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The White House hopes minor migration changes will appease voters ahead of the November presidential election.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at changes to U.S. immigration policy for asylum-seekers, Israeli strikes on Rafah, and mass labor protests in Argentina.
New Asylum Screening Timeline
U.S. President Joe Biden proposed changes to the country’s asylum system on Thursday. Although the new measures would not alter U.S. migration policy on a large scale, the move signals Biden’s focus on border security issues ahead of the presidential election in November, in which Republicans are hoping to use immigration concerns to aid former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Under the current system, a U.S. judge determines a person’s asylum eligibility during the interview stage. Thursday’s proposal, however, would allow officials who conduct the initial screenings to deny asylum status to migrants who pose a security risk, effectively speeding up the process of deportation for people with criminal records or those who otherwise would be eventually deemed ineligible.
Biden is not expected to face heavy pushback from either side of the aisle. But some experts worry that making screening officers determine whether a migrant is a security risk could place undue pressure on asylum officials at a time when immigration authorities are already facing high caseloads. Biden has struggled with record-breaking undocumented crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office in 2021.
Immigration advocates have also expressed concerns about whether migrants would get proper legal representation before their preliminary hearings if the timeline for determining asylum eligibility is moved up. The current system places little weight on initial interviews in order to ensure that migrants are not wrongfully deported, since many of these screenings take place soon after migrants survive perilous conditions to reach the United States.
Biden is expected to propose larger-scale migration changes as early as June while he considers more sweeping measures to block asylum-seekers and migrants from crossing the border. This could include using a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar immigrants from seeking asylum between designated ports of entry.
Last year, Biden announced a series of policies to crack down on paid human smuggling operations after the expiration of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that returned migrants to the border and denied them the right to seek asylum in the United States under the justification of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Biden replaced the ban with new policies determining that undocumented migrants would not be allowed to return to the United States for five years and could face criminal charges if they tried to do so.
Some Republicans have also accused Biden of prioritizing foreign crises, such as sending more aid to Ukraine, over securing the southern border. In April, conservative lawmakers tried to block an emergency spending bill because it did not tie border security provisions—which the GOP wanted and Democrats opposed—to increased aid for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. On Wednesday, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene failed to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson for his efforts in passing the spending package despite GOP migration demands.
What We’re Following
Rafah strikes. Israeli forces on Thursday massed on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah and carried out strikes on parts of the city despite international pleas to stop the looming ground invasion. Israel “cannot be subdued,” Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant said, adding that its troops will do “whatever is necessary” to combat Hamas. Around 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering in the city, sparking concerns that a major incursion would dramatically escalate the already dire humanitarian catastrophe. Israel issued an immediate evacuation order for roughly 100,000 Rafah residents on Monday. The United Nations reported on Thursday that more than 80,000 people have fled thus far.
The Israeli military made its first major incursion into Rafah on Tuesday by seizing control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The following day, Biden told CNN that the United States would halt additional offensive weapons shipments to Israel if it carries out a large-scale assault on Rafah; the White House has already paused one shipment of bombs. Israel’s security and war cabinets convened late Thursday to discuss the White House’s threat. “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Labor protections. Trade unions held a nationwide strike in Argentina on Thursday to protest President Javier Milei’s economic policies. The walkout was “in defense of democracy, labor rights, and a living wage,” according to the CGT, Argentina’s largest labor union. This was the country’s second nationwide strike in less than five months, and it follows Milei’s first legislative win last week, when he pushed through the lower house a controversial so-called omnibus bill that aims to privatize state entities and cut labor protections.
Milei came to power last December and immediately began pursuing a series of fiscal policies to combat the nation’s economic crisis. These included devaluing the peso, laying off government workers, and freezing all public works projects. Inflation has since skyrocketed to nearly 300 percent, giving Argentina the highest inflation rate in the world currently.
Ministry reboots. Ukraine’s parliament dismissed two key ministers on Thursday just weeks after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of agency reshuffles. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov was removed from office in what experts believe was part of an effort to break up what is currently the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development. “I am always ready for an open dialogue,” Kubrakov wrote in a Facebook post, adding that the decision came as a surprise to him.
Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi also left office on Thursday after Kyiv’s anti-corruption office alleged in April that he was involved in the illegal acquisition of roughly $7.43 million in state-owned land. Solskyi denies the allegations. The court has also ordered the arrest of Solskyi’s deputy minister for alleged involvement in the same land deal.
Also on Thursday, Zelensky fired the head of the department responsible for his personal protection after two of its officers were arrested this week for their alleged involvement in an assassination plot against the Ukrainian president and other top officials.
Odds and Ends
British comedy is finding a foothold in the nation’s Ordnance Survey. The national mapping agency is adding more than 9,500 unofficial nicknames of local United Kingdom landmarks to its emergency services database so first responders—who may not know, for instance, that a person calling for help from “Sausage Island” is calling from a popular rock on the northwest coast of Wales—can still get to the correct location quickly. Other locations will include the Dalek in North Yorkshire, Jabba the Hut in Lincolnshire, the Eye of the Butt in the Western Isles, and Crazy Mary’s Hole in Suffolk.
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