According to an internal government assessment as well as interviews with migrants, the increase in the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border "has been partly fueled by a new Mexican law that curbs detentions of children headed to the U.S. border," reports Lizbeth Diaz for Reuters. "More than two dozen adults or unaccompanied minors in Mexico who spoke to Reuters
said they believed the new measures would help them or their offspring get to the United States and escape the poverty and violence blighting much of Central America."
So, what does the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border really look like? BuzzFeed News photo editor Pia Peterson has compiled photographs that "show the dire conditions immigrants face" as thousands brave harsh journeys for a chance to enter the U.S. For more insight on the other side of the border, listen to Carrie Kahn at NPR's coverage of migrants passing through parts of the Mexico-Guatemala border.
I also collaborated with my good friend, Kurt Ver Beek, president and co-founder of Association for a More Just Society (ASJ-Honduras), to write an op-ed for the Boston Globe detailing how the Biden administration can "restore the confidence of Central Americans in their governments, and the confidence of Americans in their border."
Welcome to Wednesday’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].
SOUTH CAROLINA I — On Monday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) issued a statewide executive order banning foster care and group homes from taking in unaccompanied migrant children who arrived at the southern border, reports Jeffrey Collins for the Associated Press. Ted Goins, president and CEO of Lutheran Services Carolinas, responded with a letter to the governor "respectfully disagree[ing]" with the order and asking McMaster to revoke the ban, reports Mandy Matney of FITSNews. "We are saddened that responding to a humanitarian crisis seems to have become politicized," the letter reads. "The strong support throughout the state that we have had for this ministry would suggest that many South Carolinians appreciate our efforts to help these children, many of whom have been through unspeakable trauma."
REFUGEES CAN’T WAIT — NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talked to World Relief's
Jenny Yang about the Biden administration's delay in accepting more refugees into the U.S. despite campaign promises to increase admissions: "We actually haven't heard specific reasons as to why the president has not signed the revised presidential determination," Yang said. "One of the reasons given was that they still haven't finalized the number yet, which is startling for us because the 62,500 is a number that the president's staff had themselves defended before Congress. ... And we need to do the work now to start actually rebuilding back the program."
OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER — In an op-ed for Baptist News Global, Chris Conley, an attorney and First Baptist Church member in Athens, Georgia, writes that the U.S. "cannot now close our border to those fleeing the horror we helped create." Treating Central America’s struggles with violence and poverty as theirs alone obscures the U.S. role in much of Central America’s instability, Conley writes. He points out that
until a few years ago, "United States-supported right-wing governments continued to engage in corruption that would make the mafia blush, and which continues to wreck the entire nation with poverty, crime and death."
SOUTH CAROLINA II— More news out of South Carolina, per Olivia Parsons of WSPA 7 News: A proposed bill, currently in the state Senate, would allow thousands of students with DACA to obtain professional licenses, which are essential for professions ranging from nursing to real estate to cosmetology. "This is not a political issue. This is a workforce issue and this is a matter of
just practicality," said Republican state Rep. Neal Collins, the bill’s sponsor. Added Meghan Smith, Director of College and Career Readiness at Spartanburg Academic Movement: "Our entire state benefits when we have a fully-staffed profession, especially the critical ones." According to the University of South Carolina, the state is dealing with a major nursing shortage. Good stuff, Rep. Collins.
WILTON’S STORY — Wilfredo Miranda at El País traces the story of Wilton, a 10-year-old migrant from Nicaragua whose experience crying and asking for help from a U.S. Border Patrol officer was captured via viral video. Miranda reports that Wilton and his mother, who were fleeing domestic abuse, made it to the U.S. border together but were promptly sent back to Mexico under Title 42, where they were kidnapped and held for ransom. Wilton was released and taken across the border without his mother after his uncle in Miami paid $5,000. He is now at a shelter for unaccompanied minors in Brownsville, Texas, while his mother is being held in an unidentified location.
URGENCY — On Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats "showed a willingness to debate legislation to address a rise in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders," reports Todd Ruger at Roll Call. Ruger notes that the partisanship of recent years has prevented floor action even for popular legislation, but Democrats cited the urgency and straightforwardness of the bill, introduced by Sen. Mazie K.
Hirono (D-Hawaii), as reason for bipartisanship. Republicans said they’d vote to allow debate on the bill, leaving it to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to negotiate how to navigate floor votes on amendments. "As a proud husband of an Asian American woman, I think this discrimination is a real problem," said McConnell. Sen. Hirono made the priority clear: "We want to make sure that everyone understood there’s a cause and effect here, but I’m open to eliminating that so that we can get to the real issue, which is the rise in hate crimes against AAPIs and what can we do about it."
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