NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Preliminary border apprehension data reveal that the Biden
administration apprehended more than 170,000 migrants at the southwest
border in March - "the most in any month for at least 15 years and
up nearly 70 percent from February," Zolan Kanno-Youngs reports
for The New York Times
. The
figure includes more than 18,700 unaccompanied children and
teenagers.  

The data "suggest a new level of challenge for the administration as
they look for a sensible border strategy, particularly given the rise in
the number of families," Andrew Selee, president of the Migration
Policy Institute , told The
Washington Post
. "They're
facing a set of tough options for trying to manage the flow in a way
that's consistent with the desire for humanitarian treatment and yet
dissuades people from coming." 

Important context from our policy team: Keep in mind that the March
apprehension numbers for single adults are vastly inflated because
of Title 42, a public health policy that allows border officials to
immediately expel migrants at the border. The policy was implemented by
Trump in March 2020 and has been left largely intact under Biden.
If we consider families and children by themselves, we're seeing a
number comparable to recent past increases (and we still are not close
to the peak seen in 2019). 

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has placed around 28,000 radio ads
in Latin America since January "as part of a stepped-up campaign to
discourage people from journeying to the U.S.," CNN
's
Priscilla Alvarez reports. The main message: "Don't put your kids'
lives at risk based on false hopes." 

Welcome to Monday's edition of Noorani's Notes. I'm Joanna
Taylor, Communications Manager at the Forum and your NN
host again this week. Seen a story you think we should
include? Send it to me at [email protected]
.  

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**BORDER REALITIES** - Guatemala now has the sixth-highest rate of
chronic malnutrition in the world, Kevin Sieff reports for The
Washington Post
. The
hunger crisis "was caused in part by failed harvests linked to climate
change, a string of natural disasters and a nearly nonexistent official
response. Supply-chain disruptions then led to a spike in prices." The
devastating effects are directly linked to Guatemalan migration to the
U.S., Sieff writes, with the majority of Guatemalans recently arriving
in the U.S. citing food security as a major factor in their decisions
to make the journey north. The situation in Guatemala underscores the
need for more sustainable, forward-looking solutions to effectively
address the current situation at the border. "We must accept this
unfortunate reality and create a system that can legally, efficiently
and safely absorb more of these immigrants and refugees. They will keep
coming; there is no other solution," Jorge Ramos writes in an opinion
piece for The New York Times
. 

**ELIZABETH **- "Mommy, I have bad news for you," 13-year-old
Elizabeth recalls telling her mother on the phone. "Don't cry, but
Mexican immigration caught me," Unaccompanied Central American minors
like Elizabeth "will wait in shelters in Mexico, often for months, for
arrangements to be made. Then, they will be deported," reports Maria
Abi-Habib for The New York Times
. Elizabeth's
pending deportation highlights the stark difference between border
apprehension in Mexico versus in the U.S.: Those apprehended at the
U.S. border "can try to present their case to the American authorities,
go to school and one day find work and help relatives back
home," explains Abi-Habib. But Elizabeth and her friend Yuliana, both
apprehended by Mexican authorities, "felt that their failure to cross
had upturned the tremendous expectations that had been placed on them:
to reunite with a lonely parent, to work and to send money to family
members left behind." 

**IRMA** - Irma Chavez, a Salvadoran-born mother of four who has
called Springdale, Arkansas, home for years, has
renewed her Temporary Protected Status (TPS) every 18 months for
the past two decades, report Amy Taxin, Jeff Roberson, and Marcos
Alemán of the Associated Press
. While
TPS allows recipients to live and work legally in the U.S., they still
face constant uncertainty (moreso under the Trump administration,
which attempted to cancel the program for immigrants from several
countries). Now, President Biden "is backing legislation that would give
Chavez and hundreds of thousands of people like her a shot at becoming
American citizens." Said Chavez of the potential for permanent
status: "I'd always be protected from deportation. It would have a
big impact." A major part of that impact, the AP notes, is "the
assurance she's long dreamed of that she will never be separated
from her children." 

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**UTAH POLL** - While all four of Utah's Republican congressmen
voted against the American Dream and Promise Act, which passed the
House last month, a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics
poll shows that 55% of Utahns support the legislation and a permanent
solution for Dreamers, reports Dennis Romboy at Deseret News
. Some
more interesting finds: When asked what the best way is to
decrease unauthorized immigration, 38% of Utahns said strengthened
border security, while 23% pointed to increased access to legal entry
or asylum. Another 17% said the solution was providing economic or
humanitarian aid to the regions migrants are leaving for the U.S. 

**PIPELINE** - With the tech industry "more reliant than any other
sector of the economy on raw talent and skilled labor from
overseas," Silicon Valley's lawyers and lobbyists "are pushing the
Biden administration to move faster to open the pipeline of foreign
talent," David Ingram reports for NBC News
. While Biden
has made some changes to his predecessor's restrictions on
legal immigration, Biden "may need to rebuild agencies that help
enforce them such as the State Department and the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services," Ingram notes. "Change is not happening fast
enough under the Biden administration, and it is critical that it does,"
said Ashima Duggal, an immigration lawyer who represents tech
entrepreneurs, scientists and investors. "That is a significant source
of growth in the U.S. economy - for revenues, for employment - and
that entire ecosystem is in danger because of the lack of visas
available for entrepreneurs and professionals." 

Thanks for reading, 

Joanna  

 

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