NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Important news today: The Biden administration is preparing to offer
vaccines to migrants in custody along the U.S.-Mexico border, per two
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials,
report Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti of The Washington Post
. Under
the new plan, DHS would vaccinate migrants soon after they enter the
U.S. and before they are processed by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection. 

Until now, only a limited number of migrants who were detained in
longer-term facilities had received the vaccine. Migrants who
are turned back to Mexico under the pandemic-era use of Title
42 will not get the vaccine initially, one of the officials said. 

"If they have people under their care and consider part of caring for
them making sure they're immune to the virus, I think that's
responsible," said Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education
Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  

From my perspective
, if the
administration further expands vaccine access to those who are
expelled under Title 42, it would put the reopening of the border
to a greater level of trade, tourism and immigration within reach. 

Welcome to Wednesday'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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BLOCKED - A judge has temporarily blocked Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott's (R) order restricting transportation of
migrants, pending a ruling on whether the order is
constitutional, reports Reese Oxner of The Texas Tribune
. The
order would permit Texas troopers to turn back or seize civilian
vehicles "if police suspect the driver is transporting migrants who are
infected with the virus" and raised racial profiling concerns,
in addition to U.S. attorneys' argument that it would hinder
government contractors' ability to transport migrants between
facilities. Cardone's next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13, the day
the temporary restraining order expires, reports Valerie Gonzalez
of The Monitor
. 

**FORT BLISS** - An independent watchdog from the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching an investigation of the
largest facility housing unaccompanied migrant children, in Fort
Bliss, Texas, reports Priscilla Alvarez of CNN
. Following
a whistleblower complaint from late July, "[t]his review will analyze
interviews and on-site observations regarding case management challenges
at Fort Bliss that may have impeded the safe and timely release of
children to sponsors," said
 the
HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). "If, during this review, we
obtain information about conduct that appears to fall outside of the law
or HHS policies and regulations, we will forward those details to our
Office of Investigations for appropriate
action," OIG spokeswoman Tesia Williams said via a statement. As
of late July, Fort Bliss is one of five emergency intake sites that
remains open. A report from the investigation is expected this
year, reports Nathaniel Weixel of The Hill
. 

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**CLIMATE CHANGE **- Several refugee and climate organizations are
calling on the Biden administration to help address displacement in
the Northern Triangle caused by climate change,
reports Rebecca Morin of USA TODAY
. This push comes
as the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) released a new
report
 detailing actions
the administration can take without
congressional approval, including issuing clear grounds for refugee
status, issuing policy guidance for climate-related claims
and adopting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for countries affected by
climate change, among other recommendations. "Climate displacement is
a huge global challenge," said Ama Francis, climate displacement project
strategist at IRAP. "There are concrete things that the U.S. government
can do and there are existing laws that the U.S. can build upon to make
sure that all climate displaced people have a safe place to live."  

**BORDERS **- A new report
 from FWD.us
 in partnership with the National Immigrant
Justice Center  (NIJC) highlights
how "offshoring and externalization" across three continents
have blocked vulnerable people from seeking asylum - a legal
right under national and international law. Two international
treaties, the 1952 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Refugee Protocol,
are meant to protect asylees worldwide. But most nations in recent
history, including the U.S., "have chipped away at the principle,
claiming compliance with legal obligations while in practice rendering
safety elusive for refugees fleeing harm," the report reads. I just
finished a new project (more on that this fall) that looked at how the
externalization of borders and political weaponization of migration has
led to where we are today. This is such an important issue.  

**LIFE AND DEATH** - "Each day longer we have to wait, we are more
at risk of being attacked and killed. The administration must
act immediately to prevent the murder of the thousands of people like
me who face death because of our aid to U.S. forces," write "Khan," an
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicant, and Julie Kornfeld, Senior
Staff Attorney at IRAP, in an op-ed for Just Security
. This
past year alone, Khan has lost four of his closest family members,
including his brother-in-law, at the hands of the Taliban. Although
Khan completed his SIV interview last week - after waiting more
than three years - the Taliban continues to advance and threaten him
and his family. "What pains me the most is that my life does not have
to be this consistent calculation of life and death situations. There
were, and still are, many things the U.S. government could do to
protect Afghan allies
 as
they withdraw troops," Khan writes. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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