The Trump administration is considering a proposal to “dramatically expand” the number of immigrants required to provide biometrics for their applications as well as the type of information collected, allowing the government to increasingly demand personal information like eye scans, voice prints, DNA, and photographs for facial recognition, reports Hamed Aleaziz for BuzzFeed News.

As part of a process of continuous “vetting,” officials could request biometrics from green card or visa recipients “at any point up until they are a U.S. citizen,” Aleaziz reports. Privacy and immigration advocates are already raising concerns: “They’re using what is overly general language in the law to justify a massive, unprecedented expansion to collect really personal information that they appear to plan to keep and use in perpetuity,” said Ur Jaddou, a former senior official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). “What is the reason for this? What is the problem they are trying to solve?”

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

LIVING IN FEAR – A new study finds that two-thirds of U.S.-born Latino students in Harris County, Texas — home to the city of Houston — fear a friend or loved one will be arrested or deported, while half know someone who has already been deported, Elizabeth Trovall reports for Houston Public Media. The emotional impacts are significant: “Kids who scored higher on immigration enforcement fear reported higher symptoms of depression, higher symptoms of anxiety and higher symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Jodi Berger Cardoso, one of the study’s authors. While the research was conducted before the pandemic, Cardoso says the crisis will only exacerbate these existing anxieties as students’ access to resources is limited.

RECOVERY – Families impacted by the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy — which separated around 2,700 children from their parents at the border in 2018 — are now eligible for mental health support to treat the trauma resulting from the experience, Monique O. Madan reports for the Miami Herald. Despite the difficulties in seeking mental health care — from overcoming stigma to getting connected online — many families are finding hope. “I wrestled guilt for even coming to this country because I lost my son,” said Servando, who was separated from his son at the border. “But through therapy that’s being redeemed.”

COURTHOUSE ARRESTS – A federal appeals court in Boston yesterday overturned a previous ruling that blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from making arrests at Massachusetts courthouses, Nate Raymond reports for Reuters. The prior ruling, which was based on the argument that the Immigration and Nationality Act protected against civil courthouse arrests, was the first in the country to block such ICE arrests under new Trump administration guidelines last year. “But U.S. Circuit Judge Bruce Selya, writing for a three-judge panel, said the court could not presume Congress intended to incorporate that privilege into the law.”

COUNTED OUT – The U.S. Census Bureau is looking to wrap up its door-knocking campaign in San Diego and other U.S. cities almost two weeks early, Mike Schneider reports for the Associated Press. The Senate has balked at extending census deadlines amid the pandemic, while President Trump has directed the Census Bureau “to exclude people in the country illegally from figures used for redrawing congressional districts,” according to a lawsuit attempting to block the early stop date. “Any whiff of possible political targeting — suspicions obviously triggered by the Trump administration’s troubling pattern in other areas — severely undermines confidence in Census 2020,” said Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

JERSEY LICENSES – Approximately 500,000 New Jersey residents are now be able to apply for a range of professional licenses, regardless of immigration status, ROI-NJ’s Tom Bergeron reports. This week Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that opens up approximately 200 professional licenses to the state’s immigrant community. “The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the critical role that New Jersey’s immigrant community plays in our essential frontline workforce,” said New Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson. “It is past time for us to give these New Jerseyans the path to occupational and economic success this law will deliver.’”

Thanks for reading,

Ali