immigration Archives | Northwest Public Broadcasting

‘He’s In Our Soul’: Sisters Remember Their Dad’s Legacy On Father’s Day

By NPR News June 15, 2019

Candi and Estela Reyes shared memories of their father during a 2012 StoryCorps interview in El Paso, Texas. CREDIT: Anaid Reyes/StoryCorps

"Very formidable. Very strong-willed. Very commanding figure. His nickname was el canillón — the big-wristed man," Estela Reyes said. "I remember being a little kid — Papi just reaching down and lifting me up like I was tissue paper, this delicate little weightless thing." Read More

As Migrants Stream In At The Border, Inland Checkpoints Feel The Strain

By NPR News June 12, 2019

Border Patrol agents with a sniffer dog at the new and expanded Falfurrias checkpoint. Eric Westervelt/NPR

"They're making a run at us every day," says one Border Patrol agent who runs a checkpoint an hour's drive north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Continue Reading As Migrants Stream In At The Border, Inland Checkpoints Feel The StrainRead More

Kris Kobach Discussed Census Citizenship Question With 2016 Trump Campaign

By NPR News June 7, 2019

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is greeted by President Trump in 2016 at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told House investigators he discussed the question with campaign officials more than a year before the Trump administration formally requested it. Continue Reading Kris Kobach Discussed Read More

Small Section Of Privately Funded Border Wall Near Completion In New Mexico

By NPR News June 2, 2019

Construction is nearly complete in New Mexico on a section of border wall built with private funds raised by a nonprofit called We Build The Wall. Mallory Falk/KRWG

We Build the Wall, a nonprofit organization funding construction of a section of border wall near Sunland Park, N.M., said Thursday that it has 10 other sites picked out for more wall construction. Continue Reading Small Section Of Read More

President Trump Announces New Tariffs On Mexico To Force Cooperation On Illegal Immigration

By NPR News May 30, 2019

President Trump has announced plans to impose escalating tariffs on goods imported from Mexico in an attempt to stop migrants from entering the U.S. over the southern border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection released this photo, taken on Wednesday at El Paso, Texas. CREDIT: AP

President Trump announced that he will begin imposing tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico beginning June 10 unless that country does more to help reduce illegal immigration from Central America. Continue Reading Read More

Border Facility Stops Migrant Intake After ‘Flu-Related’ Outbreak

By NPR News May 22, 2019

U.S. Border Patrol agents conduct intake at the Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas. The center is temporarily not taking in migrants after the outbreak of "a flu-related illness." U.S. Customs And Border Protection/Getty Images

The McAllen, Texas, facility is the same one where a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy became ill last week, and died after he was transferred to another Border Patrol station. Continue Reading Border Facility Stops Migrant Intake After Read More

ICE Lands Deportation Flight In Yakima After Losing Access To Seattle’s Boeing Field

By Esmy Jimenez May 10, 2019

In this still image from a vide, detainees are loaded onto a Swift Air charter flight at King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in Seattle. COURTESY OF UWCHR/ALEX MONTALVO AND WADII BOUGHDIR

After losing its only flight operator at Boeing Field last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement switched to the Yakima Air Terminal in Central Washington. Continue Reading ICE Lands Deportation Flight In Yakima Read More

After Felony Conviction, Iraq War Veteran Faces Deportation To Mexico

By NPR News April 24, 2019

Edgar Baltazar Garcia's wife, Jennifer Garcia, holds a photo of her husband from when he was deployed at Balad Air Base in Iraq as a turret gunner in a Humvee. He now faces deportation to Mexico over a felony conviction. John Burnett/NPR

Edgar Baltazar Garcia got into some serious trouble after he came home from war. Now, he faces deportation over a felony conviction unless an immigration judge decides to let him stay in the U.S. Continue Reading After Felony Conviction, Read More

Hunger Strikes At ICE Detention Centers Spread As Parole, Bond Are Denied

By NPR News April 19, 2019

There have been at least six hunger strikes at detention centers in the first three months of 2019 alone. One of the detainees' demands was to be released while their cases were adjudicated. Continue Reading Hunger Strikes At ICE Read More

Tax Form Typo Or Undocumented Employee? Federal Government Again Sends ‘No Match’ Letters

By Esmy Jimenez April 16, 2019

Immigrant farm worker Defelia Hernandez works in the milking parlor at Gervais Family Farm in Bakersfield, Vt., Tuesday, March 9, 2010. The farm was among five dairy farm operations targeted in a federal crackdown on undocumented foreign farm workers where Clement Gervais says he believed two of his workers cited as unemployable had proper documentation. CREDIT: ALDEN PELLETT/AP

For the first time in seven years, the Social Security Administration is sending “no-match” letters. These notices alert employers that something isn't quite right with tax forms that were submitted by their employees. Continue Read More

Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees

By NPR News April 13, 2019

A guard escorts a detained immigrant from his "segregation cell" back into the general population at the Adelanto Detention Facility in November 2013. Today the privately run ICE facility in Adelanto, Calif., houses nearly 2,000 men and women and has come under sharp criticism by the California attorney general and other investigators for health and safety problems. CREDIT: John Moore/Getty Images

LISTEN BY SARAH VARNEY It’s Saturday morning and the women of the Contreras family are busy in Montclair, Calif., making pupusas, tamales and tacos. They’re working to replace the income of José Contreras, who has been held since last June at Southern California’s Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately run immigration detention center. José’s Read More

Kirstjen Nielsen Leaving Homeland Security Post As Border Crossings Surge

By NPR News April 7, 2019

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen is leaving her post, President Trump announced Sunday. Here she testifies on Capitol Hill on March 6. CREDIT: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump announced the secretary's departure amid a 10-year high in illegal border crossings. The two reportedly clashed as Nielsen was unable to stop flows of migrants entering the U.S. Continue Reading Kirstjen Nielsen Leaving Read More

Motel 6 To Pay $12 Million After Improperly Giving Washington Guest Lists To Immigration Agents

By NPR News April 5, 2019

The hotel chain Motel 6 agreed on Thursday to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Washington state claiming hotel guest information was improperly provided to immigration officials, according to Attorney General Bob Ferguson. CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP

The hotel chain Motel 6 has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Washington after several locations gave information on thousands of guests to Immigration and Customs Enforcement without warrants. Read More

President Trump Walks Back Threat To Close U.S. Border, Giving Mexico A ‘1-Year Warning’

By NPR News April 4, 2019

President Trump said Thursday that he was giving Mexico one year to stem the flow of migrants and drugs coming across the Southern border, or else the U.S. would impose auto tariffs or close the border. Evan Vucci/AP

President Trump is pushing Mexico to stem the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States. After a year, he said, he will consider tariffs on cars or a border shutdown. Continue Reading President Trump Walks Back Read More

U.S. Reportedly Compiled Database Of Journalists Working Along Southwest Border

By NPR News March 7, 2019

A source inside the Department of Homeland Security reportedly shared documents compiling names, photos and personal information of journalists, activists and others working along the border. Continue Reading U.S. Reportedly Read More

Sexual Abuse Allegations At Migrant Youth Shelters Nationwide Include Several At Oregon Facilities

By Esmy Jimenez March 6, 2019

File photo / Yelp. Morrison Child and Family Services has multiple facilities in Portland and throughout Oregon.

A federal report shows that between 2015 and 2018 there were almost 6,000 reported complaints of sexual abuse at child migrant shelters nationwide. Documents show the non-profit Morrison Child and Family Services in Portland handled eight of those reports. Three of those incidents happened at other non-Morrison shelters the youth were previously at. Read More

40 Years After Vietnam War, Some Refugees In The U.S. Face Deportation

By NPR News March 4, 2019

The Trump administration is trying to convince Vietnam to repatriate some 7,000 Vietnamese immigrants with criminal convictions who have been in the United States for more than 30 years. Continue Reading 40 Years After Vietnam War, Some Read More

U.S. Citizens Detained After Speaking Spanish In Montana Sue U.S. Border Agency

By NPR News February 18, 2019

Martha Hernandez (left) and Ana Suda say they were interrupted and detained because they spoke Spanish while shopping at a convenience store in Havre, Mont. They've now filed a lawsuit. CREDIT: Brooke Swaney/ACLU of Montana via AP

Two women who were detained and asked to show identification after speaking Spanish in a convenience store in Montana are suing U.S. Customs and Border Protection, saying the CBP agent violated their constitutional rights when he detained them and asked to see their identification. Read More

Trump Says He’s Not ‘Happy’ With Budget Deal But Thinks Shutdown Unlikely

By NPR News February 12, 2019

President Trump said he is not "happy" with a compromise budget deal being negotiated on Capitol Hill but said he doesn't think there will be another shutdown.

Congressional negotiators are close to a budget deal, but it provides less than what the president wants for a border wall and limits the number of people immigration officials can detain. Continue Reading Trump Says He’s Not Read More

Homeland Security Created A Fake University In Michigan As Part Of Immigration Sting

By NPR News January 31, 2019

The "University of Farmington" occupied office space in this building in Farmington Hills, Mich. In court documents, eight men are accused of recruiting hundreds of "students" to the bogus school. CREDIT: GOOGLE MAPS

Eight alleged recruiters who were paid thousands of dollars for connecting students to the bogus university — which had an actual office space in Farmington Hills, Mich. — have been indicted. Continue Reading Homeland Read More

Lawsuits Allege ‘Grave Harm’ To Immigrant Children In Detention

By NPR News January 24, 2019

An asylum-seeking boy from Central America runs down a hallway in December after arriving at a shelter in San Diego. Immigrant advocates say they are suing the U.S. government for allegedly detaining immigrant children too long and improperly refusing to release them to relatives. CREDIT: GREGORY BULL/AP

Over 10,000 immigrant children are in U.S. custody. In the past year, lawyers say at least 170 willing sponsors were arrested and put in deportation proceedings after coming forward for the child. Continue Reading Lawsuits Allege ‘Grave Read More

President Trump Offers Border Wall And Immigration Compromise, Democrats Reject As ‘Non-Starter’

By NPR News January 19, 2019

President Trump speaks about the partial government shutdown, immigration and border security in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House Saturday. CREDIT: Alex Brandon/AP

The proposal would temporarily extend deportation protections for some immigrants in exchange for funding for a border wall. But Democrats say the offer doesn't amount to much. Continue Reading President Trump Read More

He’s A U.S. Citizen And Marine Veteran Who Served In Afghanistan. ICE Tried To Deport Him

By NPR News January 17, 2019

Federal immigration authorities took Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a U.S. citizen and veteran, into custody to face possible deportation. CREDIT: Courtesy ACLU of Michigan

Last month federal immigration authorities took Jilmar Ramos-Gomez into custody to face possible deportation. He was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., served in the Marines and saw combat in Afghanistan. Continue Reading Read More

Where Does Illegal Immigration Mostly Occur? Not Through The U.S. – Mexico Border

By NPR News January 13, 2019

The westernmost edge of the U.S. border wall separates Tijuana from San Diego. Most undocumented immigrants in this country did not enter the U.S. at the Southern border. CREDIT: Rebecca Blackwell/AP

The Trump administration says there is a national security crisis at the Southern border. But most people in the country illegally didn't sneak across the border; they overstayed their visas. Continue Reading Where Does Illegal Read More

President Obama Also Faced A ‘Crisis’ At The Southern Border

By NPR News January 9, 2019

The situations at the border and in the White House five years ago and now are strikingly similar. Immigration experts say the Trump administration can learn from Obama's tenure. Continue Reading President Obama Also Faced A ‘Crisis’ At Read More

For Undocumented Immigrants, Getting A Driver’s License Could Spell Trouble With ICE

By NWPB News January 1, 2019

Enrique Balcazar, a leader of a local group called Migrant Justice, faces deportation. He says records show his immigration status was flagged to ICE by a DMV worker in emails. ICE says it does not target political activists. CREDIT: John Dillon/VPR

In Washington and 11 other states, and Washington, D.C., undocumented people can still get a license to drive. The idea is that roads are safer if everyone using them has passed a driver's test. But that licensing process may put undocumented people at risk of deportation. Read More

Acting And Activism: Whitman College Play Explores Community Impact Of Immigration

By T.J. Tranchell December 17, 2018

Whitman College’s Because You Are Here is community theater but not in the way we usually think of it. Performers in this production met with members of the Walla Walla community—particularly the migrant population—to learn their stories and bring them to life. Read More

Judges Ask ICE to Make Courts Off Limits To Immigration Arrests

By NPR News December 13, 2018

The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys along with dozens of unions, immigrant rights organizations, and community groups held a rally on December 7, 2017 at Brooklyn Borough Hall to call on the Office of Court Administration and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore to prohibit Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents from entering state courthouses, and to end coordination with ICE. Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

For 25 years, schools, hospitals and places of worship have effectively been off-limits to federal immigration officers. Now, a group of dozens of former state and federal judges is asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to add courthouses to the list of "sensitive locations" where their officers generally do not go. Read More

Pentagon Will Train Military Recruits Holding Green Cards Following Court Order

By NPR News December 4, 2018

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis testifying in October 2017 on Capitol Hill about immigrant military recruits. CREDIT: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

A federal judge ruled that the Pentagon provided no rationalization for recruiting immigrants and then delaying their military service. Continue Reading Pentagon Will Train Military Recruits Holding Green Cards Following Court Read More

Congress Poised To Punt On Government Spending Fight Over Border Wall

By NPR News December 3, 2018

The U.S. flag flies at half-staff in honor of former President George H.W. Bush outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Monday. Top Hill leaders planned on a stopgap funding bill to avoid a partial shutdown at the end of the week. CREDIT: Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images

After the death of former President George H.W. Bush top Hill leaders decided to prepare a two-week funding bill to postpone a fight over President Trump's demand for $5 billion for a border wall. Continue Reading Congress Poised To Punt Read More

U.S. Border Agents Spray Tear Gas At Migrants, Briefly Close Tijuana Entry

By NPR News November 25, 2018

U.S. military and border agents secure the United States-Mexico border at the San Ysidro border crossing south of San Diego, Calif. on Nov. 25. CREDIT: Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images

Many migrants have come to seek asylum in the U.S. — but the process for approval is slow, and resources in a makeshift shelter in Tijuana are running low. Continue Reading U.S. Border Agents Spray Tear Gas At Migrants, Briefly Close Read More

Trump Administration Faces Legal Challenges For Asylum Restrictions

By NPR News November 19, 2018

Members of the migrant caravan walk to make requests for political asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border last week in Tijuana, Mexico.

As Trump cracks down on asylum-seekers, federal lawsuits argue that the administration is turning its back on legal precedent and international law. Continue Reading Trump Administration Faces Legal Challenges For Asylum RestrictionsRead More

Motel 6 Pays Fine For Giving Lists Of Washington Guests To Immigration Authorities

By NPR News November 7, 2018

Motel 6 has acknowledged that guest lists were given to authorities but denied that senior management was aware of the practice. CREDIT: ANITA SNOW/AP

The hotel chain has reached a tentative $7.6 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit. Motel 6 employees in multiple locations provided guests' names to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Read More

ICE Removes Immigration Detainees From Federal Prisons, Including Washington; 3 Remain In Oregon

By Conrad Wilson October 21, 2018

The federal corrections center in Sheridan, Ore. CREDIT: OPB

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has all but abandoned its use of federal prisons to house detainees. Three ICE detainees that remain are inside the federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon. Continue Reading ICE Read More

Deep In The Desert, A Case Pits Immigration Crackdown Against Religious Freedom

By NPR News October 18, 2018

A sign outside Ajo, Ariz., warns hikers to keep an eye out for people who have unlawfully crossed the nearby border with Mexico. No More Deaths and other humanitarian groups use a private residence they call "the barn" on the outskirts of the small town as a base of operations. CREDIT: RYAN LUCAS/NPR

In January, Border Patrol agents walked up to a ramshackle old building on the outskirts of a small town in Arizona's Sonoran Desert. They found three men. Two were Central Americans who had crossed the border illegally. The third was an American — a university lecturer and humanitarian activist named Scott Warren. But his legal team's decision to stake out part of his Read More

Shelters For Immigrant Teens Expanded As Record Numbers Continue To Cross

By NPR News September 13, 2018

Over 12,000 immigrant teens are being held in shelters across the country. Record numbers continue to cross and the government is expanding shelter capacity to hold them. Continue Reading Shelters For Immigrant Teens Expanded As Record Read More

Trump Administration Proposes Rule To Allow Longer Detention Of Migrant Children

By NPR News September 7, 2018

Under the Flores settlement, immigrant minors can't be held in jail-like settings and can't be held for longer than 20 days. The government's move to circumvent that will likely end up in court. Continue Reading Trump Read More

The Wait To Become A U.S. Citizen Lengthens

By NPR News September 3, 2018

Immigrant advocates claim the Trump administration is building a "second wall" to keep immigrants out of this country. That wall is the lengthy and time-consuming process to become a U.S. citizen. Continue Reading The Wait To Become A U.S. Citizen LengthensRead More

Measure To Repeal Oregon’s Sanctuary Law Makes November Ballot

By Dirk VanderHart July 19, 2018

The Oregon capital building CREDIT:CHRIS LEHMAN / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

Three decades after Oregon blazed a trail by enacting statewide sanctuary laws, voters will have a say in repealing them this fall. Continue Reading Measure To Repeal Oregon’s Sanctuary Law Makes November BallotRead More

Attorney: Central Washington ICE Arrests ‘Hostage Situation’ As Mother Traded For Son

By Esmy Jimenez June 29, 2018

A protester outside the Yakima County Jail Wednesday, June 27 joins several others in calling for the release of detained immigrants. CREDIT: ESMY JIMENEZ/NWPB

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made several arrests in Central Washington this week in Basin City and Pasco. In one case, a mother was detained even though agents were looking for her son. Continue Read More

Women Detained In Seattle Sue Federal Government Over Family Separation

By Marcie Sillman June 25, 2018

Mothers protest outside the SeaTac Federal Detention Center, where asylum seekers separated from their children were initially held. CREDIT: DANIEL BERMAN FOR KUOW

Three women separated from their children at the U.S. border and detained in the Seattle area are suing the federal government. Continue Reading Women Detained In Seattle Sue Federal Government Over Family SeparationRead More

Spate Of Illicit Western Washington Pot Busts Suggests Connections To China, Forced Labor

By Tom Banse June 21, 2018

Living rooms and bedrooms were found filled with marijuana plants in different stages of maturity.

In Tacoma, police tactical squads staged coordinated raids on middle class homes converted into indoor pot farms. What the authorities found follows a recent pattern in West Coast states: all of the marijuana growers arrested were immigrants from China who spoke little or no English. Read More

Washington And Oregon Plan To Sue Over Family Separation

By Lauren Dake June 21, 2018

Manuel, shown with his family, first came to the United States illegally more than two decades ago. He was one of the 143,470 immigrants arrested in the interior of the country last year by immigration authorities.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum plan to sue the Trump administration to ensure children who were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border are reunited. Continue Reading Washington And Read More

ICE Temporarily Shutters Portland Facility Due To ‘Occupy’ Protest

By Dirk VanderHart June 20, 2018

Tents line trolley tracks outside the ICE facility in Southwest Portland, Wednesday, June 20, 2018. CREDIT: DIRK VANDERHART Following two days of raucous heckling and disruption from Portland demonstrators, a regional office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has temporarily shuttered, the agency announced Wednesday. “ICE operations at this location have been Read More

Man Facing Deportation To China After Big Washington Pot Bust Seeks To Withdraw Plea

By Tom Banse June 15, 2018

CREDIT: A small portion of the illicit marijuana found during a three-county bust on Tuesday. GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

A Chinese immigrant arrested during the bust of a sprawling illegal pot growing operation last November wants to withdraw his guilty plea. The man claims he didn't understand his conviction could lead to deportation. Continue Read More

Parents Separated From Children At U.S.-Mexico Border Headed To Northwest Prisons

By Conrad Wilson June 9, 2018

In this June 4, 2018 photo, people seeking political asylum in the United States line up to be interviewed in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the U.S. border south of San Diego.

Over 100 men from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are being held at the federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon, according to an immigration attorney trying to gain access to the facility to provide legal counsel. ICE has contracted space for 130 beds at the federal prison in Sheridan and 209 beds at the SeaTac federal detention center in Washington. Read More

Some ‘Caravan Migrants’ Allowed To Apply For U.S. Asylum

By NPR News May 1, 2018

Eight women, four children and one 18-year-old were allowed to apply for asylum after the caravan reached the U.S. border following a month of travel on foot, train and bus. Continue Reading Some ‘Caravan Migrants’ Allowed To Apply For U.S. Read More

Yakima May Day March Organizers Wonder How Immigration Climate Will Affect Turnout

By Esmy Jimenez April 30, 2018

Yakima Valley Spanish-language radio news director Francisco Rios remembers the 2006 march, headlined by the Yakima Herald-Republic. CREDIT: ESMY JIMENEZ/NWPB

May 1st marks International Workers’ Day. In Yakima, May Day organizers are pushing last-minute flyers before their march on Tuesday. They hope for strong turnout from farmworkers, the immigrant community, and Latinos. But some are worried the political climate will affect attendance. Read More

Reprieve Of Legal Aid For Some Immigrants In Tacoma Detention Center

By NWPB News April 26, 2018

There’s been a reprieve on a legal aid program for immigrants facing deportation at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said workshops to help immigrants understand their rights can continue for now, while a review of the program continues. Read More

How Do You Say ‘Evacuate’ In Tagalog? In A Disaster, English Isn’t Always Enough

By Tom Banse April 20, 2018

Wildfire evacuation notices that non-native English speakers did not comprehend prompted a new state law in Washington. CREDIT: THAN TUASON

Nearly 20 percent of people in Washington and 15 percent in Oregon speak a language other than English at home. Emergency managers from around the West are grappling with how to reach people in foreign languages in the midst of a disaster, at a time when a new Washington state law is seeking to raise the bar. Read More