As President Trump relentlessly attacked migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, “Customs and Border Protection officials suggested deploying a microwave weapon — a ‘heat ray’ designed by the military to make people’s skin feel like it is burning when they get within range of its invisible beams.”

Two former officials who were part of a meeting with top leadership at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in late October 2018 told Michael D. Shear at The New York Times that the suggestion “shocked attendees” and was firmly shut down by former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. But Shear notes that these talks “underscored how Mr. Trump’s obsession with shutting down immigration has driven policy considerations, including his suggestions of installing flesh-piercing spikes on the border wall, building a moat filled with snakes and alligators and shooting migrants in the legs.”

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

UNAWARE – Two of the new U.S. citizens who were sworn in as part of Tuesday night’s controversial White House naturalization ceremony reportedly had no idea that it would be airing as part of the Republican National Convention, Tarini Parti and Michael C. Bender report for The Wall Street Journal. “Several critics said in interviews that it was inappropriate not to tell the participants that they would be part of a political event, and noted that the Trump administration had sought to curb illegal and legal immigration.” While the participants were asked to sign media releases and told just minutes before the ceremony that the president would be joining, the participants say they were not told of the Republican convention.

OVERRULED – The Trump administration’s efforts to delay citizenship for military service members was defeated in court Tuesday, Karen Jowers reports for the Military Times. “The matter revolves around a [Defense Department] policy signed on Oct. 13, 2017, which lengthened the time a recruit must serve before receiving a certificate of honorable service, which is one of the requirements for getting expedited citizenship.” The policy lengthened the time in service from one day to 180 consecutive days of active duty or one year in the reserves. “According to court documents, over the last three years, 1,695 certifications of honorable service have been requested and issued to non-citizen service members. But only 10 have been requested and issued in the last eight months.”

UN SUPPORT – While the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy leaves asylum seekers vulnerable to violence and COVID-19 in dangerous border towns, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stepped in to help better protect them. Writes Maurizio Guerrero in PassBlue: “The agency offers basic hygiene kits to refugees, support to local authorities in identifying health and mental issues and information to asylum seekers about their legal options. … The UN has already installed five [triage centers] in Matamoros, a city where thousands of asylum seekers live in encampments that initially had no running water or cooking facilities. A similar number is scheduled for delivery in Tijuana and Reynosa, cities that also host thousands of asylum seekers.”

BORDER NATIONALISM – As countries across the world have restricted their borders to stem the spread of COVID-19, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and Western Washington University visiting professor Edward Alden warns in Foreign Policy of “rising nationalism” that could undermine the international cooperation critical to public health. Calling on countries to immediately start working on plans to re-open their borders, Alden writes that “prudent precautions have given way to a more dangerous message — that the best way for a country to protect itself against the virus is to keep foreigners out and reduce its reliance on foreign goods. It is unsurprising to see this in the United States, where the Trump administration has used the COVID-19 crisis to bar all asylum claims at the border, shut down immigration processing, and stop most foreign workers from entering the country.”

“LIKE FIREFIGHTERS” – As part of a joint project between the Guardian and Kaiser Health News, Lost on the Frontline, Danielle Renwick reports that nearly one-third of healthcare workers who have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. were immigrants. It’s an alarming, disproportionate figure when you consider that immigrants only make up 18% of the nation’s health workforce. Liz Webb, who works with a group of mostly immigrant doctors and nurses in New York City, told The Guardian: “These providers were like firefighters … They were going into their communities, communicating in their languages, and making sure [people] didn’t worry about their immigration status [when seeking out testing].”

RACIAL JUSTICE AND IMMIGRATION – The first episode of our new “Only in America” series, which focuses on racial justice and immigration, is out now: I spoke with Professor Karla McKanders, who directs the Immigration Practice Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School and teaches refugee and immigration law, about the experiences of Black immigrants at the border, how segregation and policing impact Black and immigrant communities, and the need for nuance in our legal systems. Take a listen here.

Thanks for reading,

Ali