This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
Officials said six families from a San Diego suburb were safely evacuated from Afghanistan after they went to the country to visit relatives over the summer. Still, the location of two other families from El Cajon are unknown. According to the Cajon Valley Union School District, one family may have gotten on one of the last U.S. flights on Monday, while authorities were still assisting the other family in Afghanistan. The last U.S. planes departed Afghanistan on Monday around midnight. The Cajon Valley Union School District discovered on Aug. 16 that eight families, enrolled in the district, were stuck in Afghanistan when a relative from one of the families warned officials that their children would miss the first day of school on Aug. 17. The Associated Press
In other national immigration news…
纽约州“能源补助”申请指南
Immigrant Groups Race to Resettle Afghan Refugees in Chicago
Immigrant groups in Chicago are trying to help hundreds of Afghan refugees resettle in the area. Cash Fazal, a Chicago-based Afghan American immigration lawyer, said she’s trying to resettle 150 refugees out of Afghanistan because she’s afraid they don’t have much longer to live. She mentioned she’s secured or in the process of securing Special Immigrant Visa statuses for most of her clients. A group of immigrant and refugee organizations, including Illinois public officials, said they would do everything in their power to resettle Afghans who worked with the U.S. and anticipate relocating 500 of them to Chicago. The groups are calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to quicken the SIV process. wttw
COVID-19 Cases Grow in South Texas Migrant Children Facilities
Texas’ Cameron County detention centers holding migrant children are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Cameron County officials reported 58 migrant children held in detention centers and shelters tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday. The cases made up about 20% of new COVID-19 cases reported in the county from Saturday through Monday. This is more than double the number of COVID-19 cases reported among migrant youth held at these facilities just days earlier. Last week, there were only 28 cases among the children and most positive cases came were from adults at the Southern Texas facilities. Border Report
Texas Gov. Extends Disaster in 43 Southern Counties
On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) extended a disaster declaration in 43 southern counties along the U.S.-Mexico border. According to a news release from Abbott’s office, the declaration allows additional law enforcement “to protect landowners in these counties from trespassers and the damage caused to private property.” Abbott also claimed that this policy will allow a “secure border” and will constrain crimes associated with border crossings. This extension comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Biden administration to revive the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy. Spectrum News
Abbott Aims at Ranchers and Farmers for His Campaign Against Migrants
In more Texas news, Claudia Muñoz, co-executive director of Grassroots Leadership, recently handled distressed phone calls from attorneys and advocates about the governor’s border security initiative, which allows law enforcement officers to arrest migrants on state criminal charges. At a July 28 town hall meeting for ranchers in Val Verde County, she recalled “older white ranchers” calling immigrants “illegals,” compared them with animals and accusing migrants of bringing COVID-19 to the state. “I realized [Texas Gov.] Greg Abbott is organizing law enforcement for Operation Lone Star, and that law enforcement is organizing ranchers to file charges on migrants,” said Muñoz. The Counter
