The Biden administration announced Thursday that two county jails under investigation in Georgia and Massachusetts will stop detaining immigrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, reports Maria Sacchetti of The Washington Post.

Both jails are under investigation for complaints of abuses against immigrants. Citing reasons for closure, federal officials say both facilities are "no longer operationally necessary" amid shrinking detention numbers. Currently, the Bristol County facility in Massachusetts is holding seven detainees out of approximately 200 beds, while Georgia's Irwin County facility has only 114 detainees out of nearly 1,000 beds total.

Welcome to your UFOs might be coming edition of Noorani's Notes. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].

CHC TALKS — From Axios Sneak Peek: Vice President Kamala Harris and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met this week to discuss "options for micro-lending and digital banking technology in the Northern Triangle to help address a root cause of the immigration crisis," Kadia Goba reports. And Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said he’s prepared to double the capacity for underage migrants at a facility in Fort Bliss, Texas. However, "[e]xpanding the capacity at Fort Bliss, where thousands of migrants under the age of 12 could be held, is controversial because it’s harder to care for younger children in massive facilities, migrant advocates argue." As I’ve said before, we need to ensure children are getting transferred from HHS to their sponsors as quickly and efficiently as possible.

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations High Commission for Refugees published a statement calling on the Biden administration to end Title 42, a pandemic-era rule allowing U.S. officials to immediately expel migrants at the border, Jennifer Doherty of Law360 reports. "I appeal to the government of the United States to swiftly lift the public health-related asylum restrictions that remain in effect at the border and to restore access to asylum for the people whose lives depend on it, in line with international legal and human rights obligations," High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said via a statement. As the Justice Action Center’s Karen Tumlin points out, "It's rare for the UNHCR to publicly speak out against policies that hurt refugees and asylum seekers in this way."

FAST TRACK — Ahead of the U.S. military’s September withdrawal from Afghanistan, NPR’s Ari Shapiro spoke to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) about expediting visas for Afghan allies who helped American troops. "[W]e have to be prepared for the worst, which is why I believe 18,000 backlogged special immigrant visas need to be expedited so that we can get, you know, these interpreters, contractors who really worked so closely with our special forces over the years," Rep. McCaul said. "We have, I think, a moral obligation to protect them."

DED — After more than three years living in sanctuary at Detroit’s Central United Methodist Church, Albanian-born Ded Rranxburgaj has been offered reprieve from deportation, Sarah Cwiek reports for Michigan Radio. Rranxburgaj is "the primary caretaker for his wife, Flora, who has multiple sclerosis, and had fought to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds," Cwiek notes, adding that he "will be allowed to stay in the country under an order of supervision, meaning his deportation order still stands but won’t be enforced for now." The church’s Rev. Jill Zundel emphasized the challenges of sanctuary: Rranxburgaj missed many of his family’s challenges and milestones. "We have a saying: sanctuary is hard. Sanctuary takes a physical toll on someone. And it takes a mental toll as well," Zundel said. "Sanctuary is hard, but injustice is worse."

GRADUATION — COVID-19 restrictions have prevented Anayensi Lara Ruíz and thousands of other Mexican residents from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border for "non-essential" travel for more than a year, Lauren Villagran and Veronica Martinez report for Puente News Collaborative. The restrictions have profoundly impacted border communities: "Thousands of families in El Paso and Juárez include a mashup of U.S. and Mexican citizenship, while other households span the border with partners and children splitting time between homes in both cities." But a recent agreement between the University of Texas at El Paso and U.S. Customs and Border Protection allowed parents like Lara Ruíz to travel from her home in Juárez to watch her only son, Heriberto Pérez Lara, cross the stage at his Texas graduation in person. "My parents always wanted me to study in the U.S.," Heriberto said. "It is a big deal that my mother could be there. She has been my biggest support."

PICTURES — A new University of Michigan study reveals how depictions of immigrants in news images can shape American’s attitudes towards immigration: "Photos of large groups of immigrants, such as the migrant caravan, may decrease support for immigration. Images of individuals, however, produce the opposite effect." Guadalupe Madrigal, the study’s lead author, explained that images of anonymous large groups engage a viewer’s sense of threat, while images of individual immigrants can disengage it. A read for your weekend: Vivian Ho explores the more personal impact of immigrant photos with an essay for The Lily about how a photo of her mother holding a bag of rice led her to think about her own immigrant journey.

Thanks for reading,

Ali