The Alabama House of Representatives passed a law this week that would allow some undocumented students to attend public state colleges, reports Alander Rocha of the Alabama Reflector.
The proposed legislation, HB 210, is sponsored by GOP state representatives led by Reed Ingram. The bill would allow students who have attended high school for three years, have a high school diploma and are applying for legal status in the United States to attend a state-funded higher education program in Alabama.
"These are the students who are wanting to better themselves and make it [Alabama] a better place," said Ingram.
In 2011, Alabama law HB 56 banned undocumented students from attending public higher education in the state. The ban remained even after federal courts later overturned part of the law, Rocha notes.
Separately, in Minnesota, young immigrants who arrived legally in the U.S. under their parents' visas keep advocating for immigration options for them after they turn 21, reports Maya Rao of the Star Tribune.
Mahi Madhan Kumar has spent his whole life in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Coming from India at the age of four, the now-16-year-old is currently a legal resident through his father’s H-1B visa, but his future remains uncertain once he "ages out" of his status at 21. "[This situation] doesn't really go away … I definitely do have more anxiety than a lot of other kids do," said Kumar.
According to the Cato Institute, 100,000 young people stuck in the backlog for green cards will age out of their status while waiting, forcing them to make difficult choices.
"I am not being extreme when I say it's 25 years for a path to citizenship for a legal immigrant following all the rules and contributing a high amount of tax dollars," said Satveer Chaudhary, a Minneapolis immigration attorney, commenting on the challenges that the immigration system poses also for those coming legally.
Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Clara Villatoro, the Forum’s strategic communications senior manager, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Dan Gordon and Ally Villarreal. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
‘HONORING COMMITMENTS’ — Congress can act and pass legislation options that could stabilize the lives of the thousands of Afghans who came to the country after the fall of Kabul and help those left behind, writes Idean Salehyan for the Niskanen Center. "This would strengthen our national security by honoring commitments to our Afghan allies, demonstrating that the U.S. reciprocates when sacrifices are made for the
preservation of democracy," Salehyan writes.
This week in local welcome:
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In Erie, Pennsylvania, Saeedullah Taraky takes up the position of the city’s liaison to the new American/immigrant communities just two years after escaping from Afghanistan. (Kevin Flowers, Go Erie)
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In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an Afghan refugee works to help fight hunger. (Megan Marshall, Spectrum News 1)
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A community in Virginia helps a group of refugee brothers reunite and start over. (Theresa Vargas, The Washington Post)
BUDGET BLOCK — Last minute language added to the state budget by the Missouri state Senate cuts funding for cities welcoming immigrants and it forces those who already received funds to pay them back with interest, reports Rudi Keller of the Missouri Independent. The addition was introduced by GOP leaders, and it comes after a statement made by Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas
publicly welcoming authorized working migrants to the city, Keller notes.
CHANGES — San Diego is now one of the top border regions for migrant crossings for the first time in decades, reports Andrea Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. According to a social media post made by San Diego Chief Border Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel, 9,513 migrants were arrested between April 17 and April 23, representing a 36% increase within two weeks. The change is a sign of updated
smuggling routes and new channels of communication, Castillo highlights.
GROWTH — The real migrant crisis, Charles Kenny writes in his blog post for the Center for Global Development, is that "wealthier countries are not seeing enough immigration." Migrants are desperately needed to fill the jobs left behind by an aging workforce in these countries, Kenny emphasizes. The Forum’s policy expert Arturo Castellanos Canales has also analyzed the room to grown here in the United States.
