Migration Scholar Collaborative
@migrationcollab.bsky.social
1.9K followers 280 following 200 posts
MiSC is a community of scholars fighting to decriminalize migration and open wider pathways to legal immigration in the United States. Op Eds + Public History https://sites.google.com/lclark.edu/misc
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migrationcollab.bsky.social
MiSC vehemently rejects the war on immigrants and peaceful protestors in Los Angeles.

What we're witnessing is worsening anti-immigrant policies, with intensified enforcement.

Read MiSC's full statement below:

sites.google.com/lclark.edu/m...
https://sites.google.com/lclark.edu/misc
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Make sure you read MiSC scholar Mae Ngai's full article, "The End of Asylum," published by @nybooks to get the full picture.

drive.google.com/file/d/1CnsS...
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Ultimately, Ngai challenges us to confront this turning point.

The task requires addressing not only the end of asylum but the historical agendas that created a broken system. We must build a new framework that supports nation building while responding to global crises.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Despite the assault, a broad coalition exists:

🟠A Gallup poll shows 79% of Americans think immigration is good for the country.
🟠80% support legalization for unauthorized migrants.
🟠Only 35% support the current program of mass deportation.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Today, with civil violence & climate-related disasters driving migration, the old categories are even more nonsensical.

Ngai suggests we reverse Trump's collapse: Not by deeming all migrants "undesirable," but by considering all worthy of a place in the United States.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
🪖The political/economic split was systematically corrupted by Cold War interests.

In the 1980s, Nicaraguans (fleeing an anti-US gov't) had an 84% asylum rate. Salvadorans (fleeing a US-backed regime) had a low 2–3% rate. Asylum was a tool of foreign policy, not humanitarianism.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
A key insight: Trump ended the "distinction between political & economic migrants."

But, did this separation ever make sense?

🗽 The Statue of Liberty, the "Mother of Exiles," was seen as refuge for those fleeing persecution & poverty. This distinction has always been blurry.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
The administration didn't just target asylum seekers; it ended all refugee admissions (canceling flights for 12,000+ approved people) and moved to cancel Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over one million people from countries like Haiti, Venezuela, and Afghanistan.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
The wave of fear-mongering tactics includes:

🟠 Mass ICE raids on workers and communities (e.g. Hyundai factory & Home Depot laborers) as a spectacle of cruelty.
🟠 Violation of due process, like the arrest of asylum seeker Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema outside a NYC courthouse.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Ngai's new piece reveals the brutal, targeted campaign to gut the right to protection in the US from Day 1 of the new administration.

🧮 The data is chilling: between Feb & July 2025, over 50K asylum cases were formally denied—an all-time high of 77% of those decided.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
👣 The End of Asylum? 🧵

MiSC Scholar Mae Ngai forces us to reckon with the collapse of asylum under the second Trump administration and its deep historical roots in her latest, must-read article for @nybooks.com.

drive.google.com/file/d/1CnsS...
Reposted by Migration Scholar Collaborative
drernestocast.bsky.social
I will be talking tomorrow about immigrant realities rather than myths and misleading takes. Stop by if you're in the DC area.
Register here:https://f.mtr.cool/ktzzdppinr
Reposted by Migration Scholar Collaborative
marisakabas.bsky.social
SCOOP: The State Department's new reorganization plan includes the opening of an "Office for Remigration," a term popularized by far right extremists and neo-Nazis in Europe. The office will coordinate directly with DHS "to advance the President’s immigration agenda."

My report:
State Department set to launch ‘Office of Remigration’
The concept of remigration has explicitly neo-Nazi roots and has been popularized in Europe.
www.thehandbasket.co
Reposted by Migration Scholar Collaborative
unlawfulentries.bsky.social
Just returned from SF where I went with my cousins & their kids to explain the history of Angel Island immigrant landing depot. It's an island off of SF, look how close it is to SF, yet for detained immigrants who were there, it was a world away to getting to the US. Was in operation 1910-1941. 1/
Angel Island in the distance in the water, photo taken from a San Francisco scenic point with a few other tourists.
Reposted by Migration Scholar Collaborative
sanho.bsky.social
“Footage, obtained by the outlet, captured the musician face-down in the mud, with her instrument about two feet to her left, struggling as what appears to be a federal agent straddled her backside. A police officer stood next to the pair.”
The Feds then jailed her across state lines. For music.
Reposted by Migration Scholar Collaborative
brennancenter.org
Trump’s rationale for sending the military into American cities keeps shifting. But the purpose remains constant: intimidation. The Supreme Court and Congress must push back. bit.ly/3IWUMED
There Is No Insurrection
Troops are for national defense, not displays of presidential power. 
www.brennancenter.org
Reposted by Migration Scholar Collaborative
baltimorebeat.bsky.social
Immigration experts working in Baltimore say that authorities are increasingly focused on individuals who had previously been allowed to remain in the community while their cases slowly progressed through backlogged courts. baltimorebeat.com/indiscrimina...
A person adjusts a piece of art hanging on a wall.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Through firsthand testimonies, this bulletin lays bare the structural & institutional barriers that leave people with disabilities abused and neglected. This is a crucial call for scholars, advocates & policymakers to act on the findings.

Read it here:

drive.google.com/file/d/1lXcE...
Disability 2025.pdf
drive.google.com
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Poverty is often a direct consequence of disability. Without protective anti-discrimination employment laws, people with disabilities have few options. Some are exploited by gangs in Mexico and the Northern Triangle. In Cuba, the state is the primary source of violence.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Another common thread: violence & danger within institutions. Care facilities lack proper resources, becoming "life-threatening places." This is compounded by hospital concentration in urban areas, forcing rural residents to travel long, difficult distances for care.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
While recent legislation is progressive, enforcement is profoundly lacking. Laws stall or vanish into bureaucracy. This failure is clearest in education: segregated special ed remains the norm, often preventing students with disabilities from completing their studies.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
A key issue? Invisibility. Governments across the region fail to accurately track disability in official data. This absence of reliable data means policies cannot adequately address the needs of this community, further contributing to their marginalization.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Lupita’s inability to access proper care due to resource drain and the eight-hour bus trips for surgery led to her contracting COVID-19 and, tragically, her death in 2023 from complications related to unremoved kidney stones. Her story is not an outlier.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
The tragic story of Guadalupe Huerta Mora (Lupita) in Mexico City is a painful illustration. Physically disabled by domestic abuse, she was denied emergency protection by a judge, failed by multiple institutions, and unable to secure even the small disability pension.
migrationcollab.bsky.social
Despite differences in political systems & legal frameworks, these nations share a common failure: they marginalize and render invisible the experiences of disabled individuals in all spheres—healthcare, education, employment, and justice.