Undocumented pregnant women are risking their health by "postponing prenatal care and giving birth at home" as they seek to avoid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Caitlin Dickerson writes for The New York Times. Many dropped out of public welfare programs following passage of the administration’s "public charge" rule, which threatens to block legalization for immigrants who use certain public benefits. Pregnant women — and their babies — have paid the price.

"Within days of when the public charge policy became public … medical clinics saw no-show rates for prenatal care appointments rise sharply," Dickerson writes. "Midwives say that requests for home births from undocumented women who wanted to avoid going to a hospital soared. Doctors said they saw a spike in the number of women arriving in emergency rooms with serious complications, or already in labor, without having been to a single prenatal appointment."

Looking for Zoom Thanksgiving dinner discussion topics? Well, we’ve posted all 13 panels from last week’s Leading the Way event, covering topics from identity to history to racial justice. From appetizers to stuffing to pumpkin pie, we have you covered.

Welcome to Monday’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].

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM – Despite touting its commitment to religious freedom, the Trump administration has cut refugee admissions to historic lows, making it all the more difficult for those fleeing religious persecution to find protection within the U.S. "Open Doors USA, an evangelical Christian organization, estimates that as many as 260 million Christians are living in countries where they experience high levels of persecution," NPR’s Tom Gjelten reports. In addition to increasing the refugee admissions cap, Gjelten reports that the incoming Biden administration "may also want to follow through on the Trump administration's support for international religious freedom efforts as a key part of U.S. foreign policy." 

LEGACY – As we look to heal the divisions plaguing our nation, we carry the legacy of the generations who came before us and endured hardships to create homes, families and opportunities on American soil. As I wrote in an op-ed for Fox News, "[w]e have a long road to fixing our broken immigration system in a way that brings the country together and begins the hard work to heal our divides. But Americans of both parties and across faiths overwhelmingly recognize the immense contributions of immigrants and support a path to legal status and eventual citizenship."

POLICY EFFECTS – Even after two federal courts struck down the Trump administration’s policy of denying asylum to migrants who travelled through a third country like Mexico or Guatemala en route to the U.S., 28 children may still be deported after being denied the opportunity to apply for asylum — and spending more than a year in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, Adolfo Flores at BuzzFeed News reports. "Federal courts have said they don't have the authority to weigh in on expedited removals. As a result, judges can't stop the deportation of the 28 children, even though they've found that the policies leading to their deportations are illegal." Meanwhile, Christopher Weber reports for the Associated Press that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston last week blocked a proposed Trump administration rule that would have made it much more difficult for people convicted of various crimes to seek asylum, arguing it "‘sweeps too broadly’ and was unnecessary because current federal law already includes a host of disqualifying crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering and counterfeiting."

69,000 – Immigration arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border totaled more than 69,000 last month — up 21% from September — in part because of "a soaring number of repeat arrests along the border resulting from the Trump administration’s practice of quickly ‘expelling’ people to Mexico after they enter the country illegally," The Washington Post’s Nick Miroff reports. "[U.S. Customs and Border Protection] officials insist the expulsions are a crucial public health measure to prevent the additional transmission of the coronavirus inside the United States, but many of those sent back across the border are trying to enter again and again, without risk of detention and criminal prosecution," Miroff writes. "The most recent figures indicate that at least one-third of those taken into custody each month are repeat offenders." Miroff notes that President Trump is set to leave office with border arrests nearing 100,000 per month — "far higher than any month during President Barack Obama’s administration" — while President-elect Biden has vowed to overturn many of the administration’s immigration policies. 

Thanks for reading,

Ali