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."
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].
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.
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."
|
|---|
|
|
