Immigration
Advocates urge Sinema, Tillis to move Dream Act forward
Delia Rodriguez hopes to someday become a social worker, but her undocumented status puts her at risk of deportation, potentially shattering that dream. Now, a bipartisan proposal at the federal level could change that. “My future is in the hands of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Thom Tillis. With their help, we can find a national […]
Talks over protecting Dreamers pick up in Congress, but agreement still elusive
WASHINGTON — In a last-minute push, U.S. senators are working on a bipartisan agreement to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. But the success of any major immigration deal appears unlikely, as a lame-duck session of Congress dwindles into its last days. Democrats are […]
U.S. Supreme Court wrestles over Biden’s immigration enforcement policy
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on whether the Biden administration has the right to decide which undocumented immigrants federal agents should prioritize for deportation. During the two hours of arguments, the court’s conservative justices sounded skeptical of the Biden administration’s efforts to prioritize undocumented immigrants convicted of felonies rather than ordering agents to […]
U.S. Senate Democrats make a last-ditch push for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers
WASHINGTON — Democratic U.S. senators have set a December deadline for passing bipartisan legislation that would create a pathway to citizenship for more than 600,000 undocumented people who were brought into the country as children — but they don’t yet have enough Senate Republican votes to make it a reality. During a Wednesday press conference […]
Doug Ducey, federal government battle over shipping containers at the border
YUMA – Using old shipping containers isn’t a permanent or effective solution to secure the southern border, as state and Yuma officials know. Now, the political stunt is embroiled in a legal battle with the federal government. In August, Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order to place empty shipping containers in several gaps in […]
Voters narrowly are favoring a proposal to give undocumented immigrant students in-state tuition, for now
The fate of a ballot measure that would help undocumented students who graduate from Arizona high schools afford college remained unclear after ballots counted Wednesday left it with 51% in support and 49% opposed. With more than 600,000 ballots across the state yet to be counted, including roughly 360,000 in Maricopa County and another 150,000 […]
Prop. 308: equal tuition rates for undocumented students
Diego Diaz is a college sophomore studying electrical systems engineering with the hopes of one day designing microchips at a company like Intel or Samsung. But his path to employment at a tech giant has been frustratingly lengthened by his undocumented status. Since enrolling at Arizona State University, Diaz has been forced to take two […]
Southern border apprehensions hit a record 2.4 million in fiscal 2022
WASHINGTON – Border officials encountered a record of almost 2.4 million migrants at the southern border in fiscal 2022, shattering the old record of 1.7 million set just a year earlier, according to numbers released late Friday by Customs and Border Protection. More than 572,000 of those encounters were in Arizona, with apprehensions in the […]
Ducey sues feds over shipping containers, invokes ‘invasion’ theory
On Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey fired back at federal agencies demanding the removal of his shipping containers from the Arizona-Mexico border, filing a lawsuit that says land at the border shouldn’t be under federal jurisdiction and the state has a constitutional right to take action. The strip of land on the border, which has been […]
Lawsuit says ICE ‘severely’ limits attorney access to immigrant detainees
Lawyers for immigrant detainees at federal correctional centers in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Arizona say the federal government is illegally preventing them from effectively communicating with their clients. Their lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that spells out the obstacles they have faced. Attorneys said their access to […]
Ducey’s migrant bus policy divides immigrant aid organizations
It’s 95 degrees in Somerton, a small town less than twenty minutes from the Arizona-Mexico border. On the town’s outskirts, migrants seeking asylum wait underneath a white tent to board a bus headed to Washington D.C. Yuriko Raez wipes a hand over her face quickly while she digs through a backpack for a t-shirt to […]
New plan for Venezuelan migrants will accept some into the U.S., send others to Mexico
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday night announced new guidelines for Venezuelan migrants, under which some will have a pathway to temporary residence in the United States and others who crossed the border without authorization will be sent back to Mexico. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced an agreement between Mexico […]