Migrant crisis: Desperate young Guatemalans try to reach the US even after horrific deaths of migrating relatives
GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO, of Associated Press, reports from Comitancillo in Guatemala’s highlands…
Spain’s parliament to draft amnesty bill for undocumented migrants
Madrid, Spain Reuters Spain’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to start working on a bill that would legalise hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants, based on a proposal by civil society groups that had collected more than 600,000 signatures backing it. Political parties now have up to two months to amend the proposal […]
Migrant crossings to UK hit new record, heaping pressure on Sunak
London, UK Reuters More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2024, a record total for the first three months of the year and giving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a fresh political headache. Provisional data from the Home Office showed on Wednesday that 4,644 people had been detected […]
“We have never seen this level”: Threats to Catholic Charities staffers increase amid far-right anti-migrant campaign
As ALEJA HERTZLER-MCCAIN and JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, report, Catholic Charities locations have become the target of far-right media personalities, conspiracy theorists and even members of Congress…
More than 63,000 people dead or missing while migrating over last decade, IOM says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters At least 63,285 people have perished or disappeared on migration routes around the world between 2014 and 2023, with most deaths caused by drowning, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday. A report published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on its Missing Migrants Project showed that the majority of deaths […]
Over 70 Rohingya dead or missing after boat capsizes off Indonesia’s Aceh
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters More than 70 Rohingya are “presumed dead or missing” after a boat they were on capsized off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, while 75 have been rescued, the UNHCR refugee agency said on Friday. The UNHCR said in a joint statement with the International Organization for Migration that if the death […]
Mexico fears discrimination, strained US relations under new Texas immigration law
Washington DC, US/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Reuters Mexico filed a court brief supporting the US Department of Justice’s opposition to a Republican-backed Texas law that would empower state authorities to arrest and prosecute people suspected of illegally crossing the US-Mexico border. The law, known as Senate Bill 4, would make it a state crime to illegally […]
Essay: We need practical – and humane – migration solutions
BRIDGET MOIX, general secretary of the US Friends Committee on National Legislation, says, in an article first published on Religion News Service, that sincere bipartisan negotiations and solutions on immigration law in the US are overdue…
US Supreme Court lets Texas border enforcement law take effect
Washington DC, US Reuters The US Supreme Court on Tuesday let a Republican-backed Texas law take effect that allows state law enforcement authorities to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, rejecting a bid to block it by President Joe Biden’s administration. The court has a six-to-three conservative majority, and its three liberal […]
Arizona county faces ‘homelessness on steroids’ as migrant shelter funds run out
Washington DC/Tucson, Arizona Reuters An Arizona migrant shelter that has housed thousands of asylum seekers plans to halt most operations in two weeks when funding from Washington runs out, a problem for towns along the border where officials fear a surge in homelessness and extra costs. Arizona’s Pima County, which borders Mexico, has said that […]