Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hundreds Of Young Migrants, Asylum Seekers Being Expelled In Divergence From Normal Policy
The Associated Press: US Expelling Hundreds Of Child Migrants, Citing Coronavirus Pandemic
The young migrants and asylum seekers swim across the Rio Grande and clamber into the dense brush of Texas, across the US-Mexico border. Many are teens who left Central America on their own. Others were sent along by parents from refugee camps in Mexico. They are as young as 10. Under US law they would normally be allowed to live with relatives while their cases wind through immigration courts. Instead the Trump administration is quickly expelling them under an emergency declaration citing the coronavirus pandemic, with 600 minors expelled in April alone. (5/13)
The New York Times: Trump Administration Plans To Extend Virus Border Restrictions Indefinitely
The Trump administration is moving to extend its coronavirus border restrictions indefinitely, advancing the crackdown through broad public health authorities that have effectively sealed the United States to migrants seeking protection from persecution, according to officials and a draft of a public health order. On March 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed a 30-day restriction on all nonessential travel into the United States from Mexico and Canada, closing legal points of entry to tourism and immediately returning immigrants who crossed the border illegally to Mexico or their home countries. Since then, only two migrants have been permitted to remain in the United States to pursue asylum, according to a United States Citizenship and Immigration official. (Shear and Kanno-Youngs, 5/13)
The Washington Post: Under Trump Border Rules, U.S. Has Granted Refuge To Just Two People Since Late March During Coronavirus Outbreak, Records Show
The Trump administration’s emergency coronavirus restrictions have shut the U.S. immigration system so tight that since March 21 just two people seeking humanitarian protection at the southern border have been allowed to stay, according to unpublished U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data obtained by The Washington Post. (Miroff, 5/13)
Los Angeles Times: California Community Colleges File Lawsuit Over Coronavirus Relief Funds
The nation’s largest community college system is suing the federal government for denying coronavirus relief funds to more than a half-million California students, including DACA recipients and many of those from low-income families. California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley and the system’s board of governors filed suit this week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos over eligibility restrictions placed on the use of federal aid money for students, arguing that the restrictions are unconstitutional. (Agrawal, 5/13)
Bangor Daily News: Farm Workers Without Unemployment Or Stimulus Checks Get Some Relief
While the pandemic has brought financial uncertainty for Maine food workers of all stripes, the livelihood of farmers and farm workers has been especially volatile. Most farms have lost business from chefs as the restaurant industry has shut down, while many farm workers haven’t been eligible for unemployment benefits. ... s of Wednesday, Mano en Mano had distributed the funds directly to 363 out-of-work farm workers and their families, many of whom are migrant workers, for emergency assistance to meet needs such as food, rent and utilities during the coronavirus pandemic. (Schoreder, 5/13)
