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Immigration22h ago

University of Maryland ‘teacher of the year’ detained by ICE in Texas

DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) said pharmacy instructor Berhanu Kibret overstayed visa and arrested him at Dallas-Fort Worth airport An instructor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore who only just received a “teacher of the year” award has been arrested by federal immigration agents under the command of the Trump administration . Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE (immigration enforcement agency) ) officials detained Berhanu Kibret, an instructor at the university’s pharmacy school, at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas, according to multiple news reports. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, confirmed Kibret’s arrest, citing an expired visa – but it stopped short of providing a location. His detention has generated not only great sympathy for his plight, but also a heightened sense of apprehension here on campus.” In a statement to the Guardian, the DHS said ICE arrested Kibret after he entered the US on 21 June 2021 on a visa set to expire on 31 May 2024. “Against our nation’s laws, he overstayed his visa and failed to depart,” the DHS statement said. “He will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings.” The Guardian has reached out to the University of Maryland, Baltimore for additional comment. Arrests such as that of Kibret have drawn criticism, particularly in light of the Trump administration’s repeated pledge to focus on targeting the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” for arrest and deportation. A Guardian analysis published in February found that 77% of people placed into deportation proceedings for the first time after Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025 had no criminal convictions. Kibret’s arrest came after ICE in July detained and later released a Johns Hopkins researcher at the Baltimore/Washington international airport. Speaking to several outlets during Ameaka’s detention, a Johns Hopkins spokesperson described her as a “respected member of our community”. “The university understands the fear and concern this instills in members of our community,” the spokesperson added. “Dr Ameaka was traveling in a personal capacity, and though we cannot comment on the specifics of her situation, we want to assure our community that the university is actively working to provide support for Dr Ameaka, including ensuring she has access to legal representation.” Documents reviewed by ABC indicated that Ameaka held a work authorization valid through 2029 and had a pending asylum case. Nonetheless, as ABC reported , the DHS had initially said of Ameaka: “In violation of our nation’s laws, she overstayed her visa. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.” Ameaka’s attorney on Sunday confirmed that she had been released from ICE detention.

Immigration1d ago

EU chief criticises Spain’s migrant plan after Ceuta crisis meeting

Migration commissioner says scheme regularising undocumented people ‘not a good signal’ for Europe Explainer: Why is Ceuta a migration flashpoint? Brunner said the past few days had been “a test of our resilience” and the EU’s external border. The situation, he said, was under control; no one had moved to mainland Spain and the EU’s border-free Schengen zone had not been affected. Twenty two signed a letter, organised by Italy and Denmark, that implicitly criticised Madrid’s plan to regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers as a “pull factor” for “illegal migration”. France was one of the few member states not to sign the letter of 22 EU leaders indicating readiness to reintroduce border checks, although it did step up its own controls. The EU’s foreign policy service was investigating the possible role played by Russian disinformation, but it was too early to reach conclusions, Brunner said. Migration has been a deeply divisive issue for the EU since the 2015-16 crisis, when more than a million people sought asylum in the union. The EU’s border agency, Frontex, reported 178,000 irregular border crossings in 2025, down 26% on the previous year and the lowest since 2021, when much of Europe was in Covid lockdown. The 2015-16 crisis paved the way for a sweeping overhaul of the EU’s asylum and migration rules , which came into force in June. The Greek prime minister, Kyriákos Mitsotákis, in an article for Politico , said countries should be able to suspend asylum applications for newly arrived people when facing “exceptional situations of extreme and disproportionate pressure”.

theguardian.com Read ↗

Immigration1d ago

Migrants stranded in Ceuta hope for a better future

Ceuta migrant crisis: Enclave at the centre of European immigration debate Ceuta, Spain – On a stretch of beach, crowned by vacant holiday villas, a few hundred people from African countries bask in the sun. At first glance, this is a typical holiday scene. But look closer: Some are engaged in laundry, thrashing their clothes against the rocks. A group is playing football, others are asleep. A few are bent over in prayer. They live here now, with little access to food, water or hygiene – a pitiful postscript to last week’s migrant surge from Morocco into Spain’s tiny enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. Tens of thousands of Moroccans were sent back under special arrangements between the two countries – something the Spanish government is eager to press home to its European Union neighbours, many of whom are pointing the finger . They have complex stories to tell in their longing for asylum, some escaping war, others fleeing poverty. Two others from Senegal were happy to admit they are economic migrants. “We are able-bodied, we have a lot to contribute,” said one of them, Omar. “We have come to work, not to beg.” It was this latter point that prompted a plan by Spain’s Socialist-led government under Pedro Sanchez to allow regularisation for up to one million undocumented migrants this year, helping address labour shortages caused by an ageing population and a shrinking workforce. To Spain’s indignation, the events at Ceuta have been seized upon, especially by the populist right, as the inevitable consequence of left-wing temerity, even if other factors were at play – social media, smuggling gangs, a great many migrant accounts of Moroccan border guards waving them through.

aljazeera.com Read ↗

News In Frames: The long swim to Ceuta

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University of Maryland ‘teacher of the year’ detained by ICE in Texas

EU chief criticises Spain’s migrant plan after Ceuta crisis meeting

Migrants stranded in Ceuta hope for a better future