HONG KONG — The Biden administration on Thursday offered temporary "safe haven" to Hong Kong residents in the U.S. via Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for up to 18 months. The move "[allows] potentially thousands of people to extend their stay in the country in response to Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in the Chinese territory," a team at Reuters reports. As the Forum’s fact sheet explains, DED is a temporary immigration benefit allowing certain individuals from designated countries to stay in the United States. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), who introduced legislation to grant asylum to Hong Kongers, said via statement: "We need to offer full asylum to Hong Kongers who flee Chairman Xi’s brutal oppression. America needs to stand firmly behind victims of communism and show the world that we will always stand for freedom across the globe." 

‘HONOR THAT DEBT’ — The U.S. has evacuated less than one percent of the 80,000 Afghans who have sought safety under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, report Dan De Luce and Abigail Williams of NBC News. Given the numbers, a planned evacuation for these Afghan allies "will likely drag on even after the last American troops withdraw from the country by the end of August," with some Afghans having to wait more than two years to leave. On Friday, 16 veteran organizations representing more than three million members signed a letter urging President Biden to speed up evacuations: "We must immediately evacuate all those who fought alongside us and have requested our help. As veterans, we believe we owe these Afghans a debt of honor; as our armed forces withdraw from Afghanistan, we must honor that debt." 

NEW DATA — The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) released new data last week estimating that 10.35 million undocumented immigrants and 8.1 million immigrants who are eligible to naturalize live in the United States. Some more key findings: The percentage of undocumented immigrants that has lived in the U.S. for 15 years or more increased from 25% to 43% between 2010 and 2019. The report emphasizes that noncitizens, particularly the undocumented, face challenges because of their status (20% of the U.S. undocumented population lives at or below the poverty line and 50% do not have health insurance) that could be addressed by expanding legal pathways and promoting citizenship. CMS also partnered with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. (CLINIC) on a new paper addressing how — and why — to broaden access to legal status and citizenship.