VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, August 25-31

Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: [email protected].
Biden calls ruling wrong, as Texas judge suspends immigration reform policy
A Texas judge has ordered a temporary pause on a policy that would streamline the process for spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain legal status in the country, a blow to one of U.S. President Joe Biden’s biggest immigration reform policies. Judge J. Campbell Barker granted a 14-day administrative stay Monday in a case brought by the Republican attorneys general of 16 U.S. states challenging the policy. Reported by Agence France-Presse.
Biden restarts immigration program for 4 countries with more vetting
The Biden administration is restarting an immigration program that allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the United States, and it includes “additional vetting” of their U.S.-based financial sponsors following fraud concerns. The Department of Homeland Security had suspended the program earlier this month to investigate the concerns but indicated that an internal review found no widespread fraud among sponsors. Reported by the Associated Press.
Harris vows tougher approach on migration, supports weapons for Israel
Vice President Kamala Harris vowed a tougher approach to migration along the U.S. southern border and said she would not withhold weapons to Israel, in her first interview with a major news organization since becoming the Democratic nominee for president. In the interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash, Harris sought to show she is in command of the issues and give Americans a sense of her policy positions with little more than two months until Election Day on November 5. Reported by Reuters.
Immigration around world
Panama deports Ecuadorean migrants in second US-backed flight
Panamanian authorities deported a group of migrants to Ecuador on a second flight financed by the United States, as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Panama to discourage irregular crossings and reduce the flow of mostly U.S.-bound migration. The flight carrying 30 Ecuadoreans departed on Thursday evening en route to the coastal city of Manta, Ecuador, Panama’s migration service said, adding that the migrants were deported for evading a migration checkpoint on the popular Darien Gap route. Reuters reports.
Mpox outbreak in Africa poses risks for refugees, displaced communities
United Nations agencies warn that refugees and displaced communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries reporting mpox infections are at particular risk of illness and death because of the conditions under which they are forced to live. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
More food, other relief reaching millions of famished Sudanese
Breakthroughs providing for greater humanitarian access that were achieved in the first round of U.S.-mediated peace talks on Sudan are expanding, the United States’ special envoy for Sudan said. The talks wrapped up in Geneva last Friday. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
For Senegalese dreaming of Europe, the deadly Atlantic route is not a deterrent
Salamba Ndiaye was 22 when she first tried to get to Spain, dreaming of a career as a real estate agent. Without her parents’ knowledge, she made it onto a small fishing boat known as a pirogue, but the Senegalese police intercepted the vessel before it could leave. A year later, Ndiaye tried again, successfully making it off the coast but this time a violent storm forced the boat to stop in Morocco, where Ndiaye and the other passengers were sent back to Senegal. The Associated Press reports.
Germany repatriates first group of Afghan refugees since Taliban takeover
A group of 28 asylum-seekers were repatriated to Afghanistan from Germany on Friday after being deported for criminal convictions. The deportees, on board a chartered flight, arrived in the capital of Kabul, where Taliban authorities promptly detained them for investigation and blocked journalists’ access to the airport, according to witnesses. The Taliban did not immediately issue a statement regarding the fate of the Afghan returnees or whether the repatriation resulted from mutual understanding between Kabul and Berlin. Ayaz Gul reports for VOA.
13 dead after boat capsizes off Yemen, migration agency says
Thirteen people died and 14 others are missing after a boat capsized off Yemen on Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday.
The migrant boat, carrying 25 Ethiopians and two Yemenis, had been sailing off the coast of Yemen’s Taiz governorate in the southwest, IOM said. Reuters reports.
News Brief
— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the opening of an international field office in Quito, Ecuador, on September 10. The Quito Field Office will focus on increasing refugee processing capacity, consistent with USCIS commitments under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and helping reunite individuals with their family members in the United States.