Administration expands Title 42 expulsions to Venezuelan migrants—10-17-22
Immigration news, in context
This is the 141st edition of BORDER/LINES, a weekly newsletter by Felipe De La Hoz and Gaby Del Valle designed to get you up to speed on the big developments in immigration policy. Reach out with feedback, suggestions, tips, and ideas at BorderLines.News@protonmail.ch.
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This week’s edition:
In The Big Picture, we discuss the Biden administration’s announcement of a plan to grant parole to some Venezuelan migrants, while also expelling others to Mexico.
In Under the Radar, we look at a lawsuit alleging ICE has been restricting detainees’ access to their attorneys.
In Next Destination, we examine the situation of migrants bussed to New York City, who find themselves unable to work.
The Big Picture
The news: The Biden administration recently announced a program that was billed as a way of assisting Venezuelan asylum seekers. That part of the plan would involve the utilization of humanitarian parole, the same somewhat flimsy status that the administration has already leaned on to process both Afghan and Ukrainian refugees (inconsistently so, as detailed more for subscribers).
Ultimately, though, the most significant part of the announcement involved what would happen to the Venezuelans who wouldn’t be eligible for humanitarian parole, i.e. those who couldn’t find a U.S.-based sponsor, pay the $575 fee, and buy a flight into the United States. The administration reached a deal with Mexico to allow the expulsion of Venezuelans under Title 42, which until now the Mexican government had been restricting.
Expulsions have already begun, and there are reports of issues like family separation, as well as the Mexican government itself demanding that expelled Venezuelans leave the country within 15 days. Many questions remain unanswered, but what is clear is that Title 42 has been cemented as a border control tool for the government to reach for as desired, totally divorced from the supposed public health principle.
Under the Radar
Immigrant advocacy groups accuse ICE of blocking access to detainees
Five groups that represent detained immigrants have sued ICE, claiming the agency is preventing attorneys from being in contact with detainees by not providing meeting spaces, restricting lawyers from scheduling calls and leaving messages, and denying detainees’ access to videoconferencing, Reuters reports. The lawsuit involves four detention facilities: the Krome Detention Center in Florida, which is operated by Akal Security; the Florence Correctional Center in Arizona, owned and operated by CoreCivic; the Laredo Processing Center in Texas, also owned and operated by CoreCivic; and the River Correctional Center in Louisiana, operated by LaSalle Corrections.
The plaintiffs note that detained immigrants are nearly seven times as likely to be released and ten times more likely to win their cases if they have legal representation. Since deportation cases are handled by civil immigration courts, however, the government does not provide free counsel to people who can’t afford or otherwise find their own, meaning the vast majority of immigrants in detention centers have no legal representation. The suit alleges that ICE is denying detained immigrants the ability to meaningfully and effectively communicate with their attorneys, thereby depriving them of their due process rights. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, DC.
Next Destination
Asylum seekers in NYC find themselves unable to work
Thousands of migrants, many from Venezuela, have arrived in New York City over the past few months thanks to Texas and Florida’s schemes to export migrants to so-called “sanctuary cities.” Many migrants went willingly, having heard that there was work and opportunity to be found in New York—but now they’re having to contend with the fact that they can’t receive a work permit for six months after filing their asylum applications. Unable to work legally, some are turning to off-the-books work that advocates say makes them vulnerable to exploitation, the New York Times reports.
City and state officials have asked the federal government to change the rules regarding asylum seekers’ work permits, but so far, there hasn’t been much action, and the 180 day waiting period is unfortunately codified in federal law. The Biden administration repealed two Trump-era rules that made it even harder for asylum seekers to work earlier this year, but no new rules have been proposed. In the meantime, asylum seekers in New York and elsewhere face months-long waits until they can legally work, preventing them from fully starting new lives in the U.S., even temporarily.