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AFGHAN ALLIES — Ahead of the expected completion of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Friday urged the Biden administration to "immediately" evacuate Afghan citizens who helped U.S. forces, reports Tal Axelrod of The Hill. "We appreciate the complexity of ending the War in Afghanistan, but we are increasingly concerned that you have not yet directed the Department of Defense be mobilized as part of a concrete and workable whole of government plan to protect our Afghan partners," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Biden. "If we fail to protect our allies in Afghanistan, it will have a lasting impact on our future partnerships and global reputation, which will then be a great detriment to our troops and the future of our national security." NEW PROCESS — The Biden administration "has quietly tasked six humanitarian groups with recommending which migrants should be allowed into the United States to pursue asylum," report Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson of the Associated Press. While the criteria they’re using have not been made public, the plan is to allow entry of up to 250 asylum-seekers a day — but only until July 31, by which the groups hope the administration will have lifted pandemic-related Title 42 restrictions. Critics note that this new process does not guarantee the most vulnerable migrants will be selected for asylum. Said Jessica Bolter, a Migration Policy Institute analyst: "Setting out clear and accurate information about how and who might get in might lead to fewer migrants making the trip, so there’s not this game of chance that kind of seems to be in place right now." APP — Meanwhile, a new app from the Biden administration could help with the backlog of tens of thousands of asylum seekers stuck at the U.S.- Mexico border — but the technology has raised privacy concerns, reports Molly O'Toole of the Los Angeles Times. The CBP One app relies on "facial recognition, geolocation and cloud technology to collect, process and store sensitive information on asylum seekers before they enter the United States," according to privacy assessments. "There is just an incredible amount of pressure right now on the border itself and the agencies that are responsible for the border to try to deal with the situation as best as possible," said Andrew Farrelly, a former Customs and Border Protection official.
BUSINESS CALL — The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is renewing calls to Congress to permanently protect Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, reports Karl Evers-Hillstrom of The Hill. On Wednesday, NAM joined more than 30 manufacturing and local business associations who sent a letter to senators: "These individuals have been pursuing the American Dream for years, but conflicting administrative actions and unpredictable court decisions continue to make their futures uncertain." Said Stephanie Hall, director of innovation policy at NAM: "We view this area that just needs a push to remind everyone that clear solutions exist and that it is possible to find bipartisan agreement on this." STARTUP — The U.S. has long had a reputation for entrepreneurship and opportunity for immigrants, but "is now known for a convoluted, highly politicized immigration policy that puts roadblocks in the way of foreign-born founders," writes Amy Feldman of Forbes. Feldman points to the absence of a startup visa specifically for founders, despite immigrants’ outsize representation as business owners — and years of effort to establish such a visa. Said Steve Case, the billionaire cofounder of AOL and investment firm Revolution: "I don’t dismiss the challenges around immigration, but we’re not going to remain the most innovative nation if we are continuing to have a challenging, chaotic, inconsistent, lurchy approach to immigration, particularly as it relates to entrepreneurs." DOCTORS — In The Guardian, Ashish Malhotra tells the story of Dr. Rishab Gupta, who flew from his home in Boston to his native India earlier this year to care for his dying mother amid the pandemic. Following the virus’s surge in India in April, President Biden imposed a ban on most travel to and from the country — and now Gupta is stranded due to limitations of his J-1 visa. "Foreign medical workers like Gupta and their advocates say they wouldn’t be in this situation if they had more permanent and flexible visas," Malhotra explains — and legislation like the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, which has 13 bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate, could help. Those opposed to reform "think we’re snatching jobs. Nobody is snatching jobs. We’re providing a service," said Raghuveer Kura, a nephrologist in Missouri. "If these international physicians are not here, who’s going to take care of those people? We’re trying to help." Thanks for reading, Dan |
