Ahead of tomorrow’s deadline for the Trump administration to announce a refugee ceiling for fiscal year 2021, national security, faith, and business leaders spoke on a press call yesterday to urge the administration to accept more refugees. Resettlement in the U.S. already has hit historic lows under Trump — just 10,892 new refugees have been resettled in the country this year, down from about 30,000 last year and 85,000 during President Obama’s last year in office.

Elizabeth Neumann, former assistant secretary of counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration, reminded us that refugees are “the most thoroughly vetted populations admitted to the United States…from a security standpoint,” Monique Madan reports for the Miami Herald. Neumann added, “The [Trump] administration’s approach to refugees was not based on security. It’s just a larger effort to keep others from around the globe from coming to the United States.”

Ashley Feasley of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke about the United States’ traditional commitment to welcoming refugees, Sandra Sanchez writes for Border Report: “Historically, the United States has been a leader to those fleeing persecution while setting an example for other countries around the world. We urge the president to issue a presidential determination and continue to welcome refugees.” Meanwhile, more than 200 clergy from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America called on the Trump administration to admit at least 95,000 refugees in fiscal year 2021, reports Emily McFarlan Miller for Religion News Service.

A recording of yesterday’s call is available and speakers are available for further comment. And be sure to read Neumann’s take on the president’s “stand back and stand by” comments at last night’s debate.

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].

A WIN – In a victory for aspiring citizens, a federal judge has blocked the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee increase that was scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 2, Stuart Anderson writes for Forbes. The rule would bump up fees for businesses, international students, and others needing work authorizations — and would increase the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen by more than 80%. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California wrote that the Trump administration “failed to adequately justify” the fee increase, and that USCIS’ “deviations from a beneficiary-pays principle are inconsistent and conflict with the comments presented on the effects of these changes on low-income and vulnerable immigrant populations,” Judge White added.

“IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT BLITZ” – Late Friday afternoon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly announced that it would resume arresting non-criminal immigrants, Monique Madan reports for the Miami Herald. The move reverses ICE’s previous policy to only focus on criminal apprehension and detention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Nick Miroff and Devlin Barrett at The Washington Post report that the Trump administration is already planning an “immigration enforcement blitz” ahead of the election targeting so-called sanctuary cities: “Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, probably will travel to at least one of the jurisdictions where the operation will take place to boost President Trump’s claims that leaders in those cities have failed to protect residents from dangerous criminals.” Two officials who spoke to the Post said the planned operation could be viewed more as a “political messaging campaign than a major ICE operation.” Ya think?

HOSPITAL ARREST – A 15-year-old undocumented girl who has lived in the U.S. since she was an infant is being held in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody facing deportation after being arrested at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, Camilo Montoya-Galvez reports for CBS News. The Mexican-born teenager was brought to a hospital last week by her aunt after experiencing pain in her gallbladder. At the San Antonio hospital where she was referred for surgery, CBP officials arrested her aunt, also undocumented, after they were both unable to provide documentation at a CBP checkpoint en route.

“OVERLY AGGRESSIVE” – An investigation by Caitlin Dickerson, Seth Freed Wessler and Miriam Jordan at The New York Times sheds more light on unwanted gynecological procedures performed on migrant women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia — the same site that was at the center of allegations of forced hysterectomies earlier this month. Gynecologists who reviewed the medical files of seven women concluded that Dr. Mahendra Amin, Irwin’s primary gynecologist, “seemed to consistently recommend surgical intervention, even when it did not seem medically necessary at the time and nonsurgical treatment options were available.”

THE FOOD PARADOX – A new study from the Center for Public Integrity shows that immigrants make up 42% of front-line workers in farm and food-processing jobs nationwide, often working in conditions that make them more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 while not qualifying for federal stimulus relief, Olivia P. Tallet reports for The Houston Chronicle. The percentage of immigrants in these front-line roles is “more than two times the percentage of immigrants in the country’s workforce," and the share is even higher in Harris County, home to Houston. The study highlights “the paradox that counties which have economies that rely significantly on the availability of undocumented workers voted for Donald Trump, who has called for mass deportation and reduction of legal migration.” Said Erik Nicholson, former national vice president of United Farm Workers: “If you’re so against undocumented immigrants, then just stop eating 50% of what’s on your plate, right now.”

Thanks for reading,

Ali