The Golden Door: April 2021
Legal and Policy Issues
We are closely monitoring state and federal immigration law and policy. Please check our social media accounts for more frequent updates.
Call to Action: Tell Your State Legislators YES on LD 718!
ILAP Advocacy and Outreach Director Julia Brown testifies in support of LD 718 before the Maine Legislature's Committee on Health and Human Services. Read ILAP's testimony here!
LD 718, An Act To Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Closing Coverage Gaps in the MaineCare Program and the Children's Health Insurance Program, would restore MaineCare for everyone, regardless of immigration status. Currently, families fleeing persecution and seeking asylum, green card holders who have held their green cards for less than five years, community members without status, and some survivors of serious crimes, among many others, are ineligible for MaineCare.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted racial disparities in Maine. Restoring access to healthcare for all noncitizens is a racial justice issue.
Call your Maine legislator today and urge them to vote YES on LD 718 and restore MaineCare to our noncitizen neighbors, friends, and community members.
President Biden Breaks Promise to Increase Refugee Resettlement, Then Backtracks After Public Outcry
Throughout his campaign and at the beginning of his presidency, President Biden promised multiple times that he would raise the refugee resettlement ceiling. However, months passed without the President taking action. The State Department had to cancel flights for hundreds of new refugees because of the delays.
On April 16, President Biden announced that he was reversing his decision and keeping refugee resettlement at its lowest EVER in American history. Immigrant and refugee advocates across the world as well as members of Congress swiftly denounced President Biden’s cruel and inexplicable action, and his administration reversed course later that evening without specifying what the new resettlement ceiling will be.
We were deeply disappointed by President Biden's broken promise to the American people and to refugee families awaiting resettlement in the United States, and are glad the President heard the massive public outcry and rescinded that decision. The Biden administration must increase the refugee resettlement ceiling to at least its promised 62,500.
When the news first broke that the Biden administration would not be raising the resettlement ceiling, sources told the media that it was because of families seeking asylum at the southern border. That baseless reasoning conflates two entirely different humanitarian emergencies. While families at the border are seeking safety in the United States and fleeing violence, refugees are vetted beforehand and wait many years at refugee camps to be resettled. The United States has more than enough resources to both resettle refugees and admit asylum-seeking families at the southern border.
Biden Administration Issues Policy Prohibiting ICE From Arresting Immigrants In Courthouses
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a new policy prohibiting ICE from arresting immigrants at courthouses in most cases. This is a stark contrast to Trump-era guidance that justified these courthouse arrests as necessary in localities that will not hold people on immigration detainers. This policy worsened relationships between immigrants and law enforcement and created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety for immigrants regardless of status.
As explanation for changing the courthouse policy, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Director Mayorkas stated: “Ensuring that individuals have access to the courts advances the fair administration of justice, promotes safety for crime victims, and helps to guarantee equal protection under the law."
We hope this policy is just the first step of many toward decriminalizing immigration.
Biden-Harris Administration's First 100 Days
This week marks 100 days since President Biden and Vice President Harris took their oaths of office. At the time of their inauguration, ILAP released a list of Immigration Policy Priorities for the administration's first 100 days. This was a dynamic list stemming from ILAP’s expertise in immigration law and demands from immigrant leaders and immigrant-led groups across state.
Today, we re-visit our list of priorities to see how the administration's actions have measured up.
Visit ilapmaine.org/policy-priorities-2021 to learn more and follow along on Facebook over the next week as we unpack each priority!
ILAP Meets Virtually With Maine's Congressional Delegation
ILAP Advocacy & Outreach Director Julia Brown virtually attended the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) National Day of Action on April 22. She and other immigration attorneys met with staff from Maine’s congressional delegation.
ILAP advocated for legislation to make immigration courts independent and no longer under the Department of Justice. We called for our senators to pass the “Dream and Promise Act” and “Farm Workforce Modernization Act.” We also advocated for full implementation of the “Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act," which would address the severe processing delays in the immigration system. Finally, we called for the end of immigration detention and the end of the Title 42 policy that expels asylum seekers at the southern border.
A Closer Look
This section of the Golden Door takes “a closer look” at immigration using an intersectional lens based on a monthly theme. Let us know what you think!
Climate Crisis & Immigration
The first Earth Day, now more than 50 years ago, was marked by massive environmental justice demonstrations. Today, activists continue rallying for justice as the climate crisis continues to increasingly threaten our lives and futures.
Climate change is a global problem, but its burden is not equally shared. Environmental racism means that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities and those with the least resources are forced to bear the brunt of this crisis. Those least responsible for climate change are often the ones hurt most. A study from 2017 found that just 100 companies are responsible for over 70% of the globe's carbon emissions.
Extreme weather events and the political unrest that follows have already begun driving people from their homes. Yet, international and U.S. law do not currently recognize climate change as a valid reason to claim refugee status or asylum. Families from Kiribati, an island chain in the Pacific Ocean severely threatened by climate change, attempted to claim refugee status in New Zealand and were denied.
Solutions do exist, but we must look beyond our extractive, profit-based models and begin listening. Listening to Indigenous women, for example, who have long been stewards of our land and waters. Indigenous communities currently only make up 5% of the global population, yet protect 80% of the world's biodiversity.
Listening to youth climate activists, such as Niria Alicia. Niria is a Xicana community organizer who sees a clear connection between climate justice and the immigrant justice movement: “this culture of disposability and treating the Earth as just a resource is the same way that capitalism treats migrant workers as disposable and not worthy of being protected.”
And listening to communities most impacted by climate change. The Movement for Black Lives recently launched the Red, Black & Green New Deal, a Black climate campaign to set a national Black Climate Agenda for a sustainable future in defense of Black lives. The coalition recognizes that climate justice is racial justice.
Keep Learning:
Maine Law’s Justice for Women Lecture: The Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Women Around the World
The Washington Post: ‘This is environmental racism:’ How a protest in a North Carolina farming town sparked a national movement
Anti-Racism Daily: Reimagine Earth Week
Support:
ILAP Announces 2020 Volunteer & Partnership Awardees
ILAP owes everything to the people who make up our community, especially our incredible volunteers and community partners. Thank you for your passion, commitment, and support!
We announced our 2020 Volunteer & Partnership Awardees this month on Facebook. We are proud to share the full list of awardees with you now. Please join us in congratulating them!
2020 Awardees:
Advocacy Heroes Award
Maine Equal Justice
Business Partner Award
Antione's Formal Wear
East Fork Mask Collective
Sailor Rose
Community Partner Award
Trinity Jubilee Center
Development Volunteer of the Year
Lisa Scali
Grassroots Fundraising Award
Orson Horchler
ILAP Hero
Amy Titcomb
Language Volunteer Award
Nadine Pembele
Gretchen Stanton
Outstanding Advocate Award
Welcoming Immigrant Neighbors-Bangor
Pro Bono Firm of the Year
Preti Flaherty
Pro Bono Attorney
Eileen Frazier, Esq.
Supporting Immigrant Youth Award
Lucky and Toby Hollander