Immigration news

US President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel construction of the US border wall with Mexico has been welcomed by Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who described it as ‘good decision.’ Biden recently announced that his administration would be developing a US visa system for Mexican and Central American migrants.

 

During a news conference at the national palace in Mexico City, Lopez Obrador, said: “It is an issue that we celebrate because the wall has been under construction for some time ... so it is a historical step.”

House Democrats are reportedly pushing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop working with local and state police on US immigration. 60 Democrats have called for an end to the 287(g) program, which allows the DHS to enter into agreements with local and state police departments.

 

Research carried out by Privacy International (PI) has raised concerns over the level of involvement that technology companies have in the UK immigration border regime. According to Privacy International, private technology companies face little accountability for their development and deployment of various technologies used across UK borders.

 

A report published by PI, titled ‘The UK’s privatised migration surveillance regime’, contains details of the role that dozens of private tech firms play in the UK’s immigration and border regime. 

A recent executive order issued by President Biden has given the go ahead for a review of the US special immigrant visa (SIV) that’s issued to Afghan and Iraqi citizens who have helped the US military. The SIV program currently faces a backlog of tens of thousands of applications.

 

Despite civil liberty fears, several firms have been given grants to develop COVID vaccine passports, according to a report published by The Daily Express. British citizens who have been inoculated may still be given a COVID passport, despite concerns that they could be discriminatory.

 

However, some politicians have backed the idea, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The passports have been suggested as a way of allowing people to travel who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Caleb Watney, Doug Rand, and Lindsay Milliken of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) and the Federation of American Scientists have urged the Biden administration to ‘revive’ the US start-up visa. Under former US President, Donald Trump, legislation for a start-up visa was repeatedly delayed.