Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
An Unforeseen Consequence: Lack Of Green Card Applications Could Financially Sink Immigration Agency
The New York Times: Immigration Agency That Issues Visas, Green Cards Struggles To Stay Afloat
A precipitous drop in applications for green cards, citizenship and other programs has threatened the solvency of the federal agency that administers the country’s lawful immigration system, prompting it to seek a $1.2 billion cash infusion from Congress as well as fee hikes to stay afloat. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which relies on the fees that it charges applicants to fund its operations, said that it could run out of money by the summer because the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in far fewer people applying for visas and other benefits. (Jordan, 5/17)
San Francisco Chronicle: Immigration Courts In ‘Chaos,’ With Coronavirus Effects To Last Years
Raquel and her sons fled gang threats in El Salvador, survived the weeks-long journey to the U.S., and then endured the Trump administration’s 2018 separations at the southern border. This month, she was finally going to get her chance to convince an immigration judge in San Francisco that she should be granted permanent asylum in the U.S., ending the agony of having to prepare for her court date by reliving the danger in her native country and her weeks of detention at the border. Thanks to the coronavirus, she will have to endure the wait for three more years. (Kopan, 5/18)
ProPublica: The Trump Administration Is Rushing Deportations Of Migrant Children During Coronavirus
The girls, 8 and 11, were alone in a rented room in a dangerous Mexican city bordering Texas. Their father had been attacked and abandoned on the side of a road and they didn’t know where he was. For seven months the children had waited with their dad in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, to ask U.S. authorities for asylum. They had fled their home after death threats from local gang members and no help from police. They had also been victims of sexual assault. (Kriel, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times: Undocumented Immigrants Can Begin Applying For State Coronavirus Relief
Undocumented Californians may begin applying for disaster assistance payments of $500 per person and up to $1,000 per household. The state government has made available $75 million to help a projected 150,000 undocumented immigrants weather the coronavirus crisis. To qualify, applicants must show that they are ineligible for federal assistance programs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, such as the CARES Act or federal unemployment benefits, and that they have endured a hardship from the pandemic. (Ormseth, 5/18)
