-mandarin-trump-introduces-5-million-gold-card-visa-for-green-card/7993640.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-mandarin-trump-introduces-5-million-gold-card-visa-for-green-card/7993640.html Sat, 01 Mar 2025 10:48:28 -0500 China NewsUSAEast AsiaImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Nai-chuan Lin) U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policy has raised expectations of mass deportations to Mexico. However, the shelters in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that were prepared to receive hundreds of migrants are practically empty.   Click here for the full story in Spanish.  https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-spanish-migrant-shelters-in-ciudad-juarez-register-low-influx-/7991119.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-spanish-migrant-shelters-in-ciudad-juarez-register-low-influx-/7991119.html Fri, 28 Feb 2025 01:37:42 -0500 AmericasUSAImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Cesar Contreras) WASHINGTON — The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in February is on pace to be at or near a record monthly low, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and two other sources told Reuters. The U.S. Border Patrol is on pace to have arrested around 8,500 migrants at the border in February as the end of the month nears, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Two other sources said the monthly total would be at or near a record low. President Donald Trump, a Republican, took an array of actions to deter illegal immigration after returning to the White House on January 20, saying a crackdown was needed after high levels of migration under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Trump's moves included implementing a sweeping ban on asylum at the border and surging military troops to assist border security. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration over the ban earlier this month, arguing it violated U.S. asylum law and international treaties. The Trump administration also struck new agreements with Mexico and Central American countries to accept U.S. deportees from other nations and has sent some migrants to a camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. Border Patrol's monthly enforcement statistics go back to 2000. The lowest monthly total on record is currently April 2017, when the agency arrested 11,127 at the start of Trump's first term. While the number of border arrests similarly dipped at the start of Trump's 2017-21 presidency, they rebounded in the months and years that followed. The February projection would be a steep drop from the 141,000 migrant arrests in February 2024 and down from 29,000 in January, according to U.S. government figures. https://www.voanews.com/a/migrant-arrests-at-us-mexico-border-near-record-low-in-february-/7991188.html https://www.voanews.com/a/migrant-arrests-at-us-mexico-border-near-record-low-in-february-/7991188.html Thu, 27 Feb 2025 22:27:59 -0500 ImmigrationUSAAmericaswebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)