NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

On Thursday, Congress passed a $2.1 billion bill for Capitol
security and Afghan visas with unanimous support in the Senate and
overwhelmingly bipartisan support in the House (416 to
11), reports Melissa Quinn of CBS News
. The
emergency funding will specifically bolster federal efforts
to relocate Afghans who aided the U.S. military in Afghanistan.  

The first Afghan evacuation flight arrived in Fort Lee,
Virginia, this morning, carrying some 200 Afghan interpreters and
their families who will be processed there before being resettled across
the country, Alex Horton reports for The Washington Post
. 

"Today is an important milestone as we continue to fulfill our promise
to the thousands of Afghan nationals who served shoulder-to-shoulder
with American troops and diplomats over the last 20 years in
Afghanistan," said President Biden. "These arrivals are just the
first of many as we work quickly to relocate [Special Immigrant
Visa]-eligible Afghans out of harm's way-to the United States, to
U.S. facilities abroad, or to third countries-so that they can wait in
safety while they finish their visa applications." 

Welcome to Friday'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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**RECONCILIATION** - President Biden is backing Democrats' plan
to advance immigration reform via
budget reconciliation, reports Annie Karni of The New York Times
. Biden said
Thursday that White House staff were "putting out a message right
now" suggesting "we include in the reconciliation bill the
immigration proposal" to provide a pathway to citizenship for millions
of undocumented immigrants. A team of immigration
activists, researchers, and congressional aides "is currently
exploring the question, digging into the best way to present the case"
to the Senate parliamentarian, who will determine whether immigration
legislation is permitted to advance under budget reconciliation. For
more context, catch up on my Facebook Live conversation
 with
Bill Kristol on what reconciliation could mean for reform.  

**'TEXAS HAS NO AUTHORITY'** - Attorney General Merrick Garland
threatened to sue Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) Thursday over
a new state order
 prohibiting
non-law enforcement officers from driving undocumented people anywhere,
reports Matt Shuham of Talking Points Memo
. "Texas
has no authority to interfere with the United States' 'broad,
undoubted power over the subject of immigration' by impairing the
United States' release of individuals and the ability of those
individuals to comply with federal immigration law," said Garland, who
essentially warned that the order "would endanger law enforcement,
exacerbate crowding in shelters and interfere with court dates for
undocumented people," Shuhan writes. 

**TITLE 42** - The Biden administration will not begin
its wind-down of pandemic-related Title
42 restrictions - originally planned by the end of this
month - due to an increase in Delta variant coronavirus cases and
border apprehensions, report Sabrina Rodriguez and Anita Kumar
of Politico
. The administration
also announced plans on Monday "to speed up deportations for some
families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border and cannot be expelled under
Title 42," a.k.a. expedited removal.  The administration is still in
negotiations with the ACLU over a lawsuit regarding its use of Title
42, which the ACLU says it is using to restrict immigration.  

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**MANGO HOUSE **- For Kaiser Health News
,
Markian Hawryluk profiles Dr. P.J. Parmar, who started a clinic in
Denver designed "to survive on the Medicaid payments that many doctors
across the U.S. reject as too low" in order to serve immigrants and
refugees who otherwise could not afford health care. Since opening 10
years ago, Mango House has extended its services to provide food and
clothing assistance, after-school programs, English classes and legal
help. Parmar even leases part of the space to several refugee
business owners who he may turn to
for patients in need of an interpreter. "This is what I call a
medical home," said Parmar, the son of Indian
immigrants. While it's not part of the formal refugee resettlement
program, Hawryluk notes, Mango House "is in many ways emblematic of
refugee health care in the U.S. ... [which] often relies on individual
physicians willing to eke out a living caring for an underserved and
under-resourced population."  

**OLYPMIC SPIRIT** - This week on Only in America
, we're
celebrating both the individual victories and collective unity that
come out of the Olympics - and the immigrants and refugees whose
stories intertwine with the Games. Our latest episode
 features former
Olympian and refugee Makorobondo "Dee" Salukombo, who discussed his
love for running and his work as founder of Project Kirotshe, a program
that helps children afford training to run races throughout Eastern
Africa. Speaking of the Olympics, 18-year-old gymnast and Minnesota
native Sunisa Lee won gold
 in
Thursday's individual all-around competition. The first Hmong
American to make the U.S. Olympic team, NPR
's Jaclyn Diaz and Bill
Chappell report on Lee's unlikely path to the Olympics and the pride
she brought to her hometown community
.  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

**P.S.** How can immigration affect happiness in a positive way?
"Seeing the bright side of immigration is good for everyone, not just
the stranger," Arthur C. Brooks writes in The Atlantic
. "Immigrants
are a model for how all of us can live without accepting our status quo,
how the circumstances of our birth do not necessarily confine us. That
is worthy not just of grudging acceptance, but of admiration and
gratitude."  

 

 

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