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CLEARED TO WORK — Following a class-action lawsuit, the Biden administration "will make it easier for some immigrant spouses to continue working legally with a visa but without renewing their employment authorization," reports Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal. "The change will benefit tens of thousands of immigrants, primarily Indian women, who are the spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders who were caught in a monthslong backlog to receive their work permits." The COVID-19 pandemic and Trump-era changes to renewal requirements exacerbated permit processing delays amid a growing backlog. "This is a huge victory for spouses, it saves people money and time," said Jesse Bless, director of litigation at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. ‘THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS’ — The Biden administration issued new immigration enforcement guidance in September (slated to be finalized Nov. 29), but Ohio immigrant advocates say the implementation of these new priorities has been inconsistent across U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices, Yilun Cheng reports for The Columbus Dispatch. Biden’s new rules "[limit] arrests and deportations to noncitizens considered threats to national security, public safety or border security" — but immigrants like Said Said, a Tanzanian immigrant and father who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, remains in custody and faces deportation because of an expired student visa. "This is outrageous. You are violating your own two separate directives/guidelines," wrote Said’s attorney Nazly Mamedova in an email to ICE after the agency denied his latest request for relief.
‘WE ARE DYING HERE’ — Children are "suffer[ing] from hunger and hypothermia" at the Belarus-Poland border, where thousands of migrants have gathered hoping to cross into Poland, reports Sara Cincurova for Al Jazeera. "I see children dying in front of my eyes and I can’t do anything to help them," said "Ibrahim," a 37-year-old Syrian. "We are dying here." A group of medical workers with Border Aid has treated a few dozen children at the border, some with severe conditions — and at least one child has reportedly died. With winter approaching, "NGO workers and activists in Poland have raised the alarm over child refugees on both sides of the border as the crisis deepens and weather conditions deteriorate." Here is today’s collection of local stories:
Thanks for reading, Ali P.S. Check out this New York Times piece on ‘The Walk,’ a project about refugees, which the Times describes as "one of the year’s most ambitious pieces of theater — and certainly the piece of theater with the biggest stage." |
