美墨边境移民潮涌 得州关闭六处口岸
文 / 张佳莹
9/17/2021
（早报讯）美国得克萨斯州州长阿伯特周四（16日）下令关闭该州位于美国和墨西哥边境的六处入境口岸，以应对边境非法移民危机。
阿伯特发表声明说，他已指示州政府和州国民警卫队增加执法人员和巡逻车辆，并关闭六处入境口岸，以阻止非法移民继续越境进入得州。这位共和党州长称，因非法移民过多，美国边境执法人员已“被混乱淹没”。他同时严厉抨击拜登政府无视边境安全。
综合美国媒体报道，在得州西南小城德尔里奥，当局划出一座名叫“德尔里奥国际桥”的部分桥下区域作为等待申请避难的非法移民临时营地。一周前，这座营地里只有数百名非法移民，但到16日，已激增至9000人左右，多数来自海地。市政官员预期未来数日内，还可能有大量非法移民越过美墨边境深仅及膝的河水涌向这座小城，美国边境执法部门表示将增派更多人手处理大量非法移民聚集问题。
美媒援引德尔里奥市政官员的话说，这处桥下临时营地几乎没有干净的水和食物，只有寥寥几个移动厕所，卫生条件恶劣。数千焦虑而紧张的非法移民拥挤在一起，天气炎热，环境肮脏，其状况已经构成人道主义危机。
今年以来，美国和墨西哥边境的非法移民潮持续不断，对拜登政府构成严峻挑战。据美媒报道，今年以来美墨边境被捕非法移民人数达到20多年来最高水平，仅8月就有超过20.8万人次的非法移民被捕，其中许多人是被遣返后再次越境。
DHS Announces Continuation of International Entrepreneur Parole Program
Release Date: 05/10/2021
Program Will Provide Opportunities for Foreign Entrepreneurs
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that the Department of Homeland Security is withdrawing a 2018 notice of proposed rulemaking that proposed to remove the International Entrepreneur program from DHS regulations. The International Entrepreneur (IE) parole program, first introduced in 2017, will remain a viable program for foreign entrepreneurs to create and develop start-up entities with high growth potential in the United States. The program will help to strengthen and grow our nation’s economy through increased capital spending, innovation, and job creation.
Today’s announcement is consistent with President Biden’s Executive Order 14012: “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.” The executive order requires the secretary of homeland security to “identify any agency actions that fail to promote access to the legal immigration system.”
“Immigrants in the United States have a long history of entrepreneurship, hard work, and creativity, and their contributions to this nation are incredibly valuable,” said Acting USCIS Director Tracy Renaud. “The International Entrepreneur parole program goes hand-in-hand with our nation’s spirit of welcoming entrepreneurship and USCIS encourages those who are eligible to take advantage of the program.”
The initial IE final rule was published on Jan. 17, 2017, and was scheduled to take effect on July 17, 2017. This final rule guided DHS in the use of its parole authority to grant a period of authorized stay, on a case-by-case basis, to foreign entrepreneurs who demonstrate that their stay in the United States would provide a significant public benefit through the potential for rapid business growth and job creation.
Prior to the effective date, DHS published a final rule to delay the implementation date of the IE final rule to March 14, 2018. This allowed DHS additional time to draft and seek public comments on a proposal to rescind the IE final rule. However, in December 2017, a federal court vacated the delay, requiring USCIS to begin accepting international entrepreneur parole applications consistent with the IE final rule. Since then, the program has been up and running, and USCIS continues to accept and adjudicate applications consistent with existing DHS regulations.
Under the IE program, parole may be granted to up to three entrepreneurs per start-up entity, as well as their spouses and children. Entrepreneurs granted parole are eligible to work only for their start-up business. Their spouses may apply for employment authorization in the United States, but their children are not eligible for such authorization based on this parole. Additional information on eligibility and how to apply is available on the International Entrepreneur Parole page. USCIS will plan information sessions and other outreach activities to ensure foreign entrepreneurs are aware of this opportunity and how to pursue it.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Last Reviewed/Updated: 05/10/2021
DHS Announces Steps to Protect Border Communities from Wall Construction
Release Date: April 30, 2021
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced initial steps to protect border communities from physical dangers resulting from the previous administration’s approach to border wall construction.
On his first day in office, President Biden issued a Proclamation terminating the redirection of funds diverted for border wall construction, pausing all wall construction to the extent permitted by law, and requiring Federal agencies to develop a plan for funds concerning the Southern Border wall. As DHS continues to review the extensive problems created by the prior administration’s border wall construction and develop its plans, the department will take the following initial steps consistent with the President’s Proclamation to protect border communities:
- Repair the Rio Grande Valley’s Flood Barrier System: Construction under the prior administration blew large holes into the Rio Grande Valley’s flood barrier system to make way for a border wall. The flood barrier system had long provided low-lying regions of Hidalgo County, Texas, protection from catastrophic flooding, and these breaches have threatened local communities. DHS will start work to quickly repair the flood barrier system to protect border communities. This work will not involve expanding the border barrier.
- Remediate Dangerous Soil Erosion in San Diego: Improper compaction of soil and construction materials along a wall segment constructed by the prior administration is causing dangerous erosion along a 14-mile stretch in San Diego, California. DHS will begin necessary backfill projects to ensure the safety of nearby border communities. This work will not involve expanding the border barrier.
DHS will soon complete a plan that identifies additional measures to address the damage resulting from the prior Administration’s border wall construction.
Source: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/04/30/dhs-announces-steps-protect-border-communities-wall-construction
DHS Releases Detailed Immigration Data
Release Date: December 31, 2020
Comprehensive Lifecycle Report Reveals Significant Discrepancy of Outcomes of Encounters with Aliens at the Southwest Border Between 2014 and 2019
Washington, D.C. – Today the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the Fiscal Year 2020 Enforcement Lifecycle Report, which provides a comprehensive analysis of enforcement outcomes for aliens encountered at the Southwest Border during Fiscal Years 2014 through 2019. Unlike previous DHS reports, the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) Enforcement Lifecycle methodology links records across 19 different DHS and Department of Justice (DOJ) source systems to match each unique border encounter to its associated final or most current enforcement outcome and so provides a complete end-to-end view of immigration enforcement.
“The Trump Administration has worked tirelessly to fix our broken immigration system,” said Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli. “With this comprehensive report the Department analyzes the patterns of flow, the demographic backgrounds, and other factors so we can see areas for improvement, where to close loopholes and more effectively enforce the laws that allow for the removal of illegal aliens and those who are trying to game our immigration system.”
The report indicates U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended 2.8 million aliens between ports of entry along the Southwest Border between Fiscal Year 2014 and 2019 and found an additional 725,000 aliens inadmissible at ports of entry. The report found, significantly, that as of the second quarter of FY 2020, only approximately 8 percent of those encounters had resulted in an alien being granted relief or protection from removal. Further, roughly half of aliens encountered between 2014 and 2019 remained in the United States as of the second quarter of FY 2020. Specifically:
– Only 59 percent of the 3.5 million Southwest Border encounters between 2014 and 2019 had been resolved through a final outcome of repatriation or relief/protection from removal as of FY 2020 Q2.
– Repatriations accounted for 51 percent of encounters (or 1.8 million) versus 49 percent of encounters (or 1.7 million) that had no confirmed departure, including 8.1 percent that had been granted relief or other protection from removal (284,000 encounters).
The data compiled by the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) also revealed significant differences in the outcomes of encounters based on aliens’ family status of the aliens, among other factors:
- Encounters of single adults were resolved 85 percent of the time (of resolved cases, 92 percent were repatriations versus 8 percent relief). Of the 2.1 million single adults encountered in 2014 – 2019, 1.6 million had been repatriated.
- Encounters of family units were resolved just 11 percent of the time (56 percent repatriations versus 44 percent relief). Of the roughly 1 million members of family units encountered in 2014 – 2019, only 61,000 (6 percent) had been repatriated, while over 200,000 members of family units had final orders of removal but had not departed.
- Encounters of unaccompanied children from non-contiguous countries were resolved only 32 percent of the time (13 percent repatriations versus 87 percent relief). Of the 284,000 unaccompanied alien child encounters from countries other than Mexico or Canada between 2014 and 2019, only 13,000 had been repatriated, while 47,000 had final orders of removal but had not departed.
The report also found dramatic differences in enforcement outcomes by aliens’ nationality and whether they claimed fear of return to their home country.
Differences in outcomes by family status and other factors overlap with and are related to whether an alien was detained. For example, encounters of single adults resulted in continuous detentions 64 percent of the time, versus just 4 percent for family units and for unaccompanied alien children from countries other than Mexico or Canada. Detention status further contributed to difference in enforcement outcomes:
- Roughly 98 percent of encounters (1.4 million) who were continuously detained after being initially encountered between 2014 and 2019 were repatriated.
- Only 36 percent of encounters who were never detained (312,000) were repatriated. Further, 122,000 encounters who were never detained had final orders of removal but had not departed, including 101,000 orders issued in absentia.
- Only 4 percent of encounters who were “partially detained” (totaling nearly 31,000) were repatriated. Further, roughly 176,000 aliens encountered between 2014 and 2019 who were “partially detained” had final orders of removal but had not departed, including roughly 136,000 who had been issued in absentia orders.
The full report is available for review here.
FY14-19 Lifecycle Report Key Findings can be found here.
The letter from Acting Deputy Secretary Cuccinelli can be read here.
