Each week we collect stories related to U.S. immigration, and we provide a brief summary of each story in our weekly blog edition. Below you will find snapshots of stories that range from Trump’s administration to changes in U.S. immigration laws. We then give you fresh links at the bottom that relate to each story within our summary. Let’s dive in!

Stories from the Border

This week in U.S. immigration, we saw various people come together in opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In Massachusetts, Boston and Somerville claim the title, “sanctuary city.” Now, other communities in Massachusetts have followed suit by initiating a conversation about the protection of immigrants, which could eventually lead to adopting the status of a sanctuary city.  Over the past few weeks, we have seen a transition among activists looking to use their local and state authority to make a statement in favor of immigrants. Earlier this week, Chicago established a campaign titled, “One Chicago,” in order to support the refugee and immigrant population in the city. The immigrant population in the United States had some additional support this week from FWD.us, an advocacy group founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Joe Green. The group outlined the detrimental effect of enforcing immigration laws and highlighted the need for immigration reform as it pertains to gaining citizenship.

Via: Jesse Costa/WBUR

Statistics from ICE revealed that 41,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested within 100 days of Trump’s presidency. While the majority of these arrests involved immigrants with criminal convictions, a percentage of these arrests included immigrants without criminal backgrounds. The Trump administration has directly contrasted the Obama administration’s 4,242 arrests with the arrests of 10,845 immigrants without criminal backgrounds. This underscores the crucial need for immigration reform aimed at the millions of undocumented immigrants who have no criminal histories.

We analyzed Trump’s proposed budget this week and noted the request to increase funding for his immigration efforts. Federal budgets have a reputation for cuts in funding, but this year, a proposed increase in funding for the deportation of undocumented immigrants signals the new administration’s mentality regarding U.S. immigration. The proposed budget included more funding for border security efforts, ICE agents, detention centers, and other initiatives. What’s interesting is that as much as the administration hints at the threat of the southern border, they cannot ignore the new research revealing that illegal immigration is caused more by visa overstays than illegal border crossings.

A new analysis this week revealed that close to 600,000 immigrants in the United States could obtain clear paths to citizenship. Many immigrants flee to the U.S. as a result of the hostile environments in their home countries. This reality could form the basis of asylum claims for many immigrants currently living in the United States. Also, many immigrants have family ties in the United States, which could also form the basis of an immigration defense. Political scientist, Tom Wong, supported immigration advocacy groups by agreeing with the notion that a high number of these 600,000 undocumented immigrants could be permitted to stay in the United States with the help of immigration attorneys.

Top U.S. Immigration News Stories:

1.  To Push Against Trump’s Immigration Policies, More Communities Adopt ‘Sanctuary City’ Status
2. Chicago launches campaign against Trump immigration policy
3. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s open borders organization says President Trump’s push to improve enforcement of immigration laws “hurts public safety.”
4. In 100 Days, ICE Officers Arrest over 41,000 Illegal Immigrants
5. Trump Budget Takes Broad Aim at Undocumented Immigrants
6. TrumpBeat: A Budget With Math Errors And A Fraction Of A Wall
7. Trump Justice budget targets illegal immigration
8. Trump budget would force sanctuary cities to comply with immigration laws
9. Staggering number of visa overstays now biggest problem in illegal immigration
10. Up to 600,000 immigrants in US South may have path to legal status: analysis

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