A new lawsuit filed on behalf of those married to H-1B visa holders alleges that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has intentionally changed its policies and procedures to make it impossible for H-1B spouses to work. “The plaintiffs say USCIS added an unnecessary biometrics requirement and adopted an erroneous interpretation of government regulations by prohibiting automatic extensions of H-4 work authorization,” Stuart Anderson writes in Forbes.

The changes come after years of unsuccessful attempts by USCIS to rescind a 2015 regulation granting work authorization to H-1B spouses, who usually hold H-4 status. Now, processing times for H-1B spouses’ documents has skyrocketed from 15 days to between three and 18 months. “A medical doctor, who is a cardiology fellow at a medical center, filed her H-4 extension and EAD renewal concurrently with her husband on March 30, 2020. She was forced to stop treating patients in August after her employment authorization expired due to USCIS processing delays.”

In March 2019, I spoke to H-4 recipient and advocate Molika Gupta for what remains one of our most popular “Only in America” episodes.

Welcome to Tuesday’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].

ULTERIOR MOTIVES – The CDC’s March 20 order allowing border officials “to immediately return to Mexico any migrants they encountered crossing the border” was initially given under the auspices of COVID-19 precautions, with the White House claiming public health experts advised the border policy. But Michelle Hackman, Andrew Restuccia and Stephanie Armour for The Wall Street Journal report that it was actually immigration officials, not health officials, behind the move. In fact, “the order was met with deep resistance from senior CDC officials and was conceived not by public-health experts but by Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s top immigration adviser.” Is anyone shocked?

QUESTIONABLE RECORD – Dr. Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist at the Irwin County Hospital in South Georgia, is facing a federal investigation into his treatment of immigrant women at the nearby and now-infamous Irwin County Detention Center — including allegations of unapproved hysterectomies and rough treatment during examinations. “Fear of Amin became so pervasive, congressmen and lawyers said, that several women asked to be deported to avoid having to see the doctor,” reports Alan Judd for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Judd’s investigation finds a history of malpractice lawsuits and a string of financial pressures that could explain Dr. Amin’s pattern of performing unwanted procedures: “Irwin County Hospital benefitted from a 40% increase in outside medical referrals by the detention center since Amin began performing gynecological procedures on detainees in 2017.”

FIX ICE – The accusations against Dr. Amin are just part of what Marcela García calls a “troubling and longstanding pattern of the blatant mistreatment of immigrants under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s care” in an editorial for the Boston Globe. According to García, this story is just one example of the “appalling and inhumane practices” that have led to the #AbolishICE movement. But she argues that rather than abolishing the organization, “ICE should be thoroughly reformed, as well as its parent agency, the US Department of Homeland Security.” As I told García, we should talk about how ICE dollars are spent, how it’s held accountable, and how to make it more equitable.  She concludes that a good first step would be prohibiting privately run immigrant detention centers: “If those steps are taken, then it would be harder to get away with the abuse of vulnerable populations and malpractice that has become far too common in immigration enforcement.”

55,000 BY 2030 – Illinois is set to become the first state in the nation to extend health care coverage to immigrants aged 65 and over regardless of their immigration status, Laura Rodríguez Presa reports for the Chicago Tribune. “Initially, between 400 and 2,000 people are expected to sign up for the program,” which is slated to go into effect in December and will provide critical support to elderly immigrants who are at increased risk of contracting the coronavirus. Per a forthcoming study from Rush University Medical Center, the population of elderly undocumented immigrants in the state will grow rapidly in the coming decade: “There will be more than 55,000 older Illinoisans without legal immigration status in 2030,” said Padraic Stanley, a program coordinator at Rush who conducted the study with Chicago researcher Rob Paral.

‘CREATING COMMUNITY’ – The Living Hope Wheelchair Association was first formed as a support group “of mostly undocumented immigrants in Houston who have suffered spinal cord injuries, many while supporting the city in one way or another — laying its roads, mowing its yards, cleaning its houses, feeding its hungry, caring for its children and elderly” — who struggled to receive help because of their status, Kimberly Meyer writes for the Texas Observer. But now, the group has grown into much more: a medical equipment distributor, a fundraiser, and political advocacy organization. “They are creating community among people who are usually left out of the community. They bring in the ones who are at the margins out of the margins,” said Leonardo Valenzuela Pérez, a researcher with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee who works with the group.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR — What does the rise of white nationalism mean for immigration reform? Join me this Thursday for a conversation via Facebook Live with former Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism at DHS Elizabeth Neumann, the Anti-Defamation League’s George Selim and former Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer for a thoughtful conversation on how we can combat extremism as we advocate for immigrants.

Thanks for reading,

Ali