Highest monthly number of refugee admissions in more than six years

The State Department released its data for refugee admissions in the month of May, showing that 6,975 refugees were resettled. This is the highest monthly total since December 2016. The total number of admissions for 2023 stands at 31,797, the highest annual total in the last 5 years, with four months left in the fiscal year.

DHS announces a new process for Afghans to renew their humanitarian parole

In May, the Biden administration had announced an extension of parole for Afghans who did not arrive in the U.S. with regular refugee status due to the swift evacuation from their country.  The extension will lengthen humanitarian parole and employment authorization for 2 more years. Last week the Department of Homeland Security announced the process for Afghans to apply for re-parole. There will be no application fee and applications can be submitted either online or by paper.

U.S. stops taking online asylum appointments at the border crossing in Laredo, TX

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has stopped scheduling appointments made through the CBP One app at the Laredo, TX point of entry without providing an explanation. Several migrants attempting to apply for asylum through the app told reporters that Mexican officials in Nuevo Laredo, the town across the border from Laredo, had threatened to make them miss their appointments unless the asylum seekers paid them. Humanitarian groups in the area had previously informed CBP that criminal groups have been controlling the border crossing on the Mexican side. Advocates say that this situation brings into question the Biden administration’s assurance that Mexico is a safe country in which migrants can seek asylum.

Mexico to launch an app for asylum processing

With the number of asylum requests soaring in Mexico since the end of Title 42, the country is planning to launch its own app to allow asylum seekers to register their asylum requests in hopes that it will speed up processing. The app will be launched in Mexico City first, with plans to add other areas later. Andrés Ramírez, head of COMAR, Mexico’s refugee assistance agency, says an app is necessary to handle the overwhelming number of applications being received in the city since the beginning of May, surpassing those received by the southern city of Tapachula, which borders Guatemala.

This week's news blog was written by Jen Wellman.