US Immigration News

According to a new study, 69% of US undocumented immigrants are in jobs deemed ‘essential’ to the nation’s fight against coronavirus. The study carried out by pro-US immigration group FWD.US, and based on the 2019 American Community Survey by the Census Bureau, also estimates that nearly one in five essential workers is an immigrant.

 

US immigration authorities should enforce workplace protections for illegal immigrants, according to documentary production firm CEO, Jon Ossoff. Mr Ossoff, a Democratic challenger in one of the two Georgia Senate runoffs in January 2021, said: “DACA recipients are every bit American as any of us.”

 

Ossoff vowed to ‘have the backs’ of so-called ‘Dreamers’ in the US Senate. During a recent campaign event, Ossoff was told by a young DACA recipient woman that she ‘feared being separated from her daughter or deported.’

Despite the DACA US immigration program recently reopening to new applicants following a court order, the Obama-era scheme recently faced a fresh legal challenge in Texas. A federal court in the state’s capital, Houston, is considering whether to invalidate the program, which could cause problems for the Biden administration if passed.

 

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tried to subpoena BuzzFeed News in an effort to force the media outlet to disclose its sources. A report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), states that BuzzFeed News refused to comply with the subpoena with ICE saying it will not enforce the summons and has since withdrawn the subpoena.

 

However, ICE has said that it will pursue its investigation ‘through other channels.’ The CPJ has urged ICE not to take legal action against news outlets. 

Immigrant ICE leader, Tony Pham, is set to resign from his post after just five months in the role. Pham, a refugee from Vietnam, was seen as a controversial appointment to lead ICE, particularly among the Vietnamese community in the USA. Pham was appointed to the post in July, following the departure of Matt Albence.

 

Amid an ongoing tit-for-tat spat between China and the US, Beijing has responded to US visa sanctions imposed on members of the Chinese Communist Party by Washington. China has said that it is removing visa exemption rights for US diplomatic passport holders visiting Hong Kong and Macau.