NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) crossed a major milestone
last week - reaching full reinstatement at the federal level after the
Trump administration moved to rescind it - but the program will face
another test next Tuesday, when a federal court in Texas presided over
by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen will hear a case brought by Texas
Attorney General Ken Paxton, who argues the program is unlawful.

Unlike previous lawsuits, which were aimed at the Trump
administration's attempt to end DACA rather than the legality of the
program itself, "the Houston case directly targets DACA's original
terms ... Texas and eight other states sued to end DACA, arguing it
drains state educational and healthcare resources and violates federal
law," Nomaan Merchant reports for the Associated Press
.
(A reminder that over the next 10 years, DACA recipients will contribute
an estimated $433 billion to the GDP
, $60
billion in fiscal impact
,
and $12.3 billion in taxes
 to
Social Security and Medicare.)

"This case is an attack on the underlying legality of DACA itself," said
Nina Perales, a lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund (MALDEF). MALDEF President Tom Saenz pointed out that
the case could have a lasting impact: President-elect Biden would face
serious challenges reintroducing DACA or a similar policy, even if under
a different name and eligibility requirements.

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]
.

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**IMMIGRANT-OWNED** - Small businesses across the country have been
hit hard by pandemic-fueled shutdowns, but for Asian American business
owners like Ngoc Do and Chau Vo in Sacramento, California, the struggles
are compounded by language barriers and discrimination, reports
Stephanie Lin at KCRA
.
Restaurant owner Do saw sales decrease 80% after the shutdown forced her
to switch to take-out only - but by her count, business dropped 50% in
February alone due to anti-Asian discrimination as COVID-19 spread to
the U.S. With minority-owned businesses making up nearly 40% of all
businesses in Sacramento County, keeping these establishments afloat is
of urgent concern for the city. As Rhett Buttle and I discussed
for Forbes

back in October, this problem extends nationwide, with many of the
country's more than 3.2 million immigrant business leaders lacking
access to federal support.

**LAS VEGAS** - In Nevada - where one in five residents are
immigrants - unemployment skyrocketed to 28% after the pandemic hit,
leaving many immigrant families in dire straits. For the Associated
Press'
 road
trip across America, Tim Sullivan visited Las Vegas, where "[m]ore than
half the members of Las Vegas' powerful Culinary Workers Union were
still unemployed more than eight months into the pandemic." Although
most of the city's casinos have reopened, some remain closed due to
lack of traffic, leaving people like Norma Flores, a Mexican immigrant
who has worked for decades in the U.S., to rely on $322 per week in
unemployment to support her son, daughter, and six grandchildren. "I
feel so much pain to have lost my job, to not be able to pay my bills
like I used to," she said. "I feel powerless."

**'BEST OF AMERICA'** - A record 77% of Americans support
immigration, but the focus on partisan extremes keeps us from reaching
commonsense solutions for sustainable immigration reform, write Stand
Together 's founder Charles Koch and CEO
Brian Hooks in an op-ed for CNN
.
Far from the demands of the extreme right and left, Koch and Hooks argue
that what Americans really want is an immigration system "that protects
public safety, promotes our values and is welcoming of more people in
search of the opportunity to not only rise, but also lift up those who
already live in America." The good news: Outside of the halls of
Congress, Americans are building support for a better immigration system
- in their schools, churches, and businesses. "With more support and
action from people across the country, Congress will find its way to
enact the immigration policies that reflect the best of America and
enable more people to contribute to our country's future."

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**VOTER REGISTRATION** - In another rejection of anti-immigrant
policy on the Supreme Court's last day of rulings, the Court declined
to hear Kansas' petition to re-establish a law requiring voters to
provide identification such as a birth certificate or passport in order
to register to vote. The  law, crafted by former Kansas Secretary of
State (and immigration hardliner) Kris Kobach, went into effect in 2013
and denied thousands of citizens the opportunity to participate in the
2014 election before coming up against legal challenges in 2016, Bryan
Lowry reports for the Kansas City Star
.
Mark Johnson, who served as an attorney in the successful lawsuit
against the law, said of state legislatures contemplating new voting
restrictions after the 2020 election: "A decision like this will make
them think twice about doing it and make them realize there are people
who are committed to fighting these efforts to suppress votes."

**STAYING **- In a welcome update to a story

out of Detroit we shared last Friday, Guatemalan immigrant and domestic
violence survivor Daris Bartolon and her two daughters, one of whom was
born with rickets and requires extensive medical care, will be allowed
to stay in the U.S. for another year, the Associated Press
 reports.
The family had been ordered to leave the country after their request for
asylum was rejected, but were granted an extension "after a Catholic
group protested outside the Detroit office, a request to let the family
stay by U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, and a meeting between
[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officials and an attorney
representing the family."  Kevin Piecuch, an attorney for the Southwest
Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center, told the AP: "This is very good
news ... The family is as happy as can be."

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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