State Department ends Central American minor refugee program News
State Department ends Central American minor refugee program

The US State Department announced [press release] Wednesday that it will end the Central American Minors (CAM) refugee program, an Obama-era immigration initiative that sought to resettle “children and eligible family members who are nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.”

CAM was established as a response to the thousands of unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central American countries in order to seek asylum in the US. The program came under review [Reuters report] once President Donald Trump signed an executive order [executive order] on border security at the beginning of his term.

In September the White House sent a fiscal report [Politico report] to Congress stating that they were ending CAM “because the vast majority of individuals accessing the program were not eligible for refugee resettlement.”

Going forward, the US government will no longer accept applications for the refugee program. Instead it will focus [NYT report] on working with the Costa Rican government, the UN and the International Organization for Migration to come up with “more targeted” ways to assist refugees.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.