EL PASO, Texas - Immigrant advocates in Texas are marking International Human Rights Day today by decrying what they call "systematic violations" of international law and the U.S. Constitution. At a 1 p.m. rally at the border fence in El Paso, protestors will demand sweeping reforms of the immigration system.

Fernando Garcia, who directs the Border Network for Human Rights, says a decade-long crackdown has led to routine racial profiling, illegal searches, forced separations, shootings of innocent people and hundreds of deaths each year of migrants attempting to cross remote deserts, mountains and rivers.

"All of this has been the result of this almost ideological border enforcement - enforcement, enforcement and more enforcement. It has been very personal for many of us, because that could be one of our family members - our granddads, brothers and sisters - dying."

Proposals for comprehensive immigration reform have been scuttled in recent years by those who say the border should be sealed first. However, the latest census data confirms that over the last five years, net migration from Mexico has fallen by almost 1 million, to zero. After Latino voters turned out in greater-than-expected numbers in the last election, many lawmakers are now signaling they are ready to rethink their anti-reform stance.

Garcia says most Hispanics seeking opportunity or family reunification prefer to do so by legal means, but a broken system has made that almost impossible. Contrary to political rhetoric, he adds, the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants are not asking to jump to the front of the citizenship line.

"We understand that there's going to be provisional residency, then permanent residency, and then, in a few years, citizenship. We know that it's going to take a while. And we know that, yep, we're going to be sent to the back of the line. But, right now, the line doesn't work."

Besides a pathway to citizenship, he says reforms should steer resources toward administrative problems - like the growing backlog of residency applications - instead of toward building more border walls and militarized enforcement efforts. Meanwhile, he says, groups like his will continue to seek remedies for what they see as human rights violations through local, national, and international channels.

More information about the rally and the documentation of border-region human-rights abuses is available at www.bnhr.org. Further analysis of census data is available from the Pew Hispanic Center.




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Providers of community IDs for North Carolina's immigrant communities say proposed legislation banning police officers and local governments from recognizing the alternative IDs as valid could have crippling effects on families.

House Bill 167 would restrict the use of cards issued to immigrants through the FaithAction ID Network. More than 15,000 residents in North Carolina and other states currently rely on FaithAction IDs.

María González, deputy director of the nonprofit group El Pueblo, said community IDs were created as a stopgap solution for individuals banned from receiving state licenses because they lack the required documentation.

"Medical care, participating in the cultural and business life of our community, getting a library card, picking up a kid from school," González outlined.

Supporters of the bill argued community-issued IDs pose security risks for communities. FaithAction explained in order to receive an ID, program participants are required to attend an orientation on the benefits and limitations of the card and sign a simple Memorandum of Understanding.

González added FaithAction IDs are designed to help people navigate daily life, and pointed out they cannot be used to vote or access federal benefits.

"We hope that there's a compassionate way that we can be reassured that our communities feel safe, are safe, that people are who they say they are," González emphasized. "But not at the expense of more vulnerable communities."

Research shows community IDs help reduce fear of interacting with law enforcement and witnesses and victims of crime are more likely to talk to police officers if they have an ID card.

Just 14% of California's 94,000 undocumented college students receive some form of state financial aid, according to a new report.

Researchers from the California Student Aid Commission found that only half of the people who are eligible for state aid for higher education even apply.

Marlene Garcia, the commission's executive director, said a lot of community college undocumented students apply to get their fees waived for coursework, but don't realize they could get a Cal Grant to help with living expenses.

Paperwork appears to be one of the issues.

"They may be applying for the College Promise, and they think that they've completed the financial aid application," said Garcia. "But then, they find out they have to complete the California Dream Act application. And sometimes, you'll lose students in that process."

Starting this year, state law requires all high school seniors to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the California Dream Act application, so school counselors are going to have their hands full.

Garcia said many steps could be taken at the federal level to help undocumented students, including making the Pell Grant available, or reviving the DACA program and extending its provisions to allow students to have the right to work.

"If you're an undocumented student and you don't have work authorization to get a job after you graduate from college," said Garcia, "that's going to raise the question about where the value proposition is for a college degree for you."

Another barrier is the requirement that undocumented students sign an affidavit that they attended at least three years of high school in California. A new bill now in the California Legislature would integrate that affidavit into the California Dream Act application.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Nebraska welcomed more than 10,000 refugees between 2002 and 2016, and some are still hoping to bring family members to the U.S.

Under the Department of Homeland Security's proposed changes to the asylum application process, it could become more difficult.

They are designed to prevent a surge of migrants at the southern border once the federal health emergency ends in May, ending Title 42. They would deny entrance to anyone who lacks the proper documentation and can't meet certain expectations. Those who enter at the southern border would also need proof they applied for, and were denied, asylum in a third country they passed through.

Joe Lord, lead asylum attorney for the Immigrant Legal Center in Omaha, said it is an often untenable expectation.

"A lot of those countries don't have either an asylum system in place at all, or an effective or safe asylum system in place," Lord pointed out. "It's a complication that's not very fair to people actually fleeing danger and trying to get somewhere safe."

Lord believes the changes could lead to more family separations. He noted no consideration is given for the common case of a person coming to the U.S. alone and later petitioning for family members to join them. He added the backlog of immigration court cases in the Nebraska-Iowa region is currently 28,000, and believes the changes would make the wait even longer.

Another aspect of the changes Lord considers unrealistic is the expectation migrants will use a smartphone app to schedule an appointment with a border agent.

"A lot of people that come through the southern border have nothing when they get here, and that includes access to a smartphone," Lord stressed. "That would be a massive impediment to a lot of people applying."

The Department of Homeland Security proposal makes exceptions for people having a medical emergency, facing an imminent threat or the risk of being trafficked.

Lord pointed to the far greater effect the expectations will have on lower-income people entering through the southern border than on those who can afford to apply for a visa and fly to the U.S. He also believes the changes violate U.S. laws and treaties designed to protect people seeking asylum.

"The laws in the United States explicitly guard an asylum-seeker's right to seek protection, regardless of how they arrive here," Lord emphasized.

The proposed changes are open for public comment until March 27. Lord added he fully expects they will be challenged in court.


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