Migration

Historians and campaigners accuse US defence secretary of desecrating memory of soldiers who fell in NormandyThe US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been accused by historians and rights campaigners of “grotesque stupidity” and desecrating the memory of the soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy after he sought to link immigration to the D-day anniversary, saying that Europe was facing a different “invasion” of its shores.Speaking in north-west France on Saturday to mark the 82nd anniversary of the D-day landings, Hegseth seized on the moment marking the wartime liberation of Europe to reiterate the US administration’s longstanding attack on European immigration policies. Continue reading...

• The AI competition between the US and China has shifted from a struggle over microchips to a strategic battle for top artificial intelligence talent. • Major US tech firms, including Apple, Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft, are facing challenges as tightening US immigration policies discourage foreign experts. • This policy shift is prompting brilliant Chinese scientists to leave Silicon Valley and return to Beijing, potentially transferring critical AI knowledge and visions.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he was ‘very proud of my Republican colleagues for… making sure that Border Patrol and ICE are fully funded’Senate Republicans early Friday passed a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security with nearly $70 billion in new funds for immigration enforcement.The vote came after a more than 18-hour “vote-a-rama”, a process by which senators offer amendments to bills passed using the reconciliation procedure. The Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, had said earlier this week that he would use vote-a-rama to force Republicans into publicly defending the policies of Donald Trump, a move that ultimately forced Senate Republicans to drop their attempt to spend $1bn on security improvements for Trump’s White House ballroom.New abuse allegations have emerged against Greg Platner, a Democratic candidate for the Senate. Platner, a progressive running for election in Maine, has rejected the new report published on Thursday in the New York Times that included an interview with a Republican operative who accused him of womanizing, physical misconduct and making troubling comments about rape.Trump has suggested that his controversial ally Bill Pulte will investigate “rigged elections” while serving as the country’s top intelligence official. Pulte, whom Trump appointed as acting director of national intelligence earlier this week, is a “very smart guy,” Trump claimed on Thursday, “and you may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc, etc”.Pam Bondi on Thursday told lawmakers before the House oversight and reform committee that Todd Blanche, the man Trump has lined up to replace her, was “in charge” of the the US Department of Justice’s controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Continue reading...

North Carolina judge said Levi Mendez-Maldonado failed to show up in court – even after being told he had died in 2024An immigration judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, recently ordered the deportation of a young man who was killed in 2024, citing his failure to appear in court.Judge Amy Lee ordered the removal of Levi Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on 21 May. Mendez-Maldonado, originally from Honduras, came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor at age 17 and was murdered in a shooting in November 2024. Continue reading...

• The European Union has approved an overhaul of its migration policy focused on increasing deportations and establishing detention centers in non-EU countries. • At least five nations, including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Greece, are currently negotiating "return hubs" in Africa based on Italy's existing model with Albania. • The policy allows member states to form bilateral agreements with third countries to host these centers, a move critics have compared to the Trump administration's immigration strategies.

Officials say law will improve migration management by allowing more deportations of undocumented people EU politicians have promised to increase deportations of undocumented migrants, under a new law that critics say mimics elements of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown.Finalising a key element of an overhauled EU asylum and migration system, politicians have agreed a regulation that will enable national authorities to raid people’s homes to enforce deportation orders. Continue reading...

• Germany's net migration experienced a sharp 45% decline in 2025, falling to 235,000 people. • The decrease was driven by lower arrivals from Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, alongside a rise in German emigration. • Significant migration deficits were recorded with EU states, most notably Poland (minus 17,000) and Bulgaria (minus 14,000).