Tuesday, November 16
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

Official border numbers for October are out, showing a decline for the
third month straight, "with the number of Haitians plummeting by more
than 90 percent," reports Miriam Jordan of The New York Times
. 

Border experts say the decrease in Haitian apprehensions may
be only temporary, as thousands "were continuing to trek north from
South America or were stalled in Mexico, still hoping to reach the
United States." 

"It's clear that the recent spike in Haitian expulsions provided a
short-term deterrent," said Jessica Bolter, a policy analyst at the
nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. "It's less clear that it will
have a long-term effect." 

Meanwhile, migrants from countries that "refuse to take them
back," such as Cuba and Venezuela, are creating a new border
challenge, reports Stef W. Kight of Axios
. 

"White House and Homeland Security officials worry this poses a growing
obstacle to balancing humanitarian and national security
concerns," notes Kight. 

According to data Axios obtained, in the past week, Venezuelans have
accounted for the largest number of migrants border agents
have encountered, followed by Nicaraguans, whose country also makes
deportation difficult. Per Panamanian government data
,
just last month, more than 5,000 Cubans, Brazilians and Venezuelans
crossed the Darién Gap into Panama. 

Another wrinkle on the border: CNN's
 Priscilla
Alvarez reports that the U.S. and Mexico are close to resolving issues
and clearing the way for the court-ordered restart of the Migrant
Protection Protocols (MPP), known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy. Its
reimplementation could come within weeks, even as the administration
moves again to end the policy. 

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of Noorani's Notes. If you have
a story to share from your own community, please send it to me
at [email protected]
.

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REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT - According to the U.S. Department of State,
the Biden administration is halting the resettlement of new
refugees around the world from Oct. 29 through Jan. 11, 2022, "to
prioritize services for thousands of Afghan evacuees who are expected to
exit military bases and arrive in cities across the country in the
coming months," reports Laura Gómez for the Arizona Mirro
r. Although
the government said it will prioritize certain urgent cases, any pause
is troubling, as we noted in a statement
 yesterday. For
more on the resettlement backlog and solutions for rebuilding
the pipeline, see our newly posted explainer
. 

'AHMAD' - Austin Landis of Spectrum News
 tells
the story of "Ahmad," a longtime employee of Hamid Karzai
International Airport, who in the last days of August directed pilots
on several evacuation flights. On Aug. 25, Ahmad left too. But
because the U.S. State Department "applied a different standard to
Afghans who were flown out of Kabul on
non-U.S. military aircraft," thousands remain in limbo at Abu
Dhabi's "temporary camp voluntarily paid for and run by the United
Arab Emirates government," Landis explains. Here in the U.S., The
Washington Post's
 Donna
St. George reports that the first Afghan refugee children and teens have
recently enrolled in America's education system. And over the
weekend, I wrote
 about the honor and
healing Matt Carpenter and Rick Stockburger, two veterans of the
Afghanistan war, have found in helping allies evacuate. Last but not
least, in an op-ed for The Christian Post
, Pastor Aaron
Reyes reflects on how the failures of the Afghan evacuation are
connected to an immigration system in need of reform.  

Here's today's collection of local stories: 

* Volunteers at Central Baptist Church of Fountain City and St. John
XXIII University Parish have helped Afghan refugees resettle
in Knoxville, Tennessee, in partnership with West Lonsdale Baptist
Church, which offers English language instruction. (Georgiana
Vines, The Knoxville News Sentinel
) 

* The Cleveland-based Refugee Response organization has stepped in to
resettle almost 300 Afghans in the area, including assistance "with
education, cultural fluency and employment," and more. (Jason
Brill, Cleveland Magazine
) 

* Lawyer Jennifer Selendy has collaborated with Afghan
entrepreneur Abuzar Royesh and six others "to rescue more than 500
people, who included more than 400 schoolgirls, their family members and
teachers, from October through November." (Sarah Martinson, Law360
) 

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EUROPE'S CRISIS - Dexter Filkins of The New Yorker
 breaks
down the history of Europe's migration
crisis starting with Belarus. While President Alexander
Lukashenka "has publicly denied ... enabling an immigration pipeline
to flow into Europe," critics believe it's the country's form of
payback for the international sanctions. "Lukashenka is not the
first national leader to use the threat of unrestrained immigration for
political purposes - he's just the first to actually make good
on the promise," explains Filkins. For a visual on the ground,
see Vincent Haiges' heartbreaking photos in Al Jazeera
,
with text by Katy Fallon. 

**ONE MILLION TRUCK DRIVERS** - Per the American Trucking
Association, "To keep up with demand over the next decade, trucking will
need to recruit nearly one million new drivers to close the gap caused
by demand for freight, projected retirements and other issues," Andy J.
Semotiuk writes in Forbes
. "The
industry is raising pay at five times the historic average, but this
isn't just a pay issue," said Bob Costello, the association's chief
economist. "We have an aging workforce, a workforce that is
overwhelmingly male[,] and finding ways to address those issues is key
to narrowing the shortage." Immigration could be a
solution: Semotiuk breaks down three visa options the U.S. government
can consider. 

Thanks for reading,  

Ali 

P.S. I just came across it, but love this story
 about
94-year-old Wanda Traczyk-Stawska: "Despite her advancing years and
tiny stature, the Warsaw Uprising veteran has lost none of her fighting
spirit when it comes to defending Poland's presence in the European
Union and migrant rights."  

 

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