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Congressman Mike Johnson talks about the news that ICE has bussed Haitian immigrants to Shreveport the news that there may be more to come.

More than 75 Haitian immigrants were dropped off late last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Shreveport officials say there may be more busloads to come.

Buses carrying the Haitians left them at downtown's SporTran Terminal. The arrival of the immigrants came with little or no warning to city government.

"This is a crisis," says Johnson, saying that he and Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins heard the news of the buses about the same time. "I told the mayor that he needs to call the White House and get President Biden's attention, like I and my Republican colleagues are trying to do. We could fix this mess today, but President Biden and his administration are doubling down on...their crazy policies."

Here's what Johnson told KEEL News on Monday morning:

"We're going to continue to see this surge of immigrants and illegal aliens dropped all over the country for the foreseeable future until the White House reverses course.

I was told by ICE that these people have been in custody for some time. They (ICE) got an inexplicable order from Washington to empty out the facilities."

The Congressman then expresses more frustration that, with the COVID Delta variant surging, nothing is know about the medical conditions of those being turned loose. "The (ICE) don't know anything. They told me that almost none of the people that their dropping off speak English, most have no money and no plans once they arrive at these destinations like Shreveport...or wherever else they're going. They have no picture ID, no verification of identity. Their not COVID tested when they come across the border. This is a crisis. There's no law and order and it look intentional."

Look: How Shreveport-Bossier Has Changed from 2007 to Now

Could This Empty Building Be the New Shreveport Police Headquarters?

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Over 75 Illegal Immigrants Dropped in Shreveport, More on the Way - News Radio 710 KEEL

London At least 430 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the English Channel to reach the U.K. on Monday, the highest number to make the dangerous journey from Europe ever recorded, according to reports. The record daily crossings came as U.K. lawmakers debated an immigration bill that would make attempting the crossing even to make a legitimate asylum claim a crime.

The Nationality and Borders Bill, proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government and currently under consideration by parliamentarians, would continue to grant access to the U.K.'s asylum system for those who make authorized arrivals, on an airplane with a travel visa, for instance. But any person attempting to make an unauthorized entry into the U.K., like by crossing the English Channel on a small boat, would not be eligible for asylum in Britain, could be sent for processing to a "safe third country," and could face up to four years in jail.

Nearly 8,000 people have reached the U.K. in small boats so far this year, most coming ashore along the southern English coast, according to the BBC.

The Refugee Council, a British charity that works with asylum seekers and refugees, says between 9,000 and 21,600 people who currently qualify for refugee status no longer would if the law is passed.

"What the U.K. have attempted to do is to discourage people from entering the U.K. to claim asylum," Andy Hewett, Head of Advocacy at the Refugee Council, told CBS News. "If every other country in the world, certainly if every other Western country in the world, followed suit with similar legislation, then that completely undermines the 1951 Refugee Convention, the whole notion of responsibility-sharing, and our obligations under the convention that we should recognize people in need of protection."

Hewett said the bill would create a two-tier system, where some pre-authorized asylum seekers would have access to the refugee system while others who make unauthorized journeys to Britain would not.

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"The new Nationality & Borders Bill includes sweeping penalties for refugees who arrive spontaneously in the UK," the United Nations refugee agency in the U.K. said on Twitter. "The UK risks breaching commitments under the Refugee Convention that clearly protect the universal right to seek asylum and for refugees to access basic rights."

"There is an unacceptable rise in dangerous small boat crossings across the channel because of a surge in illegal migration across Europe," the U.K. Home Office said in a statement. "People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and not risk their lives making these dangerous crossings. We are continuing to pursue the criminals behind these illegal crossings."

Dr. Waheed Arian, a medical doctor who came to Britain as a refugee and has worked on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, published an open letter on Tuesday opposing the bill.

"Under this Government's proposed plans, I would not have been given the chance to become an NHS doctor, let alone learn English or study medicine at Cambridge University. I would have been classed as an 'illegal arrival', denied access to the asylum system, prosecuted for breaking the law, and summarily removed from the country," Arian wrote.

He's calling on British lawmakers to vote against the legislation.

"A person fleeing war or persecution will be criminalized if their arrival is not pre-authorized through, for example, a resettlement scheme. Most people running for their lives don't have the 'luxury' of requesting pre-approval. In Afghanistan, there was no 'legal' escape route available to me. I know too well that when your life is in danger, you don't stop moving until you feel safe," Arian wrote.

The proposed legislation has echoes of U.S. immigration policy under former President Trump, who sought to restrict asylum eligibility for those arriving at the border with Mexico.

The Trump administration tried to disqualify people who entered the U.S. without permission from getting asylum, and it also instituted a short-lived "zero tolerance" policy under which it criminally prosecuted people for entering without permission. If parents received criminal charges, they were separated from their children. A court struck down the first part of the policy, while the latter practice, which led to the separation of thousands of migrant families, was discontinued in the wake of mass public outcry.

Under Mr. Trump, the U.S. also brokered "safe third country" agreements with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in a bid to re-route asylum-seekers to these countries. Those deals have been scrapped by the Biden administration.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.

See more here:
Record number of migrants and asylum seekers reach U.K. by boat in a single day - CBS News

Congress has been focusing on agricultural labor in several ways this year. A Senate hearing on Wednesday will look at immigrant labor, the H-2A program and possible reforms for farmers to bring in more guest workers. The debate on these proposals often centers around whether to legalize hundreds of thousands of farm workers now in the country who are undocumented. (DTN file photo)

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to do what he can to reform the H-2A guest-worker program to bring in legal year-round labor for agriculture, as long as any piece of reform legislation does not include "mass amnesty" for the hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers in the country now illegally.

Grassley, a Republican and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke to reporters Tuesday morning about a Judiciary Committee hearing set for Wednesday, "Immigrant Farmworkers are Essential to Feeding America." The hearing will include Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, as well as the president emeritus of United Farm Workers of America, an Illinois farmer, an Oregon farmer, a former Department of Labor official, and the president of the National Pork Producers Council.

The hearing is expected to focus on flaws in the H-2A program, which brought in about 275,000 workers in FY 2020, and brought in nearly 166,000 in the first half of FY 2021, the most updated figures from the Department of Labor. Five states typically dominate the numbers of H-2A guest workers -- Florida, Georgia, California, Washington and North Carolina. They account for about 55% of all H-2A jobs. For many farmers and states, H-2A isn't well-suited for their labor needs.

"Employers in Iowa -- animal agriculture, agricultural processing -- is not a seasonal business, and that's what the H-2A program is for is seasonal workers," Grassley said. "So I hear from farmers and business who just can't find people to work."

H-2A should focus on providing access to a stable and legal workforce, Grassley said. But that should include expanding the program to cover year-round agricultural industries. The program should also be streamlined and the red tape reduced to deal with the high cost of using the H-2A program. And any changes to H-2A should also broadly implement the E-Verify program for agriculture as well, "so that we know that the people in the program are legally in the country."

Grassley followed up, though, stressing that any agricultural reforms for labor "should not include a mass amnesty of currently illegal immigrant farm workers." The senator again drew back to the 1986 immigration reform bill -- the last major immigration bill passed by Congress -- which legalized most undocumented immigrants who had arrived in the country before 1982. "We ought to learn from the mistakes of 1986," Grassley said., "Are we going to repeat them again?"

There are somewhere between 500,000 to 1 million agricultural workers in the country illegally. The number is difficult to pin down because the totals are unknown. Grassley recognized, "it's kind of a political complication," saying Democrats want to legalize everyone and Republicans don't believe these workers should be relieved of any responsibility for violating the law. "As a practical matter, I don't know how many millions of people would fall into that category of being agricultural, illegal people in the country," he said. "But you aren't going to hold them up and get them out of the country, I suppose the only answer is if you don't give them amnesty, they're still going to be in the dark."

Link:
Immigration Reform for H-2A and Undocumented Farm Labor - DTN The Progressive Farmer - DTN The Progressive Farmer

WASHINGTON, DC On Wednesday, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee about a proposed bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act that could provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers. The bill passed the House in March.

Im here today simply to advocate on behalf of American agriculture and these workers. To plead with the Senate to fix this broken system, to maintain the capacity of this great food and agricultural industry to continue to provide the benefits that we all enjoy in this country, and at the same time to provide respect and dignity to the farmworkers, who are working so hard to make this system what it is today, Vilsack said.

Related: 'I had an unknown weight on my shoulders': Undocumented farmworkers one step closer to more legal protections

During the hearing, some lawmakers supported the bill to provide legal status to immigrant farm workers.

Passing immigration reform that respects the dignity and the work of all immigrants its also recognition to their contribution to our economy and our national security, said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA).

But Republican lawmakers say they wont support the bill because they say it misses the mark on border security. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has called the committee to hold a hearing with the Department of Homeland Security.

There is no way in hell we can legalize anybody until we first understand the effect that it would have at the border and whether or not it would incentivize further illegal immigration, Graham said.

The hearing included testimonies from Arturo S. Rodriguez President Emeritus United Farm Workers of America, Linnea Kooistra of Kooistra Farms, and Shay Myers, CEO for Owyhee Produce.

This bill isnt about labor shortages and people skipping ahead of the line. This is about the American dream, the American voter, and the viability of an America that allows the dreamer to dream and the voter to create the change they dream of, Myers said.

In April, Myers invited the public to pick and keep thousands of pounds of asparagus for free because he could not find workers and did want the food to go to waste.

This year on our asparagus farm we lost 100% of the season's profits because we were unable to get domestic labor when Our 36 H2A workers were delayed at the border and arrived 90 days after our date of need. 90 days. We lost nearly 300,000 pounds of asparagus, he told the committee.

Related: Owyhee Produce invites people to pick asparagus because of a worker shortage

Myers also called for the committee to act on the proposed bill.

I strongly urge this committee to take action on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which must include green cards for those that keep America fed and consistent access to labor for farmers through H2A visas. The farm Workforce Modernization Act is one step many more are desperately needed)in the right direction of ethically right, economically smart, and safe policy, Myers concluded.

The proposed bill outlines a process of how undocumented farmworkers could earn a permanent resident card and citizenship. According to the bill, a qualifying applicant could apply for Certified Agricultural Worker (CAW) Status.

Requirements for CAWTo qualify for CAW, applicants must show proof they worked in the Ag industry for 180 during two years before the bills introduction, go through a law enforcement and security background check, and pay an application fee. If approved for CAW status, it would last for five years and a half.

Requirements for Permanent Resident (Green Card)CAW applicants would have to provide documents they work at least 100 days in agricultural labor for four years if the worker already works in the industry 10 years or more before the enactment of the bill. But it would be 8 years if the applicant works less than 10 years before the enactment. Pay the application fee and a $1,000 fine.

To see the changes the bill would make to the H-2A Visa program, click here.

Link:
Hearing held on immigration reform for farmworkers, Owyhee Produce participates in discussion - 6 On Your Side

Greek police have detained 10 foreign activists suspected of helping migrants enter the country from neighbouring Turkey, a spokesman said Tuesday.

A probe over several months on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos, all close to Turkish shores, led to the detentions, the northern Aegean police told AFP.

Of them, four belonged to different humanitarian groups suspected of "having facilitated the entry into the country" of migrants from Turkey, police spokesman Nikos Ververis told AFP.

They included a Norwegian, British and US citizen belonging to three different NGOs, as well as two Syrians and four Afghans, he said.

Ververis could not specify the nationality of the 10th suspect.

Eleftherios Douroudous, head of the northern Aegean police, said the operation, which kicked off in June 2020, targeted "illegal migration networks".

Police said the suspects created social media accounts and used migrants' information in support of their activism.

The European Union and the UN refugee agency UNHCR have repeatedly called on Greece to review allegations of turning back migrants from Turkey.

UNHCR has recorded around 300 incidents of alleged illegal expulsions around the Aegean islands and the land border between Greece and Turkey between January 2020 and March 2021.

But the conservative government in power since mid-2019 has consistently denied the allegations, insisting that arrivals have decreased significantly.

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10 held for 'facilitating' illegal immigration into Greece - Times of Malta