Tuesday, November 9
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Per the Department of Homeland Security
, the
Biden administration will waive immigration application fees "for
up to 70,000 Afghan evacuees
 as
they are resettled in the United States," reports Priscilla
Alvarez of CNN
. The
filing fee for work permit applications, which is required for Afghans
to work legally in the U.S., is $410. Fees for obtaining lawful
permanent residence can cost as much as $1,225. 

However, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) "is
currently reviewing over 400,000 pending asylum applications, prompting
concerns among advocates that Afghans may get stuck in this backlogged
process unless a legalization program is established," reports Camilo
Montoya-Galvez for CBS News
.  

Related: According to the latest Refugee Processing Center
 data, the
U.S. resettled 401 refugees in October, the first month of fiscal year
2022 - down from 3,774 admissions in September.  

These numbers do not include the tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees
who have been brought to the U.S., per CBS' Camilo Montoya-Galvez
. My
colleague, Danilo Zak, also has a savvy thread
 on
this topic. 

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of Noorani's Notes. Don't miss 
this event
 with
the Niskanen Center later this morning. If you have a story to share
from your own community, please send it to me
at [email protected]
.

[link removed]

BORDER POLICIES - In an important piece for Foreign Policy
, Andrew
Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, makes the case
that U.S. border policies should center around investments
that provide migrants a reason to stay in their home countries. In
Guatemala, for example, "[s]mart policies over the next few years could
determine whether migration slows over the longer term. But some of
these policies will require managing migration in the interim so there
are legal pathways for people to take," Selee
writes. "[E]xpanding seasonal worker programs would make an enormous
difference in people's lives and serve as an alternative to
unauthorized migration." Meanwhile, yesterday was a big day for the
U.S. as borders reopened for nonessential travel
 for
vaccinated  people - see Rebecca Falconer at Axios
 and Aaron
A. Bedoya of the El Paso Times
' collections of
photos from the occasion. 

BELARUS AND POLAND

** **- Per Polish government,  spokesman Piotr Muller, more than
3,000 migrants have gathered near the Belarus-Poland border, "and more
than 10,000 others across Belarus [are] ready to try and cross into
Poland," report Matthias Williams and Joanna Plucinska of of Reuters
. The EU, which
Poland is a member of, is accusing Belarus "of encouraging migrants from
the Middle East and Africa to cross into the EU via Belarus, as a form
of hybrid warfare in revenge for Western sanctions
on [Belarus] President Alexander Lukashenko's government over human
rights abuses." Both Poland and neighboring Lithuania have stationed
troops at the border to help manage the potential increase of migrant
crossings. The U.S. State Department on Monday "called on the
government of Belarus to immediately halt its campaign of orchestrating
and coercing irregular migration flows across its borders." 

TEXAS JAILS

** **- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) July order
 to
arrest migrants for trespassing on the southern border has overwhelmed
local courts in the state - and
has yielded few convictions, Elizabeth Findell and Alicia A.
Caldwell report for The Wall Street Journal
. Per
court records, of 1,500 trespassing arrests under Operation Lone Star,
only 3% have led to convictions, while hundreds of migrants wait
weeks or months in jail - 53% of those jailed have been there
longer than 30 days, and 14% longer than 60 days.  

[link removed]

RESETTLEMENT EFFORTS - A group of Oklahoma non-profit
organizations, religious groups and local law enforcement
are collaborating to help resettle Afghan evacuees safely,
reports Lionel Ramos of Oklahoma Watch
. To help
protect new residents, an FBI liaison is sharing "safety tips,
suggestions and monitors things like online hate towards Muslims and
Afghans in Oklahoma" during resettlement meetings. For more on the
experiences of evacuees, take a moment to read these harrowing and
heartfelt stories of escaping Afghanistan from Scott Carrier
of the Deseret News
 and
Elijah Decious of The Cedar Rapids Gazette
.  

Here is today's series of local stories: 

* Bethany Christian Services is asking for volunteers and
financial assistance to resettle 50 Afghan refugees in Fresno,
California. (Bill McEwen, GV Wire
)

* UW-La Crosse staff and faculty members used their woodworking skills
to create about 200 toy houses for Afghan children housed at Fort
McCoy, Wisconsin. (La Crosse Tribune
) 

* Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder joined Masbia Soup Kitchen
Network CEO Alexander Rapaport to organize the delivery of food and
cleaning supplies for Afghan refugees at Fort Dix military base in
New Jersey. (Mid Hudson News
) 

'MORE DELICIOUS TEXAS' - In an incredible feature for Texas
Highways
,
Kayla Stewart dives deep into how various refugee populations in
Texas have enriched the state. Texas resettled around 57,000 refugees
- more than any other state in the country - between 2010 and 2019.
And as Stewart puts it: "Refugees' food travels with them, and when
given opportunities, their culinary knowledge and skills can be
translated into meaningful employment and contributions to their
families and communities. The result is a richer, more delicious
Texas." The photos alone made me hungry. 

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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