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Man is not deported after reporting to Philly ICE office for ‘final order of removal’
PHILADELPHIA – Christian M’Bagoyi walked into the Philadelphia ICE office as ordered on Friday morning, accompanied by his wife, Sarika, both uncertain if he would be walking out. Twenty-six minutes later he appeared — relieved and smiling that he wasn’t detained and deported — as two dozen supporters on the sidewalk broke into cheers and applause for the West African immigrant. He and his wife stepped immediately into the arms of Erika Guadalupe Nunez, a Juntos organizer, tears flowing in relief. “Thank you. The biggest thanks I can offer,” he told the crowd. “I think I would have been detain...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Judge blocks Biden's 100-day deportation pause in nationwide order
AUSTIN, Texas — Granting a nationwide injunction requested by Texas officials, a federal judge has blocked the Biden administration's plans to pause deportations for 100 days under a comprehensive review of immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton of Corpus Christi, appointed by former President Donald Trump last summer, had issued a temporary order halting enforcement of the deportation freeze on Jan. 26. Late Tuesday night, shortly before that temporary order was set to expire, Tipton ruled that the pause exceeded the president's authority because it improperly suspended or a...
Austin American-Statesman
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Excitement over Biden immigration proposals could lead to uptick in scams, experts warn
MIAMI — Joe Biden's first acts as president included taking steps to undo many of his predecessor's restrictionist immigration policies. But a slew of immigration-related executive orders and a proposed immigration reform bill unveiled Thursday — aimed at ushering in a more welcoming era for immigrants in the U.S. — could in the short term set some immigrants back, as confusion about what each development means leaves certain members of the community vulnerable to immigration scams and fraudsters, advocates warn. Oscar Londoño, executive director of WeCount!, a South Dade immigrant workers' ce...
Miami Herald
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He wasn't born in Haiti. But that didn't stop ICE from deporting him there, lawyer says
MIAMI — Less than two weeks after his deportation to Haiti — a country he wasn't born in and had never visited — was halted by immigration enforcement, Paul Pierrilus was sent there anyway, his lawyer said. Pierrilus, 40, arrived in Port-au-Prince Tuesday morning aboard a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation charter flight from Louisiana with 63 other individuals expelled from the United States. He was distraught and in shock, said his lawyer, Nicole Phillips, who spoke with him hours later. "They knew he was stateless. They knew he didn't have a Haitian passport," she said. "I...
Miami Herald
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News briefs
Pandemic baby boom turned out to be bust despite lockdownEarly in the pandemic, some speculated that couples isolated together during lockdowns might produce a year-end baby boom. The opposite occurred. Five U.S. states have provided monthly birth data through December — Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii and Ohio — and their reports show large declines nine months after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency. More than 50,000 fewer births occurred in these states in 2020 compared with a year earlier. In California, the largest state by population, December births fell 19% from a year ea...
Tribune News Service
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Woman who lived at Chicago church for over 3 years goes home after Biden administration suspends deportations
CHICAGO – A woman who has lived in a Humboldt Park neighborhood church for three and a half years to avoid deportation returned home Saturday night to live with her family after President Joe Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations went into effect Friday. Francisca Lino took sanctuary in an apartment above the same Chicago church that protected immigration activist Elvira Arellano, Adalberto United Methodist Church, at 2716 W. Division St., after she defied a court order in August 2017 mandating that she leave the country. Saturday, she was headed back to her Romeoville home. Lino, a mothe...
Chicago Tribune
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Trump’s order to halt deportations to Venezuela – a ‘gift’ or ‘cop out’? Experts weigh in
MIAMI — Madeleine Leon‘s eyes went wide, her jaw, ajar. The news that during his last night as president Tuesday, Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the deportation of Venezuelans in the U.S. left her “sweaty, confused and pleasantly surprised.” “I was a madwoman– a happy one running all around the house,” the Venezuelan asylum seeker told the Miami Herald as she sat beside her husband. “We truly couldn’t believe our eyes, that Trump did that considering the past four years of his strict immigration policies. “I was changing all the channels on the TVs,” she added, noting that a...
Miami Herald
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For the first time in 100 years, Seattle renters outnumber homeowners
The last time there were more renters than homeowners in Seattle, Pike Place Market (est. 1907) was a new thing. Census data shows that in 1910, there were about 15,000 more Seattle residents living in a rental than in an owned home. But by 1920, owners had moved into the majority, and it remained that way for a century. Until now, that is. In 2019, the estimated renter population in Seattle was roughly 366,000, according to census data — just slightly larger than the estimated homeowner population, which was about 362,000. Granted, these figures are estimates, with a margin of error built in....
The Seattle Times
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Washington state unlikely to gain congressional seat, but 2021 redistricting may still bring drama
SEATTLE — Washington will neither gain nor lose clout in Congress as the once-a-decade reapportionment of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives plays out this year. Due to population booms, seven states, led by Texas and Florida, are expected to gain House seats, while 10 stand to lose seats, including California for the first time, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. But Washington is projected to stand pat, with 10 House seats. That could take some of the drama out of the state's 2021 redistricting process, set to begin this month. Unlike ...
The Seattle Times
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There’s good and bad news for immigrants waiting to take steps toward naturalization
MIAMI — More than a million immigrants in the United States who have applied for U.S. citizenship through naturalization, adjustment of status and other benefits have been waiting for their biometric services appointment at a local Application Support Center (ASC) to provide their fingerprints, photograph and/or signature. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in-person services were canceled at Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices between March and June of last year, and there have been subsequent restrictions after opening to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Thousands of biometric...
Miami Herald
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