Editor’s note: We want you to know what’s happening, why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.
Congress’ border battle
In a begrudging statement Thursday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats would sign on to an emergency funding deal to boost the government response at the southern U.S. border. Democratic lawmakers sought more proactive language in the bill regarding the care of children in custody, but “reluctantly” agreed to the Senate’s version of the legislation.
Deal or no deal in Guatemala
Guatemalans will be the first to admit: They may not be the best-equipped nation to handle refugees, when so many of the country’s own citizens choose to leave for a safer life elsewhere. Yet the U.S. continues to try to broker a deal with the Central American country’s government to divert potential asylum seekers from Mexico and the US.
Detained children transferred
The U.S. government said it would move hundreds of children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents out of a Texas detention center and into better facilities. The announcement came days after a scathing news report about unhygienic living conditions at one Border Patrol location, as U.S. officials struggle to meet the needs of a surge of unaccompanied minors and families crossing the border without authorization. Days after the report, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that overseas the facility in question, announced he would resign from his position on July 5.
Dying on the border
Gurupreet Kaur was days away from her seventh birthday when she died in the southwestern U.S. desert earlier this month. Her body broke down under the blistering heat, while her mother and another woman had gone to look for water after crossing the border from Mexico in a remote area. Her death, and that of a Salvadoran toddler and her father attempting to cross the Rio Grande this week were the latest cases of children dying on the way to the U.S., as their parents seek better circumstances in a new country, while facing an arduous journey on foot.
Death, fighting prompt DRC exodus
Thousands of Congolese refugees are seeking sanctuary in Uganda in the wake of interethnic violence that killed more than 150 people this month.
IS orphans will head to Australia
Australia evacuated the children and grandchildren of two dead Islamic State fighters from a Syrian refugee camp. The two militants were originally from Australia. The orphans, ranging from 2 to 18 years old, are traumatized and in poor health after years of living in the so-called IS caliphate.
From the feds:
* In another Homeland Security leadership shakeup, John P. Sanders, head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is stepping down. Mark Morgan, who was leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will take over at CBP, and Matthew Albence will take the helm at ICE.
* An uptick in Haitian and Central African migrants crossing into the U.S. without authorization continues, according to one U.S. Border Patrol sector. Here’s more of VOA’s earlier reporting on this.