According to internal memos and emails obtained by The Washington Post, new agency rules at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) point to a more focused use of immigration enforcement resources, report Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti.  

In an email to senior staff, Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson said immigrants "should be considered public safety threats if they have an institutional record of violent behavior, well-documented gang affiliations or aggravated felony convictions." Note, however, that these draft guidelines are awaiting approval by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  

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].  

REFUGEES — Faith-based resettlement groups say that rebuilding the U.S. refugee program in a post-Trump era will take time and money, Emily McFarlan Miller and Jack Jenkins report for Religion News Service.  A recent executive order positions the Biden administration to raise the refugee ceiling from 15,000 to 125,000, but the shift will be gradual: Demetrio Alvero, director of operations for Episcopal Migration Ministries, welcomed the new administration’s change in direction. "But Alvero doesn’t expect the actual numbers of refugees physically resettled in the country to change much this year. Instead, he described the numbers Biden has discussed as ‘an aspirational goal and a signal to all the agencies — the resettlement agencies, as well as the governmental ones — we have a policy shift.’" 

"WAIT AND SEE" — Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Saturday that the Biden administration is taking steps to end Trump-era "safe third country" agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that require migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to first apply for protections in those countries, reports Sabrina Rodriguez of POLITICO. Solutions are sorely needed as "[n]ew families every day have been collecting in Mexican border towns," Miriam Jordan and Max Rivlin-Nadler write for The New York Times. In El Paso, one of the largest cities along the border, community organizations are preparing for new challenges, KFOX El Paso’s Keenan Willard reports: "I’m still in a ‘let’s wait and see,’ posture," said Ruben Garcia, director of the migrant shelter Annunciation House. "Garcia said he wouldn't know how to adapt to safely take in large numbers of migrants during the pandemic until the future of border policy became clearer." 

BORDER UNDER BIDEN — In a three-part series titled "Border Under Biden," Arizona Public Media and High Country News reporters Ariana Brocious, Alisa Reznick and Jessica Kutz explore the "implications for Donald Trump’s border wall now that President Joseph Biden has taken the helm." The series highlights Tribal leaders, Borderlands communities, and environmentalists combatting the destruction of sacred lands and ecological damage caused by Trump’s signature project. Vicki Gaubeca, the Tucson-based director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, is urging the Biden administration "to shift away from a decades-old ‘disastrous law enforcement-only approach’ ... toward ‘a human-rights-first approach that expands public safety, protects human rights, and welcomes residents and newcomers at the border.’" 

UNCERTAINTY — Juana Luz Tobar Ortega fled violence in Guatemala and has lived in the U.S. for decades. José Chicas has lived here for a similar amount of time, and his wife and children are U.S. citizens. Both Juana and José spent much   of the past three years living in sanctuary in North Carolina churches — but in the wake of the Biden administration’s deportation moratorium and the legal challenge currently blocking it, they’re uncertain of their future, report Aaron Sánchez-Guerra and Virginia Bridges for The News and Observer. While José left sanctuary while the moratorium was briefly in place, Juana and another undocumented immigrant, Eliseo Jiménez, said their lawyers warned them the moratorium "wasn’t enough to guarantee their safe departure." Said Juana: "We’re asking for clarity from the president if we are going to continue in the same situation, if he will let us go or if he will give us some kind of legal status so that we can get out of this nightmare that we’re living."  

ATDS — Following President Biden’s executive orders addressing family separation and asylum seekers, around 100 activists from Pennsylvania and other states convened Wednesday in Washington, D.C. calling on the administration "to do away with another immigration policy: one that keeps immigrant families together, but in detention," reports Anthony Orozco for WITF. According to Biden's official immigration platform, he wants to "end prolonged detention and reinvest in a case management program." As a reminder, there are effective and affordable alternatives to detention (ATDs) which have proven effective at a fraction of detention costs. 

JABS FOR ALL – As the U.K. accelerates its COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the British government wants to make it clear to the country’s estimated 1.3 million undocumented residents that immigration status will not be a barrier to receiving the vaccine, AFP reports. "Coronavirus vaccines will be offered to everyone living in the UK free of charge, regardless of immigration status," said a government spokeswoman. However, officials "also fear large numbers within black African and south Asian communities could also be reluctant to take part in the vaccine drive, partly because of mistrust."