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U.S. Temporary Foreign Worker Visa Programs
Temporary foreign workers have long supported the U.S. economy, providing American industries, such as agriculture and technology, with a critical labor force, and the United States accepts hundreds of thousands of foreign workers each year. Persistent U.S. labor shortages, accusations of abuse, an influx of undocumented immigrants, and pushback from domestic labor groups have reenergized the debate over the scale of these programs. President Biden has expanded the capacity of some programs, including by streamlining the application process, but more ambitious efforts have stalled in Congress.
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Where Professionals Want to Migrate within the European Union
As a driving force of economic, demographic, social, and political change, migration is a top priority for policymakers, but studies were often hampered by incomplete statistics and outdated data. A new study assessing migration interest found that fewer professionals from countries in Northern, Southern, and Western Europe want to move east. But Eastern Europe’s appeal might change in the coming years.
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Texas to Deploy Buoys to Deter Rio Grande Crossings, Gov. Abbott Announces
The governor revealed plans for a floating river barrier at a Capitol signing ceremony for six new laws related to border security. The first 1,000-foot section will be set up near Eagle Pass.
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Militia Members Indicted for Conspiracy to Murder Border Patrol Officers, Illegal Immigrants
Two members of the self-styled 2nd American Militia who conspired to go “to war with border patrol” have been indicted two weeks ago by a federal grand jury on charges related to a conspiracy to murder Border Patrol officers and kill illegal immigrants crossing the border. The plot was thwarted by a shootout with FBI agents who arrested them.
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Lifting Title 42 Restrictions Didn’t Result in Surge of Migration, After All – but Border Communities Are Still Facing Record-Breaking Migration
There were widespread predictions that there would be a surge of migration across the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2023, when Title 42 COVID-related restrictions were lifted. There was no surge, but even without it, migration across the U.S-Mexico border continues to trend upward and remains at record-breaking levels.
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Open Questions, Legal Hurdles for Biden’s New Border Rule
The Biden administration announced on May 16 a new border rule that creates new pathways for lawful entry and limits access to asylum for unauthorized entrants. Shalini Bhargava Ray writes that the rule takes important steps to create alternatives to unauthorized entry for those seeking refuge, but serious questions remain about the viability and practical accessibility of those pathways.
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Texas Senate Approves Creation New Immigration Enforcement Unit, Allow State Police to Arrest for Border Crossings
The House has already passed the bill, but the two chambers will need to iron out the differences in their versions before it is sent to Gov. Greg Abbott. It’s the most sweeping of a Republican package of bills that aims to stiffen the state’s response to a record number of crossings at Texas’ southern border.
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Labor Trafficking in the United States
In 2020, DHS developed a strategy to guide its efforts to curb trafficking worldwide. Principally, the strategy calls for improving the identification and reporting of suspected trafficking. Questions about the current state of research on U.S. labor trafficking and future research needs need to be answered as the initial step in building a research agenda focused on labor trafficking.
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Title 42 Ends as Migrants Lined Up and Border Cities Braced for the Unknown
Long lines formed again next to the border wall in El Paso — a scene repeated in other parts of the southern border — as migrants anticipated the end of a policy that has allowed immigration agents to quickly expel them.
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Seeking Protection: How the U.S. Asylum Process Works
Record numbers of migrants seeking to cross the southern U.S. border are challenging the Biden administration’s attempts to restore asylum protections. Here’s how the asylum process works.
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Confusion Reigns at US-Mexico Border as Title 42 Expires
Title 42, the emergency health order used during the COVID-19 pandemic at the U.S.-Mexico border to quickly expel migrants back to Mexico or to their home country, ends Thursday night at midnight. Some border analysts say about 150,000 people are waiting to enter the U.S., but DHS says the majority of them will be expelled if they cross into the United States.
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U.S. Unveils New Border Restriction Ahead of Thursday’s Title 42 Expiration
The Biden administration announced today (Wednesday) new restrictions which affect migrants who attempt to cross into the United States without authorization. The restrictions are part of a plan for the end of Title 42, a 2020 COVID-19 related measure which allowed CBP to quickly expel migrants without giving them the chance to seek U.S. asylum. Title 42 expires on Thursday.
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Texas House Republicans Revive Border Policing Unit in Early-Morning Vote
The proposed unit would let those who are not law officers arrest or detain suspected undocumented immigrants in border-region counties.
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Biden’s Resurrection of Emergency Powers at the Southern Border
The Biden administration’s decision to send 1,500 active-duty troops to the border shows the striking similarity between Biden’s and Trump’s approach at least in one respect their willingness to use “law (both emergency and non-emergency powers) to sustain the continued deployment of thousands of military personnel at the southern border,” Chris Mirasola writes. “[E]asy access to any component of the Defense Department appears to be turning into a new normal, made available under shifting but substantially similar emergency declarations,” he adds.
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Improving Capabilities of Portable Drug Detection Systems
DHS S&T and partners are working to improve their ability to identify different narcotics, like fentanyl. Narcotics detection systems libraries will be enhanced via the collection of data on approximately 50 restricted substances, primarily related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, that are scheduled and controlled by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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More headlines
The long view
Social Acceptance of Immigrants Working as Politicians or Judges Is Low
Often, the dominant society develops negative attitudes towards immigrants and their descendants because their integration is too successful – and not because they are unwilling to integrate. A possible explanation for negative attitudes towards successful immigrants could be the dominant society’s fear of immigrants occupying influential and value-based occupations. This applies, for example, for immigrants working in local politics or law.