The National Association of Immigration Judges, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 511, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association are calling for all immigration courts across the country to close for at least two to four weeks as the coronavirus outbreak continues, reports Monique O. Madan in the Miami Herald.

“The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) current response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread is insufficient and not premised on transparent scientific information,” the groups wrote in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. “[We] urge immediate action to close our courts in light of the broad scope of the health and safety challenges facing our nation and the immigration court system.”

Big thank you to the Forum team, teleworking since Thursday, for Monday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].

ROUGH WATERS – Travel restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic are having an acute impact on Filipino cruise ship workers, Tracy Jan and Regine Cabato report for The Washington Post. Filipinos “make up about a quarter of the world’s maritime workers, a large fraction of which are on cruise ships,” with more than 385,000 Filipinos estimated to be working aboard a ship in 2018. “It will really have a big impact. So many will suffer … If this continues, I’d guess 70 percent of [Filipino workers] will be out of a job. Just on the Diamond Princess, there were 500 Filipino crew members. If you had 10 ships, that’s already 5,000 people,” said Nelson Ramirez, president of United Filipino Seafarers.

VISA WOES – The coronavirus is exacerbating visa issues for many immigrants in the U.S., from international students to H-1B workers. Stuart Anderson breaks down the fixes necessary to help international students and workers navigate this new climate in Forbes: “Coronavirus does not respect borders. Companies will need to address the immigration issues coronavirus has created or risk making a bad situation worse.”

TWO SISTERS – For The Atlantic, Mike Giglio reports on the struggle of two Syrian sisters, Angela and Leen Albaka, that demonstrates “America’s deep malaise about the civil war in Syria and the resulting refugee crisis.” The sisters waited for years before their asylum application was finally accepted, only for the Trump administration to suddenly stop the resettlement of Syrian refugees. However, Giglio writes, the sisters “stand out for how they’ve refused to give up on their idealized vision of America as the years pass, relentlessly trying to get their case heard, even attempting to reach U.S. presidents and celebrities. They’re also a reminder that even as a war that has killed hundreds of thousands recedes from the minds of most Americans, millions of Syrians are still dealing with the fallout from the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.”

“GIFT FOR NATIVIST NATIONALISTS” – In an opinion piece for Foreign Policy, British economist Philippe Legrain calls the coronavirus pandemic “a political gift for nativist nationalists and protectionists” that could signal the end of globalization as we know it. “Much of this disruption may be temporary. But the coronavirus crisis is likely to have a lasting impact, especially when it reinforces other trends that are already undermining globalization. It may deal a blow to fragmented international supply chains, reduce the hypermobility of global business travelers, and provide political fodder for nationalists who favor greater protectionism and immigration controls.” I wrote about how we can do this differently on Medium.

WILD WEST – Immigrant domestic workers continue to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak, as many are losing jobs – sometimes without pay – due to concerns over the spread of the virus. “From a wages and income perspective, most domestic workers can’t afford to take a single day off,” Ai-jen Poo, founder and director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, told Brittny Mejia at the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve often described the domestic work industry as the Wild West because there’s such a long history of exclusion from basic rights and protections.” ICYMI, I chatted with Ai-jen for last week’s episode of “Only in America.”
Stay safe, stay healthy.

Ali