Editor’s note: We want you to know what’s happening, and 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.
Refugee restart
The U.S. refugee program resumed this week, after more than a month delay while the White House and Congress faced off over a dramatic cut to the number of refugees who will be admitted in the coming year. The final result? Largely what the Trump administration wanted.
Women take charge
If three’s a trend, then U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar started it — two Somali-American women won local elections in separate U.S. cities this week, both of whom — like Omar — came to the country as refugees.
UNRWA shakeup
The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees resigned during an internal investigation into how he was running the organization. Pierre Krähenbühl stepped down as UNRWA also faces a funding struggle following a cut to contributions from the United States last year.
Border wall breaches
People are cutting through Trump’s “virtually impenetrable” border wall, prying the metal rods enough to allow humans to pass through. These are parts of the barrier that replaced previous construction.
From the Feds
Polish nationals now have streamlined access to U.S. travel after being included in the Visa Waiver Program.
Two men were indicted this week in an alleged visa fraud ring that focused on South Koreans. More than 100 people paid the California-based suspects between $30,000 and $70,000 to come to the U.S., often with falsified documents.
