News Round Up In-Brief

U.S. News

• According to a Pew Research Center Survey, the majority of people in the United States believe that there should be a way for undocumented immigrants to remain the United States. The findings also point to divided opinions about whether to grant undocumented immigrants citizenship or legal permanent residency.
• Responding to a recent story about immigrants being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asked federal immigration officials to provide her more information about immigrants being held in solitary confinement at federal facilities.
•  In response to a New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan’s assertion that the term “illegal immigrant” is accurate and encompasses ideas about the immigration debate, linguistic anthropologist Jonathan Rosa responded by noting the term has no legal meaning.
• Hannah Hafter and Robin Reineke suggest steps to reduce deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border and call attention to the problems associated with harsh border control.
• Congress may still be awaiting a border security “trigger” to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
• The head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement union has called for Congress to slow immigration reform efforts.
• Compared with other family members, siblings may be at a distinct disadvantage when applying for family visas to the U.S.
• Advocates in California hope that immigration reform will “slowly open the door” for undocumented immigrants to access public health care programs.
• In a state politically hostile to unauthorized immigrants, undocumented day laborers reflect on the immense difference a proposed amnesty program could make on their daily lives.

International News

• United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron promised more stringent rules to reduce immigrants’ access to social services, including health and housing benefits. Adding to Cameron’s statement, Immigration Minister Mark Harper claimed: “We want to make sure our rules are among the toughest in the world.”
• The number of undocumented children currently living in Greece is unclear due to disorganized detention practices and uncounted shelters, according to the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights.
• Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has called for Greece to reinstate the death penalty specifically for migrants convicted of violent crimes.

New Research

• The April issue of International Migration addresses anthropological perspectives on migration policy. In particular, an article by Jason de León on the Alien Transfer Exit Programme (ATEP) explores the health risks of the ATEP policy, whereby undocumented migrants were deported to places far from their initial point of entry with the hope of deterring future crossing attempts.

Prepared by Rachel Stonecipher and Nolan Kline