Friday, October 15
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

Over the course of 25 years, Raul Rodriguez served our nation as a
sailor, then as an officer with Customs and Border Protection. One day,
18 years into his job at CBP, according to NPR's

John Burnett, two managers approached Rodriguez and "told him to
surrender his gun and his badge." 

He is undocumented. 

Rodriguez, 53, says that it was only when he was trying to prove he was
born in the U.S. that he learned he was born in Mexico and brought
across the border as an infant. 

Speaking of the border, back in August a federal court ruled that the
Biden administration must reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols, or
"remain in Mexico." The Washington Post
's
Nick Miroff reports the administration is preparing to implement the
program once again. "Biden's version of MPP would seek to complete
asylum case processing within six months ... using temporary courts in
tent facilities set up at the same border crossings in Brownsville and
Laredo, Texas, used by the Trump administration. Their planned restart
of the program will prioritize 'making sure individuals are treated
humanely,' one official said." 

Changing tracks, our friends at Boundless Immigration
are out
with 13 "must-read" new books about the immigrant experience. Early
Christmas shopping, commence ...  

We're 10 days away from Leading the Way 2021,
and in case you
missed it, this week we added Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N.
Mayorkas to an already strong speaker lineup. Register here
. 

Welcome to Friday'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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**DUE PROCESS** - First the good news: The Biden administration has
suspended its use of a Trump-era policy that allows for arrest and rapid
deportation without an immigration hearing, reports Hamed Aleaziz of
Buzzfeed News
.
The expanded expedited removal policy applied nationwide, rather than
close to the border only, and "anyone who could not prove that they had
lived in the U.S. for longer than two years" was at risk. Now the not so
good news: Data underscore the lack of due process for immigrants
expelled under the pandemic-era Title 42, as Camilo Montoya-Galvez of
CBS News

reports. There have been 1,163,000 expulsions under the policy - and
only 3,217 migrants referred to asylum officers for interviews.
"Migrants are being prevented from exercising a basic human right, which
is to apply for asylum," said Michael Knowles, president of a union that
represents hundreds of U.S. government asylum and refugee officers.  

**REOPENING** - In November, vaccinated travelers will be able to
cross U.S. land borders from Mexico and Canada, as Uriel J. García and
Kevin Reynolds report in the Texas Tribune
.
Such travel has been restricted since March 2020 and has hurt businesses
that depend on cross-border shoppers. David Jerome, president and CEO of
the El Paso Chamber, put it simply: "This will help us." Said Rep. Tony
Gonzales (R-Texas), "Reopening our borders to legal travel is a critical
step in returning to normalcy." The effects will be felt farther north,
too; Dallas is anticipating more tourists including Cowboys fans, a team
at the Dallas Morning News

reports. "We were waiting for this (border reopening) because Dallas is
a very accessible market from Mexico," said Craig Davis, president of
Visit Dallas.

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**BIDEN'S RESCUER** - Tens of thousands of Afghans potentially
eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) did not get out before the
U.S. concluded its withdrawal. One of them was Mohammad Aman Khalili,
whose assistance included helping rescue senators including Joe Biden
after a forced helicopter landing in 2008. Buzzfeed News

has the story of the Khalili family's harrowing escape: "The entire
journey lasted about six weeks, filled with moments of uncertainty and
an uncomfortable level of trust in strangers." The family is now in
Qatar and received SIVs earlier this week. Over at Spectrum News
,
Austin Landis speaks with former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who is
overseeing resettlement efforts for the White House. "People are
starting to move [off military bases]," Markell said. "We want to do it
quickly. And we want to do it successfully." 

Meanwhile, on the local-welcome front:

* "Johnny," a combat interpreter who helped American troops adapt to
Afghan culture, has been resettled in Charlotte, N.C. - and welcomed
by Sen. Thom Tillis (R), among others. (WSOC-TV
)

* On the Illinois-Iowa border, World Relief Quad Cities has helped
resettle the first of 175 Afghan refugees expected to arrive, offering
food, shelter, and assistance in navigating the area. (Sarah Hayden,
Quad-City Times
)

* In partnership with other organizations, the Refugee Development
Center in Lansing, Michigan, provides "English tutoring, a mentorship
program, food delivery services and other support" for new arrivals; 300
Afghan refugees are anticipated in coming months. (Elena Durnbaugh,
Lansing State Journal
)

* Several local advocacy groups have collaborated to launch the
Welcoming Nashville Fund
,
with a goal of raising $300,000 for "resettlement needs, including
trauma counseling, help with housing and groceries." (Adam Tamburin,
Axios
) 

**INVESTMENT** - Mexico's Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, warned
on Wednesday that if the United States aims to slow migration, it needs
to increase investment in Central America, per Reuters
.
"Without this investment ... it's very hard to think that the
migration flows that are happening will diminish," Ebrard said. In a
recent letter to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,
President Biden noted that the U.S. has provided more than $600 million
in foreign aid over the past year to Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras, and has requested an additional $861 million from Congress
for the fiscal year just under way. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

 

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