NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Today the Biden administration is set to announce a task force "that
will look at demands for restitution, expanded mental health services,
the readmission of deported parents and possible permanent legal
residency for families disrupted by separations," reports Miriam Jordan
of The New York Times
.  

The Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy separated 3,000
migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border, notes
Jordan, and "[i]t later emerged that another 1,000 families had been
separated during a pilot program conducted in 2017 near El Paso."   

Even after the Trump administration officially rescinded the
policy, "border authorities removed more than 1,000 children from their
families, sometimes for reasons as minor as committing a traffic
infraction or failing to change a baby's diaper, according to court
documents."  

With more than 1,000 children still separated from their parents and
another 500 or more whose have yet to be located, "President Biden
must now find a way to unravel [this program] years after the policy was
abandoned." 

POLITICO
's
Sabrina Rodriguez has an important addition: "Biden
will sign another executive order focused on revamping the U.S. asylum
system and how it handles migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border,
as well as a third order to promote immigrant integration and inclusion
that also instructs agencies to review the Trump
administration's "public charge
"
rule.   

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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**CASES DELAYED** - On Monday, the Biden administration asked the
Supreme Court to cancel upcoming arguments on two cases: A border
wall funding dispute and the Migrant Protection Protocols
 (MPP)
a.k.a. "Remain in Mexico" - both significant cases from the
Trump era, Robert Barnes reports for The Washington Post
. Acting
solicitor general Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the court
that Biden has halted construction of the border wall and announced
a review of MPP. "Given [the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS)]'s suspension of new enrollments in MPP and its current review
of the program, it would be appropriate for the court to hold further
proceedings in this case in abeyance to allow for the completion of that
review," Prelogar wrote. Each case is now set for a later date. 

**VACCINE ACCESS** - While dozens of countries have no plans to
vaccinate refugees, Jordan stands out as a champion with its inclusion
of this vulnerable population in inoculation programs, reports Miriam
Berger of The Washington Post
.
To break it down: "Of 133 countries which [United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees], the United Nation's refugee agency, has
information on, 81 have finalized their vaccination strategies and only
54 have included explicit provisions to cover populations of concern
such as refugees, asylum seekers and stateless and internally displaced
people." Meanwhile in the U.S., DHS released a statement on Monday
encouraging "all undocumented immigrants living in the United States to
get the COVID-19 vaccine, assuring them that they will not be taken into
immigration custody," reports Rafael Carranza at The
Arizona Republic
. 

**ICE WHISTLEBLOWER** - A whistle-blower complaint filed on
Monday alleges that Trump DHS official Ken Cuccinelli (whose legal
legitimacy to serve at DHS was disputed
) acted
without legal authority by "agreeing to hand policy controls to the
pro-Trump union representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement" - a
move that could constrain the Biden's administration's immigration
plans, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Charlie Savage report for The New York
Times
. The
complaint accuses Cuccinelli of "gross mismanagement, gross waste of
government funds and abuse of authority," they write. It is clear the
unraveling of last-minute changes at DHS is going to take more than a
minute.  

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**IMMIGRANT WORKERS **- Advocates say immigrant workers in
Wisconsin can benefit greatly from the Biden administration's
focus on legalization and reviewing enforcement priorities, reports
Catherine Capellaro at the Wisconsin Examiner
. "Immigrant
workers have been feeding us, they have been exposed at higher rates to
COVID. They have died from it because of the failure to provide
protections," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the
statewide advocacy group  Voces de la Frontera
. Over at CNN
, Catherine E. Shoichet highlights
the stories of undocumented immigrants around the
country who share how their lives could change under new
administration. 

**ANTONIO AND MAILY** - In July 2018, Antonio and his
then-7-year-old daughter were reunited 30 days after being separated
at the U.S.-Mexico border. But six months later they were again
separated when Antonio went to a scheduled check-in
with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was
detained, reports Kevin Sieff of The Washington Post
. He
was later deported. "Separating us once was horrible enough," said
Antonio, who is now living in Honduras. "Now it feels
like I've died twice." Even with Biden's new immigration
plans, Sieff explains, "[t]here's no guarantee that re-separated
parents will be allowed to return to the United States." 

**IMMIGRANT DETENTION** - Felipe Montes has become the fourth
detainee at Georgia's Stewart Detention Center to die from
COVID-19, reports Jeremy Redmon of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
. Nearly
500 cases have been reported among detainees since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, an outbreak last month sickened at least 22 immigrant
detainees just before they became eligible for
vaccination, reports Elvia Malagón for The Chicago Sun-Times
. Exactly
when the vaccine will be distributed to immigrant detainees is
uncertain: "We are in a wait-and-see mode to see what the instructions
and demands are going to be from the state and federal
officials," said Nathan Ryder, a community outreach coordinator with
the Southern Seven Health Department.  

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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