This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
On Thursday, more than 400 people who work with immigrant child survivors of abuse and neglect sent an open letter to top immigration officials to immediately address a backlog of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases. SIJS is a designation that allows minors who have survived abuse apply for lawful permanent residency in the U.S. But because of annual employment visa limits and per-county caps on green cards, tens of thousands of vulnerable children have been stuck in limbo and facing deportation. The End SIJS Backlog Coalition, a national group of directly impacted immigrant youth and over 55 allied organizations, is leading the effort to terminate the SIJS backlog. Deanna Garcia for Documented.
In other local immigration news…
陈学理胜选凸显华人社区“右转”
New Jersey ICE Detainees Misinformed About Transfers
New Jersey’s Hudson County Jail held about 50 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees as of last week until five of them were transferred to jails in Georgia and Louisiana on Tuesday. Detainees Josue and Jacques said an ICE official informed detainees last Thursday that five individuals would be transferred to Southern facilities each week until there were no ICE detainees at Hudson County. But according to Tania Mattos from Freedom for Immigrants, ICE and the jail’s spokespeople said the transfers were not confirmed and that Hudson County wouldn’t have all of its detainees removed. The agency said those who are being transferred have longstanding cases and will have to wait for their hearings in the South. The Indypendent
Documented Talks: “Immigration Matters,” Strategies for a Future Immigration System
📍 Documented Event
Documented and the NYC chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network will host a discussion Wednesday, June 9 at 4:30 p.m about two specific elements of the book “Immigration Matters: Movements, Visions, and Strategies for a Progressive Future,” by Ruth Milkman, Deepak Bhargava, Penny Lewis. The book follows a variety of elements about the U.S. immigration system and outlines what a more open immigration system would look like. Felipe De La Hoz, an investigative and explanatory reporter focusing on U.S. immigration, will moderate the virtual event. The panelists include Amaha Kassa, founder and Executive Director of African Communities Together, Peter L. Markowitz, Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and the founding faculty member and co-director of its Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic, and Ruth Milkman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.
NY Asian American Creatives Speak on Their Community’s History and Strength
It’s estimated that close to 1.2 million Asian Americans live in New York City, which includes the largest Chinese population outside of Asia. Asian immigrants first started arriving in the U.S. in big numbers in the late 1800s, and have long faced discrimination, including a wave of hate crimes this year. Back when many immigrants couldn’t reunite with their families in Asia, they created a cultural space where the community could come together, now known as New York’s Chinatown. As Leo Nguyen put it, despite often feeling excluded, being an immigrant in the U.S. is “the most American thing you can experience or feel.” i-D VICE
What News is Most Important to New York’s Caribbean Communities?
📍 Documented Survey
Documented is looking to improve coverage of issues that are important to the Caribbean community. If you’d like to give us your input to help us achieve that goal, please answer a set of questions here.
