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A healthcare worker receives a dose of the Moderna vaccine in San Diego, Calif., December 22, 2020.(Bing Guan/Reuters)

President Biden said Friday that illegal immigrants in the U.S. should be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine without fear of being targeted by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

I want to make sure they are able to get vaccinated and so theyre protected from COVID without the ICE or anyone interfering, Biden said in an interview with Univision during a visit to a vaccination site in Texas. They should . . . not be arrested for showing for being able to get a vaccination.

The Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this month that ICE would not conduct enforcement activities at or near vaccination sites.

It is a moral and public health imperative to ensure that all individuals residing in the United States have access to the vaccine, the agency said in a statement then. DHS is committed to ensuring that every individual who needs a vaccine can get one, regardless of their immigration status.

The Biden administration has focused on creating equity in its vaccine distribution plans, working to target underserved communities as well as illegal immigrants.

We do feel, as an administration, that ensuring that all people in the United States, undocumented immigrants as well, of course, should receive access to a vaccine because that one is morally right but also ensures that people in the country are also safe, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last month.

Republican lawmakers in January sought to add a stipulation to Bidens $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan that would havemoved undocumented immigrants to the back of the line for vaccinations.

No vaccines for illegal immigrants jumping to the head of the line to get vaccines, Representative Jeff Duncan (R., S.C.), the amendments sponsor, said when introducing the amendment. Theyve done it once, by jumping to the head of the line to enter this country, and theyll do it again.

However, Democrats have argued that illegal immigrants hold jobs as essential workers across the country and withholding the shots from a swath of public-facing workers would not help slow the spread of the virus.

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Biden: Illegal Immigrants Should Be Able to Get Vaccine without Fear of ICE - National Review

The Tunisian Ministry of the Interior announced on Friday that the National Guard's naval units had managed to thwart three illegal immigration attempts made by 27 people, who were heading for Italy.

This came in a statement issued by the ministry, of which Anadolu Agency obtained a copy. The statement disclosed: "The naval units of the National Guard in the governorates of Nabeul and Bizerte managed on Thursday evening to thwart three surreptitious crossings of the maritime borders towards Italy from the Tunisian coasts, arrested 27 persons, and seized a sum of money in foreign currency."

The statement added: "The Public Prosecution has ordered taking the necessary legal measures in this regard."

On Monday, the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior announced that the National Guard's naval units were able to rescue 103 illegal immigrants whose boat broke down while they were sailing towards Italy.

Since the revolution of 17 December, 2010, Tunisia has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of irregular migrants, despite the tightening of security measures on the coasts.

READ: The power struggle in Tunisia and possible solutions

According to official figures, 22,000 young people illegally immigrated in 2011, heading towards the Italian coasts.

Last August, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) confirmed that there had been a 19.63 per cent increase in unemployment since the previous year.

Irregular migration to Europe continues, especially towards Italy, where migrants hope to find jobs and better life prospects to escape the repercussions of the economic and political crises facing most countries in the region.

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Tunisia: 3 illegal immigration attempts thwarted for second time in a week - Middle East Monitor

A Canadian national pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a financial scheme to smuggle illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka into the United States by way of the Caribbean.

Sri Kajamukam Chelliah, 55, of Sri Lanka, admitted to conspiring with others to facilitate the travel of illegal from Sri Lanka through Haiti, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas to the U.S. around July 2019 through October 2019, according to his plea agreement.

Shadow of a prisoner inside a prison cell projected on the ground. (iStock)

The Justice Department (DOJ) said Chelliahs scheme involved him working with other human smugglers, arranging housing and transport for illegal aliens en route to Canada through the U.S.

Chelliah arranged for the illegal immigrants to be transported from the airport in Port Au Prince, Haiti, to a hotel where Chelliah provided housing and food.

Chelliah then arranged for transportation by boat from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos Islands, then to the Bahamas, and then by boat to Miami. He also accompanied the individuals, including traveling with them by boat. Chelliah and his co-conspirators smuggling activities were done in exchange for payment, the DOJ said.

RAND PAUL: LOT OF 'HYPOCRISY' FROM BIDEN ADMIN ON IMMIGRATION, MIGRANT FACILITIES

Chelliah admitted that in October 2019, the six aliens accompanying him boarded a Haitian sloop sailboat heading for Turks and Caicos. Authorities from those islands interdicted the sailboat and arrested Chelliah on local immigration charges and sentenced him to 12 months in prison.

Following the completion of his prison sentence, he was placed in immigration detention in Turks and Caicos. He was later arrested last July by Turks and Caicos authorities based on a provisional arrest request submitted by the U.S. government.

Chelliah was extradited to the U.S. in August and the criminal complaint was unsealed at his initial appearance on the same date.

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"By participating in a smuggling operation which planned to illegally transport individuals through various countries, including the United States, the defendant jeopardized the national security of the United States for his own financial benefit" said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division.

Chelliahs sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

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Canada national pleads guilty to attempting to bring illegal immigrants into US by way of the Caribbean - Fox News

For two decades a debate has swirled over legal and illegal immigration to the United States, that too often leaves the biggest questions unanswered.

Now, President Joe Biden is adding his vision.

The legislation he proposes includes many improvements that have been supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the past, albeit not often at the same time. And a lot of what he wants to change could be accomplished without legislation, because the federal courts have consistently ruled that a president has significant latitude over immigration. But Biden is right to go the legislative route, to seek a consensus on how to fix a broken system. The past cycle of executive orders loosening and tightening immigration and deportation has destabilized our policies, and caused confusion and hardships for individuals and industry.

Before parsing Bidens plan, however, there are fundamental questions to address. Do we still want to be a nation welcoming new immigrants? Can a country that built itself into a uniquely successful society by welcoming nearly all comers continue to do so?

We say yes.

The benefits of immigration for the United States do not belong only to some sepia-toned past, nor do they come only from the nations that have traditionally fed our population. The arguments against immigration are not new: the canards now used to justify closing the doors to immigrants from Central America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa are the same ones leveled against the Irish, Jews, Italians and Greeks in the past.

Immigrants do learn the language, if haltingly, but their children born here speak it perfectly. Immigrants do become "Americans," embracing our customs even as they maintain their own heritage. Newcomers generally work hard, obey the law, buy homes, create more jobs especially in small businesses than they fill, and enlist in the military in large numbers.

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The immigrants who battle to get here are, in some sense, the most American of Americans, and we need more of them to fill the demographic and workforce needs of an aging populace.

So how do we get to a sane system that would accomplish these goals? Bidens proposal is a start. It would:

These are, broadly speaking, the right measures. Ideally, theyd be passed as one comprehensive bill, but if it has to be broken into passable pieces, that could work, too.

The goal now is a humane, fair and welcoming policy that keeps criminals out while ushering aspiring Americans in, via laws our nation can feel are equitable and reasonable to enforce. Thats the litmus test that President Ronald Reagans comprehensive overhaul of immigration in 1986 failed to meet, souring many on later efforts to provide a path to citizenship for people who came here illegally after that amnesty. Under Reagan, 4.5 million undocumented immigrants were granted a path to citizenship on the premise that the new rules would be tough enough to stem the influx of more people who dont follow the legal steps for residency.

Thirty-five years and 11 million more undocumented immigrants later, the lessons are clear. The worldwide hunger to become an American is unchecked, as poverty and violence in other nations contrast with the unlimited opportunity here.

The time has come to establish immigration laws and policies compassionate enough that we dont balk at enforcing them, and strong enough to keep our nation safe. Bidens plan, in both tone and text, is a strong start.

- The editorial board

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The United States needs a humane immigration system - Newsday

FILE PHOTO: Border security soldiers guard border control as Haitians wait to cross the border, in Dajabon, Dominican Republic, September 22, 2019. . REUTERS/Ricardo Rojas/File Photo

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - The Dominican Republic will begin constructing a fence along its 376-kilometer (234 mi) border with Haiti later this year to curb unauthorized migration and illicit trade, President Luis Abinader said on Saturday.

In a period of two years, we want to put an end to the serious problems of illegal immigration, drug trafficking and the movement of stolen vehicles, Abinader said in a presentation to Congress.

Construction of the border fence, whose cost has not been disclosed, will begin in the second half of 2021, Abinader said.

The barrier will include a double-fence in the most conflictive sections, along with motion sensors, facial recognition cameras and infrared systems, he added, speaking on the 177th anniversary of the countrys independence from Haiti.

According to government estimates, about 500,000 Haitian immigrants resided in the Dominican Republic as of 2018, along with tens of thousands of their children born in the Caribbean country. A large part of the Haitian community, which makes up about 5% of the total population, does not have residency permits.

The announcement came a month after the government agreed to help Haiti provide identity documents to its citizens living in Dominican territory.

Reporting by Ezequiel Abiu Lopez; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie Adler

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Dominican Republic to construct fence along border with Haiti - Reuters