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Mar 30
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Building Bridges for Every Child: Reception, Care and Services to Support Unaccompanied Children in the United States

By | Child Well-Being, Detention, Family Separation, Immigrant Youth, Immigration Enforcement, Transnational Resources, Unaccompanied Minors

Building Bridges for Every Child: Reception, Care and Services to Support Unaccompanied Children in the United States

UNICEF (February 2021) 

This report from UNICEF provides a roadmap of practice in the humane reception of unaccompanied children. Utilizing examples from both the United States and abroad, it provides eight recommendations that span the work of international child rights, domestic child welfare, and immigration to create an environment that functions in the best interest of children.

Feb 25
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Connecting Cross-Border Families

By | Family Separation, Foster Care, Highlighted Resources, Legal/Law, Practice, Practice Highlight, Social Workers, Topics, Transnational Resources, Unaccompanied Minors

Connecting Cross-Border Families 

Child Welfare Information Gateway (November 13, 2020) 

In this podcast, Elaine Weisman of the ISS-USA discusses topics relating to cross-border cases, including resources for caseworkers seeking to reunify families separated at the border and how current laws and policies can impact agencies working across borders. 

Feb 25
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How to Support Immigrant Students and Families: Strategies for Schools and Early Childhood Programs

By | Child Well-Being, Culture: Issues & Competencies, Early Childhood, Highlighted Resources, Immigrant Youth, Practice, Practice Highlight, Topics, Youth & Families

How to Support Immigrant Students and Families: Strategies for Schools and Early Childhood Programs 

¡Colorín Colorado! (December 2018) 

This guide provides an exhaustive list of over 50 strategies for educators in schools and early childhood programs to establish responsive environments for immigrant children and their families. Each strategy covers why it is important, how to get started, recommended resources and videos, and examples from the field. 

Feb 25
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Remedying the Separation of Families at the U.S. Mexico Border

By | Child Well-Being, Deportation, Family Separation, Federal Policy, Highlighted Resources, Immigrant Youth, Law & Policy, Law/Policy Highlight, Legal/Law, Topics

Remedying the Separation of Families at the U.S. Mexico Border 

Ann Garcia, CLINIC (December 1, 2020) 

This transition paper discusses the impact of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on immigrant families separated at the border. It then offers five policy recommendations that can be undertaken in the first 100 days of the Biden administration. 

Feb 25
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A New Way Forward: What Congress Must Do to Protect the Dignity, Health, and Safety of Children in Immigration Custody

By | Child Well-Being, Detention, Federal Policy, Highlighted Resources, Immigrant Youth, Law & Policy, Law/Policy Highlight, Legal/Law, Topics, Unaccompanied Minors

A New Way Forward: What Congress Must Do to Protect the Dignity, Health, and Safety of Children in Immigration Custody 

National Center for Youth Law (January 2021) 

This two-part briefing describes how federal policy during the last year of the Trump administration has impacted immigrant children and how Congress can legislate comprehensive federal policy for children in federal immigration custody. Specific recommendations describe how the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security could address children’s needs while in custody to ensure their rights are protected. 

Feb 25
0

Immigrant Families during the Pandemic On the Frontlines but Left Behind

By | Deportation, Detention, Family Separation, Highlighted Resources, ICE, Immigrant Families Research, Immigration Enforcement, Legal/Law, Public Charge, Research, Research Highlight, Topics

Immigrant Families during the Pandemic On the Frontlines but Left Behind 

Juan Carlos Gomez and Vanessa Meraz, CLASP (February 2021) 

Highlighting the unique manner in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted immigrants in the United States, this brief covers how this population has been left behind. The authors review how this vulnerable population’s struggles have been exacerbated by the pandemic, the policies that have prevented them from meeting their basic needs, and concludes with recommendations for how the federal government can redress their needs. 

Feb 25
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Unseen Costs: The Direct and Indirect Impact of U.S. Immigration Policies on Child and Adolescent Health and Well-Being

By | Child Well-Being, Detention, Family Separation, Highlighted Resources, Immigrant Families Research, Immigration Enforcement, Research, Research Highlight, Topics, Trauma

Unseen Costs: The Direct and Indirect Impact of U.S. Immigration Policies on Child and Adolescent Health and Well-Being

Joseph Mattingly II, Laurel Kiser, Sherika Hill, Ernestine C. Briggs, Carrie Purbeck Trunzo, Zafar Zafari, and Theresa S. Betancourt, Journal of Traumatic Stress (August 13, 2020)

Utilizing economic modeling techniques, this study examines the literal direct and indirect costs of the Zero-Tolerance Policy upon the children who were separated from their parents at the border. Estimates from the study indicate that, compared to a baseline “No Detention” scenario, zero-tolerance migration policy cost more per child and proved to be of more significant expense to our healthcare system. The authors surmise that such policy is not only morally distressing but also economically disadvantageous. 

Feb 25
0

Biden wants to undo Trump’s family separation legacy. It won’t be easy.

By | In the News

Biden wants to undo Trump’s family separation legacy. It won’t be easy. 

Sabrina Rodriguez, Politico (January 31, 2021) 

While many advocates and legal representatives are heralding the Biden administration’s move to create a task force dedicated to reunifying families separated under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, many are remarking that it is just the beginning of addressing the harm of Trump’s policies. In particular, the ACLU, which has provided legal counsel to many separated families, wants the current administration to provide separated families some form of legal status and arrange funding to assist those families via psychological counseling and medical care. 

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Feb 25
0

Separated at the border, reunited, then separated again: For migrant families, another trauma

By | In the News

Separated at the border, reunited, then separated again: For migrant families, another trauma 

Kevin Sieff, Washington Post (January 31, 2021) 

Despite a federal court order requiring the former Trump administration to reunite families separated under their zero-tolerance policy, many families face multiple separations as parents were reunited and released without legal status. While a great deal of attention has been paid to the initial family separations and reunions, little focus has been paid to the complex pathway towards citizenship beyond reunification. Without a clear understanding of their status, many families have been retraumatized through re-separation or the potential of being separated at any moment. 

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Feb 25
0

Revealed: US citizen newborns sent to Mexico under Trump-era border ban

By | In the News

Revealed: US citizen newborns sent to Mexico under Trump-era border ban 

Tanvi Misra, The Guardian (February 05, 2021) 

A joint investigation by the Fuller Project and the Guardian has found that at least 11 immigrant women who gave birth in the United States were sent to Mexican border towns without U.S. birth certificates for their newborn children. The Trump administration hailed these rapid expulsions of immigrants under Title 42 as “tremendously effective,” and almost 200,000 have occurred in the first 2021 fiscal year alone. While promising to review Title 42, the Biden administration has been lax in doing so thus far. 

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Feb 25
0

Biden immigration policy looks beyond reversing Trump

By | In the News

Biden immigration policy looks beyond reversing Trump 

Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill (February 07, 2021) 

A trio of executive orders recently signed by President Biden motioned to his administration’s desire to undo some of the regressive policy characteristic of both his predecessor President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama. These executive orders include forming a task force devoted to reunifying families separated at the border, reviewing the Trump administration’s public charge rule, and a reexamination of the asylum and naturalization process. Immigration experts and advocates have praised the Biden administration’s apparent focus on aid over enforcement in their handling of immigration issues, particularly in their emphasis on understanding the root causes of immigration, particularly from the Northern Triangle. 

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Feb 25
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The Trauma of Being Stuck at the US-Mexico Border

By | In the News

The Trauma of Being Stuck at the US-Mexico Border 

Emily Green, VICE (February 10, 2021) 

A mental health crisis is emerging among some 60,000 asylum seekers who were forced to stay in Mexico under the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy as their cases are processed in the United States. These individuals are stranded in some of Mexico’s most dangerous cities. Their compounding trauma has become so apparent that the organization Doctors Without Borders has begun offering therapy sessions to people, roughly a quarter of whom are children, living in an encampment along the Rio Grande. Separated from their loved ones, existing in a perpetual state of uncertainty over their futures, and vulnerable to being kidnapped, extorted, or killed, many believe that this mental health crisis will continue even after the policy is changed. 

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Feb 25
0

U.S. to resettle more child refugees fleeing violence around the world

By | In the News

U.S. to resettle more child refugees fleeing violence around the world 

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News (February 11, 2021) 

President Biden recently unveiled a proposal submitted to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees seeking to raise the number of unaccompanied refugee children coming to the U.S. fleeing violence. Refugee resettlement was at an all-time low during President Trump’s time in office, and as of the current fiscal year, no refugee minors have been resettled. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the two organizations that work with the government on this issue, are asking for allotting approximately 1% of all refugee spots to unaccompanied minors. 

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Feb 25
0

Biden administration nixes last-minute Trump deal giving ICE union ‘veto power’ over policy

By | In the News

Biden administration nixes last-minute Trump deal giving ICE union ‘veto power’ over policy 

Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill (February 16, 2021) 

In an eleventh-hour move, the Biden administration avoided ratifying a union contract with ICE that would have effectively impeded any immigration policy the administration put forth. Initially approved by former acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli, whose authority to sign such an agreement has been brought into question, the union contract would have, among other things, barred any challenge to the contract for eight years, thus inhibiting the Biden administration from negotiating with the union. 

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Feb 25
0

Democratic Lawmakers Introduce Biden’s Immigration Overhaul in House

By | In the News

Democratic Lawmakers Introduce Biden’s Immigration Overhaul in House 

Michael D. Shear, New York Times (February 18, 2021) 

Calling it a “humane response” to the former Trump administration’s immigration policies, a dozen Democrats in Congress formerly introduced The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. Included in the bill is a pathway to citizenship, securing ports of entry, provisions for faster processing for asylum seekers, as well as a $4 billion investment into Central American economies to address the influx of migration from this area. Republican Congress members criticized the bill, claiming it would encourage illegal immigration because it does not allocate enough funds to secure the border. 

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Feb 25
0

First migrant facility for children opens under Biden

By | In the News

First migrant facility for children opens under Biden 

Silvia Foster-Frau, Washington Post (February 22, 2021) 

A former emergency facility used by the Trump administration and capable of holding up to 700 migrant teens has been reopened under the Biden administration. The administration has justified its reopening to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and its cutting capacity at other children’s facilities. This decision has been met with heavy criticism from immigrant advocates who have questioned the move and denounced such facilities’ conditions. 

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Feb 25
0

Biden’s throwing out another Trump rule that made it harder to become a citizen

By | In the News

Biden’s throwing out another Trump rule that made it harder to become a citizen 

Amy Lieu, The American Independent (February 23, 2021) 

In a recent policy alert, the Biden administration and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the version of the U.S. civics tests released at the end of 2020 would be withdrawn. In its place will be a 2008 version of the test which requires applicants to correctly answer 6 out of 10 questions (down from the latest version’s requirement of 12 out of 20). The Biden administration repealed the most recent version in light of the burden the more comprehensive test would have on application processing time, which slowed the process considerably.  

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