While summer is prime travel time for most people, not everyone gets to escape. But don’t worry: the next best thing to actually traveling is reading a good travel story. Here we’ve collected our favorite travel books. From fiction to nonfiction, Alaska to the Amalfi Coast, you can go on travel adventures without ever leaving your living room. – Joseph McKeown
Read moreSeasonal and Low-Wage Laborers in America: Now and Then
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced yesterday a one-time increase of 15,000 additional visas available to low-wage, seasonal workers under the H-2B visa program for the remainder of this fiscal year. This decision represents a 45% increase in the annual H-2B cap Congress has set at 66,000. This final rule, created by the DHS after consulting with the Department of Labor (DOL), requires petitioners to attest, under the penalty of perjury, that their businesses are likely to suffer irreparable harm if unable to employ H-2B nonimmigrant workers during this fiscal year. They must also provide documentation proving that they would not be able to meet their contractual obligations otherwise.
Read moreFree and Vibrant
Once Upon a Place
Afghan-American artist Aman Mojadidi has taken the current immigration-policy debate and used it as inspiration for his most recent art installation, Once Upon A Place. The interactive exhibit allows visitors of Times Square to step back in time and enter one of three “repurposed” telephone booths to hear the immigration stories from New Yorkers. Visitors to the booths can pick up the receivers and listen to the immigration-related stories, which range anywhere from two to fifteen minutes, and “broadly touch on themes of belonging and displacement." The storytellers come from different countries throughout the world, including Bangladesh, Mexico, Yemen, Ghana, Russia, and Tibet. The phone booths have been strategically placed in what Mojadidi considers “a highly visible, international space,” and he hopes the stories inspire listeners to confront stereotypes about immigration. He tells the New York Times: "This issue of immigration has become so politicized. Globally, any sort of major city is built on immigration rather than destroyed by it.”
What Is Immigration Jail Like?
Each day the United States detains tens of thousands of people in detention facilities and local jails throughout the country. More than 400,000 are detained (including border apprehensions) on average each year. People are detained in the border area in facilities run by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as in privately-owned and operated facilities throughout the country that are contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE also contracts local jails throughout the country to hold detainees held during removal proceedings.
Read moreNY Times: “In Blow to Tech Industry, Trump Shelves Start-Up Immigrant Rule”
The Trump administration announced yesterday that it would delay, and likely eliminate, a federal rule announced by former President Obama that would have let foreign entrepreneurs come to the United States to start companies. The decision, which will be officially published by the federal government today, was quickly criticized by key business and technology leaders. “Today’s announcement is extremely disappointing and represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the critical role immigrant entrepreneurs play in growing the next generation of American companies,” Bobby Franklin, the president and chief executive of the National Venture Capital Association, a trade association for start-up investors, says in a statement. He notes that while other countries are doing whatever they can to attract entrepreneurs, “the Trump administration is signaling its intent to do the exact opposite.”
Read moreAll Different
Federer and Fireworks!
While my fellow Americans were setting off fireworks and celebrating the Fourth of July with friends and loved ones (Happy Birthday, America!), I was cheering on Roger at Wimbledon. The seven-time Wimbledon champion won his first-round match against Alexandr Dolgopolov, with Dolgopolov retiring during the second set due to an ankle injury. Although this match wasn’t as exciting as I would have hoped, the win marks Roger’s record-breaking 85th single men’s victory at Wimbledon! He also became the third player ever to hit 10,000 aces. I briefly thought about setting off some fireworks at Centre Court to celebrate but wisely decided against it!
A More Inclusive America
State Department Issues Guidelines for Revised Travel Ban
The State Department issued guidelines for the revised travel ban after the Supreme Court partially lifted orders blocking the revised ban earlier this week. The State Department announced that the partial ban would go into effect worldwide beginning at 8pm (EDT) on June 29, 2017. The travel ban affects nationals of six countries—Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen—but does not apply to any applicant who has a credible claim of a “bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the US.
Read more