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This week’s Fourth of July edition of “A is for America” does not feature a guest. Instead, Joe and Van are here to update you with what’s been happening in immigration news this week, including a number of things announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions:
- Sessions announced a new plan to bar migrants who enter between ports of entry from obtaining asylum. This is in addition to earlier plans he announced that will prevent those fleeing domestic violence or gang violence from claiming asylum. He’s also a Department of Justice guidance which says that refugees and asylum seekers should be able to legally work.
- On the separation of children at the border: a federal judge has ordered the Trump Administration to reunite all families within 30 days, and children younger than 5 with their families within 14 days. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar complained about that order in a briefing today, even though prior to the order, the Trump Administration was doing NOTHING to bring the children they took back to their families.
- An activist climbed the Statue of Liberty to protest Trump’s immigration policies on July 4, highlighting the latest call to Abolish ICE. Here’s a post we wrote summarizing that topic in March.
- In California, a federal judge has denied the Trump Administration’s request to block SB 54, the state’s centerpiece law protecting immigrants, and local advocates called the decision a defeat for the president’s “hate-filled agenda and escalating abuses of power.”
“A is for America” is a podcast which tells stories from the front lines of a changing America. Each week, we’ll be talking to advocates and experts working in immigration reform, immigrants’ rights, immigration politics, and the forefront of what it means to be a new American. Tune in next week for more.
