Category Archives: Immigration-Migration-Refugees

Election 2024, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, News & Photo Features

VP Kamala Harris at the Border: ‘I Will Protect Our Nation’s Sovereignty, Secure Our Border, and Work To Fix Our Broken System Of Immigration’

 “We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead. We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions.”

“We can have an earned pathway to citizenship and secure borders.”

New Yorkers in 2018 protest Donald Trump’s inhumane family separation policy. Vice President Kamala Harris called out Trump’s failure to lead – even obstruct real immigration reform in order to scapegoat immigrants during the campaign – while offering commonsense, humane solutions that secure the border and finally fix the dysfunctional immigration system © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

In an address at the U.S.-Mexico border in Douglas, Arizona, Vice President Kamala Harris called for tougher security measures at the border and directly called out Donald Trump’s failures as President to secure the border and his deliberate actions to block bipartisan legislation to do so.

She slammed Donald Trump for wanting to run on a problem instead of fix a problem, saying, “The American people deserve a President who cares more about border security than playing political games.” She reminded that cruelty was not a “bug” but a deliberate feature of Trump’s handling of asylum-seekers and migrants, cruelty.

As a former border state Attorney General, Kamala Harris understands what security and enforcing the law at the border means, prosecuting transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings. She unveiled her approach to “target the entire global fentanyl supply chain” to “significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals from China” and protect Americans from the “unimaginable destruction” it is causing.

“On behalf of all communities across our nation that want to see these problems solved I say: We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead. We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions. Or rhetoric instead of results, said Vice President Harris. “As your President, I will: Protect our nation’s sovereignty. Secure our border. And work to fix our broken system of immigration…I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly, and humane. We can and must do both…

“As President, I will put politics aside to fix our immigration system, and find solutions to problems which have persisted for far too long.”

Below is a highlighted, slightly edited transcript of Harris’ remarks:

Arizona: There are highly consequential issues at stake in this election.

And one is the security of our border.

The United States is a sovereign nation.

And I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border, and to enforce them.

I take that responsibility very seriously.

We are also a nation of immigrants.

The United States has been enriched by generations of people who have come from every corner of the world to contribute to our country and become part of the American story.

And we must reform our immigration system, to ensure that:

It works in an orderly way.

It is humane.

And it makes our country stronger.

I have just come from visiting the border and the port of entry in Douglas.

I spoke with dedicated agents from border patrol, and customs officers who, every day, oversee the flow of commercial traffic through the port.

The men and women who work there, and at other places along our southern border, help keep our nation secure.

And they need more resources to do their jobs.

Which is why we are investing half a billion dollars to modernize and expand the port of entry here in Douglas.

And why, last December, I helped raise the rate of overtime pay for border agents.

It is also why I strongly supported the comprehensive border security bill, written last year by a bipartisan group of Senators, including one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate.

That bill would have:

Hired 1,500 more border agents and officers.

Paid for 100 inspection machines to detect the fentanyl that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.

It would have allowed us to more quickly and effectively remove those who come here illegally.

And it would have increased the number of immigration judges and asylum officers.

It was the strongest border security bill we have seen in decades.

It was endorsed by the Border Patrol Union.

And it should be in effect today, producing results for our country.

But Donald Trump tanked it.

He picked up the phone, called some friends in Congress, and said, stop the bill.

Because he prefers to run on the problem, instead of fixing the problem.

The American people deserve a President who cares more about border security than playing political games.

And so, even though Donald Trump tried to sabotage the border security bill, it is my pledge that, as President, I will bring it back up and proudly sign into law.

Now, border security is not a new issue to me.

I was Attorney General of a border state.

I saw the violence and chaos that transnational gangs caused.

And the heartbreak and loss from the spread of their illicit drugs.

I walked through the tunnels that traffickers used to smuggle contraband into the United States.

I’ve seen tunnels with walls as smooth as the walls of your living room, complete with lighting and air conditioning.

Making clear that the transnational criminal organizations are profiting from those tunnels.

And my knowledge of how they work comes from the fact that I have prosecuted transnational gangs, who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings.

My team and I broke up a heroin trafficking ring in the Bay Area, with ties to Mexican cartels.

Took down a gang working with the Sinaloa Cartel to traffic methamphetamine into the United States.

Seized millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine from the Guadalajara Cartel.

And broke up a drug trafficking operation, including pill mills and so-called recovery centers, that were pushing opioids, with deadly results.

And as Attorney General of California, 10 years ago, I led a bipartisan delegation of American State Attorneys General to Mexico.

Where we worked closely with the Attorney General of Mexico.

To increase intelligence sharing on gang activity.

All of which allowed us to prosecute more human traffickers.

And I started the first comprehensive report in the state of California analyzing transnational criminal organizations, and the threats they posed to public safety and the economy.

So stopping transnational crime and strengthening our border has been a long-standing priority of mine.

I have done that work.

And I will continue to treat it as a priority, when I am elected President.

I will reach across the aisle, and embrace commonsense approaches and new technologies to get the job done.

Because I know, transnational gangs are always innovating.

And to disrupt and defeat them, we must do the same.

As President, I won’t just bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump tanked.

I will do more to secure our border.

To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry.

Those who cross our borders unlawfully will be apprehended and removed.

And barred from re-entering for five years.

We will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators.

And if someone does not make an asylum request at a legal port of entry, and instead crosses our border unlawfully, they will be barred from receiving asylum.

While we understand that many people are desperate to migrate to the United States, our system must be orderly and secure.

Securing our border also means addressing the flow of fentanyl into our communities.

Fentanyl is a scourge on our country.

It is highly addictive.

And it is highly lethal.

So much so that using it one time can be fatal.

I have met too many families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl.

Their grief is heartbreaking.

And the devastation caused by fentanyl is being felt from rural communities to big cities.

So as President, I will make it a top priority to disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

Most of the fentanyl in America comes from two cartels based in Mexico.

Most often, they are smuggling it through passenger and commercial vehicles at legal ports of entry, like the one I visited today.

The fact is, border officers don’t have enough resources, and are only able to search a small fraction of the vehicles that pass through their checkpoints.

This is unacceptable.

They need the resources to do their jobs.

As we could have done with the border security bill, I will surge support to law enforcement agencies on the front lines.

More personnel. More training. And more technology.

Including 100 new inspection systems that can detect fentanyl hidden in vehicles.

And we will make sure all our ports of entry, including airports and seaports, have additional state-of-the-art technology to detect fentanyl, and the chemicals and tools used to make it.

I will also double the resources for the Department of Justice to extradite and prosecute transnational cartels.

I will ensure we target the entire global fentanyl supply chain, because we must materially and sustainably disrupt the flow of illicit fentanyl into our country.

My approach takes into account that the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl are, by and large, made in China.

And then, shipped to Mexican cartels, and trafficked to the United States.

Our Administration demanded that China crack down on the companies that make those chemicals.

And it has started to happen.

But they need to do more.

And as President, I will hold them to their commitment to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals from China.

All to say:

I will tackle this issue from every angle.

Because our highest charge must be to protect the lives of our people.

And, we must ensure that our country remains strong and competitive.

Which includes fixing our broken immigration system.

And let me be clear:

I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly, and humane.

We can and must do both.

We need clear legal pathways for people seeking to come to our country.

And we must make our current system work better.

For example, it can take years for asylum claims to be decided.

This is a problem we can solve.

Including by hiring more asylum officers, and expanding processing centers in people’s home countries.

And as President, I will work with Congress to create, at long last, a pathway to citizenship for hardworking immigrants who have been here for years.

Like Dreamers.

I have met with Dreamers throughout my career.

They who have grown up in the United States, were educated here, pay taxes here, serve in our military, and contribute to our communities every day.

They are American in every way.

But still, they do not have an earned pathway to citizenship.

And this problem has gone unsolved for decades.

The same goes for farmworkers, who ensure we have food on our tables, and who sustain our agricultural industry.

They, too, have been in legal limbo for years.

Because politicians have refused to come together and fix our broken immigration system.

Well, as President, I will put politics aside to fix our immigration system, and find solutions to problems which have persisted for far too long.

As I said at the beginning:

These issues are highly consequential for our nation.

And the contrast in this election is clear.

It is a choice between commonsense solutions, and the same old political games.

In the four years that Donald Trump was President, he did nothing to fix our broken immigration system.

He did not solve the shortage of immigration judges and border agents.

Or create lawful pathways into our nation.

He did nothing to address our outdated asylum system.

And did not work with other governments in our hemisphere to deal with what is clearly a regional challenge.

As overdoses went up during his presidency, he fought to slash funding for the fight against fentanyl.

And what did he do instead? 

He separated families.

Ripped toddlers out of their mothers’ arms.

Put children in cages.

And tried to end protections for Dreamers.

He made the challenges at the border worse.

And he is still fanning the flames of fear and division.

Let me be clear:

That is not the work of a leader.

That is an abdication of leadership.

Families Belong Together Immigration Protest, NYC, June 30, 2018. Remember what Trump’s immigration was like? He pulled infants and toddlers from their mothers, put kids in cages, lost them in the system so they were effectively orphaned. Vice President Kamala Harris “I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly, and humane. We can and must do both.” © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

And so, on behalf of all communities across our nation that want to see these problems solved…

I say:

We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead.

We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions.

Or rhetoric instead of results.

As your President, I will:

Protect our nation’s sovereignty.

Secure our border.

And work to fix our broken system of immigration.

And I will partner with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to do it.

It is time for us to turn the page on the ugly battles that have characterized our politics.

And time to move forward together, to achieve real solutions that make our country stronger.

FACT SHEET: Secure the Border, Protect Our Homeland, Stop the Flow of Fentanyl, and Fix Our Broken Immigration System

Vice President Harris will secure the border, stop the scourge of fentanyl on our streets, and fix our broken immigration system by working with Democrats, Republicans, and independents. She will embrace commonsense approaches as well as new technologies and modern solutions.

She is uniquely positioned to meet this challenge. As Attorney General of a border state, she prosecuted transnational gangs that traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings. She broke up a heroin trafficking ring with ties to Mexican cartels, took down a gang working with the Sinaloa Cartel to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States, and worked with the Attorney General of Mexico to prosecute more human traffickers. She also knows we need to reject the false choice between securing our border and creating a system of immigration that is orderly and humane. We can and must do both.

Families Belong Together Immigration Protest, NYC, June 30, 2018. Remember what Trump’s immigration was like? He pulled infants and toddlers from their mothers, put kids in cages, lost them in the system so they were effectively orphaned. Vice President Kamala Harris “I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly, and humane. We can and must do both.” © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Donald Trump wants to sow chaos and disorder at the border. He prefers to run on the problem instead of fixing it. He blocked a bipartisan border security bill with the toughest reforms in decades, just to score political points. He did nothing to fix our immigration system in his four years as President, while ripping toddlers out of mothers’ arms and separating 5,000 migrant families at the border. Now, he is continuing to fan the flames of fear and division—saying immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” and promising a “bloody” round-up of millions of immigrants who have lived and worked in America for years, tearing families apart.

The American people deserve a President who cares about fixing these problems, instead of playing political games. Vice President Harris is committed to serious solutions to secure our border, crack down on fentanyl, keep families together, and fix our broken immigration system.

Vice President Harris will make it a top priority to secure our border and ensure that illegal border crossings get lower and stay low.

Keep the border closed between ports of entry to crack down on illegal border crossings. Vice President Harris will put in place stronger emergency authorities than those in place as a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s executive actions. She will make it harder to lift the emergency authority by requiring that the number of average border crossings be lower for longer before the shutdown can be lifted.

Impose consequences for illegal border crossings. She will continue to ensure that those who cross our border unlawfully will be apprehended, removed, and barred from re-entering for five years. Repeat violators will face felony prosecution. And those who cross the border unlawfully will be barred from receiving asylum.

Sign the bipartisan border security bill that Trump sabotaged. Vice President Harris, along with President Biden, negotiated the toughest border bill in a generation—a bill that was supported by some of the most conservative senators and the Border Patrol union. Trump tanked that bill for his own political gain, blocking vital resources and personnel from being deployed to secure the border. As President, Vice President Harris will work with Congress to pass the bill and request it in her budget, adding 1,500 Border Patrol agents and other personnel, 4,300 asylum officers, 100 immigration judges, and new drug detection technology, providing the additional personnel, resources, and authorities we need to secure the border. This bill will bring order to the border by reducing illegal immigration and create a fast and fair asylum process in which those who qualify are quickly admitted and those who are not are quickly removed.

Double the Department of Justice’s budget for prosecuting transnational criminal organizations and cartels and extraditing cartel leaders to the United States, and impose higher sentences on human traffickers. Vice President Harris will strengthen efforts to ensure that the transnational criminal organizations and cartel leaders making billions off human trafficking and narcotics are brought to justice through a game-changing expansion of resources devoted to prosecuting members of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, aggressively extraditing their leaders to the United States, and seizing their assets. These resources would support components of the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation devoted to this mission. Vice President Harris will also work with Congress to impose longer sentences on criminal organizations that engage in human trafficking.

Further modernize screening and vetting to keep bad actors out. The United States relies on screening and vetting to make it more difficult for actors with ill intent—whether cartel leaders or terrorists—to receive visas, board international flights, or cross borders. Vice President Harris will modernize our screening and vetting infrastructure to prevent bad actors from gaining entry to the United States by adopting new technologies and ensuring we have the intelligence and law enforcement personnel needed to keep pace with emerging threats. She will prioritize our intelligence community’s collection and analysis of open-source intelligence and new streams of information, and she will expand intelligence partnerships around the world to receive warnings of evolving threats to disrupt terrorist plots before they arrive at our border.

Strengthen partnerships with Mexico and other nations in the Americas. Illegal migration is a transnational issue, and Vice President Harris will bring a pragmatic, transnational approach to it. She will strengthen law enforcement cooperation across the entire U.S. government with allies and partners throughout the Western Hemisphere to collectively crack down on fentanyl trafficking, to dismantle human smuggling networks, and to interrupt illegal migration. Through information sharing and close partnership across the region, the United States will be better positioned to spot and address trends in illegal migration.

Vice President Harris will disrupt the flow of fentanyl—from cutting off the precursor chemicals manufactured in China to stopping the smuggling of fentanyl into the U.S. by Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

Fentanyl—a highly addictive and highly lethal synthetic opioid—is killing more Americans today than any other drug. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have mourned with the loved ones of overdose victims and seen firsthand the havoc fentanyl is wreaking on families and communities. While Trump was in office, overdose deaths rose meteorically. His response was trying to cut funding by 95% for the office leading the fight against opioid overdoses. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will make sure law enforcement and communities have the resources that they need to bring down opioid overdoses and deaths, and they will ensure those profiting at the expense of American lives are held accountable. They will:

Surge additional support to the border and law enforcement agencies who are on the front lines of the fight to keep fentanyl out.

  • Boost drug enforcement staff at the border, including by increasing the number of Customs and Border Protection Officers to effectively screen entrants and cargo for illegal drugs and give Homeland Security Investigations agents the power to investigate drug trafficking across the United States.
    • Equip our agents and officers with next-generation technologies to make them more effective at blocking fentanyl at the border. In her first budget request, she will fund the acquisition and deployment of over 100 new, non-intrusive inspection (NII) systems to scan passenger and commercial vehicles at ports of entry crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border, as called for in the Bipartisan Border Bill that Trump blocked. And she will scale up the use of advanced computing across all U.S. ports of entry, including the U.S.-Mexico border, airports, and seaports to detect and disrupt fentanyl entering the United States via cars, packages, and shipments.

Crack down harder on those profiting from fentanyl.

  • Strengthen federal laws regulating pill presses that cartels and transnational criminal organizations rely on to produce fentanyl-laced fake pills that resemble traditional pharmaceuticals. Vice President Harris will work with Congress to strengthen pill press registration laws so law enforcement officials can track these devices and illegal uses. She will also work to increase the penalties for possessing an unregistered pill press with the intent to manufacture counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills—which currently carries a maximum penalty of only four years imprisonment.
    • Continue to push China and others to do more to crack down on companies that make the precursor chemicals for fentanyl, building on the work of the Biden-Harris Administration to shut down the companies that make those chemicals. She will use both sanctions and criminal indictments to deter and punish illegal fentanyl or precursor chemical production.
    • Double the Justice Department’s budget for prosecuting transnational criminal organizations and cartels, which will also target their fentanyl smuggling operations.

Vice President Harris will work to advance solutions to fix our broken immigration system.

Leverage humanitarian parole visas and other visa categories to take pressure off our border. Vice President Harris will continue to use legal pathways for those who apply far from our southern border and qualify for admission under our laws. For example, providing humanitarian parole visas to select immigrants has been shown to substantially lower illegal immigration.

Create an earned pathway to citizenship for longtime immigrants. The most durable and permanent solution for undocumented immigrants who are deeply rooted in the United States is to enact bipartisan legislation. Vice President Harris strongly supports an earned pathway to citizenship for those who have lived and worked in America for many years, and stands ready to work with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to pass legislation to create a clear process for vetting, qualifying and recognizing those who are contributing members of our communities.

Protect Dreamers and other longtime immigrants. If Republicans continue to balk at bipartisan legislation, Vice President Harris will work to keep families together, give Dreamers a chance to remain in the nation they grew up in, recognize the essential work of farm workers who feed us, and more. Immigrants who have lived and worked in America, often for decades, need paths to stability and legal status to remain with their families and to continue contributing to the nation they now call home.

Vice President Harris will improve our legal immigration system. Currently, the system is not working for our workers, businesses, or families. Delays and outdated procedures result in the loss of innovation and talent that can help drive our economy and communities forward. Vice President Harris will work to modernize our system by making sure we are protecting American workers while increasing our competitiveness and fueling economic growth.

Help American communities welcome new arrivals by continuing to provide impact aid to support local communities adjusting to newly arriving immigrants, continuing to support the private-public partnership that has successfully resettled refugees for over 50 years, and responsibly engaging private citizens as sponsors for those admitted on parole visas.

She will pay for this plan by making the super wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.

Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, News & Photo Features

Biden Administration Implements New Initiatives to Beat Opioid Epidemic; Calls on Congress to Act

President Biden has just issued a National Security Memorandum directing every federal Department and Agency to do even more to stop the flow of narcotics—including fentanyl—into our country, but in the end, it is up to Congress to act, which Republicans refuse to do because they want to use the border crisis and fentanyl issue to campaign on. Biden’s statement and a fact sheet of the new administration initiatives to beat back the opioid epidemic were provided by the White House:

“Our Administration’s efforts have helped lead to the first decline in overdose deaths in five years.  We have seized more fentanyl at our border in the last two years than in the last five years combined, arrested and prosecuted dozens of high-level drug traffickers and cartel leaders, sanctioned over 300 entities and individuals involved in the global illicit drug trade, and forged historic counternarcotics cooperation with China. Still, far too many of our fellow Americans continue to lose loved ones to fentanyl. This is a time to act. And this is a time to stand together—for all those we have lost, and for all the lives we can still save.
 
“Today, I will issue a National Security Memorandum directing every federal Department and Agency to do even more to stop the flow of narcotics—including fentanyl—into our country.
 
“This Memorandum builds on my Unity Agenda, which made ending the opioid epidemic a top priority. It will enable our government to disrupt drug cartels—and their suppliers and financiers—more quickly and effectively. It will increase intelligence collection on traffickers’ evolving tactics to smuggle narcotics into our country. And it will help our law enforcement personnel seize more deadly drugs before they reach our communities. This Memorandum will also complement our historic work to expand access to treatment, including by making naloxone—the life-saving medication that reverses the effects of opioids—widely available over the counter for the first time. 
 
“I’m calling on Congress to do their part—including passing the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Detect and Defeat” proposals. These bipartisan proposals increase penalties on drug smugglers, give border officials key tools they need to target fentanyl at our border, and close other loopholes that traffickers exploit. I also once again urge Congress to pass the bipartisan border security agreement which provides funding for more border agents and more drug detection machines. These are the key investments needed to stop fentanyl from reaching our communities.” 

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Counter the Scourge of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs

Far too many Americans have lost children, spouses, and friends to dangerous drugs like illicitly manufactured fentanyl. It is a scourge that has no geographic or political boundaries, wreaking havoc on families and communities in all parts of America. That’s why since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has made disrupting the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs a core priority. As part of their Unity Agenda for the nation, President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken a number of actions to combat the opioid epidemic: 

  • Border officials have stopped more illicit fentanyl at ports of entry in the past two fiscal years than in the previous five fiscal years combined.  In just the last five months, over 442 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl were seized at U.S. borders. The Biden-Harris Administration continues to invest in detection technology at U.S. borders, adding dozens of new inspection systems, with dozens more coming online next year. 
  • The Biden-Harris Administration has made naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, widely available over the counter, and has invested over $82 billion in treatment – 40 percent more than the previous Administration. 
  • In 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order targeting foreign persons engaged in the global illicit drug trade and has since sanctioned over 300 persons and entities under this authority, thereby cutting them off from the United States’ financial system.

 
Due to these efforts, the number of overdose deaths in the United States has started to decline for the first time in five years. But even one death is one too many. And so today, President Biden will issue a new National Security Memorandum calling on all relevant Federal Departments and Agencies to do even more to stop the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in our country. President Biden and Vice President Harris also are calling on Congress to enact legislation to increase penalties on those who bring deadly drugs into our communities and to close loopholes that drug traffickers exploit.
 
The National Security Memorandum
 
The National Security Memorandum (NSM) that the President will issue calls on all relevant Federal Departments and Agencies to do even more to stop the supply of illicit fentanyl other synthetic opioids into our country.  As drug traffickers and suppliers adapt, we must do so as well.  The NSM directs even more intelligence collection, even more intensive coordination and cooperation across Departments and Agencies, and even more actions to disrupt the production and distribution of illicit fentanyl. The NSM is one more step forward in the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued focus on dramatically reducing the supply of illicit drugs and their precursor chemicals, and protecting American lives.
 
Detect and Defeat Proposal
 
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is also encouraging Congress to take action to combat illicit fentanyl, including by passing the Administration’s “Detect and Defeat” Counter-Fentanyl Proposal.  This proposal incorporates many of the bipartisan ideas put forward by Members of Congress, and will increase the United States’ ability to detect and seize illicit drugs and hold drug traffickers accountable.  The proposal would give border officials the tools they need to more effectively track and target the millions of small-dollar shipments that cross our borders every day—closing a loophole that drug traffickers exploit.  It would establish a nation-wide pill press and tableting machine registry so that law enforcement officials can track these machines and protect against their illicit use in producing fake fentanyl pills. And it would permanently regulate fentanyl-related substances as “Schedule I” drugs—subjecting the distribution and possession of these drugs to heightened penalties. 
 
Today’s actions build on a series of additional steps the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to combat the opioid epidemic, including: 

Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration on World Refugee Day Celebrates a Rebuilt U.S. Refugee Admissions Program

New Yorkers protest for humane immigration, 2018. On World Refugee Day, the Biden-Harris Administration reviewed its plans to welcome more than 100,000 refugees to their new U.S. communities in Fiscal Year 2024, the most in three decades, and how the administration is encouraging Americans to consider directly supporting and welcoming a refugee into their community. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

On World Refugee Day, the Biden-Harris Administration reviewed its plans to welcome more than 100,000 refugees to their new U.S. communities in Fiscal Year 2024, the most in three decades, and how the administration is encouraging Americans to consider directly supporting and welcoming a refugee into their community.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just issued a report that documents the importance immigration plays in the nation’s economic growth and vitality. According to CBO, increased immigration to the US will drive higher economic growth an dlabor supply, grow federal revenues and shrink deficits over the next 10 years. The anticipated surge in immigration is estimated to increase GDP by $9 TRILLION and increase federal revenues by$1.2 trillion. (https://www.axios.com/2024/06/18/immigration-economy-growth-cbo).

It is estimated there are 120 million refugees worldwide – people displaced by conflict and climate crisis, 40 percent of whom are children.

This fact sheet, issued on World Refugee Day, on how the administration is celebrating a rebuilt U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was provided by the White House:

From Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized rebuilding and strengthening the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program after its dismantling under the previous administration.

The United States has long been a leader in refugee resettlement, providing a beacon of hope for persecuted people around the world, facilitating international efforts to address record displacement, and demonstrating the generosity and core values of the American people. Today, on World Refugee Day, the Biden-Harris Administration is providing an update on actions taken under the President’s Executive Order 14013 to restore the nation’s refugee resettlement program as a longstanding demonstration of the United States’ promise and welcome.

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program is rebuilt and stronger than ever. This fiscal year, the United States will resettle more than 100,000 refugees, the most in three decades. The unfortunate reality is there are many more refugees who are still overseas and in need of resettlement. As we look ahead, the Administration encourages Americans to consider directly supporting and welcoming refugees into their community through the Welcome Corps. You can team up with others in your community, apply to sponsor a refugee family today, and welcome them into your community this summer.

Refugee resettlement in the United States represents the opportunity to start anew and pursue a life of safety and dignity without fear of persecution. In turn, refugees and asylees enrich American communities culturally and economically, contributing almost $124 billion to our nation’s economy from 2005 to 2019.

Rebuilding and modernizing resettlement infrastructure

The Biden-Harris Administration inherited a U.S. Refugee Admissions Program that had been systematically weakened by the previous administration. Historically low refugee admissions for four years led to drastic reductions in funding, staffing, and infrastructure across the U.S. Government agencies, international organizations, and nonprofit organizations that manage the program domestically and overseas. Through a whole-of-government effort starting on Day One, this Administration methodically rebuilt and modernized the program:

  • Invested in the domestic resettlement network. The ten national refugee resettlement agencies have opened or reopened more than 150 local resettlement offices, bringing the total to more than 350. As part of this effort, the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services worked with resettlement partners to design new innovative programs and provide targeted technical assistance. The Department of State, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Homeland Security, and HHS also recently issued a fact sheet providing information to landlords and property managers about renting to refugees.
     
  • Hired more than 300 refugee officers. DHS has more than tripled the size of its refugee officer corps. In the first half of 2024 alone, these refugee officers interviewed more than 80,000 refugee applicants overseas. DHS also partnered with the Department of State to expand the international office footprint of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after many offices were closed under the previous administration.
     
  • Reimagined overseas processing steps. The Department of State, DHS, and the U.S. Digital Service redesigned the overseas process for Afghan refugees by conducting multiple required steps at the same time rather than sequentially. This overhaul allowed processing to occur within weeks or months—a dramatic decrease from historically years-long processing times—without sacrificing national security. The Administration expanded this new approach to other populations, and by late 2023, more than half of all refugees interviewed worldwide went through concurrent processing.
     
  • Digitized processes for greater efficiency. In September 2023, the Department of State, DHS, and USDS fully implemented digital case management, shifting away from a paper-based process. Modern case management systems at both departments now support overseas processing that is more secure, efficient, and cost-effective. The Department of State, DHS, the Social Security Administration, and USDS also launched a new automated process that enables most refugees to receive their Employment Authorization Documents and Social Security Cards within weeks of their arrival, easing their path to self-sufficiency and full integration into their new communities.
     
  • Resolved many of the oldest cases in the program. The Department of State, DHS, and USDS created new case tracking mechanisms to ensure refugees who have been waiting the longest for a decision on their case are prioritized. Since October 2022, more than 32,000 refugees with cases pending for more than five years have been resettled in the United States.
     
  • Launched the Safe Mobility initiative to expand lawful pathways in the Western Hemisphere. In June 2023, the United States announced the Safe Mobility initiative, in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration. Safe Mobility offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala provide information and counseling about a range of existing services and local integration assistance available for refugees and migrants, and facilitate access to lawful pathways including refugee resettlement to the United States, Canada, and Spain.
     
  • Established the Resettlement Diplomacy Network. In 2022, the Department of State launched a new high-level multilateral forum, the Resettlement Diplomacy Network, in partnership with Australia, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission. As the network’s chair, the United States is driving an ambitious shared agenda around the global expansion and modernization of resettlement programs.

Building on the generosity of the American people through private sponsorship

Over the past few years, the Americans have extended an extraordinarily generous and welcoming hand to our Afghan allies, Ukrainians displaced by war, and Venezuelans and others fleeing violence and oppression. Following President Biden’s direction in Executive Order 14013, the Administration has created new opportunities for everyday Americans to engage directly in refugee resettlement:

  • In January 2023, the Department of State launched the Welcome Corps, a private sponsorship program to empower Americans from all walks of life to be matched with approved refugees overseas and directly support their resettlement and integration as they build new lives in the United States. Now through July 31, the Sponsor Fund will cover fundraising costs for Americans to welcome refugees through the Welcome Corps. This funding is available to help Americans welcome refugees into their community this summer, thanks to private philanthropy efforts led by the Shapiro Foundation in partnership with the Community Sponsorship Hub, WelcomeNST, and GoFundMe.org.
     
  • In December 2023, the Welcome Corps expanded to allow sponsors to identify and welcome refugees they know. Sponsors can identify specific refugees they wish to support, a first in the history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
     
  • In August 2024, participating U.S. colleges and universities will welcome the first Welcome Corps on Campus cohort of 31 refugee students to continue their higher education in the United States at 17 participating colleges and universities. This World Refugee Day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona sent a letter to colleges and universities to consider taking steps to support refugee resettlement.
     
  • In April 2024, the Department of State launched the Welcome Corps at Work, a targeted pilot initiative where refugees can be matched with U.S. employers in critical industries such as healthcare, education, and information technology, and receive support from private sponsors in the employer’s community. In September 2022, HHS also launched an Employer Engagement Program to help employers develop workplace-based training programs.

Enhancing screening and vetting

The Administration’s commitment to keeping Americans safe is paramount. Refugees undergo mandatory and rigorous security vetting overseas, including biometric and biographic security checks conducted by our nation’s law enforcement, intelligence, and counterterrorism professionals. The Administration has taken steps to reform and further enhance screening and vetting of refugees, including:

  • Repealed the Muslim ban. On his first day in office, President Biden repealed the previous administration’s discriminatory Muslim ban, a stain on our national conscience that was inconsistent with our nation’s foundation of religious freedom and tolerance. The Administration has since taken additional steps to reform legacy nationality-based vetting practices that the previous administration weaponized to implement its Muslim ban and exclude applicants on the basis of their religion or nationality. These reforms have enhanced the program’s rigorous vetting processes and strengthened national security.
     
  • Integrated refugee vetting into the National Vetting Center. Consistent with Executive Order 14013, the Administration has integrated refugee vetting into the National Vetting Center, which has strengthened and simplified the ways that DHS uses intelligence and law enforcement information to inform decisions, while maintaining strong privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections.

Expanding access to resettlement

The Biden-Harris Administration has expanded access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for particularly vulnerable individuals facing persecution:

  • Opened avenues for resettlement for human rights defenders and the most vulnerable LGBTQI+ refugees. In 2023, the Department of State designated two senior U.S. government human rights officials to identify individuals in need of resettlement who face persecution as a result of their work promoting respect for human rights and those who face persecution on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics.
     
  • Strengthened the ability of U.S. Embassies to refer the most vulnerable refugees. U.S. ambassadors are now encouraged to refer to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program any vulnerable individuals they have identified as facing persecution and are in need of resettlement, an option previously reserved for exceptional circumstances.
     
  • Expanded NGO referrals for highly vulnerable cases. As directed in Executive Order 14013, the Department of State partnered with a new consortium of non-governmental organizations to identify and refer highly vulnerable refugees to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program who are in need of resettlement but are unlikely to be identified through traditional resettlement mechanisms, including LGBTQI+ refugees and certain ethnic and religious minorities.
     
  • Facilitated protection and expanded access to the refugee program for Afghans. In August 2021, the Administration announced a special refugee designation for certain Afghans and their eligible family members, as part of the Administration’s commitment to welcoming those who served alongside us during the 20-year war in Afghanistan. The Administration is also allowing, in certain cases, U.S. government and military officials to refer Afghans to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program who worked with the United States in Afghanistan.
     

Led the most significant increase of operations in the Americas in the history of the program. As forced displacement in the Western Hemisphere reaches historic highs, the Administration has dramatically expanded operations in the region, in particular through the Safe Mobility initiative. The United States has welcomed 13,000 refugees from the region this year, by far the most in the program’s history. Since January 2021, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has referred more than twice as many refugees to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program as in the previous three decades combined.

Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces New Actions to Keep Families Together


Families New Yorkers protest against Trump’s family separation policies, June 2018. President Biden, frustrated by Congress’ failure to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform, has taken new action to crate a pathway for undocumented spouses of US citizens who have been in the US for 10 years to obtain permanent residency and has acted to bolster protections and rights of Dreamers © Karen Rubin/news-photo-features.com

This fact sheet on President Biden’s latest actions to keep immigrant families together was provided by the White House:

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. As Congressional Republicans have continued to put partisan politics ahead of national security – twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades – the President and his Administration have taken actions to secure the border, including:
                                            

  • Implementing executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when encounters are high;
     
  • Deploying record numbers of law enforcement personnel, infrastructure, and technology to the Southern border;
     
  • Seizing record amounts of fentanyl at our ports of entry;
     
  • Revoking the visas of CEOs and government officials outside the U.S. who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully; and
     
  • Expanding efforts to dismantle human smuggling networks and prosecuting individuals who violate immigration laws.

 
President Biden believes that securing the border is essential. He also believes in expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country. The Day One immigration reform plan that the President sent to Congress reflects both the need for a secure border and protections for the long-term undocumented. While Congress has failed to act on these reforms, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen our lawful immigration system. In addition to vigorously defending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals) policy, the Administration has extended Affordable Care Act coverage to DACA recipients and streamlined, expanded, and instituted new reunification programs so that families can stay together while they complete the immigration process. 
 
Still, there is more that we can do to bring peace of mind and stability to Americans living in mixed-status families as well as young people educated in this country, including Dreamers. That is why today, President Biden announced new actions for people who have been here many years to keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy.  
 
Keeping American Families Together

  • Today, President Biden is announcing that the Department of Homeland Security will take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.
     
  • This new process will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence – status that they are already eligible for – without leaving the country.
     
  • These actions will promote family unity and strengthen our economy, providing a significant benefit to the country and helping U.S. citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together.
     
  • In order to be eligible, noncitizens must – as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements. On average, those who are eligible for this process have resided in the U.S. for 23 years.
     
  • Those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible.  
     
  • This action will protect approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.

 
Easing the Visa Process for U.S. College Graduates, Including Dreamers

  • President Obama and then-Vice President Biden established the DACA policy to allow young people who were brought here as children to come out of the shadows and contribute to our country in significant ways. Twelve years later, DACA recipients who started as high school and college students are now building successful careers and establishing families of their own.
     
  • Today’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas.
     
  • Recognizing that it is in our national interest to ensure that individuals who are educated in the U.S. are able to use their skills and education to benefit our country, the Administration is taking action to facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers. 

See also:
Biden Acts to Legalize Undocumented Spouses of US Citizens, Advancing Humane Immigration Reform

Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, Joe Biden, News & Photo Features

President Biden Announces New Actions to Secure the Border, Calls for Congress to Pass Bipartisan Immigration Reform

President Biden, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, announces new actions to control the border while urging Republicans in Congress not to obstruct crucial immigration reform © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com via MSNBC.

With Republicans actively obstructing bipartisan legislation to secure the border, President Biden has taken new actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum, but continues to appeal for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform – as he has proposed since Day 1 of his administration.

Here are President Biden’s remarks about his Executive Order, and a fact sheet describing the new actions to secure the border, provided by the White House:
 
I’ve come here today to do what the Republicans in Congress refuse to do: take the necessary steps to secure our border. 

Four months ago, after weeks of intense negotiation between my staff and Democrats and Republicans, we came to a clear — clear bipartisan deal that was the strongest border security agreement in decades.  But then Republicans in Congress — not all, but — walked away from it. 

Why?  Because Donald Trump told them to.  He told the Republicans — it has been published widely by many of you — that he didn’t want to fix the issue; he wanted to use it to attack me.  That’s what he wanted to do.  It was a cynical and a – extremely cynical political move and a complete disservice to the American people, who are looking for us to — not to weaponize the border but to fix it. 

Today, I am joined by a bipartisan group of governors, members of Congress, mayors, law enforcement officials — most of whom live and work along the southern border.  They know the border is not a political issue to be weaponized — the responsibility we have to share to do something about it.  They don’t have time for the games played in Washington, and neither do the American people. 

So, today, I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border. 

Frankly, I would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation, because that’s the only way to actually get the kind of system we have now — that’s broken — fixed, to hire more Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, more judges.  But Republicans have left me with no choice. 
 
Today, I’m announcing actions to bar migrants who cross our southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum.  Migrants will be restricted from receiving asylum at our southern border unless they seek it after entering through an established lawful process.  

And those who seek — come to the United States legally — for example, by making an appointment and coming to a port of entry — asylum will still be available to them — still available.  But if an individual chooses not to use our legal pathways, if they choose to come without permission and against the law, they’ll be restricted from receiving asylum and staying in the United States. 

This action will help us to gain control of our border, restore order to the process.

This ban will remain in place until the number of people trying to enter illegally is reduced to a level that our system can effectively manage. 

We’ll carry out this order consistent with all our responsibilities under international law — every one of them. 

In addition to this action, we recently made important reforms in our asylum system: more efficient and more secure reforms.  The goal is to deliver decisions on asylum as quickly as possible. 

The quicker decision means that a migrant is less likely to pay a criminal smuggler thousands of dollars to take them on a dangerous journey, knowing that if, in fact, they move in the wrong direction, they’d be turned around quickly. 

And two weeks ago, the Department of Justice started a new docket in the immigration courts to address cases where people who’ve recently crossed the border and make — they’ll make a decision within six months rather than six years, because that’s what happens now.  

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security has proposed new rules to allow federal law enforcement to more quickly remove asylum seekers that have criminal convictions and remove them from the United States. 

My administration also recently launched new efforts to go after criminal networks that profit from smuggling migrants to our border and incentivize people to give tipsto law enforcement to provide information that brings smugglers to justice. 

We’re also sending additional federal prosecutors to hot spots along the border and prosecute individuals who break our immigration laws. 

One other critical step that we’ll be taking, and that made a huge difference: We continue to work closely with our Mexican neighbors instead of attacking Mexico, and it’s worked. 

We built a strong partnership of trust between the Mexican President, López Obrador, and I’m going to do the same with the Mexican-elect President, who I spoke with yesterday.

We’ve chosen to work together with Mexico as an equal partner, and the facts are clear.  Due to the arrangements that I’ve reached with President Obrador, the number of migrants coming and shared — to our shared border unlawfully in recent months has dropped dramatically. 

But while these steps are important, they’re not enough. 

To truly secure the border, we have to change our laws, and Congress needs to provide the necessary funding to hire 1,500 more border security agents; 100 more immigration judges to help tackle the backlog of cases — more than 2 million of them; 4,300 more asylum officers to make decisions in less than six months instead of six years, which is what it takes now; and around 100 more high-tech detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop fentanyl being smuggled into the United States. 

These investments were one of the primary reasons that the Border Patrol union endorsed the bipartisan deal in the first place.  And these investments are essential and remain essential. 

As far as I’m concerned, if you’re not willing to spend the money to hire more Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, more judges, more high-tech machinery, you’re just not serious about protecting our border.  It’s as simple as that.

I believe that immigration has always been a lifeblood of America.  We’re constantly renewed by an infusion of people and new talent. 

The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history.  It stands for who we are as the United States. 

So, I will never demonize immigrants.  I will never refer to immigrants as “poisoning the blood” of a country.  And further, I’ll never separate children from their families at the border. 

I will not ban people from this country because of their religious beliefs.  I will not use the U.S. military to go into neighborhoods all across the country to pull millions of people out of their homes and away from their families to put detention camps while awaiting deportation, as my predecessor says he will do if he occupies this office again.
 
On my very first day as president, I introduced a comprehensive immigration reform planto fix our broken system, secure our border, provide a pathway for citizenship for DREAMers, and a lot more.  And I’m still fighting to get that done. 

But we must face a simple truth: To protect America as a land that welcomes immigrants, we must first secure the border and secure it now.

The simple truth is there is a worldwide migrant crisis, and if the United States doesn’t secure our border, there is no limit to the number of people who may try to come here, because there is no better place on the planet than the United States of America. 

For those who say the steps I’ve taken are too strict, I say to you that — be patient, and good will of the American people are wearing thin right now.  Doing nothing is not an option.  We have to act.  We must act consistent with both our law and our values — our value as Americans.

I take these steps today not to walk away from who we are as Americans but to make sure we preserve who we are for future generations to come. 

Today, I have spoken about what we need to do to secure the border.  In the weeks ahead — and I mean the weeks ahead — I will speak to how we can make our immigration system more fair and more just. 
 
Let’s fix the problem and stop fighting about it.  I’m doing my part.  We’re doing our part.  Congressional Republicans should do their part.

Fact Sheet: New Actions to Secure the Border

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. Over the past three years, while Congress has failed to act, the President has acted to secure our border. His Administration has deployed the most agents and officers ever to address the situation at the Southern border, seized record levels of illicit fentanyl at our ports of entry, and brought together world leaders on a framework to deal with changing migration patterns that are impacting the entire Western Hemisphere. 
 
Earlier this year, the President and his team reached a historic bipartisan agreement with Senate Democrats and Republicans to deliver the most consequential reforms of America’s immigration laws in decades. This agreement would have added critical border and immigration personnel, invested in technology to catch illegal fentanyl, delivered sweeping reforms to the asylum system, and provided emergency authority for the President to shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed. But Republicans in Congress chose to put partisan politics ahead of our national security, twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades.
 
President Biden believes we must secure our border. That is why today, he announced executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. These actions will be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today. They will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents.
 
But we must be clear: this cannot achieve the same results as Congressional action, and it does not provide the critical personnel and funding needed to further secure our Southern border. Congress still must act.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration’s executive actions will:  
 
Bar Migrants Who Cross the Southern Border Unlawfully From Receiving Asylum

  • President Biden issued a proclamation under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) suspending entry of noncitizens who cross the Southern border into the United States unlawfully. This proclamation is accompanied by an interim final rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that restricts asylum for those noncitizens.
    • These actions will be in effect when the Southern border is overwhelmed, and they will make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.
    • These actions are not permanent. They will be discontinued when the number of migrants who cross the border between ports of entry is low enough for America’s system to safely and effectively manage border operations. These actions also include similar humanitarian exceptions to those included in the bipartisan border agreement announced in the Senate, including those for unaccompanied children and victims of trafficking.

Recent Actions to secure our border and address our broken immigration system:
 
Strengthening the Asylum Screening Process

  • The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule to ensure that migrants who pose a public safety or national security risk are removed as quickly in the process as possible rather than remaining in prolonged, costly detention prior to removal. This proposed rule will enhance security and deliver more timely consequences for those who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.

Announced new actions to more quickly resolve immigration cases

  • The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security launched a Recent Arrivals docket to more quickly resolve a portion of immigration cases for migrants who attempt to cross between ports of entry at the Southern border in violation of our immigration laws.
    • Through this process, the Department of Justice will be able to hear these cases more quickly and the Department of Homeland Security will be able to more quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States and grant protection to those with valid claims.
    • The bipartisan border agreement would have created and supported an even more efficient framework for issuing final decisions to all asylum seekers. This new process to reform our overwhelmed immigration system can only be created and funded by Congress.

Revoked visas of CEOs and government officials who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully

  • The Department of State imposed visa restrictions on executives of several Colombian transportation companies who profit from smuggling migrants by sea. This action cracks down on companies that help facilitate unlawful entry into the United States, and sends a clear message that no one should profit from the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.
    • The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on over 250 members of the Nicaraguan government, non-governmental actors, and their immediate family members for their roles in supporting the Ortega-Murillo regime, which is selling transit visas to migrants from within and beyond the Western Hemisphere who ultimately make their way to the Southern border.
    • Previously, the State Department revoked visas of executives of charter airlines for similar actions.

Expanded Efforts to Dismantle Human Smuggling and Support Immigration Prosecutions

  • The Departments of State and Justice launched an “Anti-Smuggling Rewards” initiative designed to dismantle the leadership of human smuggling organizations that bring migrants through Central America and across the Southern U.S. border. The initiative will offer financial rewards for information leading to the identification, location, arrest, or conviction of those most responsible for significant human smuggling activities in the region.
    • The Department of Justice will seek new and increased penalties against human smugglers to properly account for the severity of their criminal conduct and the human misery that it causes.
    • The Department of Justice is also partnering with the Department of Homeland Security to direct additional prosecutors and support staff to increase immigration-related prosecutions in crucial border U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Efforts include deploying additional DHS Special Assistant United States Attorneys to different U.S. Attorneys’ offices, assigning support staff to critical U.S. Attorneys’ offices, including DOJ Attorneys to serve details in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in several border districts, and partnering with federal agencies to identify additional resources to target these crimes.

Enhancing Immigration Enforcement

  • The Department of Homeland Security has surged agents to the Southern border and is referring a record number of people into expedited removal.
    • The Department of Homeland Security is operating more repatriation flights per week than ever before. Over the past year, DHS has removed or returned more than 750,000 people, more than in every fiscal year since 2010.
    • Working closely with partners throughout the region, the Biden-Harris Administration is identifying and collaborating on enforcement efforts designed to stop irregular migration before migrants reach our Southern border, expand investment and integration opportunities in the region to support those who may otherwise seek to migrate, and increase lawful pathways for migrants as an alternative to irregular migration. 

Seizing Fentanyl at our Border

  • Border officials have seized more fentanyl at ports of entry in the last two years than the past five years combined, and the President has added 40 drug detection machines across points of entry to disrupt the fentanyl smuggling into the Homeland. The bipartisan border agreement would fund the installation of 100 additional cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our Southern border ports of entry.

In close partnership with the Government of Mexico, the Department of Justice has extradited Nestor Isidro Perez Salaz, known as “El Nini,” from Mexico to the United States to face prosecution for his role in illicit fentanyl trafficking and human rights abuses. This is one of many examples of joint efforts with Mexico to tackle the fentanyl and synthetic drug epidemic that is killing so many people in our countries and globally, and to hold the drug trafficking organizations to account

Biden Administration, Health Care, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, Joe Biden, News & Photo Features

Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Expands Health Coverage to DACA Recipients

President Biden announces final rule that will allow eligible DACA recipients to enroll in Affordable Care Act coverage. Some 100,000 DACA recipients are expected to take advantage of this opportunity. This fact sheet is provided by the White House:
 

During his State of the Union address, President Biden called for Congress to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Republicans blocked bipartisan reform legislation, but Biden is expanding eligibility for DACA recipients to enroll in the Affordable Care Act. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Biden-Harris Administration is expanding access to affordable, quality health care coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.  In 2012, President Obama and then Vice President Biden created the DACA policy to transform the lives of eligible Dreamers – young people who came to this country as children—allowing them to live and work lawfully in our country.  Over the last decade, DACA has brought stability, possibility, and progress to hundreds of thousands of Dreamers. 
 
While President Biden continues to call on Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers and others, he is committed to protecting and preserving DACA and providing Dreamers with the opportunities and support they need to succeed, including access to affordable, quality health care coverage.  Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions, today’s final rule will remove the prohibition on DACA recipients’ eligibility for Affordable Care Act coverage for the first time, and is projected to help more than 100,000 young people gain health insurance.  Starting in November, DACA recipients can apply for coverage through HealthCare.gov and state-based marketplaces, where they may qualify for financial assistance to help them purchase quality health insurance. Four out of five consumers have found a plan for less than $10 a month, with millions saving an average of about $800 a year on their premiums.
 
President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care should be a right, not a privilege. Together, they promised to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, lowering costs and expanding coverage so that every American has the peace of mind that health insurance brings.  Today’s final rule delivers on the President’s commitment by giving DACA recipients that same peace and opportunity.  
 
Today’s rule also reinforces the President’s enduring commitment to DACA recipients and Dreamers, who contribute daily to the strength and vitality of our communities and our country.  On day one of his Administration, President Biden committed to preserving and fortifying the DACA policy.  While only Congress can provide Dreamers permanent status and a pathway to citizenship, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to vigorously defend DACA against ongoing legal challenges and strengthened DACA by codifying the 2012 policy in a final rule.  

Statement from President Joe Biden:

Today, my Administration is expanding affordable, quality health care coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Dreamers are our loved ones, our nurses, teachers, and small business owners. And they deserve the promise of health care just like all of us.
 
Nearly twelve years ago, President Obama and I announced the DACA program to allow our young people to live and work in the only country they’ve called home. Since then, DACA has provided more than 800,000 Dreamers with the ability to work lawfully, pursue an education, and contribute their immense talents to make our communities better and stronger.
 
I’m proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed. That’s why I’ve previously directed the Department of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to “preserve and fortify” DACA. And that’s why today we are taking this historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors.
 
On Day One of my administration, I sent a comprehensive immigration reform plan to Congress to protect Dreamers and their families. Only Congress can provide Dreamers permanent status and a pathway to citizenship. Congress must act.

Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris:

Dreamers throughout this country are serving in our military, teaching in our classrooms, and leading our small businesses as entrepreneurs. They are our neighbors, classmates, and loved ones. Our nation is fortunate that America is their home.
 
Thanks to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), more than 800,000 Dreamers have been able to live, study, and work in the only home they have ever known while making our nation a better place. It is why I fought to defend and protect DACA as Attorney General of California and a U.S. Senator from California.
 
Now as Vice President, I have worked alongside President Biden to take steps to preserve and fortify DACA. Today, we are building on this progress by ensuring DACA recipients also have access to affordable health care, which will improve the health of all communities. This announcement will bring relief to more than 100,000 people and help them thrive while working to achieve their aspirations.
 
President Biden and I will continue to do everything in our power to protect DACA, but it is only a temporary solution. Congress must act to ensure Dreamers have the permanent protections they deserve.

Contrast to Trump Position on DACA, ACA

In stark contrast to Biden’s support of DACA and ACA, Trump tried to dismantle the DACA program which had protected 700,000 young people who were brought to this country as children from deportation, eventually losing at the Supreme Court.

And Trump tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act – failed – and is vowing to try again if he wins in November. What this would mean for Americans:

  • More than 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions could be denied coverage or charged more
  • 40 million people’s health insurance coverage at risk
  • Health care costs would increase for the millions of Americans
  • Young adults up to age 26 could be kicked off their parent’s health care plan
Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, Joe Biden, News & Photo Features, President Joe Biden

FACT SHEET: Impact of Bipartisan Border Agreement Funding on Border Operations

Families Belong Together Immigration Protest, NYC, June 30, 2018 New York City protests Trump’s family separation policy, 2018. A reminder of how Trump and the MAGA Republicans’ handling of the migrant crisis looked like and what Trump would do in a second term © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Thanks to a steady stream of desperate migrants escaping conflict and climate disasters at the southern border but all over the world  (and propaganda), voters now consider immigration (not women’s reproductive rights, gun violence or climate action) the leading issue. And Trump and the MAGA Republicans want to keep it that way. So after negotiating the toughest immigration reform in 30 years (and Democrats abandoning calls to legalize status for DACA recipients and the rest of the millions of undocumented migrants who have been living and working in the US for years in order to reach a compromise), Trump issued his order that House Republicans nix adopting the National Security Plan, that also included aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian aid and instead, voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, while Republican Governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis are working hard to increase the misery of the desperate migrants and the Democratic cities they are shipping these individuals to, without warning or coordination, just to elevate the crisis. Meanwhile, Trump’s agenda for a second term would go beyond the cruelty of his family-separation program of his first term.

Rather than playing politics on the issue, Biden is trying to take action, and today, in traveling to Brownsville, Texas to meet with U.S. Border patrol agents, is laying out why Republicans’ failure to act is handicapping the administration’s effort to address the migrant crisis in a humanitarian way. This fact sheet is provided by the White House – Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Today, President Biden is traveling to Brownsville, Texas to meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement, frontline personnel, and local leaders to discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement.

President Biden has repeatedly said he is willing to work in a bipartisan way to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system. Over several months, his Administration negotiated with a bipartisan group of Senators to release a bill that includes the toughest and fairest reforms to secure the border we have had in decades. It would make our country safer, make our border more secure, and treat people fairly and humanely while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our nation’s values. The bill received support from the Border Patrol Union, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Texas Alliance of Cities, and the Wall Street Journal – but Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans have decided to play politics at the expense of border security.
 
At the President’s request, the agreement included over $20 billion for border security. The agreement would provide critical resources at the border and significant policy changes, including:
 
Border Patrol: Border Patrol staffing has remained roughly flat over the last four years, despite border encounters increasing by 250 percent over the same period. Today, there are just shy of 20,000 Border Patrol Agents. The bipartisan Senate bill would add more than 1,500 new Customs and Border Protection personnel.

Asylum Officers and Asylum Reform: Similarly, Asylum Officer staffing has remained stagnant over the last four years and there is an insufficient number of asylum officers to do initial screenings. As a result, each asylum case generally takes 5 to 7 years to be heard and adjudicated. Today, there are approximately 1,000 Asylum Officers; the bipartisan Senate bill would add an additional 4,300 Asylum Officers and it would make the asylum process faster and fairer.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): ICE detention facilities are currently over capacity. Today, ICE has approximately 40,000 detention beds. The bipartisan Senate agreement would increase detention beds to a total of 50,000. Moreover, without immediate action from Congress DHS will need to move funding to ICE from other critical missions or reduce ICE’s enforcement operations to manage a shortfall of several hundred million dollars.
 
Immigration Judges: Currently there is a backlog of over 2 million cases for immigration judges. Each asylum case generally takes 5 to 7 years to complete. Without more judges, these timelines and backlogs will continue to grow. Today there is funding for 734 immigration judges, the bipartisan Senate bill would provide funding for an additional 100 immigration judges and their associated staff.
 
Combatting Drug Trafficking: We continue our fight against the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs. The bipartisan agreement would fund the installation of 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our Southwest Border ports of entry. It would also give the President the authority to impose sanctions on foreign nationals knowingly involved in significant trafficking of fentanyl by a transnational criminal organization.  
 
The bill also includes $1.4 billion for cities and states who are providing critical services to newcomers, and would expedite work permits for people who are in the country and qualify.
 
In order to truly tackle this problem and support the more than four thousand border and immigration officials who work in the Rio Grande Valley – which includes Brownsville – with the additional personnel and resources they need to secure our border, Congress must act.

Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Calls on Congress to Immediately Pass Bipartisan National Security Agreement with Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Most Americans can trace their roots back to Ellis Island, when America, desperate for workers to build roads, bridges, railroads, factories and skyscrapers, wanted workers. Now, despite still needing workers, and decrying the “border crisis” as an “invasion” endangering national security, House Republicans are calling a bipartisan immigration deal that gives them everything they have asked for (border security, changing asylum laws) “dead on arrival” in order to appease Trump, so desperate to refuse Biden a “victory” and keep the inflammatory issue alive for his campaign. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Biden-Harris Administration strongly supports the bipartisan agreement announced in the Senate that would address a number of pressing national security issues. President Biden has repeatedly said he is willing to work in a bipartisan way to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system. From his first day in office, he has called on Congress to act and over the course of several months, his administration has worked with a bipartisan group of Senators on important reforms and necessary funding.

This agreement, if passed into law, would be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve had in decades. It will make our country safer, make our border more secure, and treat people fairly and humanely while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our values as a nation. This bipartisan national security agreement would also advance our national security interests by continuing our support for the people of Ukraine and Israel as they defend themselves against tyranny and terrorism while also providing much-needed humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by conflicts around the world. The Biden-Harris Administration calls on Congress to not delay and immediately pass the bipartisan national security agreement.
 
Provides Temporary Emergency Authority for the President to Shut Down the Border When the System is Overwhelmed

  • Establishes a new temporary authority, the “Border Emergency Authority,” that allows the President and Secretary of Homeland Security to temporarily prohibit individuals from seeking asylum, with limited exceptions, when the Southwest Border is overwhelmed. The authority preserves access to other protections, consistent with our international obligations, and will sunset after three years.
    • Importantly, this authority is to be used when the number of migrants encountered at the border reaches very high levels – levels that strain the U.S. government’s ability to process migrants.  Additionally, the authority is limited to a set number of days each calendar year – in the third year of implementation the authority may only be exercised for half of a given calendar year.
    • The United States is a country of refuge for those fleeing persecution. For that reason, the legislation requires asylum access be preserved for a minimum number of individuals per day, limited to those using a safe and orderly process at ports of entry, when the authority is invoked.

 
Expedites Access to Work Authorization for Hundreds of Thousands of Migrants

  • Ensures that those who are here and qualify are able to get to work faster. It provides work authorization to asylum seekers once they receive a positive protection screening determination. This will allow asylum seekers to begin to support themselves and their families in the United States much earlier than the current 180-day statutorily required waiting period, which only begins after an individual submits an asylum application.  This will also reduce the resource strain on our cities and states who have been supporting asylum seekers during this existing waiting period.
    • This bill provides work authorization to approximately 25,000 K-1, K-2, and K-3 nonimmigrant visa holders (fiancé or spouse and children of U.S. citizens) per year, and about 100,000 H-4 spouses and children of certain H-1B nonimmigrant visa holders who have completed immigrant petitions (temporary skilled workers) per year, so they no longer have to apply and wait for approval before they can begin working in the United States.

 
Establishes an Efficient and Fair Process for Consideration of Asylum and other Protection Claims by those arriving at our Southwest Border

  • Today, the process to get to a final decision on a migrant’s asylum claim can take 5-7 years.  That is far too long.  Once fully implemented, this bipartisan agreement would – for the first time – give the Administration the authority and resources to reduce that process to 6 months.  This gets people quick decisions on their asylum claims rather than leaving them and their families in limbo for years.
    • The agreement also for the first time gives Asylum Officers the authority to grant a claim at the protection screening stage if the case is clear and convincing, thereby reducing the strain on the asylum system.

 
Recalibrates the Asylum Screening Process

  • Moves consideration of statutory bars to asylum eligibility, such as criminal convictions, into the screening stage. This will ensure that those who pose a public safety or national security risk are removed as quickly in the process as possible rather than remaining in prolonged, costly detention prior to removal.
    • Modifies the screening threshold for asylum from “significant possibility” to “reasonable possibility,” with the goal of making it more likely that those who are screened in to pursue protection claims are ultimately found to have a valid asylum claim.  Currently, of all migrants screened in and allowed to go to the next phase, only roughly 20 percent are ultimately granted asylum. 

 
Provides Critical Funding for Combatting Smuggling and Drug Trafficking, Border Security, and Asylum Processing 

  • Funds the installation of 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our Southwest Border ports of entry. 
    • Over 1,500 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel including Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers. 
    • Over 4,300 new Asylum Officers and additional U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff to facilitate timely and fair decisions. 
    • 100 new immigration judge teams to help reduce the asylum caseload backlog and adjudicate cases more quickly. 
    • Shelter and critical services for newcomers in our cities and states.  
    • 1,200 new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel for functions including enforcement and deportations. 
    • More resources to fund transportation needs to enable increased removals. 
    • Support to partner nations hosting large numbers of migrants and refugees, and funding to partner nations to ensure cooperation in accepting returns associated with the implementation of the Border Emergency Authority. 

 
Strengthens Federal Law Against Fentanyl Trafficking

  • Declares that international trafficking of fentanyl is a national emergency and gives the President authority to impose sanctions on any foreign person knowingly involved in significant trafficking of fentanyl by a transnational criminal organization.
    • Allows for transfer of sanctioned persons’ forfeited property to forfeiture funds and authorizes Treasury to impose additional restrictions against sanctioned persons upon a determination that their transactions are of primary money laundering concern.
    • Directs Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to issue guidance on filing suspicious transactions reports related to fentanyl trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.

 
Increases Lawful Pathways to Come to the United States

  • For the first time in over 30 years, raises the cap on the number of immigrant visas available annually by adding an additional 250,000 immigrant visas over 5 years (50,000/year).  160,000 of these visas will be family-based, and the other 90,000 will be employment-based.
    • These additional immigrant visas expand lawful pathways to the United States, prioritizing family reunification and reducing the time families have to spend apart, and get U.S. businesses access to additional workers.
    • Establishes a faster pathway to permanent status for the approximately 76,000 Afghan allies who entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome and their families.

 
Promotes Family Unity and Stability for Noncitizens

  • Provides relief to over 250,000 individuals who came to the United States as children on their parents’ work visa.  These individuals have resided lawfully in the United States since they were children and have established lives here in the U.S but have since “aged out” of continuing to receive lawful status through their parents and have no other means of lawfully remaining in the United States with their families. Noncitizens who lived lawfully in the United States as a dependent child of an employment-based nonimmigrant for at least 8 years before turning 21 will be eligible to remain temporarily in the United States with work authorization.
    • In support of family unity, the bill makes clear that certain noncitizens can travel to the United States on a temporary visitor (B) visa to visit their family members.

 
Ensure the Humane and Fair Treatment of Those Seeking Asylum, Especially the Most Vulnerable 

  • Children should not be expected to represent themselves in a court – and this agreement will provide, for the first time, government-mandated and funded legal counsel for unaccompanied children age 13 or younger as they go through the process to seek asylum.  The bill would also provide counsel to particularly vulnerable, mentally incompetent adults.
    • Strengthens legal requirements that migrants always be provided with clear and accessible information about their rights, including their right to counsel.
    • Mandates that only trained Asylum Officers are permitted to conduct protection screenings.

 
Ukraine:

  • Provides critically-needed military aid to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Russian aggression.  Russia continues to launch aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities and is actively attacking Ukrainian forces. 
    • Invests in our defense industrial base, supporting American jobs across our country, and produce weapons and equipment that the United States can send Ukraine to help Ukraine’s military protect its people, defend against Russian attacks, and succeed on the battlefield. 
    • Enables the United States to continue to send economic assistance to Ukraine. Putin has made destroying Ukraine’s economy central to his war strategy and boosting Ukraine’s economy is essential to its survival. If Ukraine’s economy collapses, they will not be able to keep fighting. This aid will help Ukraine pay its first responders, import basic goods, and provide essential services to its population. 
       

Israel:

  • Authorizes the United States to provide additional military aid to help Israel defend itself from Hamas, which committed horrific acts of terror on October 7th, and whose leaders have pledged to repeat the attacks of October 7th over and over again until Israel is annihilated.  
    • The aid in this agreement will also help Israel replenish its air defenses and ensure it is prepared for any future contingencies. 
    • This includes its defense against Iran and groups backed by Iran, including Hezbollah. The funding in this agreement is essential to supporting Israel’s short- and long-term defense needs against a broad array of immediate and future threats.  

 
Humanitarian Aid:

  • Includes important humanitarian aid funding to help civilians in need around the world, whether it’s to address the spillover effects of Putin’s war and help Ukrainians who have been displaced by Russia’s invasion, or to help Palestinians in Gaza, where we are actively working to increase the flow of aid for Palestinian civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas.

 
Indo-Pacific:

  • Provides resources to help our allies and partners in the region build the capabilities necessary to address threats from an increasingly assertive PRC and to meet emerging challenges. It is critically important that we maintain our focus on the Indo-Pacific and preserve peace and stability. 
Biden Administration, Climate Action, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Updates Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration

At the Climate March, New York City, activists demand climate justice. The Biden Administration updated its report on how climate change the trigger to migration to the southern border and around the world. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Two years ago, the Biden-Harris Administration released the Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration. This update in the report comes at a key time when Republicans in the House and Senate are holding up government funding for border security, foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, and threatening to shut down the government over inhumane, likely illegal demands to close down migration, when the Biden Administration has attempted to focus on one of the major causes for migration: climate change. This fact sheet was provided by the White House: – Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
 
The Administration provided an update on actions taken under President Biden’s Executive Order 14013 Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration and efforts to address the effects of climate change on displacement and migration.
 
Research estimates more than 216 million people could migrate within their countries as a result of climate change by 2050. Migration can be a necessary mechanism for survival for communities and families facing severe risk to personal safety, property damage, or loss of livelihood and is often the only option to meaningfully reduce that risk.  Particular attention must be paid to the needs of communities that receive migrants displaced as a result of climate events, including access to housing, work, and education.
 
Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States Federal government is working to implement a number of initiatives to improve the ability of vulnerable communities both at home and abroad to adapt to and manage the increasing impacts of the global climate crisis that contribute to displacement: 

  • The President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), launched by President Biden in November 2021 with a commitment to work with Congress to fund international climate adaptation at $3 billion annually by 2024, has an Action Plan that builds off and bolsters existing international efforts to advance climate resilience, including ways to address key drivers of migration by enabling communities to support themselves where they are, respond to displacement, support those who choose to move as a risk management strategy, and assist trapped populations.
     
  • The U.S. Agency for International Development’s April 2022 Climate Strategy highlights the importance of limiting displacement and supporting safer and more productive migration. This includes the need to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to climate-related migration and scale support to migrants and their communities.
     
  • Lack of access to and availability of water accounted for ten percent of the increase in global migration between 1970 and 2000. The June 2022 White House Action Plan on Global Water Security lays out a whole-of-government approach to improve global resilience, elevate data-driven methods, use resources more efficiently, and work collaboratively across communities and sectors to address global water security, which can be a key driver of displacement and migration due to impacts on health, food security, and livelihoods.
     
  • The Department of State released a new approach in June 2023 to address the impacts of the climate crisis on migration and displacement, including four objectives: 1) strengthen and expand the protection of refugees and migrants in situations of vulnerability affected by climate change; 2) enhance existing climate action by partnering with key humanitarian partners, through regular dialogue with international, governmental, and non-governmental organizations, and through engagement with members of affected populations; 3) expand U.S. multilateral diplomacy and leadership to address the impacts of climate change on migration and displacement in international fora; and 4) strengthen coordination between agencies to advance policy solutions for refugees and migrants affected by climate change.

Additionally, the White House report called for U.S. leadership to elevate the impact of climate change on migration and displacement in multilateral spaces and educate leaders on the urgency of climate risk to populations. The Department of State has advanced dialogue on the issue in various fora over the last two years, including hosting events during the International Dialogue on Migration, Inter-Governmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum, and Refugees, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, UN General Assembly High-Level Week, the Cities Summit of the Americas, the Regional Conference on Migration, and the Africa Climate Summit.

These efforts have generated engagement and momentum among key stakeholders – government, international organizations, impacted communities, multilateral development banks and international finance institutions, civil society, think tanks, the private sector, and others – around action at the intersection of climate change and human mobility. The State Department and USAID will continue working with these stakeholders to inform, develop, and coordinate actions in the years to come.

To address migration and displacement due to climate change, the United States has developed a three-pronged approach of 1) improving access to information by U.S. federal agencies, partner countries, and local communities, 2) increasing investment in adaptation and resilience programs, and 3) facilitating protection of individuals at home and abroad.
 
Increasing access to information by U.S. federal agencies, partner countries, and local communities on climate change
 
Information about climate change impacts, early warning systems, and adaptation options saves lives and empowers governments and communities to take timely and appropriate actions to increase climate resilience and address climate-related mobility. The U.S. Government advances observations, models, and forecasts that enable monitoring and early warnings for floods, droughts, cyclones, and extreme temperatures, as well as food insecurity, conflict, and humanitarian needs, including through the following programs:

  • The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) established the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1985 in response to devastating famines in East and West Africa to fulfill a critical need for better and earlier warning of potential food security crises.  Over the past two years, FEWS NET has increased its investments and partnerships in the climate security domain to better understand interactions between the changing climate, food and water security, fragility, and conflict. Improved understanding and forecasting of these dynamics provide increased insight into migration drivers and patterns, creating opportunities to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to the needs of migrating people.
     
  • The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the U.S. Civil Applications Committee lead the Thermal Working Group (TWG), a coordinating body for advancing and enabling delivery of data, information, and products to civil first responders. Since 2021, the TWG has supported wildland fire detection. Increasing average temperatures and related climate change are correlated with observed increases in the occurrence and area burned by fires and the duration of wildfire seasons, increasing the risks associated with disaster-induced displacement. Through continued efforts to improve system processes, the TWG National Guard FireGuard teams have detected and delivered information on more fires (over 2,800 fires total), more quickly, and with greater confidence, enabling earlier and faster local emergency response.
     
  • The USGS provides science to better understand drivers of migration, such as sea-level rise in the Pacific Islands.  USGS personnel facilitate the delivery of geospatial data during disaster events, such as the 2022 volcanic eruption in Tonga and 2023 flooding in South Africa, in support of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, a United Nations-brokered agreement to provide disaster-related geospatial data and imagery to first responders. Through the USGS-chaired, interagency Civil Applications Committee and National Civil Applications Center, commercial imagery and sensor data are provided to first responders to proactively prepare and respond to these disasters, mitigating the impacts on critical infrastructure and livelihoods. 
     
  • The U.S. Global Change Research Program is co-leading an initiative launched in 2021 on Enhancing Capacity for Climate Risk Assessment and Catalyzing Partnerships to Inform Decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LACI). The goal of the LACI partnership is to help countries in the region develop capacity to produce national climate assessments that support decision-making and help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change. In June 2023, LACI pilot programs were announced for El Salvador, Amazonia, and Jamaica. This effort directly responds to Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, as well as PREPARE.
     
  • USAID provides life- and livelihood-saving early warning systems and climate information services that help communities, pastoralists, farmers, and local governments better prepare for and adapt to frequent and extreme climate events. USAID partners with leading science organizations to ensure partner governments, civil society, and other stakeholders have context-specific, accurate, and actionable climate information.  USAID also invests in capacity building and provides resources for governments and communities to respond and adapt to climate risks. For example, the flagship USAID-NASA partnership, SERVIR, harnesses the power of satellite data to strengthen climate resilience, food and water security, forest and carbon management, and air quality.  SERVIR has co-developed over 65 services used around the world to increase early warning lead times for floods, droughts, and high-impact weather events.
     
  • In 2022, USAID made an initial investment of $67 million in partnership with NOAA, the World Meteorological Organization, and the UN Office of Disaster Risk Reduction to advance early warning capacity of national authorities.  Through these investments, Flash Flood Guidance System coverage expanded from 74 countries to an additional 20 countries.  In addition, USAID will expand the early warning of river and urban flooding droughts, and heatwaves as needed, focusing on small Island Developing States, Africa, and Least Developed Countries.  Increasing local capacity for early warning supports governments and communities to better prepare for, plan for, and reduce impact of disaster displacement.
     
  • As announced at the Cities Summit of the Americas in April 2023, more than $1 million in support for USAID’s Roadmaps for Urban Adaptation in Latin America and the Caribbean will provide key information to support urban adaptation and climate resilience, with a focus on those most vulnerable to climate impacts, including migrants and displaced people.
     
  • USAID’s Climate Change, Food Security, and Migration research in Honduras advances understanding of how climate change relates to migration in the country.  The research has for instance, revealed a statistically significant relationship between food insecurity and migration; showed that municipal drought has a long-term and cumulative impact on the U.S. border apprehension rate; and demonstrated that coffee prices, which are increasingly affected by climate change, drive migration most where coffee is more important to the local economy.  USAID uses this research to help farmers in areas of high migration like Honduras cope with climate impacts. Supporting water-conservating agricultural methods reduces production risks related to drought and enables farming households across Central America to improve soil moisture and fertility, increasing yields by as much as 50 percent.
     
  • With almost $3 million in funding starting in October 2021, USAID has been supporting the Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action, an innovative partnership between a U.S. university and six universities in Africa and Asia to build the evidence base on why acting ahead of hazards and risks saves lives. Research topics range from assessing the impact of social protection systems on different demographic groups in response to effects of drought in Namibia, to studying the lead time required for different nutrition and health interventions in Eastern Uganda, to examining the use of a flood forecasting system which indicates possible flooding in the Philippines.

Increasing investment in adaptation and resilience programs

Climate variability and change are increasingly contributing to human migration and displacement. Weather-related disasters currently displace around 30 million people annually, even under current warming projections, additional people will be displaced or unable to escape climate impacts. Adaptation and resilience actions can help respond to the key drivers of migration, support those who choose to move as a risk-management strategy, and assist populations trapped by climate impacts. U.S. Government adaptation and resilience initiatives support and scale actions to build the climate resilience of people, places, ecosystems, and livelihoods, including through the following programs:

  • A $135 million investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act charged the Department of Interior (DOI), the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), and the Denali Commission to support 11 severely impacted Tribes to advance relocation, managed retreat, and adaptation planning. To date, efforts have focused on outreach to the 11 Tribes, providing technical assistance to build Tribal capacity to adapt, and establishing PL-638 Tribal accounts for initial fund distribution to facilitate the hiring of Tribal relocation coordinators. 
     
  • A $40 million investment from the Department of Agriculture funded community-driven relocation projects in 15 Alaskan Tribal communities, with $7 million for seven Emergency Watershed Protection projects in Alaska to relocate homes threatened by erosion, stabilize eroding riverbanks, and restore channel capacity to mitigate flooding.
     
  • USAID’s Climate Strategy sets the ambitious goal of improving the climate resilience of 500 million people by 2030. USAID partners with more than 45 countries to strengthen the resilience of people and communities to address climate impacts across multiple sectors, including issues that are linked to migration and displacement. USAID supports programming to address climate-related migration including:
    • In FY21, USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) supported Planning for Productive Migration in Niger with a $200,000 pilot evaluation that provided comprehensive job search support and facilitated safe, productive, regional migration as a livelihood strategy for people facing climate change and other challenges within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
    • In FY22, USAID Burkina Faso’s YouthConnect activity, which improves the resilience and economic empowerment of vulnerable youth, expanded by $4 million to support an influx of persons displaced by climate and conflict;
    • In FY22, the $15 million USAID Asia Resilient Cities activity addressed cross-cutting urban development challenges in secondary cities in Asia, with a focus on migrants and informal settlement dwellers, by promoting sustainable urban growth; supporting resilient, low-carbon urban infrastructure; and integrating climate change and environmentally conscious urban development approaches;
    • In 2023, USAID partnered with the University of Arizona and universities in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Pacific to develop locally led solutions to climate-related disasters by supporting youth and young professionals through an initial grant of $6 million. The program addresses local climate-related challenges in partnership with communities, local governments, NGOs, and the private sector to enable climate adaptation; and
    • USAID contributed approximately $1 million in FY22 to the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM) for solar water pumping schemes in emergency settings. The USAID-funded Solar Hub provides technical support and training to ensure solar water pumping schemes reach vulnerable populations experiencing climate-related shocks and stressors. Solar water pumps played a critical role during the 2022-2023 Horn of Africa drought, where reduced displacement related to water scarcity by providing safe and cost-effective water access.
       
  • The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration contributed $5 million in FY22 to the UN Migration Multi-Partner Trust fund.  This funding supports labor mobility and climate resilience in the Pacific, facilitates safe and regular migration in the Eastern Africa; enhances climate resilience for migrant and vulnerable households in coastal India; and strengthens capacities in the Brazilian Amazon to face the challenges of migration, climate change, and health.  This funding addressed needs and gaps in: 1) data and knowledge, 2) national and regional policy frameworks, 3) disaster displacement preparedness, and 4) regular migration pathways.

Protecting people at home and abroad from climate change

Climate change has disproportionate impacts on vulnerable groups, including marginalized communities and people already displaced. Climate-induced displacement creates additional vulnerabilities, which the United States aims to mitigate through programs to address the needs of those displaced by climate change, inclusion of displaced persons in climate action plans and programs, and support community-driven relocation plans, such as the following:

  • Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration’s contributions to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Organization of Migration (IOM), and other humanitarian agencies support climate adaptation and mitigation for refugees, internally displaced persons, conflict victims, migrants, stateless persons, and their host communities in climate-vulnerable countries.  For example, with Department of State support:
    • UNHCR helps Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh mitigate the effects of monsoon storms, flooding, and landslides;
    • IOM conducted capacity-building efforts in Central America to assist national and local authorities in better understanding the impact of climate change on migration flows, and their implications in terms of human rights, protection, and development;
    • IOM supports government authorities in Angola, Djibouti, Libya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and other countries in including migrants in their disaster preparedness and response plans;
    • IOM prevents and mitigates human trafficking in Kenya brought on by vulnerabilities and displacement exacerbated by climate change. IOM is raising awareness of risks and employing a variety of livelihood support models to build economic resilience in communities facing economic insecurity due to climate change; and
    • At the August 2023 Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced the Department of State’s contribution of $4 million to the IOM to enhance data collection on climate change and human mobility, and to support migrants, refugees, and host communities impacted by climate events in Kenya.
       
  • USAID delivers assistance to the most vulnerable communities and addresses migration and displacement linked to climate change impacts. This assistance comes prior to, during, and after a humanitarian crisis. USAID responds on average to 75 crises in nearly 70 countries each year. USAID also works to address the long-term needs of displaced persons, including those impacted by climate change. For example, in FY22, USAID/Somalia invested $11 million in Building Durable Solutions to Displacement to support the resilience of long-term internally displaced people (IDPs) affected by climate- and conflict-related disasters. By facilitating access to land titles, formal rental agreements, and improved livelihood prospects, USAID is forging avenues for these families to integrate productively and safely into urban economies, transforming their displacement into opportunities for development.    
     
  • In August 2023, the Department of State supported a technical conference that resulted in the continent-wide expansion of the Kampala Declaration on Migration, Environment, and Climate Change, in partnership with IOM and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Regional Collaboration Center for East and Southern Africa.  The Declaration is a potential example for other regional blocs to collaborate on the challenges posed by the intersection of climate change and migration.
     
  • The Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons is supporting programs to conduct research on and address human trafficking in climate-induced migration, including:
    • IOM, with Columbia University, is conducting research on human trafficking in cross-border migration linked to climate change and its impact on livelihoods and food security in places including Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and South Africa;    
    • In Bangladesh, a program aims to integrate anti-trafficking policies into existing government plans to address climate change, while building the capacity of vulnerable communities. The program is also conducting research to better understand the link between climate change and human trafficking.
    • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has incorporated research on the climate change-human trafficking nexus within the brick-kiln industry in Pakistan as a result of the 2022 “super flooding,” which displaced hundreds of thousands of the country’s most vulnerable workers.  The findings were used to refine the interventions on human trafficking in the brick-kiln industry.
       
  • The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in furtherance of Section 6 of Executive Order 14013, updated its combined asylum officer and refugee officer training materials in July 2023 to provide guidance on the intersection of climate change and asylum and refugee claims under existing law.  USCIS basic training for all new asylum officers and refugee officers includes specific training and activities related to the intersection of climate change and protection claims.
     
  • DHS, through USCIS, issued new, first-of-its-kind guidance in August 2023 to assist stateless noncitizens in the United States who wish to obtain immigration benefits or have submitted other requests to USCIS. Stateless individuals are those who are not legally considered a citizen of any country, and therefore may be denied legal identity, and struggle to access education, healthcare, marriage, and job opportunities. Individuals can be born stateless or become stateless because of discrimination, war and conflict, or changing borders and laws, including due to the potential impacts of climate change. 
     
  • DHS has also used its authority to designate certain countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), issuing 12 new designations and redesignations under the Biden-Harris Administration. There are 16 TPS designations in place currently. TPS can be issued to protected noncitizens in the United States when their home countries are facing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.
     
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development released a Climate Resilience Implementation Guide for Community Driven Relocation in March 2023, which provides a step-by-step guide for communities seeking to implement a community-driven relocation program.

See also:

FACT SHEET: BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION LEVERAGES HISTORIC US CLIMATE LEADERSHIP AT HOME AND ABROAD TO URGE COUNTRIES TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION AT COP28

Civil Rights, Climate Action, Human Rights, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, Inequality, News & Photo Features

Clinton Global Initiative, Taking Place Sept. 18-19 in NYC, Focuses on Facilitating Actions that Make Tangible Difference in Lives Around the World


At the 2022 Clinton Global Initiative, themed “Taking Action Together,” President Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton present the Clinton Global Citizen Award to long-time fighter for human, civil, workers and immigrant rights, Dolores Huerta. This year’s meeting, taking place Sept. 18-19 in NYC, will focus on what it takes to keep going—to maintain and advance progress, in spite of the difficulties that arise. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Clinton Global Initiative taking place in New York City September 18-19, is aimed at bringing together organizations across government, business, and civil society; established and emerging leaders; activists and advocates; and community workers and doers who are on the front lines of our most pressing global challenges, and facilitate collaborations and actions that have real impact on people’s lives around the world.

Launched by President Clinton in 2005, CGI has built a community of doers who are taking action to make a tangible difference in people’s lives around the world.

CGI works with partners to develop Commitments to Action, which are new, specific, and measurable solutions. Since 2005, more than 3,900 Commitments to Action have been launched through CGI. At the 2022 meeting, members of the CGI community launched more than 140 Commitments to Action that are now improving access to health care, advancing sustainability, creating employment opportunities, supporting refugee resettlement, and more.

President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton, in a letter to the CGI community,  said this year’s meeting would focus on how to “keep going” – in spite of the difficulties that arise – to build a stronger future for all.

“We all have the power to make a difference, and therefore the responsibility at least to try. This fundamental belief is what led us to call the CGI community back together in 2022. The response was remarkable: more than 2,000 leaders attended our September meeting in New York City, where more than 650 partnering organizations came together to launch more than 140 Commitments to Action – new, specific, measurable projects. All told, the CGI community has now made more than 3,900 Commitments.

“Throughout 2023, we’ve built on that momentum, convening leaders, innovators and dreamers across geographies and areas of focus to forge new partnerships and drive further action, all to achieve more durable, meaningful and yes, measurable impact. In the spring alone, we hosted events on five continents to get input from the CGI network and bring more partners into the fold—and we heard from you over and over again how important it is to reconvene CGI again this September.

“That’s why, on September 18-19, we will gather again in New York City. This year’s meeting will focus on what it takes to keep going—to maintain and advance progress, in spite of the difficulties that arise, and increase our capacity to cross the divides and make common cause with one another wherever possible to build a stronger future for all.

“At CGI’s annual meeting, we’ll hear from those who are tackling some of today’s most pressing issues, including climate change, health inequities, food insecurity, economic inequality, threats to democracy around the world, and record-breaking refugee displacement. We will examine ways to channel energy and investment to scale solutions that are already improving people’s lives, and explore how tools like AI can be responsibly harnessed for good. As always, the focus will be on what we can do, not what we can’t—and will highlight how even seemingly small actions, when taken together, can turn the tide on even our most stubborn challenges.”

At CGI 2023, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton will be joined by leaders from across business, government, philanthropy, and civil society, including Noubar Afeyan, Founder and CEO, Flagship Pioneering; Co-Founder and Chairman, Moderna; Ajay Banga, World Bank President; Jason Buechel, CEO, Whole Foods; Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education; Brian Chesky, Co-Founder and CEO, Airbnb; Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Directors/Writers/Producers; Philip E. Davis, Prime Minister, The Bahamas; Patrick Dempsey, Actor, Producer, Founder and Board Member of The Dempsey Center; Michael J. Fox, Founder, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research; Maura Healey, Governor, Massachusetts; Kathy Hochul, Governor, New York; Padma Lakshmi, Host/Executive Producer of Hulu’s Taste the Nation, Writer, and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador; Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO, MercyCorps; David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee; La June Montgomery Tabron, President and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Wes Moore, Governor, Maryland; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization; Noel Quinn, CEO, HSBC; J.B. Pritzker, Governor, Illinois; Liev Schreiber, Co-Founder, Blue Check Ukraine; Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation; will.i.am, President & Founder, i.am Angel Foundation.

Additional featured participants include Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster, Founder, President, and CEO, InterEnergy; Nicole Hockley, CEO, Sandy Hook Promise; Eugenia Kargbo, Arsht-Rock Chief Heat Officer, Freetown, Sierra Leone; Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer of Cisco; Sophia Kianni, Founder and Executive Director, Climate Cardinals; Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist and Author; Peter Laugharn, President and CEO, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; Sage Lenier, Founder & Executive Director, Sustainable & Just Future; Louise Emmanuelle Mabulo, Founder, The Cacao Project; Janet Murguía, President, UnidosUS; Vaishali Nigam-Sinha, Co-Founder & Chairperson, Sustainability, ReNew Energy Global PLC; ‘Aholotu Palu, Chief Executive of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company; Amy Pope, Incoming Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Founder and CEO, Zipline; Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Founder & Chair, Council for Inclusive Capitalism and CEO, E.L. Rothschild; Paul Stormoen, CEO, OX2; Pete Upton, CEO and Chairperson, Native CDFI Network; Asha Varghese, President, Caterpillar Foundation; Gary White, Co-Founder, Water.org; Debra Whitman, Executive Vice President and Chief Public Policy Officer, AARP; Darrin Williams, CEO, Southern Bancorp.

Previously announced featured participants include José Andrés, Founder and Chief Feeding Officer, World Central Kitchen; Orlando Bloom, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; Albert Bourla, CEO, Pfizer; Jesper Brodin, Chairman and CEO, INGKA Holding; Matt Damon, Co-Founder, Water.org; Tony Elumelu, Founder and Chair, The Tony Elumelu Foundation; Ilan Goldfajn, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Ashley Judd, Author and Goodwill Ambassador, UNFPA; Karlie Kloss, Entrepreneur and Founder of Kode With Klossy; Lorenzo P. Lewis, Founder, the Confess Project; Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-Founder and Chair of Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies; Cindy H. McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme; Ai-jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF; Ai Weiwei, Artist; and more.

The schedule for CGI 2023, including plenary and spotlight sessions, can be found at www.clintonglobal.org/2023.

Sponsors for the CGI 2023 meeting span a broad range of supporters from business, philanthropy, and civil society. CGI is grateful for their support in building a convening that will help drive action across the major global challenges of our time. They include InterEnergy/Evergo, Domuschiev Impact, AFT, American Beverage, APCO Worldwide, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Beatrice Snyder Foundation, Bob and Jane Harrison, Caterpillar Foundation, Christie’s, Cisco, Dream, The EKTA Foundation, The Elevate Prize Foundation, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, Flagship Pioneering, Fondation Botnar, Global Education Foundation, Global Sae-A, JetBlue, Joyce Aboussie, The Marc Haas Foundation, The Masimo Foundation, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, MEBO International, Pernod Ricard USA, Pfizer Inc., SAP, Tarsadia Foundation, Teena Hostovich, The Nima Taghavi Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In addition, Postcode Lottery Group is serving as a partner for the CGI 2023 Meeting. For the second consecutive year, decision intelligence company Morning Consult is serving as the official data partner.

The CGI 2023 Meeting will also include the return of two programs launched in 2022 – CGI Greenhouse that directly connects entrepreneurs with partnership and scaling opportunities; and the CGI Story Studio that inspires action through stories of frontline leaders and lived experiences.

You can livestream the event by registering to participate.

For schedules and information, visit www.clintonglobal.org/2023. Follow CGI on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, and X, for meeting news and highlights.