According to a report by CCTV News on August 29, on August 28 local time, the Rwandan government announced that as part of the acceptance agreement signed with the United States for illegal immigrants,Seven illegal immigrants repatriated from the United States have arrived in the country.
The Trump administration has pursued a hard-line deportation policy since taking office in January this year, including advocating that illegal immigrants who cannot be deported to their countries of origin be sent to third countries for detention, triggering a series of legal proceedings and disputes. The US Supreme Court ruled in June allowing the US federal government to deport illegal immigrants to third countries.
local timeAugust 4, Rwandan government spokesperson Yoland Makolo said,Rwanda has signed an agreement with the United States to accept up to 250 illegal immigrants deported from the United States。
It is reported that the agreement was signed by officials from the United States and Rwanda in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, in June this year, and the United States has submitted the first batch of 10 names for review by Rwanda.
Rwanda received 7
Illegal immigrants deported from the United States
According to a report by Xinhua Agency on August 28, the Rwandan government announced on the 28th that seven immigrants deported by the United States had arrived in Rwanda. This is the first batch of relevant personnel received by Luxembourg after the two countries signed an agreement on the deportation of immigrants in June.
Rwandan government spokesman Yolande Makolo told AFP that the first batch of "screened immigrants" arrived in Rwanda in mid-August,"Among them, three expressed their wish to return to their home country, and four wished to live in Rwanda." Rwanda did not disclose the nationalities of the seven people.
Makolo said the seven people will be provided with accommodation by an international organization and will receive visits from the International Organization for Migration and Rwandan social services personnel.
Rwanda has agreed to accept up to 250 migrants from the US under an agreement with the US, the government confirmed on the 5th this month. Rwanda will provide support such as labor training, health care and accommodation for migrants approved for "resettlement" in the country, so that they can quickly rebuild their lives in Rwanda and have the opportunity to contribute to "one of the fastest growing economies in the world in the past decade".
After Trump took office as U.S. president in January, he significantly tightened border control measures, accelerated the arrest and deportation of a large number of foreign personnel illegally residing in the United States, and promoted the repatriation of a large number of illegal immigrants to third-party countries where agreements were reached, including including illegal immigrants identified by the United States as "committing crimes" were sent toRwanda, El Salvador, South Sudan, Swaziland, UgandaWait for African or Latin American countries, or be detained at the US military base prison in Guantanamo。The move has caused considerable controversy in the United States and the international community, with legal and civil rights groups condemning the U.S. move as a violation of international law and humanitarianism.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse on August 21, an official from Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 21st,Uganda has agreed to accept immigrants who are not eligible to stay in the United States,This is the latest move by the United States to accelerate the pace of deportations.
With a population of approximately 13 million, Rwanda has been one of the countries with the most stable and outstanding economic performance in Africa in recent years. In 2022, the then Conservative government of the United Kingdom reached an agreement with Rwanda to deport illegal immigrants. However, due to criticism and legal challenges from civil rights groups, the deport was finally urgently suspended with the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights. YingThe plan was scrapped after the Labour government came to power.
US military builds largest immigration detention camp in Texas
$1.20 billion contract awarded to a small business
On August 28 local time, it was learned that the Trump administration awarded a contract worth up to 1.20 billion dollars (about 8.50 billion yuan) to a small Virginia company called Acquisition Logistics.Responsible for the construction and operation of the largest immigration detention center in the country in Fort Bliss, Texas.
The company has never previously undertaken federal contracts worth more than $16 million, and has no experience operating punitive facilities, registering addresses for just one ordinary residential home. The U.S. Department of Defense has refused to publish the details of the contract or explain the reasons for the choice, and contractor bidders have protested.
The new facility is expected toIt can accommodate 5000 immigrants, and the construction fund of US$232 million for the first batch of 1000 beds has been allocated by the military.The contract requires the contractor to be responsible for security and medical care in addition to construction, and strictly control external information.
Critics are concerned that the lack of transparency and oversight at the military base camps could lead to abuse and uncontrolled management. The contract is currently under review by the Government Accountability Office and a federal court.
The United States is reinstating immigration requirements for applicants
Conduct a "neighborhood survey"
According to U.S. media reports, a policy memorandum recently released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that the U.S. government is resuming "neighborhood surveys" of U.S. citizenship applicants.
The system reportedly requires investigators to conduct "on-the-ground investigations," which may include interviews with the applicant's neighbors, co-workers and others, to determine that the applicant meets the requirements to obtain U.S. citizenship.
Doris Meissner, a former director of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, said the US government had largely stopped "neighbourhood surveys" because they were inefficient, cumbersome and rarely yielded useful information.
US media: U.S. immigrant population for decades
First "net outflow"
According to reference news on August 27, citing US media reports, the latest census data analysis released by the non-partisan Pew Research Center on the 21st showed thatThe first "net outflow" of immigrants from the United States in decades.Between January and June this year, the U.S. foreign population, including legal and illegal immigrants, fell by nearly 1.5 million. As of June, the total number of immigrants in the United States was 51.9 million, down from 53.3 million six months ago.
Trump administration officials welcomed the "net outflow" of immigrants, saying pressure on government services had eased and the job market had rebounded.Some supporters of cracking down on illegal immigration even say that the current crackdown is not enough.
But experts predict that if the trend continues, the US will face negative economic and demographic consequences. Immigration is a key workforce in many industries, and the country's dependence on immigrants is deepening as more baby boomers retire.
Net immigration numbers-the difference between inbound and outbound immigrants-have turned negative. According to Jeffrey Parcells, chief demographer at the Pew Research Center, the shift is "a demographic certainty" so far in 2025.
Tara Watson, an economist at the Brookings Institution and one of the report's authors, said: "A sharp decline in immigration would hurt the economy."
She said political resistance and legal challenges could prompt the Trump administration to ease its crackdown on immigration, thus mitigating the impact. But recent legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Congress to sharply increase funding for immigration enforcement suggests such restrictive policies could continue throughout Trump's term.
Watson pointed out that if that happens,"we may see a continued decline in immigration numbers," which would weaken the United States 'competitiveness in global talent. "If the situation continues to deteriorate, the United States will no longer be the first place for people to pursue scientific or technological research, which could have cross-generational implications," she said.
Doyle Myers, professor of demography at the University of Southern California, said: "We have a growing number of people over the age of 65 and not in the workforce. It takes 20 years for newborns to play a role, but young immigrants can contribute immediately."
He stressed: "If we crack down on immigration vigorously, reduce immigration flows, and then impact the labor market, we will all feel negative consequences in our daily lives."
He said that restaurants, farms and assisted living facilities are already facing labor shortages that are likely to get worse in the future. These jobs are mostly filled by undocumented immigrants. According to the Pew Research Center, the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States will reach 14 million in 2023, accounting for 4% of the total U.S. population and about a quarter of the immigrant population.
The atmosphere of fear created by strong law enforcement has seriously disrupted the daily lives of immigrant families.Across the United States, many immigrant families are reducing their travel abroad.Reports of deportees being deported to third countries such as South Sudan or to their shattered homeland have prompted some to choose to leave the country voluntarily rather than risk detention and deportation.
46-year-old Lillian Devina Wright chose to use the government's new self-deportation program to return to Brazil. Wright, previously a housekeeper in North Carolina, saidShe began to panic when she saw immigrants "being hunted like repeat criminals."
"I've never done anything bad in my life," she said."Suddenly I could be put in prison."
Patrick Garcia, executive director of an advocacy group in Charlotte, North Carolina, said he was aware of at least 10 migrant families who had left voluntarily to return to South and Central America.
"What was rare in the past is now the norm," he said, predicting more departures as Christmas and winter approached.
Garcia says:"People are saving up desperately to leave before the end of the year."
Edited|Cheng Peng, Du Hengfeng
proofreading|He Xiaotao
Cover image source: CCTV News
Daily economic news is synthesized from CCTV News, Xinhua Agency, and reference news