Six ‘Dreamers’ sue Trump to block repeal of DACA

9/18/2017 Los Angeles Times

Six California beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program sued the Trump administration Monday for rescinding protections for young immigrants without legal status.

In the 46-page suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco just after midnight, the so-called Dreamers claimed Trump’s decision to phase out the DACA program over the next six months “was motivated by unconstitutional bias against Mexicans and Latinos.”

The federal DACA program shields from deportation nearly 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, providing recipients with renewable two-year work permits.

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Border security is tougher than ever, DHS report finds

9/18/2017 The Washington Post

Sneaking across the U.S. border from Mexico is tougher than ever before, and U.S. agents are catching or stopping the majority of those who attempt to do so, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security.

The report, published last week by the agency’s Office of Immigration Statistics, estimates that 55 to 85 percent of attempted illegal border crossings are unsuccessful, up from 35 to 70 percent a decade ago. In one telling sign of the difficulty, the number of illegal migrants and deportees who make repeated attempts to get in has also fallen dramatically, because so many would-be migrants are giving up.

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Moderate Republicans quietly form working group to craft immigration plan

09/14/2017 Politico 

Moderate House Republicans angling for a legislative fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program have quietly created an informal working group to try and craft an immigration plan that could pass Congress, according to GOP sources.

The lawmakers have met off and on for months, in anticipation of President Donald Trump’s eventual decision last week to phase out the Obama-era executive action that granted hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants work permits and deportation protections, said one person familiar with the group’s workings. Now that Trump has made his DACA decision official, the group will be meeting more frequently.

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Trump Says No Deal on DACA, Wants ‘Massive’ Border Security

09/14/2017 New York Times

WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday any agreement on protections for illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children must be tied to border security and disputed Democratic congressional leaders who said they had reached a deal on the issue.

“No deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote,” Trump wrote in one of a series of posts on Twitter, adding that “the Wall… will continue to be built.”

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Trump Open to Dreamers Relief Legislation Without Wall Funding: Aide

09/12/2017 New York Times

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump will not necessarily insist on including funding for a border wall with Mexico in legislation to address protections for children brought to the United States illegally, a senior aide said on Tuesday.

White House legislative director Marc Short, speaking to reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, said the administration will lay out its priorities for a fix for the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the next couple of weeks.

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Mexico foreign minister heads to U.S. to meet with Dreamers

09/11/2017 Reuters

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray will travel to the United States this week to meet with local leaders and beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the ministry said on Monday.

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JR’s Latest: A Child Caught Between the U.S.-Mexico Border

9/8/2017  New York Times

(New York Times) – In Tecate, Mexico, a little boy with dark hair and curious eyes peers carefully over the barrier wall that borders San Diego County. Rising up almost 70 feet, his hands seemingly grip the barrier tightly, as if he were holding onto his mother’s body.

John Francis Peters for The New York Times

The French artist JR pasted that plaintive image on Wednesday, his first installation in Mexico. The piece, based on his photo of a 1-year-old who lives with his mother and grandparents in Tecate, is fully viewable only from the American side of the divide.

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