This week in immigration news – October 7, 2020
Wanted billboards for immigrants go up in Pennsylvania
Billboards depicting immigrants wanted for crimes have gone up in Pennsylvania. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said that these billboards are meant to educate the public on so-called sanctuary city policies, former ICE and DHS officials have criticized the move, questioning why, if it was so necessary to educate the public in this way, that it’s being done with less than a month to go before the presidential election.
ICE arrests more than 100 immigrants in California
This past week, ICE arrested more than 100 immigrants throughout the state of California. The Washington Post previously reported that the agency was planning on targeting areas that were deemed sanctuary cities. These operations come as we only have several more weeks until Election Day.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States in March, the Trump administration has detained unaccompanied minors in hotels before deporting them. Immigrant rights advocates have criticized the Trump administration’s policy for what they see as circumventing asylum law. However, other critics point out that the problem wasn’t the hotels, it’s that the Trump administration’s pandemic protocols are allowing them to circumvent asylum law.
DHS acknowledged that transfers contributed to the spread of COVID-19
According to a draft report that was obtained by Buzzfeed, DHS has acknowledged that transferring immigrants between detention facilities contributed to outbreaks of COVID-19. ICE facilities were already under fire for poorly enforcing social distancing policies.
