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DACA — The Biden administration is moving forward today with a proposal to re-create Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) through a formal regulation, Michelle Hackman at The Wall Street Journal reports. While the updated, formalized version "would operate largely the same as the original created by the Obama administration in 2012," it would also attempt to address the concerns raised in ongoing legal challenges over DACA. AFGHANS LEFT BEHIND — Jonathan Blitzer of The New Yorker tells the story of 'Shah,' who began aiding the U.S. military in Afghanistan as a translator in 2007 and almost immediately began receiving death threats from the Taliban. Shah has since applied for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) four times — and is still waiting to obtain one for himself and his family. "I say, 'This is just temporary.' This is what I've been telling them for years and years. I've made a lot of promises to my kids." Meanwhile, NPR's Elisa Oddone reports that Afghan refugees are among the thousands of migrants hoping to immigrate to Europe via Serbia. "Migration has always been here, will always be here," European Commissioner Ylva Johansson told NPR last week. "Of course, we have challenges, but they are manageable. And if you start panicking and being afraid of migration, then you will not be able to manage in a humane and orderly way." 'RESPOND WITH LOVE' — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Charities agencies across the nation will welcome up to 7,500 Afghan refugees in the coming months, Autumn Jones reports for the National Catholic Register. "There's a lot of opportunity for us to embrace, to respond to the call, to respond with love," said Rachel Pollock, director of resettlement services for the USCCB Office of Migration and Refugee Services. Here's today's roundup of local stories:
ABOUT OUR REFUGEE RESPONSE... — Afghan refugees, Haitian migrants and vulnerable groups from Central America are fleeing their countries for similar reasons — but are treated very differently on U.S. soil, Nicole Narea writes for Vox. "Afghan refugees deserve protection. But so do the other vulnerable populations arriving at
America’s doorstep," writes Narea. "... Just as America bears responsibility for the crisis that
Afghans are fleeing, it has also played a well-documented — but often-overlooked — role in creating the conditions that are driving people to make the journey to the U.S. southern border." For more perspective on our response to refugees worldwide, KK Ottesen interviews David Miliband, president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, for The Washington Post. IMMIGRATION COURTS — Top immigration judge David Neal — who stepped down during the Trump era — has now been appointed by the Biden administration to lead the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which is responsible for the nation’s immigration courts, reports Hamed Aleaziz of BuzzFeed News. In the past few years, many judges left EOIR "due to concerns about how the Trump administration had reshaped the work the court was doing," Aleaziz notes, and Neal will take over the agency "as President Joe Biden is dealing with increasing numbers of immigrants arriving at the southern border and a persisting court backlog." Thanks for reading, Ali |
