You are here

Home » IRTF Blog

IRTF Blog

Want to subscribe to our bi-monthly Migrant Justice Newsletter? Go to https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/sign-up or click "Sign up for emails" in the sidebar. Thank you for supporting our work!

Migrant Justice Newsletter AUG 2024

In this newsletter, please read about : 1) ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends, 2) US Government Policy: Some legislators and DHS trying to do more to offer humanitarian relief to migrants, 3) Migration Impacts on Women, 4) At the Border, 5) Beyond Borders: Health and Safety in the Age of Migration in Mexico, 6) Changing Demographics: Migrants to the US Come from Different Corners of the Globe, 7) Danger in the Darién Gap: Human rights abuses and the need for human pathways to safety, 8) Texas Gets Tough on Migrants, 9) Economic Benefits of Immigration – both documented and undocumented migrants, 10) Biden Can Claim Record Numbers of Removals.

 

TAKE ACTION NOW. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.) A) Join a Solidarity Delegation to Southern Mexico:  Nov 2024, B) Stop Criminalizing Migrants Traveling through the Darién Gap, C) Volunteer to Assistant Migrants and Refugees in Cleveland: Catholic Charities, D) Volunteer to Assistant Migrants and Refugees in Cleveland: NEO Friends of Immigrants, E) Get Paid to Assist Migrants and Refugees in Cleveland, F) Act Now for Welcoming, Dignified, and Just Immigration.

IRTF recently held our annual Summer Solidarity Social. About 100 IRTF friends gathered to welcome Leslie Schuld, director of our partner organization in San Salvador, the Center for Exchange and Solidarity (CIS). Leslie gave us an alarming report of what is going on in El Salvador today. With President Bukele’s “State of Exception” crackdown on violent crime entering its third year, more than 80,000 have been arrested. Families are being torn apart. Their loved ones are languishing in overcrowded prisons with deplorable conditions, lack of medical care, and cases of torture. With mass incarceration (and cases of at least 265 documented deaths in prison), EL Salvador is facing its biggest threat to democracy since the end of the 12-year civil war in 1992.

President Bukele—just elected to a second term in February—is popular both among Salvadorans (because of the reported decrease in violent crimes) and among US policy-makers.

Because US policy-makers want to “address root causes” of migration to stem the tide of migrants heading north to the US-Mexico border, they are quite pleased with President Bukele, whom they believe has found the magic bullet: criminal/racial profiling, arbitrary arrests, suspension of constitutional rights, and mass incarceration.  Foreign investors (like Google, which partners with the government on digitizing health care and education) and cryptocurrency companies like Bukele, too.

But has emigration from El Salvador really decreased? A recent analysis of US immigration data shows that Bukele’s purported success may be vastly overstated.

This narrative — that Bukele’s takedown of the gangs improved life in El Salvador such that far fewer people want to move north to the United States — makes intuitive sense. But the data say otherwise: Bukele’s purported triumph in reducing migration may not be real.

Researchers calculated how many Salvadorans were encountered by US Customs and Border Protection agents at the US southern border each month for the past ten years and what percentage of El Salvador’s national population they represent. They compared those numbers to Guatemalans and Hondurans.  If Bukele’s claims are correct, then numbers of Salvadorans crossing the US border would decrease after his State of Exception was implemented in March 2022.  But the data don’t show it.

The data on Guatemalan and Honduran migrants undercut Bukele’s bragging. Because the percentage of Guatemalans and Hondurans trying to cross the US southern border mirror those of Salvadorans, there must be something else influencing migration from all three countries. At the very least, it’s unlikely that Bukele’s crackdown alone is responsible for fewer Salvadorans crossing the US border.

US policy-makers, including the US State Department, need to pay closer attention to President Bukele. Emigration out of El Salvador has NOT slowed down during Bukele’s suspension of constitutional rights and mass incarceration. So they need to stop giving him credit for something he hasn’t done. And they need to condemn his government’s human rights abuses.

We, as people poised to act in solidarity, need to pay attention, educate ourselves, and be ready to take action when called by civil society groups in El Salvador and their partner organizations in the US—like CISPES, US-El Salvador Sister Cities, Share Foundation, and IRTF.

 

Source: Much of this intro to our newsletter is based on an article (El Salvador - Its Migration Success Story Doesn’t Add Up) published in the Boston Globe on August 1, 2024, authored by Jeffrey Swindle (a college fellow and lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Harvard University) and Matthew Blanton (a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin).

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/01/opinion/el-salvador-bukele-crime-crackdown-immigration/?emci=279d0566-1650-ef11-86c3-6045bdee6681&emdi=005754d6-1950-ef11-86c3-6045bdee6681&ceid=4629123

Migrant Justice Newsletter JUL 2024

The United States has long been a destination of migrants from around the world seeking safety and new opportunities. The image of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty welcoming “the poor huddled masses” is ingrained in our collective memory and culture.

Yes, there are many coming to our southern border seeking safety. Many of those come from countries whose people have been negatively impacted by US economic and military policies. They come here because we went there.

The UN Refugee Agency’s Global Trends 2023 report documents that of all the new individual asylum applications made in 2023 (3.6 million), the US was the world’s largest recipient of new asylum applications (1.2 million).

But the US government is trying to deter migrants from seeking asylum here. On June 4, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new plans to “secure our border.” It bars migrants from even asking for asylum when daily average Border Patrol apprehensions surpass a certain threshold—and that threshold has been defined well below the average daily numbers. This is a clear violation of international and domestic law.

While the US government and its people might like to think that they are “welcoming” more migrants than any other country does, that simply is not the case. Looking globally at the numbers of migrants needing protection (refugees, asylum-seekers), low and middle income countries do a much better job.

Hosting the largest refugee populations (including asylum-seekers and other people in need):  the Islamic Republic of Iran (3.8 million), Türkiye (3.3 million), Colombia (2.9 million), Germany (2.6 million) and Pakistan (2 million). In 2023, the US resettled only 60,000 refugees, nowhere near the low bar of 125,000 it set for itself.

The unwelcoming attitude that the US presents toward migrants is illustrated by Biden’s recent asylum ban and the monthly increase in US migrant detention, now standing at 38,525. In her new book In the Shadow of Liberty, Mexican historian Ana Raquel Minian argues that migrant detention is costly, inhumane, and pointless. In 1891, the US Congress passed the nation’s first immigration detention law, which continues to dictate conditions for asylum seekers and migrants stopped at the border to this day.  With regular reports of physical abuse and suicides in migrant detention, the government reversed course in 1954; the vast majority of new arrivals could be released on conditional “parole” while their cases were being reviewed. But three decades later when Fidel Castro sent 124,000 “marielitos” from Cuba to the shores of Florida during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift, that all changed again. The Reagan Administration came into power in January 1981 and went full force in reinstituting immigrant detention.

There is not a border crisis. There is a humanitarian crisis at the border. Detention is never an effective deterrent. We see that with the numbers of migrants still coming to our borders. Besides the ethics and legality of it, immigrant detention is costly: the U.S. government spends more than $3 billion on incarcerating migrants each year.

Who is benefiting from the immigration carceral system?

 

In IRTF’s July 2024 Migrant Justice newsletter, please read about (1)   Asylum Processing at the US-Mexico Border, (2) ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends, (3)  Migrants in Colombia: Between Government Absence and Criminal Control, (4) At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border, (5) Honduras plans to build a 20,000-capacity ‘megaprison’ for gang members as part of a crackdown, (6) Thousands of displaced residents in southern Mexico fear returning to their homes after violence, (7) Danger in the Darién Gap: Human Rights Abuses and the Need for Humane Pathways to Safety, (8) America Turned Against Migrant Detention Before. We Can Do It Again, (9)  Asylum claims are down over 40% in Mexico, and (10) UN Refugee Agency Global Trends Report 2023.

 

Then take a few minutes to read what you can do to take action this week in solidarity with migrants and their families. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.)

A) Act Now for welcoming, dignified and just immigration policies

B) Root Causes: Stop Deportation Flights to Haiti

C) Root Causes: Restore Asylum for LGBTQ+ Refugees in Danger

D) Think Globally. Act Locally: Help Migrants and Refugees in Cleveland

Migrant Justice Newsletter JUN 2024

The Refugee Convention of 1951 is a UN multilateral treaty that defines refugee and sets out responsibilities for nations to grant asylum for those seeking refuge within its borders. The Refugee Convention emerged after World War II when nations pledged never to repeat that era’s tragic turn-backs of people fleeing extermination. A 1967 Protocol to the Convention expanded the original protections intended for European refugees to refugees "without any geographic limitation." When the US ratified the Protocol in 1968, it undertook a majority of the obligations spelled out in the original 1951 document (Articles 2-34). To make US laws consistent with the 1951 Convention and the 1968 Protocol, the US Congress and Carter Administration passed the  US Refugee Act of 1980. The Act changed the definition of “refugee” to a person with a “well-founded fear of persecution” according to standards established by United Nations conventions and protocols. This new federal law was meant to protect people who are fleeing persecution on “account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” The Refugee Act is meant to ensure that individuals who seek asylum from within the US or at its border are not sent back to places where they face persecution.

On June 4, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new plans to “secure our border.” It bars migrants from even asking for asylum when daily average apprehensions surpass a certain threshold—and that threshold has been defined well below the average daily numbers. This is a clear violation of international and domestic law. According to US law, a migrant can ask for asylum ANYWHERE within the territorial limits of the US. Forcing migrants to wait in Mexico (where they face many humanitarian hardships and dangers) and apply for an appointment via a cell phone app is an undue restriction on their legal right to ask for asylum.

Creating more deterrents like this one might knock down the numbers for a few weeks, but migration will likely surge in a month or so. Deterrence does not work. The US must instead address the reasons why people migrate and the current shortcomings and lack of resources in the US immigration system.

In IRTF’s June 2024 newsletter on Migrant Justice, please read about (1)  President Biden Announces New Actions to Secure the Border; Critics point to its illegality, (2)  ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends, (3) Child Migration in Darien Gap, (4) At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border, (5) Mind the Darién Gap, Migration Bottleneck of the Americas, (6)  Immigration Court: unjust denials call for structural realignment, not further restrictions, and (7) Immigration is the demographic savior too many refuse to acknowledge. Then take a few minutes to read what you can do to take action this week in solidarity with migrants and their families. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.)

A) Support LGBTQ+ Migrants

B) Oppose Border Closures

C) Support Migrants in Detention

D) Root Causes: Cut US Militarism in Latin America

Migrant Justice Newsletter - MAY 2024

News articles in this month’s Migrant Justice Update:

(1) See Us. Here Us. #ReuniteUS. (2) ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends. (3) Migration Declining. (4)  At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border. (5) Guatemalan Youth Defy Tragedy, Continue Trek to US Despite Familial Losses.  (6) Kidnapping of Migrants and Asylum Seekers at the Texas-Tamaulipas Border Reaches Intolerable Levels.  (7) President-elect of Panama pledges to close the Darién Gap.  (8) Trans & Nonbinary Migrants File Complaint Over Treatment at ICE Detention Facility in Colorado

TAKE ACTION items:

(A) Migrant Families in Cleveland Need Household Items. (B) Root Causes: Cut US Militarism in Latin America. (C) Root Causes: Stop Deportation Flights to Haiti. (D) Root Causes: Redesignate TPS for Nicaraguans. (E) Support Migrants in Detention.

Immigration enforcement continues to be top of mind for many in the US electorate. We’re likely to see the two presidential candidates duke it out on who pledges to be tougher on immigration. With changes in presidential administrations in two of the countries that the US sees as crucial partners in stemming migration (Panama and Mexico), it’ll be interesting to see how things unfold over the next several months leading up to the US elections on November 5.

Migrant Justice Newsletter - April 2024

Please consider supporting IRTF’s Migrant Justice work.

You can DONATE now at IRTFcleveland.org

Venmo @irtfcleveland

PayPal @irtfcleveland

Facebook.com/irtf1981

check:

IRTF, 3606 Bridge Ave., Cleveland OH 44113

---------------------------------

MIGRANT JUSTICE NEWSLETTER – APR 2024

Welcome to IRTF’s March 2024 newsletter on Migrant Justice and the current situation at the US-Mexico border. After you’ve looked through the articles, we hope you can take a few minutes to see the TAKE ACTION items at the bottom.

 

In this newsletter, please read about 

1.  Changing Trends in Migrants at US-Mexico Border

2. ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends 

3. Study Reveals: Border Wall Height Exacerbates Trauma Incidents 

4. At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border 

5. Border Patrol and Local Law Enforcement’s Patterns of Abuse in Ohio’s Immigration Enforcement

6. Raising the Credible Fear Screening Standard Will Endanger Lives but Won’t Fix The Border  

7. Children in US-Mexico Border Camps

8. Migrants Mired in Transit as Mexico Becomes US’s Immigration Enforcer

9. Kidnapping of Migrants and Asylum Seekers at Texas-Tamaulipas Border Reaches Intolerable Levels 

10.  Migrant Deaths in New Mexico and Western Texas 

11. Human Rights in the Darién Gap of Panamá

 

TAKE ACTION NOW

Here is what you can do to take action this week in solidarity with migrants and their families. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.)

A) SPEAK UP FOR DEMOCRACY IN EL SALVADOR

B)  SPEAK UP FOR PEOPLE IN HAITI

C) STOP DEPORTATIONS TO HAITI 

D) PROTECT UNACCOMPANIED MINORS

E) VISIT CAPITOL HILL: #ReuniteUS

F) HELP REFUGEES & MIGRANTS IN CLEVELAND

Migrant Justice Newsletter - MAR 2024

Migration and immigration enforcement continue to garner lots of attention, including from presidential candidates, as well as their supporters and opponents. Advocates for justice and human dignity might pay attention to trends in enforcement (including deportation proceedings) and detention.

See in this monthly newsletter (1) Immigration Court in Cleveland, OH, (2) ICE Air: Removal Flights, (3)  Racism in Immigration Court: The System Works As Designed, (4) At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border, (5) Migrant Children Suffering in Open-Air Desert Camps, (6) US House puts forth “Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act” HR7372, (7)  800+ Faith Leaders Call for Welcoming Immigration Policy, Reject Anti-Asylum Deal, (8)  SB4 in Texas Still on Hold, (9)  Iowa Residents Organize and Defeat Anti-Immigrant Bills

TAKE ACTION ITEMS:

A) Get Connected: NEO Friends of Immigrants 

B)  RE-Fund Refugee Resettlement 

C) Cut ICE Detention  

D) Volunteers Needed: Call for artists, writers (Ohio Immigrant Alliance)

Migrant Justice Newsletter - February 2024

Welcome to IRTF’s February 2024 newsletter on Migrant Justice and the current situation at the US-Mexico border. After you’ve looked through the articles, we hope you can take a few minutes to see the TAKE ACTION items at the bottom.

In this newsletter, please read about 

(1) Necropolitics, the Rationale of US Immigration Policy  

(2) Border Crossings in January Fell by Half

(3) ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends 

(4) At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border 

(5) How to Understand Regional Migration in an Election Year 

(6) Texas Builds Military Base on the Border, as Razor Wire, Legal Battles, and Tragedy

(7) Untold Accountability for “Gross Violations of Human Rights” at Open-Air Detention Sites at US-Mexico Border 

(8) Book Recommendations

TAKE ACTION NOW

Here is what you can do to take action this week in solidarity with migrants and their families. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.)

A) Stop Using Asylum as Bargaining Tool

B) Protect Mauritanians Here in Ohio

C) End the Monroe Doctrine

D) Get Connected: NEO Friends of Immigrants

E) Volunteers Needed: call for artists, writers for Ohio Migration Anthology

F) Volunteers Needed: database help for migrants who were deported

A legislative spotlight falls on the bipartisan TPS for Mauritania Act of 2024, advocating for Temporary Protected Status for Mauritanians due to ongoing challenges of slavery and terrorism in their home country. The bill, introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown and Representatives Mike Carey, Joyce Beatty, and Greg Landsman, reflects a concerted effort to address humanitarian crises.

Delving into the theoretical realm, the concept of Necropolitics, coined by Achille Mbembe, is explored to unravel the racialized exclusion embedded in U.S. immigration policies. The analysis underscores the deadly consequences of deterrence-focused strategies and calls for a more humane approach grounded in acknowledging human dignity.

The next sections provide updates from the US-Mexico border, highlighting incidents, tragedies, and clashes between federal and state authorities, such as the intensifying conflict in Eagle Pass, Texas. These narratives bring to the forefront the immediate, tangible impacts of immigration policies on individuals and communities.

A critical examination of 'Gross Violations of Human Rights' at open-air detention sites further emphasizes the urgent need for accountability and systemic reform. Organizations file a federal complaint against the Department of Homeland Security, underscoring the importance of upholding human rights standards in the treatment of asylum seekers.

Religious voices resonate in the letter from fifty Catholic organizations urging the Senate to preserve the right to asylum, highlighting the moral imperative to uphold human dignity in immigration policies. Simultaneously, lawmakers challenge the longstanding Monroe Doctrine, aiming to reshape U.S. relations with Latin American and Caribbean nations.

Shifting gears, the document outlines Mexico's negotiation tactics with the U.S. regarding immigration enforcement. The intricate dance between the two nations reflects a broader geopolitical context, emphasizing the interconnectedness of regional challenges and the importance of collaborative solutions.

Concluding on a local note, the spotlight turns to grassroots initiatives like Americans Making Immigrants Safe (AMIS), which has been providing crucial support to asylum seekers in Cleveland since 2019. The narrative underscores the power of community-driven efforts in mitigating the challenges faced by newcomers.

The call to action section invites readers to engage with various initiatives, advocating for asylum rights, challenging the Monroe Doctrine, calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and participating in solidarity trips to witness firsthand the conditions along migratory paths.




 

 

 

Migrant Justice Newsletter - JAN 2024

Over the last 12 months, there have been 1,482 ICE removal flights, mostly to Latin America and the Caribbean. Notably, there is a focus on removal flights to countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, raising concerns about the impact on individuals' rights and well-being. Three-quarters of removal flights are to those three countries. 

The lack of access to asylum at ports of entry has led to distressing situations for asylum seekers. US lawmakers are considering stricter restrictions on asylum, jeopardizing the safety and well-being of vulnerable individuals. The need for improving access to asylum and addressing the challenges faced by asylum seekers, especially women and children, is crucial.

Articles in this monthly newsletter: 1. ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends. 2.   US Needs Better Access to Asylum, NOT Less.  3.   Mauritanians Deported from Ohio.  4. At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border.  5. Accountability for ‘Gross Violations of Human Rights’ at Open-Air Detention Sites at US-Mexico Border.  6.    Black Immigrants and the Hidden Injustices of US Immigration Court.  7. Fifty Catholic Organizations Urge Senate to Not Restrict Asylum.   8. Congress Members Call for End to Monroe Doctrine and US Intervention in Latin America.   9. What Mexico’s President Wants in Exchange for Assisting the US with Immigration Enforcement.   10.  Americans Making Immigrants Safe (AMIS) helps asylum seekers become self-sufficient in Cleveland.

See the Take Action items listed at the bottom of this newsletter. Our advocacy is needed to maintain some modicum of humanity in the nation’s immigration system and to address root causes of migration. 

A) Tell Congress: The Right to Asylum Is NOT a Bargaining Tool

B) Ask your Congressperson to co-sponsor of HR943 calling for the end of the Monroe Doctrine

C) Tell President Biden to Shut Down Gitmo

D) Join a Solidarity Delegation to Panama

E) Tell Congress: Stop Funding War and Inhumane Migration Policies

Migrant Justice Newsletter - DEC 2023

Border security continues to be a hot button issue in Congress. And some congressional leaders are holding hostage other non-border issues because of their tough stance on immigration and desire to gut US asylum law. 

In last month’s newsletter, we shared an article about a one-page document that three Republican senators submitted to President Biden on November 6, summarizing the border and migration proposals they demand to include in the supplemental budget request that the president is submitting for the war in Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, and the US-Mexico border. The draconian measures include: ban asylum access for people who did not cross the border at ports of entry; ban asylum access for people who pass through other countries without seeking asylum there; heighten eligibility standards to pass a credible fear interview; expand migrant detention (including families and children); restrict temporary humanitarian parole.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) responded in a combined letter on December 14, denouncing that: “Republicans continue to hold funding for America’s allies hostage at the expense of migrants and to pass Trump-era border policies.”

Articles in this monthly newsletter: 1) ICE Air: update on removal flight trends. 2) How US Policy Toward Latin America Has Fueled Historic Numbers of Asylum Seekers. 3) WOLA Urges Congress to Protect Asylum and Update Obsolete Border Policies. 4) At the Border: Recent Incidents. 5) Governor Abbott Signs Law to Arrest Anyone in Texas without Immigration Papers.

See the Take Action items listed at the bottom of this newsletter. Our advocacy is needed to maintain some modicum of humanity in the nation’s immigration system and to address root causes of migration.  1) Stop Border Militarization. 2) Take Action Now Against Extreme Asylum Restrictions.  3) Help Migrants and Refugess in Cleveland. 

 

Migrant Justice Newsletter - NOV 2023

In this monthly newsletter, we include the fiscal year-end numbers from Customs and Border Patrol. CBP reports 2,475,669 “encounters” of migrants at the US-Mexico border from OCT 2022-SEP 2023. That’s up about 100,000 from last fiscal year. 

Let’s be clear. There is no “border crisis.” But there is a humanitarian crisis at the border.

The numbers don’t justify any increased funding for CBP. Federal agents are not having to chase down tens of thousands of migrants along the river bank or into the desert along the 2,000 mile border. A large portion of the “encountered” migrants (roughly 30,000 per month) have actually turned themselves in voluntarily at ports-of-entry to request political asylum. Presenting themselves at ports of entry (i.e., the “legal” way to cross) are these nationalities in this order: Haiti, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru.

But the waiting time to schedule an appointment at the border crossing (via the CBP One app) and then waiting for the actual appointment—this is causing tens of thousands of migrants to seek humanitarian assistance on the Mexico side of the border as they sit it out and wait.

As burdensome as the asylum process is, a group of US senators is trying to make it worse. They are threatening to stall any supplemental budget request that Biden is submitting for the war in Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, and the US-Mexico border. They say that won’t approve any Biden request unless it contains new border restrictions, including: more detention, family and child detention, restrictions on humanitarian parole, and banning the right to asylum for migrants who do not present themselves at ports-of-entry (note: this is clearly an illegal provision that violates both domestic and international asylum law.). 

See the Take Action items listed at the bottom of this newsletter. Our advocacy is needed to maintain some modicum of humanity in the nation’s immigration system and to address root causes of migration. 

Articles in this monthly newsletter: 1.  ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends. 2.  Migrants Coming to US-Mexico Border from All Over the World. 3.  Georgia Detention Center. 4.  At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border. 5.  Senate Republicans Demand Restrictions on Asylum, More Detention. 6.  Biden Border Plan

Pages

more