This week in immigration news – August 19, 2021

Here are some of the immigration news items we are tracking this week:

COVID cases are rising in ICE facilities, putting detainees and the public at risk

While ICE has insisted that it is following COVID-19 protocols, data on rising numbers of cases and firsthand accounts from immigrants detained in ICE’s facilities are creating concerns for advocates.

A Trump judge ordered Biden to reinstate one of Trump’s cruelest immigration policies

A federal judge appointed by the Trump administration in Texas ordered President Biden to reinstate Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, which mandated that migrants must stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in their asylum case. The judge’s opinion on why the policy should be reinstated alleges that the federal government has been in violation of a 1996 immigration law, even though Trump’s own policy didn’t exist until 2019.

Deported wounded with “blood on my clothes,” says migrant van crash survivor

Antonio, a man from El Salvador who survived the migrant van crash in Encino, Texas, that killed 10 and injured 21, was deported back to Mexico while he was still injured.