Washington Post: “Homeland security secretary tells politicians to cut back on the rhetoric”

At a conference hosted by Latino lawmakers, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson called for presidential candidates and politicians to tone down the inflammatory rhetoric regarding immigrants and immigration. As reported in the Washington Post, he said: 

All of us in public office, those who aspire to public office and who command a microphone owe the public calm, responsible dialogue and decision-making…Not overheated, over simplistic rhetoric and proposals of superficial appeal. In a democracy, the former leads to smart and sustainable policy. The latter can lead to fear, hate, suspicion, prejudice and government overreach. These words are especially true in matters of homeland security and they are especially true in matters of immigration policy.

Secretary Johnson said despite the perception that the number of undocumented immigrants was increasing, undocumented entries by immigrants into the US have declined overall—despite the recent surge in Central American migrants—to levels not seen since the early 1970s.  

In his speech, Secretary Johnson also decried the suggestion of building a wall on the US/Mexico border, and said that deporting eleven million undocumented immigrants—as Trump and other GOP candidates have proposed—is not feasible. “We’re not going to deport a population equal in size to New York City and Chicago,” he said in the Washington Post. "They live among us, we know them, they’re becoming integrated members of society.”

That said, Johnson recommends that the federal government should invest more in “technology for border security” as well as the ability to have in-country processing agencies in Central America to allow immigrants to more easily and safely bring children or spouses into the country. In addition, he continues to support the Obama administration’s calls for Congress to include a $1 billion aid package for Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras in the next spending bill to address the underlying causes of migration from Central America.

Johnson’s plea for a more civil political discourse comes amid the release of a report that shows immigrants are assimilating and integrating to the US effectively, arguably at a faster rate than previous immigrant generations. The extensive 400-page report, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, examines various factors from English proficiency, education levels, and family structure to health, crime, and employment. The report states:

Across all measurable outcomes, integration increases over time, with immigrants becoming more like the native-born with more time in the country, and with the second and third generations becoming more like other native-born Americans than their parents were. 

The reports also has some other interesting conclusions: integration into American society is happening at a faster pace than with previous generations since many immigrants typically now come to the US with some level of English proficiency; the "increased prevalence of immigrants is associated with lower crime rates—the opposite of what many Americans fear;” lastly, the “least educated immigrants” are “more likely to be employed than comparably educated native-born men, indicating that they are filling an important niche in our economy.”

London Sunset

Sunset in London near Buckingham Palace.

Back in London for business meetings and to see family, I had been enjoying the beautiful autumn weather...until the rain came. But the sunsets. Love a good sunset.

Segmented Realities

Segmented Realities by José Parlá at the Standard Hotel.

Artist José Parlá's recent artwork, titled Segmented Realities, is about immigration, so it's appropriate that it sits kitty-corner from our office in front of the Standard Hotel. Using his hands to shape the thick paint on these concrete slabs, the sculptures represent the translated memories from various places of his upbringing: San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he partly lived as a child; Miami, Florida, where he was born and raised; and Havana, Cuba, where his family originates from. In Document magazine, Parlá says the separate pieces "play the role of immigration" and the sculpture as a whole "carries the history of...who we are as people, who I am as a person[.]" Claire Darrow, creative director for the Standard hotels, likes the contrast between the hotel’s sleek glass and metal architecture with the artwork's rough concrete slabs. “They remind me of what the neighborhood used to be like,” she says in the New York Times, “what’s missing from the neighborhood now.”

All US Embassies and Consulates Will Be Closed on October 9

The State Department informed the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that due to a Department of State consular systems upgrade, consular operations at all US Embassies and Consulates will be closed to the public on Friday, October 9, 2015. Individuals who already have an appointment scheduled for October 9 will be contacted to reschedule. Application Service Centers (ASCs) connected to certain posts may also experience closures. Applicants should review individual consular websites for additional information in the coming week, and also should prepare for possible delays in visa issuance after this date.

Humans of New York: Migrant Crisis

As the U.N. General Assembly opens with a strong focus on Syria and the refugee crisis, and Europe and the United States continue to address the ever-growing number of refugees, it’s important to remember the human side of the story behind all the politics. And there are few better photographers for presenting the human side of any story than Humans of New York's Brandon Stanton. 

Humans of New York (HONY) was started by the Georgia native when after being fired from his job as a bond trader, he "thought it would be really cool to create an exhaustive catalogue of New York City’s inhabitants, so [he]…set out to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers and plot their photos on a map" but then his project "began to take on a much different character." Stanton started collecting quotes and short stories when he was taking the photographs, and after a lot of hard work and time spent on NYC city streets (he says that he'll "pass 1,000 people before I take a photograph"), his blog took off.

Millions of Different Hardships

With over fifteen million likes on Facebook and a New York Times bestselling book, HONY is one of the most popular street photography sites today. And now Stanton is bringing his unique focus to the refugee crisis gripping the Middle East, North Arica, and Europe. Noting that these migrants “are part of one of the largest population movements in modern history,” Stanton will be documenting their stories and the “millions of different hardships that refugees face as they search for a new home.”

The first story he shares is of Muhammad, who he first met last year in Iraqi Kurdistan. At the time, Muhammad had just fled the war in Syria and was working as a clerk in a hotel when he agreed to work as Stanton’s interpreter. Afterwards Muhammad had planned to travel to the United Kingdom with fake papers, but his plans did not work out. After one family tragedy after another, he makes a harrowing journey and finally ends up in Austria.

Muhammad says:    

The first day I was there, I walked into a bakery and met a man named Fritz Hummel. He told me that forty years ago he had visited Syria and he’d been treated well. So he gave me clothes, food, everything. He became like a father to me. He took me to the Rotary Club and introduced me to the entire group. He told them my story and asked: ‘How can we help him?’ I found a church, and they gave me a place to live. Right away I committed myself to learning the language. I practiced German for 17 hours a day. I read children’s stories all day long. I watched television. I tried to meet as many Austrians as possible. After seven months, it was time to meet with a judge to determine my status. I could speak so well at this point, that I asked the judge if we could conduct the interview in German. He couldn’t believe it. He was so impressed that I’d already learned German, that he interviewed me for only ten minutes. Then he pointed at my Syrian ID card and said: ‘Muhammad, you will never need this again. You are now an Austrian!’

New stories are being added every day.

Where the Children Sleep

Along with HONY, Swedish photographer Magnus Wennman is also currently documenting the refugee crisis with a strong focus on the individual stories of the people involved. In “Where the Children Sleep,” Wennman focuses on the migrant children sleeping on streets and in forests. He notes that “two million children are fleeing the war, within and outside of the country borders. They have left their friends, their homes, and their beds behind. A few of these children offered to show where they sleep now, when everything that once was no longer exists.”