NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

In a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
yesterday, Politico's
 Laura Barrón-López
and Nicholas Wu report that President Biden "left the impression
that [the economic benefits of immigration] would not just be a
portion of his upcoming address to a joint session of Congress, but that
he'd support moving immigration measures through budget rules allowing
a simple majority vote in the Senate." 

That feels newsy.  

Hispanic Caucus Chair Raul Ruiz (D-California) said that if the
Republican votes aren't there for immigration, the Caucus
and the Biden administration would "support the budget component of
immigration reforms and job creation ... and also a pathway to
citizenship through the budget reconciliation." 

Welcome to Wednesday's edition of Noorani's Notes. Today our
thoughts are with the family of George Floyd, and the countless other
victims of systemic violence in this country. While yesterday's
conviction of Derek Chauvin cannot bring justice for Mr. Floyd's loved
ones, we hope that it's only one step in the path to a more just future

for all.

If you have a story to share from your own community, please
send it to me at [email protected]
.    

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**THE REAL CRISIS** - On Monday, the U.N. Children's Fund, or
UNICEF, said that the number of migrant children arriving in Mexico
hoping to enter the U.S. increased ninefold from January to March this
year, reports Maria Abi-Habib of The New York Times
. An average
of 275 minors are entering the country every day, and the number of
migrant children reported in Mexico rose to 3,500 at the end of March
from 380 at the start of the year, per UNICEF. "Central American
families aren't migrating - they are fleeing," said Jean Gough,
UNICEF's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean,
after a visit to Mexico and its U.S. border. "The real child crisis is
not at the U.S. border, it's in the poorest communities of northern
Central America and Mexico." 

**PRESSURE** - Evangelical Christian and other refugee advocates
"are waiting to see if the Biden administration will fulfill its latest
commitment following what they described as a disappointing failure by
the president," reports Tom Strode of The Baptist Press
.
Biden officially signed a presidential determination regarding fiscal
year 2021 refugee admissions on April 16, maintaining an admissions
cap of 15,000 - the same record-low ceiling established under Trump
administration in its final year. For more analysis of the Biden
administration's disappointing decision, Politico
, 
The Washington Post
 and The New
York Times
 have
in-depth coverage.  

**BORDER** -  The government depends on religious shelters to help
it cope with migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, write Stef W. Kight
and Russell Contreras at Axios
,
who spoke to shelter leaders like Sister Norma Pimentel,
who runs Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
 in South Texas, and
Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House
 in El Paso. Pimentel and Garcia
say that despite this year's record numbers, they have the capacity
to help the government temporarily accommodate those arriving at the
border - and that expelling migrants to Mexico under Title 42
 is unnecessary. "They're
human beings. They're here in my community, and they need help," said
Pimentel. 

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**PUENTE** - If you have ever been to El Paso, you know that if it
wasn't for the fortified border, the city would flow seamlessly into
Ciudad Juarez. It is a magical region. The Puente Media Collaborative
is looking to capture a more nuanced picture of news in this region
with the "first binational, bilingual border journalism project in the
U.S. - or maybe anywhere," writes Timothy Pratt for The Guardian
. A newsgathering
collaboration of seven digital, TV and radio outlets from the area, the
idea for Puente (Spanish for "bridge") came about during the pandemic
as border crossing became restricted for  journalists trying to cover
the region. "We have long talked about El Paso and Ciudad Juárez as
being one region," said Bob Moore, one of the project's directors.
"But this has never been true with journalism." Said Brenda de
Anda-Swann, news director at El Paso's KVIA (a part of
Puente): "Having newsrooms on both sides of the border is a perfect
reflection of the community, on a personal, business and political
level." 

**JUAN AND ANDREA** - Over at The Washington Post
, Maria
Sacchetti and Nick Miroff tell the story of Andrea, a U.S.-based
mother who spent 10 days trying to get her 6-year-old son Juan out
of government custody after he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with his
grandmother. Andrea, originally from Venezuela, called government
officials several times daily for 10 days to try and arrange his
release, but they "seemed in no rush to recognize Andrea as Juan's
mother, [and] those caring for him continued to call her so that she
could parent him over the phone." With the help of immigrant rights
advocates, Andrea ultimately traveled to Arizona to demand her son be
released - and under pressure, he was. Andrea's story is just one
among countless others: "All sponsors, including parents, have had to
prove their suitability, often in onerous and inefficient
ways," said Neha Desai, the director of immigration at the National
Center for Youth Law. Advocates say many parents
struggle to locate their children, sometimes going weeks without hearing
from them.  

**FROM ITALY** - As horrific stories of displaced people drowning in
the Mediterranean while attempting to reach safety in
Europe dominated headlines in 2013, privately- funded faith groups
like the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Federation of Evangelical
Churches in Rome were "determined to find an alternative, [and] turned
to an option that had been underutilized in Italy, the humanitarian
visa," write theology professor Laurie Johnston and conflict
resolution Ph.D. candidate David Sulewski, both members of the
Community of Sant'Egidio, in an op-ed for America Magazine
. The
idea led to Humanitarian Corridors, an "ecumenical, grassroots movement
that helps migrants avoid the perils of human smugglers and inflatable
rafts on the Mediterranean." The movement has helped some 2,000
families travel safely to Italy since 2016 and has expanded to France,
Andorra and Belgium. Furthermore, it provides a model for the U.S. to
think outside the box with refugee resettlement: While traditional
resettlement pathways "deserve our full support," Johnston and Sulewski
write, "the private sector can step up again and lay out detailed
blueprints to expand pathways to the United States for refugees and
displaced persons." 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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