Wednesday, September 29
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

Senate Democrats have pitched 'Plan B' for including immigration
provisions in the reconciliation bill to the Senate
parliamentarian, reports Jordain Carney of The Hill
. 

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) "confirmed on Tuesday that part of their
pitch to [Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth] MacDonough is to change
the registry date for certain undocumented immigrants and beneficiaries
of humanitarian parole programs, essentially implementing a statute of
limitations for past unauthorized entries." 

In other news, big congrats to 2021 MacArthur
Fellows Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, filmmakers whose
work "explore[s] life along the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and the
experiences of immigrants." Ellen McCarthy reports in The Washington
Post
. As
Latino filmmakers, "[w]e feel it as a kind of responsibility because we
believe there are others who deserve to feel free and supported in doing
the necessary work," said Ibarra. 

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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HAITI, CHILE, 

**U.S.** - A large percentage of Haitians who recently trekked to
the U.S.-Mexico border came from Chile, Pascale Bonnefoy writes in
a piece for The New York Times
 with
photos from Cristobal Olivares. "Over the past decade, as Haitians
sought refuge from the devastating 2010 earthquake, Chile - with its
generous entry policy and stable economy - became an even more
attractive destination for them," Bonnefoy explains. Since then, life
has become "increasingly difficult," with migrants facing "increasing
joblessness, poverty and hostility there." Per government data, as of
December, there were more than 182,000 Haitians living in
Chile (excluding undocumented immigrants). "In Chile, Haitians are
facing cultural and social discrimination, even at a government level,
and racism in workplaces and on the streets," said Ivenet Dorsainvil,
a professor and spokesman for Haitian groups in the country. 

'THE SYSTEM CRUMBLES' - "Hundreds of migrants arrested under
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) 'catch and jail' border security
push have been sitting in prison for weeks with no charges filed
against them," reports Jolie McCullough of The Texas Tribune
. Many
of these migrants don't speak English, McCullough notes,
and they've had "few opportunities to talk to their families and
often fewer chances to find out what is happening to them or how long
they will be imprisoned." Now, defense attorneys and advocacy groups
are asking courts to release them. "We can't have a country or a
system where people are being rounded up like this and sort of tucked
away and hidden without the oversight and respective rights that the
Constitution demands," said Amrutha Jindal, a Houston defense
attorney for Restoring Justice. "The system crumbles without due
process."  

'REASONABLY BELIEVED' - Not to be outdone in the race to the
nativist bottom, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) is moving forward with
his own efforts to vilify immigrants. Politico's
 Gary
Fineout reports that DeSantis "encouraged Florida authorities to
detain buses, planes or cars 'reasonably believed' to be
transporting someone who entered the country illegally from the southern
border." Since this is a family-friendly newsletter, I will refrain
from commenting further. 

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AFGHAN WELCOME - More than 100 U.S. citizens and green card
holders, plus nine special immigrant visa holders, were evacuated from
Afghanistan on a private charter flight Tuesday, Jake
Tapper and Jennifer Hansler report for CNN
. Meanwhile,
in a blog post  for the
Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force (LEITF
), Ret. Chief Ramon Batista, an LEITF senior
advisor, emphasized law enforcement's role in welcoming
refugees: "There will be challenges ahead of us as we welcome Afghan
refugees, but I urge everyone to remember our nation's rich history of
welcoming, and caring for, immigrants." And on Monday, about 100
Arizona faith leaders sent a letter
 to
Gov. Doug Ducey expressing gratitude for his welcoming Afghan refugees
to the state. 

Here's this morning's sampling of local stories of welcome:  

* Alyssa McClellan of Owasso, Oklahoma, has dedicated her extra office
space to store donations for Afghan refugees, which she's been
organizing throughout her community. (Art Haddaway, Owasso Reporter
) 

* A Washington state family started the Afghan Refugee Student Backpack
Program, which has now "donated nearly 700 backpacks and hand-written
notes and more than $15,000 worth of new school supplies to Afghan
refugees from preschool to high school." (Alex
Bruell, Enumclaw Courier-Herald
) 

* In collaboration with US Together, synagogues in Columbus, Ohio,
are stepping up to help Afghan refugees, from resettlement to
donations to community sponsorships with faith-based organizations.
(Ellen Braunstein, Cleveland Jewish News
) 

DIVERSITY VISAS - On Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya
S. Chutkan "ordered the U.S. State Department to reserve 966 diversity
visas beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, saying applicants
were likely to prevail on their claims that the department unlawfully
delayed processing," reports Jennifer Doherty for Law360
. "To
be clear, there is no statutory requirement that every available
diversity visa be issued each year. But that does not mean that the
State Department can decide to suspend the diversity program for six
months of the fiscal year, thereby drastically reducing the number of
diversity visa applications that could be processed, adjudicated, and
issued," the judge said. The State Department cited COVID-19
'hotspots' abroad, in addition to U.S. travel bans, as reasons for
the processing delays.  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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