‘MONSTROUS BUREAUCRACY’ — Long lines for required U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) check-ins — and limited capacity due to COVID-19 measures — have resulted in several dozen migrants camping out overnight in Houston to get appointments, reports Elizabeth Trovall of the Houston Chronicle. The scene? Camping chairs, travel mugs, and some people sleeping in their cars. "It surprised me because I thought (the check-in process) was something more quick, more organized," a Venezuelan asylum seeker said. Migration Policy Institute research director Randy Capps has it right: "This is a perfect example that makes it very hard for immigrants to comply with this monstrous bureaucracy that they have to deal with. And part of the reason why it’s so monstrous is because the rules are inflexible, and the burden always falls on the immigrant when something goes wrong." 

TULSA’S WELCOME — As the Los Angeles Times’ Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports, there are serious challenges facing the effort to resettle Afghan evacuees. But my friend Eric Costanzo, pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church, shared this: About 170 Afghan refugees have arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Pastor Eric’s church has partnered with Catholic Charities to give them a warm welcome, as Tim Stanley of Tulsa World reports. Volunteers greet every refugee at the airport with snacks, water, and a teddy bear for every child. "[E]verybody’s come together on this," said church missions director Karen Pirtle. For an update on bigger-picture resettlement efforts, see Jen Kirby’s Vox piece. And take in Jeff Gammage’s latest in the Philadelphia Inquirer to get a feel for evacuated Afghans’ fear for family members left behind. 

Here are more stories of local welcome: