Reuters: on Immigration

Alejandro Mayorkas: End forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico

Doug Ducey: Better border security without comprehensive reform

With the vote decided, Brewer joined Ducey on the victory platform, despite having backed [Ducey's opponent] Smith, praising his candidacy in an effort to unify the party for the race ahead.

Ducey campaigned on rejuvenating the state's economy, improving education and shaking free of federal constraints. While calling for better border security, he avoided demands for comprehensive immigration reform and providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants that might alienate some voters.

Eric Schmitt: FactCheck: Operation Talon postponed by ICE, not Biden

FactCheck by Reuters News Service: Posts circulated on social media claiming that the new president had canceled Operation Talon, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiative aimed at deporting sex offenders living in the United States illegally. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Reuters the operation was not canceled but postponed, and the logistical decision to do so was made by ICE operators, not the president.

Pope Francis: Separating immigrant parents from children is immoral

One of his most pointed messages concerned Pres. Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy, in which US authorities hold illegal immigrant adults in jail while their children are sent to government shelters.

US Catholic bishops have joined other religious leaders in the US in condemning the policy. "I am on the side of the bishops' conference," the pope said, referring to two statements from US bishops this month. "Let it be clear that in these things, I respect the bishops conference."

"It's not easy, but populism is not the solution," Francis said. The pope said populists were "creating psychosis" on the issue of immigration.

Pope Francis: We should receive asylum-seekers, not reject them

He spoke at length about immigration, a controversial issue in Europe as well as the US. The populist Italian government has refused port access to non-government ships that have been rescuing asylum-seekers trying to cross to Italy from Africa in flimsy boats.

"I believe that you cannot reject people who arrive. You have to receive them, help them, look after them, accompany them and then see where to put them, but throughout all of Europe," Francis said.

"Some governments are working on it, and people have to be settled in the best possible way, but creating psychosis is not the cure," he added. "Populism does not resolve things. What resolves things is acceptance, study, prudence."

Rick Snyder: 50,000 skilled worker visas to repopulate Detroit

The EB-2 visas would be aimed at individuals with advanced degrees and exceptional skills in fields like the auto industry and life sciences, Snyder said. EB-2 visas allow individuals with special talents to enter the country without a job offer. There is no precedent for special visas to be issued for a specific geographic area, Snyder said. But he compared the program to a current one that grants visas to physicians who agree to work in under-served areas.

"Where else could you find a house for the prices you're going to find here? It's a good deal," Snyder said.

Alejandro Mayorkas: We'd like to stop border wall, but Congress required it

PROMISE BROKEN: (Reuters, 10/6/23): Biden's administration said it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico, carrying forward a signature policy of former President Trump. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the construction project was appropriated during the prior administration and the law requires the government to use the funds, with an announcement made earlier in the year. "We have repeatedly asked Congress to rescind this money but it has not done so and we are compelled to follow the law," he said.

Joe Biden: Promised "not another foot of wall"; but added Southern wall

PROMISE BROKEN: (Reuters, 10/6/23): Biden's administration said it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the construction project was appropriated during the prior administration and the law requires the government to use the funds. "We have repeatedly asked Congress to rescind this money but it has not done so and we are compelled to follow the law," he said.

Pope Francis: Grave sin not to offer aid to migrants

The pope has spoken frequently about the treatment of migrants over his 11-year papacy. Migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in simple crafts or home-made dinghies from northern Africa and the Middle East have been the subject of intense debate across Europe over the past decade.

In recent weeks, the pope had been offering a series of reflections about Catholic spiritual matters in his weekly audiences. The pope said he was postponing that series this week, to consider "people who are crossing seas and deserts to find a place where they can live in peace and security".