VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, August 14–20
Newly arrived migrants find immigration barriers; employers struggle to hire workers
Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. Venezuelan Immigrant: 'I Regret Having Come to the United States': After walking for four months across nearly half a continent, a pregnant Venezuelan citizen says she regrets migrating to the United States. VOA reporter Divalizeth Cash met her twice in Delaware and Washington. In this first installment of a two-part series, this Venezuelan asylum-seeker and her partner tell their story, narrated by VOA's immigration reporter Aline Barros. 'Now Hiring': US Employers Struggle to Find Enough Workers: Salespeople, food servers, postal workers — "Help Wanted" ads are proliferating across the United States, as companies struggle to deal with a worker shortage caused by the pandemic, a rash of early retirements, and restrictive immigration laws. Migrants, Recently Arrived in US, Grapple With Immigration Barriers: As migrants continue to arrive in Washington from Texas- and Arizona-chartered buses, a recently arrived Colombian asylum-seeker shared his story of the barriers he faced after he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. This is the second installment of a two-part series by VOA reporter Divalizeth Cash and VOA's immigration reporter Aline Barros. Australia Urged to Speed Up Afghan Humanitarian Resettlement Process: Australia’s Immigration minister, Andrew Giles, is reviewing Canberra’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan a year after the Taliban reassumed control. Campaigners are calling on Australia to grant more visas to refugees seeking to flee the conflict-torn country. Story by Phil Mercer for VOA. UN Rights Chief Calls for Independent Probe of Bangladesh Disappearances: The U.N. high commissioner for Human Rights called Wednesday for the Bangladesh government to establish “an impartial, independent and transparent investigation” into allegations of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killing, and torture. Michelle Bachelet also visited the Rohingya refugee camps in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar and met Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh in the face of persecution and killings by the Myanmar military, which the U.N. says were conducted with “genocidal intent.” — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is expanding its training. The agency is hosting training sessions to help community partners prepare eligible immigrants for the naturalization process.