1.7 million immigrants were reportedly arrested at the border between the United States and Mexico during the fiscal year of 2021, the highest number of arrests on record; the previous record was set in the year 2000 with 1.6 million immigrants. The vast majority of those arrested in the past year were single adults, around 1.1 million of the total, which is a large increase from the number of single adults in the last few years. The number of unaccompanied minors also rose from those in the previous years. Many of those arrested were expelled from the country under the effects of Title 42, a Trump-era policy allowing border agents to automatically deport any migrant who had passed through a country with COVID-19 infections on their way to the US.
Source: The Hill
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/578127-record-17-million-migrants-arrested-at-border-in-past-year?rl=1
The backlog of citizenship applications for eligible immigrants being processed by USCIS rose by 85% between the years of 2015 and 2020. According to reports, over 900,000 immigrants are currently waiting for their naturalization applications to be decided. Other applications, such as work permits and DACA, are also being affected by the delays; over 100,000 immigrants are in line for DACA applications between first-time applicants and renewals. Even with the removal of case quotas for immigration judges, a Trump-era policy that forced judges to process at least 700 cases every year and which judges cited as not allowing them to spend the appropriate amount of time on deciding individual cases, there is little likelihood that the backlog will see any improvement in the near future.
Source: Arizona Mirror; CNN
https://www.azmirror.com/2021/10/19/citizenship-applications-backlog-doubles-from-2015-to-2020/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/politics/immigration-judges-quotas/index.html
A new program is set to be released by the Biden administration that would allow Afghan refugees to settle into the United States with sponsorship by private groups. These sponsorship groups would be comprised of at least five individuals, and would be responsible, for at least 90 days, for helping the refugees with their life in the US; this would include financial support, housing, translation, education for children, job searches, medical assistance, and access to government programs. Potential sponsors would have to undergo training and background checks, as well as show their plans to support the refugees, but officials believe that the program would allow groups such as college clubs and human rights organizations to directly provide aid. Officials are also hopeful that the program could be expanded in the near future to include non-Afghan refugees.
Source: CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-administration-private-groups-sponsor-afghan-evacuees/#app
More than 160 allegations of abuse were levied against the Department of Homeland Security, specifically the agencies of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, between 2016 and 2020, according to findings by the humanitarian group Human Rights Watch. The alleged abuses include reports of sexual assault, physical beatings -- one man was struck so hard he suffered from swelling of the brain -- verbal taunts and insults, and threats of increased sexual and physical violence. In addition, there were numerous recorded violations of the immigrants' right to due process. Many of these state that agents forced those in detention to sign documents they did not understand, or wrote something completely contradictory to what the immigrants told the agents. There is currently no word on how these allegations are being handled by Homeland Security, although a representative of the agency stated that DHS "does not tolerate any form of abuse or misconduct”.
Source: Aljazeera; The Hill
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/21/internal-docs-detail-alleged-abuses-by-us-immigration-agents-hrw
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/department-of-homeland-security/577803-federal-officers-detail-abuse?rl=1