President Biden proposes increased border security funding in the 2024 budget

In his proposed budget, President Biden would allocate nearly $25 billion to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This funding would allow the agencies to hire 350 additional Border Patrol agents and 460 additional processing assistants, invest in border technology at and between ports of entry, go toward processing a growing asylum caseload and reducing the backlog of immigration benefits requests, support the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, and rebuild refugee resettlement infrastructure

Frustrated migrants gather at the Paso del Norte Bridge in response to false reports that the border was temporarily open

Hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants hurried through the toll booths on the Mexico side of the Paso del Norte bridge on Sunday and reached the top as U.S. CBP officers blocked them from entering the United States. They were responding to false social media rumors that the border was temporarily open. Migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti are frustrated with the CBP One app that they are required to use in order to access the humanitarian parole program extended to them by the Biden administration. There are a number of challenges with the app’s performance, making it extremely difficult to schedule an appointment with CBP. The migrants who were on the bridge Sunday also shared their frustrations with the lack of space in shelters in Juarez and with Mexican police who daily confiscate the money they earn through informal labor.

Thousands of Ukrainians will be allowed to remain in the U.S. for another year

Ukrainians who arrived in the U.S. shortly after Russia invaded their country in February 2022 have been granted an extension of their initial 12-month humanitarian parole. This extension applies to those who arrived before the official start of the Uniting for Ukraine program, which provides two years of parole to those who entered the U.S. after its implementation.

Once a refugee, Vietnamese actor Ke Huy Quan, celebrates an Oscar win

Ke Huy Quan won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in the movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” "My journey started on a boat," Quan said. "I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here." Quan is only the second Asian performer to win an Oscar for best supporting actor. The first was Haing S. Ngor, a Chinese Cambodian refugee who won for his role in the 1984 movie “The Killing Fields.”