Immigration
Government employees asked to take paid leave to help with migrant surge at the border: report
As an unprecedented number of migrants continue to cross the southern border into the U.S., the government is reportedly offering employees paid leave in exchange for volunteering at migrant facilities.
The New York Times reported that agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and NASA, are urging their employees to take a temporary leave of absence in order to help out at the southern border.
Employees reportedly received an email last week stating: “Will you consider taking a four-month paid leave from your job to help care for migrant children in government-run shelters packed with new arrivals at the border?”
Ken Klippenstein, a reporter for The Intercept, obtained a copy of an email NASA sent to their employees. According to the email, Health and Human Services (HHS) requested candidates to serve up to a 120-day “voluntary deployment” to provide care for unaccompanied migrant children, including finding placements for children in foster care.
The email noted that this temporary position is a “reimbursable detail” that provides travel, lodging and per diem.
The Times reported that 2,722 government employees volunteered as of Friday, with most of their salaries being picked up by the Health Department.
Nearly 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children entered the U.S. border custody in March — an all time high.
Follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy
Despite chaos at the border, the Biden administration is still pursuing expansion of a smart phone app which would allow nearly 40,000 asylum-seekers to enter the United States…per month.
“Starting in June, officials will allow more migrants waiting in Mexico to secure an appointment to enter the U.S. through a government phone app known as CBP One, which the Biden administration has transformed into the main gateway to the American asylum system” reports CBS News.
Department of Homeland Security Officials said border agents are preparing to distribute approximately 1,250 appointments per day, or 38,750 per month, to migrants in Mexico. They will then present themselves at ports of entry.
CBS News reports:
The CBP One app allows migrants north of Mexico City to request an appointment to appear at a southern border port of entry, where U.S. officials generally release them with an immigration court hearing in their respective destination. Migrants can fight their deportation in court by seeking asylum.
The app-powered system has been sharply criticized by migrant advocates, who say it penalizes the most destitute migrants who don’t have smartphones or an internet connection. They have also said the app does not allocate nearly enough spots to help the tens of thousands of migrants stranded in Mexico.
However, the app has facilitated “the largest expansion of migrant processing at ports of entry along the southern border in U.S. history” adds CBS News. “Since its use began in January, more than 120,000 migrants have secured appointments to enter the U.S. through CBP One, according to unpublished government figures.”
In addition to the CBP One process and the asylum restriction, the Biden Administration has begun allowing up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly to the U.S. directly per month if they have American sponsors. In just several months, that program received over 1.5 million applications.
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