NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are hailing President Biden's
raising of the refugee ceiling to 62,500 as a victory, while
"acknowledg[ing] that they need to rebuild their capacity after years of
cuts under the previous administration," report Emily McFarlan Miller
and Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service
.  

"This increase in refugee admissions will save many lives, revitalize
communities, and set the stage for rebuilding and strengthening refugee
protection and resettlement," said Meredith Owen, director of policy and
advocacy at Church World Service. 

Added Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of the
Archdiocese of Washington and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops' Committee on Migration, per Catholic News Service
: "The
updated refugee admissions cap is a step in the right direction to help
those who need it most."  

In an Evangelical Immigration Table statement
,
Galen Carey, vice president of government relations at the National
Association of Evangelicals , called the ceiling
increase "a call to action for churches and Christians across the
country to welcome those God is sending to our shores."  

Bethany Christian Services President and CEO Chris Palusky told George
Thomas of CBN News
: "We
are supposed to serve the widow, the orphan and the foreigner, well,
hey, we've got the opportunity right now."  

Across the country and the political spectrum, there is broad support
and deep commitment
 to
refugee resettlement. 

Welcome to Thursday'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]
.      

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**LA PASTORA** - Jonathan Blitzer of The New Yorker
 tells
the story of Keldy Mabel Gonzáles Brebe de Zúniga, who fled
Honduras in 2017 to seek asylum in the U.S. and was separated from
her teenage sons at the border - one of the first mothers
separated under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance"
policy. More than three years later, Gonzáles Brebe - known as
'la pastora' to friends and family - has been granted
humanitarian parole, allowing her to finally reunite with her
boys. The family was among "the first of hundreds of reunifications
that the Biden Administration plans to orchestrate over the next several
months" following its creation of a family reunification task force
in February. "Something different is passing over me now,"
Gonzáles Brebe told Blitzer. "I'm returned to life." (Don't miss
the video of the family reunion
.)  

**FINGERPRINTS** - The Department of Homeland Security will
suspend the fingerprint requirement used to renew visas for spouses
of legally employed H-1B visa holders, reports Michelle Hackman
of The Wall Street Journal
. In
a court filing Monday night, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services said it will lift the requirement for two years starting
May 17. The original requirement, implemented by the Trump
administration in 2019, "resulted in tens of thousands
of immigrants losing their work permits amid visa processing delays
" which were
exacerbated amid the pandemic. A court brief signed by companies
including Google, Microsoft and Twitter emphasized the importance of an
efficient visa process: "Not only does a lapse in work authorization
sever important professional and personal relationships and destroy
institutional knowledge within companies, it requires employers to
expend significant resources on searching for, hiring, and training
replacements (often temporary)-all because the government is refusing
to process a simple form within a 6-month window." 

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**NUMBERS** - According to the latest enforcement data, the number
of deportations carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) in April fell to the lowest monthly level on record,
reports Nick Miroff of The Washington Post
. ICE
deported 2,962 immigrants in April, per the agency - "the first
time the monthly figure has dipped below 3,000."  In a statement
Wednesday, ICE said it "has concentrated its limited law enforcement
resources on threats to national security, border security, and public
safety." In response to the decline in deportations and immigrant
detention, ACLU attorney Naureen Shah said in a statement: "...
President Biden has a unique moment to shrink the infrastructure
that's been used to abuse and traumatize immigrants for decades." 

**BORDER FACILITIES** - Newly released images from the Department of
Homeland Security show a now-empty Border Patrol facility in Donna,
Texas, as unaccompanied minors are transferred to the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), reports Adam Shaw of Fox News
.
At its peak, the Donna facility held more than 4,000 migrants,
including children. Today, there are more than 22,000 unaccompanied
minors in HHS care, up from around 11,000 in March. The
administration says HHS is more equipped than Border Patrol to handle
caring for children, and has been moving quickly to open new
facilities. As a result, the amount of time children spend in Border
Patrol custody is down 75% from the end of March from 131 hours under
30, per White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Speaking of empty
facilities, something else is missing at the border: Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-Texas) in the nighttime brush
 looking
for alleged smugglers.  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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