New US asylum policies after Title 42 “don’t address root cause”, say faith-based groups
RNS The number of crossings at the United States-Mexico border reportedly are down since Title 42 ended last week. But some faith-based organisations tasked with refugee resettlement in the US – many of which also help those seeking asylum in the country – say fixing the country’s broken immigration system is far from finished. They point to […]
US faith-based refugee resettlement agencies denounce new asylum rule
United StatesRNS Many US faith-based refugee agencies have long called for the end of the emergency health rule that allowed the government to quickly expel undocumented immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border. But now that the rule is expiring at 11:59pm on Thursday, 11th May, those same faith-based refugee agencies are denouncing the replacement rules announced […]
US faith-based organisations urge Biden not to enact ‘asylum ban’
United StatesRNS A number of faith-based organisations and congregations are pleading with the Biden administration, in a letter sent on Monday to President Joe Biden and other leaders, not to enact new immigration restrictions. The letter – signed by 165 faith-based local, national and international organisations and congregations – expresses “grave concern” with policies Biden announced earlier this […]
“More difficult than ever”: US faith groups curb Haiti work due to chaos, 2021 kidnapping
PETER SMITH and DAVID CRARY, of Associated Press, report on the impact the deteriorating situation in Haiti is having on US-based Christian aid and relief groups operating there…
Ukraine conflict: Polish Catholic community houses refugees as US agencies urge action
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports on how the Polish Catholic community has responded to help some of the millions of refugees who have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on 24th February and why US agencies are calling for that country to take greater action…
US agencies celebrate as Biden raises refugee ceiling to 125,000; UN says expulsions of Haitians may violate law
RNS Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are celebrating the Biden administration’s proposal to admit as many as 125,000 refugees to the United States in the coming year, calling the decision a “return to moral leadership”. The news came Monday afternoon as the Biden administration submitted its report to Congress setting the refugee ceiling for the new fiscal year, […]
Biden raises refugee ceiling, and faith-based groups brace for rebuilding work
Washington, USRNS Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are celebrating President Joe Biden’s decision to raise the number of refugees allowed into the US for the remainder of the federal fiscal year to 62,500, even as they acknowledge that they need to rebuild their capacity after years of cuts under the previous administration. The announcement from the […]
Cancelled flights, expired clearances: US refugee resettlement in limbo awaiting promised changes
RNS It’s been two months since President Joe Biden signed an executive order he said would “begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program.” Part of that work was to include raising the number of refugees allowed into the United States from 15,000, a historic low set by the former president, to 125,000 in the […]
With new executive order in US, this immigrant is leaving church sanctuary after 3.5 years
Durham, North Carolina, USRNS Jose Chicas, a native of El Salvador who has been living in church sanctuary for more than three years, will move out Friday after President Joe Biden signed an executive order temporarily halting the deportation of undocumented immigrants. Chicas, 55, has been living in an old clapboard house next door to […]
US court blocks Trump executive order allowing state and local officials to refuse refugees
RNS Three faith-based refugee resettlement organizations are declaring “victory” in their court battle to block President Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order allowing state and local officials to refuse refugees. The decision came Friday as Maryland’s 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction blocking the order. Residents in support of continued refugee resettlement hold signs at a meeting […]