Thursday, October 14
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

A sign of an ever-tightening labor market, the U.S. has reached
its statutory H-2B visa limit for the first half of fiscal year
2022, Alyssa Aquino reports for Law360
. 

Per U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
, the
agency has received enough applications to exhaust the 33,000 visas
available under the nonagricultural guest worker program, which allows
foreign workers to engage in seasonal
work like landscaping, construction and hospitality. 

"USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Sept.
30 that request an employment start date before April 1, 2022," the
agency said. 

Typically, 66,000 visas are available each fiscal year with half being
awarded by the first half of the fiscal year and the rest in the second
half, Aquino notes. But for the past three fiscal years, USCIS met the
visa cap for the first half of the year in November and December,
reaching the annual threshold by February,
according to previous agency announcements. 

Before we move on to the rest of Thursday's notes, a note for your
calendar: Throughout Leading the Way 2021
, you'll hear
from respected leaders about what comes next for our country and its
immigration system. Among our speakers are Founder and CEO of
Chobani, Hamdi Ulukaya, DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Krish
O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service (LIRS), and so many more. Sign up for
the free virtual event here on Oct. 25 and 26 from 3 to 5 p.m. EST.
 

Welcome to Thursday'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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MIDDLE-CLASS MIGRANTS - Per authorities and aid workers, more
middle-class migrants from South America are flying to Mexico and then
crossing into the United States illegally to request asylum, reports
Alicia A. Caldwell for The Wall Street Journal
. According
to the International Monetary Fund, South America and the Caribbean
last year lost about 26 million jobs - the biggest economic
contraction of any region in the world, notes Caldwell. "The global
recession really made people lose hope," said Andrew Selee, president of
the Migration Policy Institute. "It's a big deal to go from being
middle class in your country to be undocumented in the United States." 

WAGE THEFT - Mexican immigrant Audelia Molina used to earn 10
cents for every garment she trimmed at a factory in Los Angeles, often
working 11 hours to make ends meet. But after her request for a raise
got denied, she quit in July 2017, "and turned to a labor-rights
attorney to help her file an unpaid-wage complaint with the California
Labor Commissioner," report Susan Ferriss and Joe Yerardi in The
Associated Press
. Molina is
not alone - 42% of all workers performing cut-and-sew garment
assembly are immigrants, and according to The Center
for Public Integrity's analysis, the cut-and-sew garment industry
has the second highest rate of federal wage-violation cases over the
last 15 years. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-California) signed a law on Sept.
27 that will bar piece-rate pay for garment workers, which goes into
effect in 2022. 

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**AFGHAN RESETTLEMENT** - Roll Call's
 Caroline
Simon reports that only about 7,000 Afghan refugees who have arrived in
the United States have been "matched with resettlement agencies and
affiliates to join communities in 46 states across the country where
they will receive initial relocation services." Simon adds that "an
infusion of $6.3 billion in government funds, allocated in the
stopgap spending bill signed into law Sept. 30, could provide a
much-needed boost to the resettlement effort." A majority of the
evacuees - more than 53,000 - are waiting at one of eight domestic
U.S. military bases, with an additional 15,000 being vetted at
overseas sites before they can enter. "[T]he additional resources can
go a long way towards stabilizing capacity," said Meredith Owen,
director of policy and advocacy at Church World Service. 

Local communities continue to support and offer aid to Afghan refugees
as well: 

* Mike Edwards of Alabama, founder of Project Exodus Relief, has led a
bipartisan effort to help aid Afghan allies still stuck in
Afghanistan and has so far resettled 40 Afghan refugees. The
organization is "in need of donations to help purchase flights, find
housing and try to send food to help those who want to leave"
to ramp up their efforts. (Erin Davis, WSFA 12 News
) 

* San Diego Afghan Refugees Aid Group ,
a volunteer group of 100 members, is working tirelessly "to help
Afghan refugees find affordable housing and community resources," such
as translations, school enrollment, grocery shopping and more. (KUSI
News
) 

* Nonprofit Lincoln Literacy  in
Lincoln, Nebraska, is seeking volunteers, including college students,
to teach English and other literacy skills to Afghan
refugees. (Jerry Saguin, The Daily Nebraskan
) 

RECONCILIATION - Senate Democrats continue efforts to include
immigration in the budget reconciliation package currently being
negotiated in Congress, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Luke Broadwater
of The New York Times
 report. Senate
Democrats are considering a proposal which would include "language in
the president's sweeping social safety net package to provide legal
status to millions of undocumented immigrants," per three congressional
officials and others familiar with the plans. The measure, if endorsed
by the parliamentarian, would serve approximately 8 million
undocumented immigrants.  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

P.S. Not all heroes wear capes, but this one does wear a Captain
America costume. In our new episode
 for Only in
America, we feature Vishavjit Singh
, a writer,
artist, creator of Sikhtoons
, and Sikh Captain
American. He relays his origin story and offers the scoop on his new
animated film, "American Sikh," a short about fighting xenophobia,
building bridges, and seeking acceptance in an intolerant world. 

 

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