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More than 10 million U.S. citizens live with an undocumented immigrant.

In the United States, there are more than 10 million undocumented immigrants, according to a Census Bureau study conducted by the immigration advocacy group FWD.us. Of these 10 million, 4.9 million are children with at least one undocumented parent. 

Mixed-status households comprise approximately 22 million people who live in and are part of American society despite being undocumented immigrants. These figures include U.S. households that house U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, or holders of temporary visas, and at least one undocumented individual. 

This study comes as immigrant advocates begin to pressure Democrats in Congress to fight to include immigration provisions in the upcoming $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. 

Advocates expect up to 8 million people to be covered by the bill, gaining access to permanent legal residency, which could become a path to U.S. citizenship. This is because currently, undocumented immigrants and beneficiaries of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program are not allowed to apply for any type of legal status. 

According to a report by FWD.us, of the 2.4 million U.S. citizens living with undocumented immigrants in California, 1.2 million are children, meaning that up to 1.2 million eligible voters live in mixed-status households. In Texas, up to 1.5 million eligible voters live in mixed-status households, as do more than 140,000 in Arizona and 120,000 in Georgia.

«Fixing our broken immigration system is personal for millions of Americans living in mixed-status families. As citizens and voters, they expect Congress to give their families a long-awaited chance at justice, certainty, and a better future in the country they call home,« Connor added.

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How immigration policy became "racial criminalization"«

According to César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University, immigration law and criminal law have often merged to the detriment of the rights of those seeking to migrate to the United States. This development has a racial component. 

However, this wasn't always the case. The detention and criminalization of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border was the exception, not the rule, until the 1990s. “It's no coincidence that immigration law became more criminalized precisely when the United States closed more legal pathways for Mexicans to immigrate legally. We can look at crime from a racialized perspective in the current context,” said César Cuauhtémoc García.

Similarly, immigration law has increasingly relied on a migrant's criminal record to determine whether an individual is imprisoned or deported. Between 1892 and 1984, approximately 14,000 people were barred from the U.S. due to a criminal conviction or a narcotics offense, while around 56,000 were deported for those reasons between 1908 and 1980. These figures, spanning nearly a century, highlight the stark differences compared to contemporary statistics. In fiscal year 2013 alone, ICE deported more than 216,000 people with criminal records. 

Despite this, García maintains optimism about the possibility of improving the immigration system. “I see my role as being able to participate in making the United States legal system the best version of itself. As a teacher, it is a tremendous privilege to help train the next generation of lawyers and advocates who can work to reform the system that exists today.»

«If you want the sweet thrill of daily victories, immigration law isn’t for you,» added César Cuauhtémoc. “This is a job for people who believe that everyone who goes through the legal system deserves a fair chance. This speaks to the legitimacy of our legal system, and the quality of the process is just as important as the quality of the outcome.»

This news story was created from NBC News https://nbcnews.to/3E4VWXo

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Which Afghan refugees are being resettled in the US?

The Biden administration's plan to airlift and relocate wartime allies from Afghanistan faces major logistical and political challenges, so much so that they have ignited a national conversation about U.S. efforts to resettle Afghans who helped U.S. forces during the 20-year conflict. 

Providing refuge to Afghans assisting in the U.S. war effort is an unusual immigration policy that enjoys broad public support, including among Republicans and Democrats. However, it has also raised questions about how many at-risk Afghans will be able to evacuate to the United States, who will qualify for refuge, where those who do will be resettled, how they will be exposed, and what will happen to them once they set foot on American soil.

Special immigrant visas

Under programs established by Congress with broad bipartisan support, designed for certain Afghans who support the U.S. war effort, they may be eligible for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), which allows them to move to the U.S. permanently with their spouse and children. 

One program is designed to provide security for Afghans working as translators or interpreters. Another program allows Afghans who have worked for the U.S. government, were contractors, or served with NATO to obtain a special visa if they meet certain requirements. 

While the smaller program for interpreters and translators is permanent, the second classification is temporary and will expire once all targeted visas are issued. In July, Congress added 8,000 more visas to the broader classification, bringing the total to 34,500. 

Another way to qualify for refugee resettlement 

The Biden administration in early summer created a new refugee category for those who worked with U.S.-based media and non-governmental groups.

Afghans evacuated from Kabul who are not eligible for special visas may still qualify for US refugee resettlement if they wait in underdeveloped countries. 

The Biden administration has been asked to use an immigration tool known as "humanitarian parole" to allow vulnerable Afghans, such as female leaders, to enter the United States without a visa. 

It has also been suggested that people on parole who may be potentially eligible for other immigration benefits such as political asylum may be received in the United States. 

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Florida Republicans support the resettlement of Afghan refugees and translators

South Florida Republicans favor opening the country's doors to Afghan refugees and visa holders, although there is currently no immediate plan to resettle them in Florida after their arrival in the United States. 

The position of some differs completely from that of former President Donald Trump and some members of the Republican Party who have warned that "terrorists" will be allowed into the United States when President Joe Biden ends the 20-year military occupation of Afghanistan, which triggered a massive, chaotic, and deadly evacuation of American citizens, holders of special Afghan immigration visas, and other refugees who fear retaliation from the Taliban. 

Florida's Republican senators and U.S. representatives are in favor of honoring the commitment made to 22,000 applicants for special immigrant visas and their families, along with refugees referred by the United Nations, the U.S. Embassy, or a designated non-governmental organization. 

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote a letter to Joe Biden

“We believe that in addition to evacuation, it should include not only the 22,000 applicants for special immigrant visas in Afghanistan, but also those eligible for Priority 1 and Priority 2 refugee status.”

Trump's sentiments, like those of other Republican members of Congress, candidates for public office, and conservative news pundits, and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted: GA should not welcome Afghan refugees while thousands of Americans are stranded. 

JC Torres, a Tallahassee-based development manager for the International Rescue Committee, an international organization that provides aid to refugees, said the process for settling Afghan refugees in the U.S. includes rigorous vetting before they are settled across the country.

Torres said there are no current plans to send Afghan refugees to Florida. Most of the refugees in the United States are currently at military bases in Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin until they are cleared to leave.

This news story was created from the Miami Herald: http://hrld.us/3hcqYTE   

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Black immigrants have been left out of political decisions for far too long

Shamira Ibrahim has nostalgically recalled being far from home, after a grueling journey across the US-Canada border, struggles to obtain visas, poverty, a battle with the criminal justice system and giant financial obstacles as a result of being an immigrant from East Africa. 

When Ibrahim was just 5 years old, he arrived in the United States with his family. He recalls living briefly in East Africa before moving to Canada. Now 30, he says he spent most of his life in the countryside, experiencing firsthand the fear of being a Black immigrant. 

In a territory like the USA, whose empire is based on the criminalization of foreigners, African American immigrants have an additional stressful element surrounding this, since this society in this nation remains intrinsically criminalized. 

Around 71% of immigrants in the USA are African American, and because of this they are already more likely to be deported than immigrants of other races, according to a report by the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.

Between June 2018 and June 2020, African American immigrants paid higher bail amounts than non-African Americans at detention centers, according to the Refugee and Immigrant Legal Services and Education Center. This has led to the recognition that migrants end up in immigration detention centers for extended periods, sometimes indefinitely, due to their inability to afford the disproportionately high bail amounts. 

African American societies have been and are subject to arrests and prosecutions far more frequently than the general non-African population; 761% of African American immigrants are deported for having had contact or an argument with the police, according to the Black Alliance report. 

Because of all these issues, UndocuBlack, the Black Immigrant Collective, African Communities Together, and other groups fought for years to get Congress to pass the Liberian Refugee Immigration Equality Act, a law that offers Liberians living in the U.S. since 2014 the opportunity to become permanent residents, obtain a green card, and ultimately, citizenship. Congress passed the law in 2019; UndocuBlack officials said it is the first legalization bill to become law in more than a decade.

This news story was created from NBCNEWS: https://nbcnews.to/2WNKqif