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Operation Lone Star, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s push to use state law enforcement to carry out immigration law by arresting migrants for trespassing, is “overwhelming” local courts, The Wall Street Journal reports. But the operation is also leading to few convictions — of 1,500 trespassing arrests under the plan, only 3% have led to convictions. Hundreds of migrants are waiting weeks or months in jail, with most eventually not being convicted. The Wall Street Journal
In other national immigration news…
Los Angeles Attorney Demands New Way to Get Afghans Into the U.S.
Los Angeles attorney Wogai Mohmand watched as Kabul was taken over by the Taliban, thinking of ways to help her family and others escape. Mohmand is now leading an effort to convince the U.S. government to “expand a fast-track for legal entry to the United States known as humanitarian parole” for thousands of Afghans. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is having difficulty processing the volume of applications it has already received. Humanitarian parole would allow the government to “cut through the red tape of the typical visa process” to temporarily let individuals enter the U.S. for “emergency or public interest reasons.” Los Angeles Times
Documentary Chronicles Lives of Veterans Facing Deportation
A VOCES/PBS documentary that will air on PBS stations this week focuses on two Mexican immigrant brothers who fought in the Vietnam War on behalf of the U.S. Now, the two brothers face deportation because of minor crimes. The documentary, called “American Exile,” follows the brothers while they battle against their removal orders and assist other veterans who have been deported. About 1,000 U.S. military veterans, many of them Latino, live in foreign countries, and their return to the United States remains in limbo because of their immigration status. Axios
Maine Dairy Workers Urge Supermarket Chain to Improve Farmworker Protections
More than one hundred people, including dozens of dairy workers, protested outside a Hannaford supermarket in Portland, Maine on Monday. They then marched through the city, demanding the company adopt “supply chain reforms aimed at protecting farmworkers.” The rally was organized by Migrant Justice, an organization that advocates for farmworker rights. The group has been urging the supermarket chain and other food retailers to join a program which requires retailers to pay a premium on dairy products “to ensure that workers in the supply chain have adequate housing, paid sick days, and other protections.” Maine Public Radio
Georgia Immigrant Advocates Unhappy With Redistricting Process
Representatives of Georgia’s immigrant communities are saying they want more inclusion in the state redistricting process, and that the state legislature isn’t properly informing immigrant communities about the process. “Our population is growing at a very fast rate in Georgia so we should have more representation in government, not less,” said Karuma Ramachandran, director of statewide partnerships Asian Americans Advancing Justice in America. “If we can’t be involved, how can we safeguard our voting districts from being gerrymandered?” Ramachandran asked. Advocates fear the district lines could be drawn in a way that dilutes immigrant communities’ representation and voice in government Atlanta Voice
