NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced it would begin
evacuating Aghan allies who've aided the U.S. government in the last
week of July, Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville report
in the Associated Press
. As
part of "Operation Allies Refuge," relocation flights will
prioritize Special Immigrant Visa
 (SIV) applicants
and their family members. Citing security concerns, officials have not
disclosed how many Afghans will be evacuated or where they will be
relocated. 

Foreign Policy
 columnist
and American Enterprise Institute fellow Elisabeth Braw
writes that pulling all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan could lead to
the next refugee crisis in Europe. "The brunt will be felt in the
neighboring countries: Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan," said Stefano
Stefanini, former ambassador of Italy to NATO and former national
security advisor to the Italian president. "To some extent, the U.S. is
sheltered by distance-though Washington is providing special visas to
the many Afghans who translated, drove, and worked for the Americans.
But many refugees, at great cost and risk, will try to get to Europe." 

For PRI's The World
,
Monica Campbell contextualizes the U.S. history
of evacuating wartime allies. Our take: Evacuate them as soon as
possible
. 

Welcome to Thursday's edition of Noorani's Notes. This
morning, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the
Biden administration's nominee for U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) director. More than 60 law enforcement
leaders signed a letter
 this
week urging Sheriff Gonzalez's swift confirmation. If you have a
story to share from your own community, please send it to me
at [email protected]
.   

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**BORDER NUMBERS** - Per a Homeland Security official, the number
of arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border in June was the highest in at
least a decade, reports Geneva Sands of CNN
.
"[Border authorities] encountered around 188,800 migrants in June, up
from 180,034 in May," Sands writes, bringing this fiscal year's
total to more than 1 million encounters so far. While most
encounters were single adults, there were approximately 55,805 family
members and 15,253 unaccompanied children encountered in June, up from
44,639 and 14,158 in May, respectively. A key question here: What
percentage of these were repeat crossers
 subjected
to Title 42 expulsions? 

**BORDER PERSPECTIVES** - After spending the last couple days in El
Paso and Ciudad Juárez (see my Morning Consult
 op-ed
discussing takeaways from the trip), two things are clear to me: Border
travel restrictions have stifled local economies, and the Biden
administration needs a clear plan to methodically lift Title 42
restrictions. CNN's
 Priscilla
Alvarez describes the situation along the border and how it's
been complicated by capacity issues and new migration
pressures. "We've had situations where folks aren't able to get
clearance to cross on foot or by car, but they can easily go to an
airport and fly," said San Diego Mayor Todd
Gloria, who recently participated in a call with U.S. immigration
officials
. "It's
these sorts of things that aren't consistent but add frustration."  

**CUBA AND HAITI** - One of those new pressures along the border will
come from migration caused by the recent political upheaval and violence
in both Cuba
 and Haiti
,
Adam Taylor and Claire Parker write in The Washington Post
. Prior to
the countries' current unrest, data suggested that
their migration to the U.S. was "steadily increasing." As many
as 10,000 Haitians are already stuck in limbo at the U.S.-Mexico
border under Title 42 restrictions, and the U.S. Coast Guard
intercepted about 550 Cubans attempting to migrate by sea this fiscal
year alone. However, as the Mixed Migration Centre's Giulia Testa
notes, most Cubans and Haitians coming to the U.S. didn't leave
their home countries recently - many are migrating a second time,
fleeing Central and South America amid pandemic-induced economic
stresses. 

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**JUDICIAL MOTIVATIONS** - Research
 from Texas
professors Daniel Braaten and Claire Nolasco Braaten show that U.S.
immigration judges considering asylum for unaccompanied minors between
October 2013 through September 2017 were "influenced by factors outside
of the case," most notably political ones. "Political factors such as
ideology, political party of the president who appointed them and who
was president at the time they decided the case significantly influenced
whether these children were allowed to stay in the country," they note
in The Conversation
. "Asylum
decisions can be life-or-death matters. Although immigration judges
consider the requirements of asylum law, they are also influenced by
nonlegal factors when making decisions." 

**FINANCIAL RECOVERY** - Our latest Only in America

episode delves into the financial recovery of immigrant
communities in the wake of the pandemic. I spoke with U.S. Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce CEO Ramiro Cavazos
, Whole Foods
associate Issaka Kouraogo, and pastor and restaurant owner Lawrence
Yoo . Speaking of financial
recovery, Anna May at Philadelphia Neighborhoods

reports on The Welcoming Center , a
nonprofit organization helping to integrate new immigrants and refugees
into the Philadelphia economy, which launched a toolkit in June
to help companies fill the growing employment gap. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

 

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