PORTLAND, Maine—Whereas touring north to the U.S. from Brazil, Teresa Matondo, an asylum seeker initially from Angola, stated she discovered about Maine’s largest metropolis.
“There have been individuals speaking about this city Portland, the place if you happen to acquired there, they’d assist,” the 35-year-old stated. She entered the U.S. in March together with her three youngsters.
They’re amongst no less than 930 asylum seekers to return to Portland to this point this 12 months, many both with permission to return to the U.S. by means of ports of entry or illegally alongside the southwest border. Like Haitians who’ve lately headed to Boston or Cubans arriving in Iowa, these migrants are reaching U.S. communities massive and small in the hunt for established immigrant teams, support and jobs. The surge has taken a toll on Portland, straining shelters, colleges and native support teams.
Ms. Matondo fled Angola after her husband from an organized marriage repeatedly abused her, together with beating her right into a coma, she stated in French by means of a shelter employees member who translated. Like many Angolans, she traveled first to Brazil earlier than making the journey by means of Mexico to the U.S. border. She crossed into California, roughly 3,000 miles from Portland.
Asylum seekers have been sleeping in a warming middle adjoining to a household shelter close to downtown Portland, Maine.
Asylum seekers have been sleeping inside a warming middle adjoining to a household shelter close to downtown Portland, Maine.Nicole Wolf for The Wall Avenue Journal (2)
Advertisement
The Maine metropolis of about 68,300 is at present sheltering roughly 1,110 individuals, lots of them asylum seekers. They’ve crammed metropolis services, but in addition lodge rooms and a middle-school gymnasium. Town plans to quickly start utilizing its conference middle as a short lived emergency shelter.
Some asylum seekers have been sleeping inside a warming middle subsequent to a metropolis shelter for households on the sting of downtown. On a number of current chilly nights there was solely sufficient room there for individuals to sleep in chairs.
“Once you’ve acquired to take a look at a little bit child and inform them you’ll be able to’t lay down on the ground, that’s powerful,” stated Mike Guthrie, who directs the household shelter.
Portland noticed a serious surge in asylum seekers in 2019, too, although the town famous the current inflow has been far increased.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
How can states put together for and handle the present inflow of migrants? Be part of the dialog under.
Advertisement
Maine is an growing older, rural state that wants newcomers to fill jobs, and Portland has welcomed asylum seekers as a refugee-resettlement metropolis for many years, stated Kate Snyder, the town’s mayor. Town additionally has an acute housing scarcity and rising costs, heightening the problem of discovering locations for newcomers to stay, the mayor stated.
“The strain proper now on emergency shelter is so unimaginable,” she stated.
Since President Biden took workplace, Border Patrol brokers have made greater than 4.5 million arrests of migrants from world wide crossing illegally into the U.S. from Mexico, in keeping with federal information. The sustained excessive quantity is at an all-time excessive.
Advertisement
Not less than 930 asylum seekers have come to Portland to this point this 12 months, straining shelters and colleges. Nicole Wolf for The Wall Avenue Journal (3)
Some migrants are launched and allowed to journey and briefly settle within the U.S., however they must file a proper asylum request in courtroom inside a 12 months and are additionally required to report again to immigration authorities.
So long as migrants present up at their assigned courtroom dates or report back to immigration as ordered, they typically can’t be deported and not using a decide’s order. That may take years amid a courtroom backlog of roughly 2.1 million pending immigration circumstances.
Usually, the place they settle is determined by a metropolis’s word-of-mouth fame.
Authorities in Nebraska and Iowa noticed greater than 1,100 Cubans register for social welfare advantages by means of the states’ refugee places of work through the 2022 funds 12 months. Within the prior two years, solely 31 such individuals registered for support in Iowa and none in Nebraska. Advocates and legal professionals stated a mix of rising migrant communities, obtainable jobs and a comparatively decrease price of dwelling have mixed to draw migrants to the Midwest.
Advertisement
Migrants have additionally surged into Massachusetts, together with many from Haiti. Persons are typically guided there as phrase spreads on WhatsApp, stated Geralde Gabeau, govt director of the nonprofit Immigrant Household Providers Institute in Boston, which helps many migrants upon arrival. Town has a big, established Haitian neighborhood.
“The minute that they arrive and discover a welcoming setting, they textual content individuals which might be nonetheless on the border,” Dr. Gabeau stated.
Jean-Maxon Charlemeau, initially from Haiti, stated he knew he was heading to Boston when he left Chile in August 2021 together with his spouse and younger son. They had been struggling to afford propane to prepare dinner after he misplaced his job as an electrician’s assistant, he stated.
The journey north was arduous however the household reached Massachusetts final Might and welcomed a second son in December. They now stay in Brockton, a metropolis south of Boston.
Haitian-born Jean-Maxon Charlemeau, together with his spouse and their two younger sons of their bed room in Brockton, Mass., south of Boston.
Picture:
Kayana Szymczak for The Wall Avenue Journal
Mr. Charlemeau stated he discovered about New England’s largest metropolis from a pal who had already arrived. “Since I used to be in Chile I’ve discovered if I come to Boston I’ll discover some help and a few assist,” he stated in Haitian Creole, translated by a Boston pastor.
Advertisement
Extra lately, a U.S. coverage shift has allowed Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans to return extra on to the U.S. beneath a provision of immigration regulation referred to as humanitarian parole if they’ve a sponsor. Dr. Gabeau stated her group has helped greater than 300 Haitians who’ve arrived that manner this 12 months.
Massachusetts Gov.
Maura Healey,
a Democrat, signed a supplemental funds final week that included $85 million to assist the state’s emergency-assistance shelter system, which homes many migrant households and has lately seen the best numbers in no less than 5 years.The laws additionally helps assist colleges experiencing a big inflow of recent college students as a consequence of shelter placements, the governor’s workplace stated.
Some mother and father of school-age youngsters on the household shelter stated they had been on college ready lists, and the Portland district stated it was dedicating extra employees to assist with a backlogged consumption course of. By means of January the district stated it has seen 612 new multilingual college students start this 12 months, increased than any full 12 months in additional than 20 years of accessible information.
Advertisement
The asylum seekers have many wants upon arrival, similar to heat clothes, authorized support and assist discovering and initially paying the hire as they await permission to work. The state has pumped about $1.2 million into native support teams whereas additionally investing in housing, together with overlaying hire as much as two years for tenants transferring into a brand new South Portland condo constructing.
Maine’s Democrat Home Speaker is backing laws that will permit low-income noncitizens to entry extra companies beneath the state’s Medicaid system.
Lumuangamu Kenge Madelena arrived in Portland, Maine, from Brazil together with her daughter after fleeing Angola.
Picture:
Nicole Wolf for The Wall Avenue Journal
For some, reaching Portland is one step on a nonetheless unsettled journey. Lumuangamu Kenge Madelena, 34, arrived there from Brazil greater than a month in the past together with her almost 2-year-old daughter. She stated she fled Angola greater than 5 years in the past, leaving a now 15-year-old son behind with household, to flee a violent ex-partner.
She remarried in Brazil and is three months pregnant, however her new husband stays detained on the U.S. border, she stated. She believes their completely different final names led to confusion about their marital standing.
“I’ve to hope God sends my husband right here,” she stated.
Advertisement
Write to Jon Kamp at Jon.Kamp@wsj.com and Alicia A. Caldwell at alicia.caldwell@wsj.com
While the holiday spirit will dominate the news agenda, there are notable developments to watch across the world, as the three defining themes of 2024 — elections, war and inflation — continue to hum in the background.
Georgia, on the other hand, will on Sunday swear in Mikheil Kavelashvili to the presidency, a pro-Russian firebrand and Croatia will hold a first-round presidential vote on Sunday.
On Monday, Mozambique’s top court is set to give a verdict on the country’s disputed election in October, while Albanian opposition parties block roads demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation
Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda will deliver a speech on Christmas Day. Economists will pore over his words for clues on how president-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect the pace and trajectory of monetary policy.
Advertisement
UK third-quarter GDP figures will be out on Monday, after months of disappointing economic releases for chancellor Rachel Reeves.
A Guatemala migrant has been arrested for allegedly setting a woman on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, early Sunday morning. The incident occurred at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station in Coney Island around 7:30 a.m.
NYPD apprehends suspect after deadly subway attack; community rallies for justice.(Mario Nawfal)
The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta, is believed to have entered the US from Guatemala approximately a year ago. It remains unclear whether he entered the country legally or illegally.
During a press conference Sunday evening, New York Police Department (NYPD) officials, including Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, explained, “As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim. The female victim was in a seated position.”
ALSO READ| German Christmas market attack suspect enjoyed beer and ate shrimp hours before killing spree: ‘He was always on…’
Advertisement
“The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”
Officers on patrol at the station were alerted to the situation by the smell and sight of smoke. While responding at the scene, they discovered a person inside the train car fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished with assistance from an MTA employee using a fire extinguisher. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Elon Musk and Mayor Eric Adams condemns subway attack
Zapeta remained at the scene after the incident. He was found seated on a bench outside the train car. Body-worn cameras worn by responding officers captured clear footage of the suspect. Tisch noted, “Body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a clear and detailed look at the killer.”
Following the release of the suspect’s description and photographs to the public, three high school students recognized the man and called 911. Transit officers confirmed the description and located the suspect on a moving train. The train was stopped at the next station, where officers boarded, identified the man, and arrested him without further incident.
ALSO READ| Can Elon Musk become US president? Donald Trump big remarks amid raging debate
Advertisement
New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed his condolences to the victim’s family, calling the attack a “senseless killing.”
“Grateful to the young New Yorkers and transit officers who stepped up to help our NYPD make a quick arrest following this morning’s heinous and deadly subway attack. This type of depraved behaviour has no place in our subways, and we are committed to working hard to ensure there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime.”
Tesla boss Elon Musk also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his frustration. “Enough is enough,” he posted, along with the Guatemala migrant’s subway CCTV shot.
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Miran, an economist who served during his first term, to chair his Council of Economic Advisers.
With the nomination, the president-elect is seeking to elevate to a White House economic post not only a critic of Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell but one who has accused the Biden administration of manipulating the economy and “usurping” the central bank’s role.
“Steve will work with the rest of my Economic Team to deliver a Great Economic Boom that lifts up all Americans,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday.
Advertisement
Miran was a senior adviser for economic policy at the Treasury department in the first Trump administration.
Currently a senior strategist at hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management, he said he was honoured. “I look forward to working to help implement the President’s policy agenda to create a booming, noninflationary economy that brings prosperity to all Americans!” he posted on X.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers is a three-person group that advises the president on economic policy.
Trump has threatened US trading partners, vowing to impose sweeping tariffs, including 25 per cent levies on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10 per cent on China’s imports, on his first day in office.
On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to impose blanket levies of 20 per cent on all US imports, as well as tariffs of 60 per cent on those from China, suggesting his second-term policies could be more protectionist and disruptive to the global economy and markets than his first.
Advertisement
The president-elect has also pledged to renew tax cuts he enacted during his first spell in the White House.
Earlier this year, Miran co-wrote a paper accusing Biden’s Treasury department of manipulating the economy during the election, arguing the government’s dependence on short-term debt amounted to “stealth quantitative easing and impedes the Fed’s ability to fight inflation.
“By adjusting the maturity profile of its debt issuance, Treasury is dynamically managing financial conditions and, through them, the economy, usurping core functions of the Federal Reserve”, he wrote with economist Nouriel Roubini.
“We dub this novel tool ‘activist Treasury issuance,’ or ATI. By manipulating the amount of interest-rate risk owned by investors, ATI works through the same channels as the Fed’s quantitative easing programs.”
In FT Alphaville last year, Miran co-authored a piece warning against the perils of a two-tier bond market, which “would impair Treasuries’ ability to serve as risk-free collateral underpinning the global financial system” and bring to the US the chaos of a defaulting emerging economy.
Advertisement
Miran has also hit out at Powell for urging more aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus in October 2020, about a month before that year’s election, to aid the economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Powell was wrong politically and economically when he urged Congress to ‘go big’ on fiscal stimulus in October of 2020, on the eve of a Presidential election, suggesting that voters favour Democrats’ $3 trillion proposals over Republicans’ $500 billion”, Miran wrote on X in September. “We know what happened next.”
Miran must be confirmed by the US Senate.
Last month, Trump named Kevin Hassett as chair of the National Economic Council.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25784221/247333_EOY_Package_Check_In_CVirginia_PRIME.jpg "10 great shows to stream on Amazon Prime Video from 2024")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25789444/1258459915.jpg "OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25546252/STK169_Mark_Zuckerburg_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg "Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23951353/STK043_VRG_Illo_N_Barclay_3_Meta.jpg "Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24924653/236780_Google_AntiTrust_Trial_Custom_Art_CVirginia__0003_1.png "Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps")