NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

"We should be concerned" about the Taliban's advances in
Afghanistan, said Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller, a top military
official overseeing U.S. withdrawal from the country, per CNN
. 

In the face of these advances, the lives of Afghan allies are on the
line: CBS' 60 Minutes+
 tells
the powerful stories of some of the individuals who were left
behind after aiding the U.S. military for years.  

"I think we do have a moral obligation to those who literally risked
their lives alongside our soldiers on the ground,"
said retired Gen. David Petraeus, a former C.I.A. director
and former Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "The risk was
already very real. It becomes much greater, needless to say, once we
leave." 

Retired Col. Eric Terashima, a marine veteran who left Afghanistan
last year, is "now actively working to help over 24 people -
interpreters and their families - immigrate to the U.S." via
GoFundMe, reports Rachel Boyd of Spectrum News
. "I'm
going to take care of my guys," Terashima said. "I want them out of
there as fast as possible, to get them here and as safe as possible." 

Finally, Pamela Constable and Ezzatullah Mehrdad explain in The
Washington Post
 how bureaucracy
keeps many of these Afghan allies stranded - and why many see the
U.S. evacuation plan as their only hope for survival.  

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]
.  

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**BRING THEM HOME** - Just before the holiday weekend,
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Veterans
Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough announced a new initiative
 to assist deported American service
members, veterans, and their immediate family members in returning to
the U.S., among other services, Kate Morrissey reports for the San
Diego Union-Tribune
. Chris
Jennewein at the Times of San Diego
 reports
that an estimated several thousand veterans have been expelled from the
U.S. since 1996, when deportation of immigrants with certain
convictions became mandatory with no judicial discretion. A "small but
growing number" of deported veterans have been able to return to the
U.S. and become citizens, Morrissey notes - "but because there is no
official process, it often takes a team of attorneys for each individual
case." 

**TITLE 42** - The Biden administration plans to lift Title
42, the public health policy that effectively closed the border
to most asylum seekers, by the end of July, Michelle Hackman and
Tarini Parti report for The Wall Street Journal
. The
administration is also expected to begin a phased reopening of
nonessential travel at ports of entry. "Once [Title 42] is lifted,
families that requested asylum at the border will be permitted to remain
in the U.S. for the duration of their cases, which can take years to
complete," Hackman and Parti note.  Politico's
 Anita
Kumar and Sabrina Rodriguez report on the political implications of the
policy change, noting that it could bring on "an avalanche of
Republican attacks." Keep in mind that current border apprehension
numbers are inflated by Title 42 recidivism and Republicans "have
made sure to highlight the monthly topline numbers without mentioning
that a majority of migrants apprehended are being quickly expelled under
the Trump-era order." 

**UNACCOMPANIED** - A recent report
 from Catholic
University law professor Stacy Brustin in collaboration with
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migrant and Refugee
Services "[points] out deficiencies but also opportunities in the care
of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States," reports Rhina
Guidos of Catholic News Service
. "A
Vision Forward: Policies Needed to Protect the Best Interests of
'Category 4′ Unaccompanied Immigrant Children" provides
recommendations on record-keeping, access to legal help, and family-
and community-based care, among other topics. Said Brustin, who
also directs the university's Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy
Clinic: "These changes are not only in the best interests of immigrant
children but in the best interests of our country." 

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**SHERIFF RIVERA **- Without immigration reform, "law enforcement
officials face the impossible situation of protecting a community where
our very presence is feared," writes Cheshire County, New
Hampshire, Sheriff Eli Rivera in an op-ed for the Concord Monitor
. Forcing
undocumented immigrants into the shadows means "[w]itnesses remain
silent, crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault go unreported,
and offenders get away with abuse. It's an untenable situation that
makes everyone less safe," Rivera writes. "The Biden administration
and Congress have the power to create an immigration system that builds
trust and keeps families together," he writes. "Such actions will
improve the safety and well-being of all our communities." 

**USCIS** - In its annual oversight report to Congress, the
Homeland Security ombudsman said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) "continues to face a significant financial crunch
after narrowly averting mass furloughs last year" in the wake of the
pandemic, Suzanne Monyak writes in Roll Call
. "While the
agency recently lifted its hiring freeze, it will take months, if not
years, to re-achieve full staffing," per the report. In
October, Congress authorized USCIS to expand premium processing
services to additional benefits, which allows applicants to pay higher
fees for faster adjudication - but the
service isn't entirely available until later this year. In
addition to considering the continuation of pandemic-era changes like
remote interviews, USCIS spokesman Joe Sowers said the agency will
continue to review existing policies and procedures, and "will advance
those that limit processing delays and reduce undue burdens for
applicants and petitioners while still balancing the need to maintain a
healthy stream of revenue to continue agency operations."  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

 

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