Though today marks the 9-year anniversary of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a legal threat currently being considered U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas still looms over its fate — and those of the immigrants it protects, reports Suzanne Monyak of Roll Call. Today, lawmakers and Dreamers alike will be closely monitoring the highly anticipated Senate hearing on the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, which passed the U.S. House with bipartisan support in March.
Vice President Harris will meet six women who are ‘Dreamers’ in a roundtable today to call on the Senate to pass both the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, reports Courtney Subramanian of USA Today.
At 1:30 p.m. today, I will be joining friends from Microsoft, the Business Roundtable, Americans for Prosperity, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities and Hickory Grove Baptist Church in North Carolina to discuss the need for a legislative solution. Please contact Audrey Garden for more information regarding the press call.
Welcome to Tuesday’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].
U VISAS — On Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new policy that will expand access to work permits and deportation relief to immigrants who are crime victims while their U visa cases are pending, reports Ted Hesson of Reuters. To qualify for this work permit, their claims must be "deemed to be made in good faith and without the intention of defrauding the immigration system," said the agency. "These are individuals who have come forward to help law enforcement keep us all safe, but who are in need of a measure of protection for themselves as well," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post spoke to several Central American women who are fleeing domestic violence — one of the categories eligible for the U visa — who seldom find refuge in the U.S. This is an issue I hear about often from advocates and law enforcement officials across the country.
TENDER-AGED CHILDREN — The Biden administration is grappling with managing an increase in unaccompanied minors at the border, particularly ‘tender aged’ children, reports Rick Jervis of USA Today. According to the latest data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were some 1,478 tender age migrant children from infants to 12 years old in custody in March. While the Biden administration did open some 13 emergency intake facilities nationwide, emergency shelters are not state licensed to serve as shelters for children, notes Jervis. "When you have a child in a detention center or any custody, you’re bringing a lot of stress on the child," said Luis Zayas, dean of the University of Texas at Austin's Steve Hicks School of Social Work. "Especially in the younger ones, where the brain is still wiring itself for all the things we need in life ... Those kids could have long-term intellectual problems and
behavioral problems that could last a lifetime if we don’t intervene."
MOHAMMED — This past weekend: After a 10 year-wait, the family of an interpreter killed by the Taliban has officially relocated to Houston, Texas, reports Elizabeth Trovall of Houston Publica Media. Unfortunately, Mohammed’s death invalidated the family's Special Immigrant Visa
pathway, prompting the International Refugee Assistance Project to seek "humanitarian parole" for them, explains Trovall. "On the one hand, I am glad most of the family made it to the United States of America," said Asadullah Jan, a former Afghan interpreter living in Houston, and among the group who welcomed the family. But without Mohammed in the picture, it’s still a tragedy, he said. Shajjan of Al Jazeera echoes this need for urgency, and the
sense of abandonment interpreters feel as the U.S. prepares to completely withdraw troops as early as July.
SAROUN — Saroun Khan, son of refugee parents who escaped the Cambodian genocide following the Vietnam War, is finally out of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention after 13 months, reports the Khmer Times. Though Khan is a legal permanent resident, when he was 19, he stole an unlocked car for a joyride. He wasn’t charged for it at the time, but under immigration law, a crime like that was deemed an "aggravated felony." So, when former President Trump ordered ICE to arrest anyone who could potentially be deported, Kahn was one of them. In March 2020, he began to serve his time, but was (and still is) subject to deportation back to Cambodia. "Twenty or 21 years later," he said, "they came and got me because … just because?" For now, Khan is trying to adjust to his new life, including working, and preparing to celebrate his 18-year-old son’s high school graduation.
PASTOR ERIC — "There is no single, solitary narrative" to capture the complexity of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, writes Eric Costanzo, lead pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for an op-ed in Newsweek. Earlier this month, Costanzo spent time visiting the port of entry and migrant shelters in addition to some of his church's partner organizations and churches on both sides of the border. It led him to this central question: "What is the alternative to these solitary stories that breed stereotypes and sow confusion and division?" As a pastor, he used his faith to help others point back to the "story of all stories" that starts with God — and met several people at the border who exemplified these Christ-like attitudes. "Much like the many other crises around the globe, the border crisis is rich with human experiences and felt needs, all of which matter greatly to Christ and should matter greatly to his people, the Church," he writes.
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