In a new ruling, a federal appellate court judge gave the green light yesterday for the Trump administration to move forward with its controversial “public charge” rule in all but the three states that have sued the administration over the policy.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez for CBS News reports: “U.S. Circuit Judge Peter Hall did not provide a reason in his one-paragraph order, which set aside the lower court injunction in every state but New York, Connecticut and Vermont … The court partially set aside last month's ruling from a federal judge in New York, who said the so-called ‘public charge’ test was hindering nationwide efforts to contain the coronavirus by discouraging immigrants from requesting public assistance, including medical treatment, during the pandemic.”

Our summary of the rule is here.

Good morning and welcome to Thursday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email your guest host at [email protected]. And just a reminder that barring breaking news, we are taking Fridays off in August — we’ll be back Monday.

UNDERREPORTING – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities are underreporting the number of COVID-19 deaths in their facilities, reports Dan Glaun for Frontline PBS: “According to ICE, only four detainees have died of COVID-19 in its facilities out of 4,444 detected cases. But the agency only tracks deaths that take place within its custody — not those of people who contract the virus while in detention, but then die of the illness once they are released or deported.” It may be impossible for us to know how deadly this outbreak has been across ICE facilities.

GOP DISCONNECT – Several prominent Florida Republican donors and business leaders are calling on Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) and other GOP lawmakers to change their hardline immigration policies or risk losing the party’s electoral competitiveness in the state, reports Ramsey Touchberry of Newsweek. “The Republican Party has no future in Florida unless it starts reaching out more definitively to Latino groups and other immigrant groups … There’s a real disconnect between hardened conservative voters and the economic needs of the state,” said John Rowe, chairman emeritus of Exelon Corporation and a longtime GOP donor.

40,000 EXCLUDED – According to the latest data from the Migration Policy Institute, about 40,000 citizens or green card holders in South Carolina, including 30,000 children, were ineligible for financial relief under the CARES Act because of their spouse’s or parent’s undocumented status, reports Chris Joseph with WIS News. “All qualifying American citizens should receive a stimulus payment,” including those from mixed-status families, read a statement from the office of Rep. William Timmons (R). Legislation introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) would extend relief to these families. Meanwhile, Washington state is joining a small list of states providing their own relief for such families and other immigrants. Gov. Jay Inslee is setting up a $40 million relief fund for immigrants and a $3 million fund for food-production workers, regardless of immigration status, the Seattle Times’ Nina Shapiro reports.

EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY – U.S. consular officers in Europe are denying O-1 visas for individuals with “extraordinary ability” in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics under the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Stuart Anderson points out in Forbes. “Opponents of immigration often have argued that if a foreign national was extraordinary, they could just get an O-1 visa,” Anderson writes. “Like most such arguments, it is not true, particularly during the Trump years. Today, if Superman and Wonder Woman lived in Europe, it appears they would fail to possess enough extraordinary ability to obtain a visa to enter the United States.”

HOW DID WE GET HERE? – For the last episode of Only In America’s “How Did We Get Here?” series, we explore the human impact of flawed immigration policies. Ali talks to Ainee Athar, Immigration Program Manager at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Born in Pakistan, Ainee and her family sought protection in the U.S. from religious persecution. But they faced a slew of obstacles: navigating bureaucracy, a rejected asylum application, multiple changes in immigration status, and dealing with immigration enforcement. Speaking of the podcast, previous guest Pati Jinich has a piece in The New York Times about carne asada as not just a dish, but a ritual in Sonora, Mexico. It will leave meat-eaters’ mouths watering — fortunately, recipe links are included.

Thanks for reading,

Dan