Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has extended the list of locations where agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as other immigration officials, are prohibited from making arrests, serving subpoenas, and conducting searches. The updated policy is intended to ensure that undocumented immigrants are not afraid of arrest and deportation when accessing social services, medical care, places of worship, and other such necessary locations. Although the memo does provide exceptions in the case of threats of violence or national security, no other immigration-related police activity can happen in the protected locations. In addition, the memo gives discretion to agents to use their best judgement whether making arrests in other, non-protected areas would cause disruption to communities or people's well-being. The list of protected areas includes, but is not limited to:
-Bus stops
-Churches
-Counseling facilities
-COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites
-Day care centers
-Disaster response centers
-Domestic violence shelters
-Food banks
-Funerals
-Hospitals
-Homeless shelters
-Medical facilities
-Parades
-Playgrounds
-Rallies and demonstrations
-Rehab centers
-Schools
-University campuses
-Weddings
Source: CNBC, The Hill
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/27/us-ends-immigration-arrests-at-schools-hospitals-and-other-protected-areas.html
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/department-of-homeland-security/578768-biden-expands-list-of-sensitive?rl=1
Migrant families separated at the Mexican border during the Trump administration may be receiving financial settlements from the federal government. The Biden administration is considering payments of around $450,000 per person, meaning that some families may be entitled to $1 million or more; the settlements, however, would depend upon the circumstances each family dealt with. Around 950 families have filed claims against the government, although that is only a portion of the 5,500 children that the American Civil Liberties Union has cited were separated during the Trump era. The possibility of these payments and the final amounts they would grant is currently being discussed by officials in the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Homeland Security.
Source: The Hill
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/578993-biden-administration-considering-payments-to-migrant-families
The Build Back Better framework for the Biden administration's social spending reconciliation plan includes a $100 billion allocated to immigration reform. Although the Senate Parliamentarian has rejected Democrat's first two proposals, based on immigration reform not fitting the type of measures allowed in a reconciliation bill, Democrats are exploring "creative options" to get some version of their plan approved. In fact, many progressive Democrats have stated that they will not support the reconciliation bill unless it includes immigration reform. A release from the White House states that the "framework includes a $100 billion investment to reform our broken immigration system, consistent with the Senate’s reconciliation rules, as well as reducing backlogs, expanding legal representation, and making the asylum system and border processing more efficient and humane".
Source: Roll Call, The Hill
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/10/28/immigration-relief-in-flux-as-biden-unveils-reconciliation-framework/
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/578995-biden-looks-to-spend-100b-on-immigration-as-house-explores?rl=1
A private immigrant detention center in the state of Washington has lost a lawsuit concerning their underpayment of detainees in the facility who were forced to work at tasks like cleaning and cooking. The owners of the detention center, the Florida-based GEO Group, must pay its detainees $13.69 an hour, the Washington minimum wage, rather than the $1 dollar a day it had been giving inmates for their work. GEO's argument against paying the inmates was a line in Washington's minimum wage law stating that in a "state, county, or municipal" detention center, inmates are not entitled to minimum wage, regardless of the work they do; however, the state argued that the center's status as a for-profit, private corporation did not fit that description. A jury will determine how much inmates will be paid in back wages, and how much the state of Washington will seek in recompense from GEO. Bob Ferguson, Attorney General of Washington, has stated that he will use the money the state receives to create a detainees benefit fund.
Source: Associated Press
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-business-washington-minimum-wage-tacoma-c0eecdc7faf3436089a01e16cb9ead58