Friday, November 5

In a last-minute attempt to get immigration pieces into the reconciliation bill, a trio of House Democrats on Thursday pushed to broaden protections for undocumented immigrants, reports Jazmine Ulloa of the Boston Globe.

As it stands now, the bill would provide temporary protections and work permits to roughly 7 million people living in the U.S. without authorized status and who entered the country before Jan. 1, 2011. That includes 1.6 million "Dreamers" who arrived as children, "and 3.6 million daycare workers, janitors, and farmworkers doing essential jobs during the pandemic."

Welcome to Friday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. Tomorrow, an exhibit about the U.S.-Mexico border will open at the National Building Museum in D.C. Looking forward to checking this out. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].

USAID VISION — In a Thursday speech, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power "has laid out her vision for the agency — one focused on increasing local partnership and participation and making development more inclusive of marginalized groups," reports Adva Saldinger of Devex. Power aims to "make aid more accessible by diversifying the types of partners USAID works with, more equitable by focusing on the needs of those who are most marginalized and incorporating their voices, and more responsive by better listening to partners in the countries where the agency works," writes Saldinger. As part of this vision, Power a announced a "$300 million initiative to empower local organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to address the drivers of irregular migration to the United States."

BORDER — Per a court filing Wednesday, the parents of 270 migrant children separated at the U.S-Mexico border by the Trump administration have not been located, down from 303 in September, reports Priscilla Alvarez of CNN. Meanwhile, Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed News reports that immigration attorneys "say they won’t be complicit in the relaunch of the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as MPP or the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, which they say is not only dangerous but takes away the due process rights of immigrants and asylum-seekers." Finally, The Texas Tribune’s Jolie McCullough reports that trespassing charges filed against migrants at the Texas border as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown "were dropped last week because court documents filed by the local county attorney failed to point out on what property the men were allegedly trespassing."

‘PARALYSIS’ — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) drafted a nine-page plan in July to end the use of Title 42, the "Trump-era pandemic policy to rapidly expel migrant families with children," reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. But because Biden appointees were divided on how to wind down the policy, it stood in place. Since July, U.S. immigration officials have used Title 42 to expel more than 44,000 migrant parents and children traveling as families without giving them the opportunity to request asylum. "From the very beginning, there have been battles within the administration about how to handle the border between those who are more progressive and those who are more enforcement-minded on the issue," said one person involved in the administration’s discussions. "These battles have led to paralysis, which has allowed things to get worse in several ways."

ICE FLIGHTS — For Capital & Main, Angelika Albaladejo documents a series of shocking examples highlighting the dangers immigrants face on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flights. The U.S. government relies on a few private air charter companies to transport hundreds of thousands of immigrants between detention centers or deport them. During Barack Obama’s second term and Donald Trump’s early years in office, nearly 100 dangerous incidents — from cabins filled with smoke to crash landings where shackled detainees struggled to escape — were recorded in government documents. ICE "has long pleaded with its contractors to address poor upkeep of planes and insufficient training, which have injured immigrant detainees, guards and crew," writes Albaladejo. "Despite such problems, ICE has increased its reliance on private jets over the years."

AFGHAN RESETTLEMENT — The Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has welcomed the first of an expected 125 Afghan evacuees, reports Elijah Decious of The Cedar Rapids Gazette. "Iowa has been a leader in refugee resettlements since the 1970s," said Stephanie Moris, director of the Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa. "For the most part, our resettlement agencies feel very welcome to new Iowans." (Sneak peek: I wrote about Iowa’s inspirational history of refugee resettlement in my forthcoming book, "Crossing Borders." Thank you for pre-ordering!) Related: Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global highlights the robust security vetting taking place for Afghan evacuees, citing the Council of National Security and Immigration (CNSI’s) recent letter to governors.

Here’s today’s collection of local stories:

With the help of fellow Virginia Commonwealth University dentistry students, Nadia Abdul-Ghafoor "has put together over 100 bags of toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash" that will be donated to Afghan refugees temporarily housed at the Fort Lee, Virginia, military base. (Joan Tupponce, VCU News)
Members of the Greater Phoenix Jewish community have donated clothing, household items, and money to Valley Beit Midrash’s Welcome Tent initiative, "which was created to fill in the ‘gaps’ left by the large service agencies for Afghan refugees." (Nicole Raz, Jewish News)
Hearts & Homes for Refugees, based in New York’s Hudson Valley region, has been providing Afghans with the support they need to resettle and is currently asking for donations to expand its work in developing sponsorships. (The Hudson Independent)

Thanks for reading,

Ali