When writing about the contributions of the undocumented during the COVID-19 pandemic and making the case for what the community deserves, if not requires, I’m not sure anyone can put it better than Peggy Noonan in this morning’s Wall Street Journal:



Welcome to Friday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].

LEFT OUT – Undocumented immigrants aren’t the only ones who will be left out of the stimulus plan, writes Andy Uhler for Marketplace — documented immigrants who don’t have a Social Security number will also be blocked from receiving checks. Rosana Araujo, who previously made about $1,500 to $2,000 per month cleaning houses in Miami, said she will not have enough money to pay her bills because even though she pays taxes on her earnings, she doesn’t have a Social Security number. “That means even if she’s paying into the system, she’s not eligible for any public benefits. Which means no COVID-19 check from the government. On top of that, she’s worried about getting sick.”

LEAKED – A leaked Border Patrol memo obtained by ProPublica reveals agents are being told to immediately send migrants back to Mexico without giving them a chance to make a legal case for asylum, reports Dara Lind. “The shift … is the upshot of the Trump administration’s hasty emergency action to largely shut down the U.S.-Mexico border over coronavirus fears. It’s the biggest step the administration has taken to limit humanitarian protection for people entering the U.S. without papers.” The move blatantly ignores U.S. immigration law, which requires the government to allow migrants with a “well-founded” fear of persecution or torture to pursue legal status here. Instead, it cites a little-known power given to the CDC to bar entry of anyone who could spread disease. Keep in mind the policy was put in place at a point when cases in the U.S. far outnumbered cases in Mexico.

CROWDED – To reduce crowding amid the coronavirus pandemic, state and local governments across the U.S. have begun to release many nonviolent offenders from prison. Yet immigration detention centers remain crowded, Monique O. Madan reports for the Miami Herald, even as more officers are told to quarantine detainees who’ve become sick. In a letter to governors last week, Amnesty International wrote: “One of the most critical steps you can take to immediately reduce the spread of COVID-19 is to utilize your public health and licensing authority to instruct federal immigration detention facilities, county and local jails to substantially reduce their detainee occupancy capacity.” So far, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has maintained it will not take steps to reduce the detention population.

DATA – The critical role of immigrants in the COVID-19 response becomes clearer every day. A new report out today from New American Economy shows just how outsized a role immigrants play in the fight against the pandemic, reports Stef W. Kight at Axios. “They’re more than one in four doctors, nearly half of the nation’s taxi drivers and chauffeurs and a clear majority of farm workers. Reporting to work in hospitals, restaurant kitchens, cabs or the fields – for jobs deemed “essential” by the government – many documented and undocumented workers are putting themselves at higher risk of COVID-19 infections.”

READY – As Canada’s health care system feels the effects of coronavirus, thousands of foreign-trained medical professionals stand ready to jump in, writes Shree Paradkar at the Toronto Star. Yet the Ministry of Health still hasn’t licensed them for positions: “It’s like you are a trained soccer player and you cannot participate,” said Mahmoud Abdelmotalib, who previously worked as a physician in Egypt. “I have clinical experience. I finished medical school. I passed the license exams (in Canada). And I cannot contribute during a pandemic.” As we’ve previously Noted, American hospitals are dealing with a similar shortage of qualified professionals. Earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy granted temporary licenses to doctors from foreign countries who can help fight the pandemic.

PAYING IT FORWARD – Spc. Jacque Elama, born in a refugee camp in Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo, is giving back to his community during the coronavirus pandemic as a member of the Ohio Army National Guard, writes Senior Master Sgt. Beth Holliker in a profile for DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service). When he was nine years old, Elama and his family arrived in the U.S., initially relying on community donations for support. In 2017, he joined the Ohio National Guard. “Today, I’m helping those in need and it’s personal to me,” he said. “My family was in need when we arrived in the U.S. and all kinds of people helped us. I finally have a way to pay it forward by helping those in need in my community.”

Thanks for reading,

Ali