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After a federal judge ordered U.S. border officials to stop expelling migrant children, about 66 unaccompanied migrant children were expelled without a court hearing or asylum interview, the Trump administration admitted Saturday. Justice Department lawyers recognized the expulsions demonstrated an infringement of a November ruling by the U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan which banned the Trump administration from using an emergency pandemic border policy to rapidly deport minors. After admitting to the infringement, CBP’s Office of Field Operations head William Ferrara said one of the eight children deported was a U.S. citizen who was allowed to be in the country. CBS News
Farmworkers and Grocery Employees Get Vaccine Priority in California Bill
Democratic California assemblymember Eduardo Garcia introduced a bill last week that would ensure farmworkers, grocery store employees and other food workers will be prioritized for the vaccine distribution and rapid testing during this pandemic and future ones. State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D) emphasized that the plan must include undocumented immigrants, who are fearful of using government services. As of June 30, farmworkers in Monterey County were three times more likely to contract the virus than individuals employed in the county’s non-agricultural industries, according to the California Institute for Rural Studies. Desert Sun
Immigrant Advocates Having Difficulty Finding 628 Separated Parents
Rebeca Sanchez Ralda, a Guatemalan lawyer and human rights defender, was searching for a 4-year-old girl’s dad whom she’d been separated from since 2017. With little information, it took three years for Ralda to locate the father; He was suspicious as to why someone would be looking for him after his treatment by the U.S. government. Ralda has had to deal with incomplete and outdated information regarding parents of children separated by the U.S., as well as locating parents living in rural areas Mexico and Central American, or parents wary of being located by strangers. AZ Central
Private Prison Company’s Lawsuit Backfired
Over 5,400 migrant children as young as four months old have been separated from their families and were either sent to shelters or given to sponsors while their parents were in detention centers, said Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. One of those separated parents, Ms. L, was split from her six-year-old daughter in November 2017 despite approaching U.S. border guards and seeking asylum. Ms. L was held at Otay Mesa Detention Center, which was run by the massive private prison company CoreCivic. At the time, CoreCivic did not hold children in their facilities, but the company has since faced a legal war against an activist who shed light on the company’s role in family separation. Mother Jones
Trump’s Ban on Foreign Workers leads to Teacher Shortage
Public school districts in the U.S. that don’t pay teachers well have often relied on foreign workers to fill special education roles. Las Vegas’ Clark County School District was prepared to bring in over 140 teachers, most of them special education teachers, from other countries for the new academic year. But in June, President Donald Trump froze J-1 visas for temporary foreign workers until Dec. 31, which affected foreign teachers with pending contracts. The administration backed up the ban by saying it would avoid foreign workers from taking American jobs during an unemployment crisis. But many schools ended up having dozens, even hundreds, of open positions at the beginning of the school year. The Intercept
