Friday, November 12
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

According to the U.N. refugee agency, the number
of displaced people worldwide likely increased to more than 84
million in the first half of this year, driven by conflicts
in several African countries, per the Associated Press
. 

Many were displaced within their own countries,
but UNHCR counted more than 20.8 million refugees - people who
had left their countries of origin - as of the end of June. That
number had increased by 172,000 since the end of 2020. The 4.4
million asylum seekers UNHCR counted was an increase of 237,000. 

And today, migrants are "unwilling weapons in a geopolitical struggle"
between Belarus and the European Union - as reported by the New
York Times'
 Andrew Higgins.   

Welcome to Friday's edition of Noorani's Notes. We'll be
taking a break on Monday as we update our email systems. If you have a
story to share from your own community, please send it to me
at [email protected]
. See you Tuesday!

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BORDER 

**DATA** - The number of Haitian
migrants attempting to enter the United States dropped
significantly in October, per preliminary U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) data, reports Nick Miroff for The Washington Post
. Nearly 1,000 Haitians
were taken into custody along the U.S.-Mexico border last month, down
from 17,638 in September. The administration responded to the increase
of migrants in September using the pandemic-era Title
42 rule, expelling more than 8,500 to Haiti. For
more on what's happening at the border, see John Gramlich and
Alissa Scheller's great visual explainer for The Pew Research
Center
.  

TASK FORCE ARGO - Hundreds of people seeking to evacuate from
Afghanistan have been forced to leave safe houses and return
home after one of the largest nongovernment volunteer groups, Task
Force Argo, "failed to negotiate their passage out of the country and
ran out of money to support them," reports Jessica Donati of The Wall
Street Journal
. The
Afghans at risk include U.S. citizens, allies, and their
families. "The group's leaders said it has three flights ready to
leave but nowhere to land the planes because the U.S. government
hadn't approved the passenger manifests or otherwise cleared the
departures." But the State Department, without its own personnel on
the ground, said it was concerned about Task Force
Argo's lists. Task Force Argo had raised nearly $2 million from
veterans and other private donors with no U.S. government support, but
donations have decreased, Donati notes.  

**PRINCE WAFA'S JOURNEY** - For ABC News
,
Libby Cathey tells the harrowing story of how Prince Wafa, an Afghan
American who aided the U.S. military in Afghanistan, went back to
Afghanistan in July to rescue his wife. With the help of Rep. Darrell
Issa (R-California), Wafa and his wife were able to get on a
departure flight to a station in Doha, Qatar. "All we need is to go
for an interview and get the visa immigration on the passport. And then
we can go home together," Wafa said. In a Veterans Day piece in TIME
Magazine , Matt
Zeller, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, reminds us to salute our
Afghan allies and calls on Congress to evacuate those left behind and
pass permanent legislation to protect them.  

Here is today's catalog of local stories:  

* In Charlotte, North Carolina, Sean Kilbane, who deployed twice to
Afghanistan with the Army Reserve, embarked on "'The Digital
Dunkirk,' an online effort of American veterans, aid workers and
others helping Afghans leave the country." (Lauren Lindstrom, The
Charlotte Observer
) 

* The Citylight Church of Omaha, Nebraska, has partnered with the
Refugee Empowerment Center to help 10 Afghan families resettle in
their new homes, offering friendship and personal deliveries of
donated items. (Isabella Basco, KMTV
) 

* Through a series of workshops with the Armed Services Arts
Partnership (ASAP), veterans in Washington, D.C., "are working
together to make cozy quilts for Afghan families who are settling
in." (Kristen Powers, WJLA
) 

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**SUCCESSFUL ASYLUM CASES** - Asylum seekers were successful in 37%
of cases in fiscal year 2021, up from 29% percent the previous year,
according to research from Syracuse University's Transactional Records
Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). The increase may be thanks to a
"confluence of factors" including more legal representation,  rather
than a change in administration, TRAC assistant professor and
researcher Austin Kocher tells Jasmine Aguilera of TIME Magazine
. Without a way to
mitigate the immigration courts' backlog, currently about 1.5 million
cases, migrants will continue to wait years for a decision. For more on
immigration courts and the challenges migrants face, see
the Associated Press
.
And Danae King homes in on asylum case outcomes in Ohio for The
Columbus Dispatch
. 

FILIPINO AMERICAN

**S ON FRONTLINES **- For NPR
,
Rosem Morton, a nurse originally from Manila, Philippines, shares
powerful stories of trauma and healing from Filipino
Americans working in health care amid the pandemic. Filipinos and
Filipino Americans make up fewer than 1 in 20 registered nurses in the
U.S., but they account for nearly 1 in 3 COVID-related deaths among
registered nurses, according to a National Nurses United
 study. Morton
dives deep into the history
 of Filipino nurses with a
central message: "I want Filipinos to be seen beyond the statistics. I
want people to see their faces, hear their diverse stories and learn
about their sacrifices. It is important. These are people who have
always contributed to the health and wellness of this country."  

Thanks for reading,  

Ali 

P.S. See this great Hyesu Lee comic in The Lily
 on celebrating Chuseok,
a Korean Thanksgiving. 

 

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