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As of Wednesday, asylum seekers have set up more than 50 tents in Chaparral Plaza in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico. They’re gathering close as Biden slowly allows in asylum seekers forced to wait for their court hearings in Mexico under former President Donald Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols. So far, 26,000 asylum seekers made to Remain in Mexico are eligible to enter the U.S. Still, the Biden administration warned migrants they’d be expelled if they tried to cross before their turn. The San Diego Union-Tribune
In other national immigration news…
California Lawmakers Demand End to Prison-to-ICE Pipeline
California lawmakers are demanding the end to the practice of law enforcement transferring immigrants straight out of prison to ICE detention. State Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D) held a virtual press conference on Wednesday to discuss the VISION Act, a bill she created to ban law enforcement from these transfers. The bill argues that when California’s prisons and jails transfer immigrants to ICE after they have fully finished their sentences, “they subject these community members to double punishment and further trauma.” Between January 2020 and May 2020, California’s Department of Corrections transferred nearly 1,400 people to ICE, according to the Asian Law Caucus’ analysis. HuffPost
Florida Officials Request Immigration Consensus
Political and business leaders in Florida held a video call with elected officials and one federal lawmaker to encourage them to reach consensus in Washington to improve the immigration system. The video call happened days before former President Donald Trump’s speaks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, where he is expected to attack Biden’s immigration reform bill. Participants spoke about a bill that renovates the guest worker program by extending seasonal visas and providing some farmworkers a path to residency. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) sponsored the bill, and said people looking for big reforms needed to compromise in order to get a lasting solution. Miami Herald
60 Percent of Americans Support 8-Year Path to Citizenship
About 60 percent of Americans support Biden’s proposed eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a recent survey by Politico/Morning Consult shows. The survey of 2,013 registered voters revealed that 32 percent registered voters “strongly support” the pathway and another 28 percent “somewhat support it.” Meanwhile 24 percent opposed the pathway, 14 percent “strongly” opposed and 16 percent had no opinion. Other aspects of the bill also secured a majority of Americans’ support. Funding to process the backlog of asylum applications saw 51 percent backing, building refugee processing infrastructure in Central America saw 54 percent, and supplying funding for more immigration judges got 53 percent backing. The Hill
Somali Migrants Create New Life in Maine as Farmers
The Somali Bantu farmers of the Little Jubba Central Maine Agrarian Commons in Lewiston had long struggled for land security as they sought to preserve their agrarian way of life. They had limited capital, credit and other aid, so, like other small farmers, have repeatedly had to restart their farms on rented land. But a new effort to develop “commons,” where farmland and resources are not owned by anyone but are collectively managed by those who have a stake in it, is changing that. After two decades of searching for farmland, the Somali Bantu are sharing the Maine Agrarian Commons. The Guardian
