Immigration

ABC News reports: President Joe Biden on Thursday said he plans to visit the southern border with Mexico on Sunday, for the first time since taking office. Biden said he will visit El Paso, Texas, “to assess border enforcement operations, meet with the local officials and community leaders and the folks at the border sending me what they need that …

Reuters reports: The United States has resumed full immigrant visa services at its embassy in Cuba’s capital, five years after Washington closed consular services in Havana due to a spate of unexplained health incidents. In a statement last week, the embassy confirmed that it would begin processing immigrant visas on Wednesday, including permits for Cubans reuniting with family in the …

The Miami Herald reports: A top aide to Gov. Ron DeSantis used a private email address with the alias “Clarice Starling” — a reference to the Hannibal Lecter serial killer novels — to help his former client win a state contract to operate Florida’s controversial migrant flight program, recently released public records show. The records suggest that Larry Keefe, DeSantis’ …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Title 42 — a Trump-era immigration policy implemented when the pandemic broke out to quickly expel asylum-seekers at the border — to remain in effect, putting a judge’s ruling that would have ended it last week on hold. The court voted 5-4 to grant an emergency request by 19 Republican state attorneys general who sought …

Via press release from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: The White House is full of a bunch of hypocrites, led by the Hypocrite-in-Chief who has been flying planeloads of migrants across the country and oftentimes in the cover of night. These migrants willingly chose to go to Washington, D.C., having signed a voluntary consent waiver available in multiple languages upon boarding …

The Hill reports: Democrats are blasting the busing of migrants to Vice President Harris’s Washington, D.C., residence on Christmas Eve, taking aim at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), whom they blame for dropping the groups off in below-freezing temperatures on a holiday. “Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating …

CNN reports: Several busloads of migrants were dropped off in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, DC, on Christmas Eve in 18 degree weather late Saturday. An initial two busloads were taken to local shelters, according to an administration official. More buses arrived outside the vice president’s residence later Saturday evening. A CNN team saw migrants being …

Yahoo News reports: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) agreed in court documents Wednesday to dismantle a barrier made of double-high shipping containers and razor wire he had ordered constructed along parts of his state’s border with Mexico. The Biden administration had sued Ducey on Dec. 14, arguing that the barrier was illegally built on federal land and was causing damage …

CBS News reports: Nearly a million immigrant adults were naturalized as American citizens in fiscal year 2022, the third-highest annual tally recorded in U.S. history, according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report obtained by CBS News. In the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, 967,400 adults swore the oath of allegiance at naturalization ceremonies across the country, …

“Immigration destabilizes your society. It makes it far less cohesive — that’s always true, it doesn’t matter where they’re coming from. “If you have a ton of new people, you’re less cohesive. So why are they coming? Well, there’s only one reason: because the Democratic Party wants new voters, period. “That’s not a racist conspiracy — ‘that’s a racist’ — …

The Associated Press reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials are being sued in federal court by immigrant rights groups who challenge the constitutionality of the state’s migrant relocation program. The suit was filed Thursday by three groups — Florida Immigrant Coalition, Americans for Immigrant Justice and Hope Community Center — against DeSantis and state Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue. …

“Why don’t we have a legal immigration system for the people that want to come and live our dream, that want to live, that believe in our Judeo-Christian values? Alright? Why don’t we want more? If we’re going to have more immigration, alright, let’s do that.” “These people that we have no idea what their background is, like in Afghanistan. …

The Texas Tribune reports: Three days after Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted a legally dubious invocation of the “invasion clause” of the U.S. and Texas constitutions over the high number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border, his border mission is set to include armored personnel carriers designed to carry troops into battle alongside tanks, according to a planning document obtained …

The Miami Herald reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has so far paid more than $1.5 million to a politically connected contractor for a program to fly migrants from Texas to northeastern states — but the private jets chartered by the contractor cost only a fraction of that sum. Newly released public records show the contractor, Destin, Florida-based Vertol Systems Company, …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis will fight a ruling that he must turn over communications about flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Leon Circuit Judge Lee Marsh last week ordered the DeSantis administration to provide all records to the Florida Center for Government Accountability. But by filing a notice of appeal with the First District Court of Appeal, it triggers …

Politico reports: A Florida judge on Tuesday found that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office is not following the state’s public records law and ordered the administration to turn over records connected to the migrants flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard within the next 20 days. Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh rebuffed arguments from the governor’s lawyers that they should be allowed …

San Antonio’s Fox affiliate reports: Governor Greg Abbott’s office was aware of the flight of migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard before takeoff last month. The State of Texas has denied any involvement with that flight. However, text messages released by Abbott’s office in response to a public information request show otherwise. The Florida Center for Government Accountability submitted …

Politico reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration this week pushed back against a lawsuit seeking the immediate release of all records related to the flights of migrants from Texas to Massachusetts but agreed to provide them no later than Dec. 1. Lawyers for the Republican governor filed a nine-page response late Tuesday to a demand from the open government group …

Boston’s PBS affiliate reports: A Texas sheriff has certified that the nearly 50 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were victims of a crime. That certification is a key step in qualifying them for a special visa they would not have otherwise been eligible for. Texas’ Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar expeditiously signed certification forms for …

The Associated Press reports: The United States Department of the Treasury has launched an investigation into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ alleged use of COVID-19 relief funds to fly dozens of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last month. In a tweet overnight, Sen. Ed Markey confirmed the investigation into DeSantis’ alleged misuse of taxpayer funds to “cruelly transport the immigrants …