Monday, November 22

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a $1.68 trillion spending package that includes a number of immigration measures. But, as Sahil Kapur reports for NBC News, "[a] number of provisions may be revised or removed to meet the rules and keep all 50 Democratic-caucusing senators together."

The current version of the bill "would grant provisional work permits to about 6.5 million undocumented people in the U.S., under a process known as parole. … But it’s unclear that the policy will comply with the Senate budget rules."

Welcome to Monday’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].

CLIMATE NATIVISM — Nativist forces around the world are co-opting the climate change debate to advance anti-immigrant policies. In a brilliant piece for The Guardian, Oliver Milman explores how "[t]his wrapping of ecological disaster with fears of rampant immigration is a narrative that has flourished in far-right fringe movements in Europe and the U.S. and is now spilling into the discourse of mainstream politics." This "environmental populism," Milman writes, "has attempted to dovetail public alarm over the climate crisis with disdain for ruling elites … and calls to banish immigrants behind strong borders." ICYMI, we partnered with the Metropolitan Group, Migration Policy Institute and RAND Corportation to issue a new report, "The Link Between Migration Narratives, Policy and Power." One of those narratives was climate change.

‘THIS GENERATION’S ELLIS ISLAND’ — The Washington Post’s Abigail Hauslohner chronicles how Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico has operated as a "village" housing 7,100 Afghan refugees for the past three months. "We are this generation’s Ellis Island," said Curtis Velasquez, an Air Force colonel who serves as the camp’s ‘governor.’ Meanwhile, for USA TODAY, Deirdre Shesgreen tells the powerful story of U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Matt Coburn and his Afghan former colleague, Azizullah Azizyar, who recently reunited in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. "This is the place where we’re going to live. This is the place where we belong," Azizyar told his wife Roqia and their young children before their plane landed on Oct. 14.

Here is today’s collection of local stories:

With the help of Northeast Ohio Navy veteran Ken Harbaugh and other volunteers, "[m]ore than 200 Afghan refugees will be treated to a halal Thanksgiving thanks to donations and help from Assad’s Bakery, Kifaya's Kitchen and mothers in Cleveland’s Afghan community." (Cameron Fields, Cleveland.com)
At the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, students from the Darden Military Association organized a "clothing collection for Afghan families." (Madison McNamee, NBC 29)
Kent County, Michigan, recently received two six-figure grants "to meet the health and nutritional needs of newly arriving Afghan refugees." (Bianca Cseke, FOX 17)

HOPE FOR REFORM — During a public session of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall general assembly last week, Catholic immigrant advocates expressed their "optimism on [the] future of immigration reform," reports Rhina Guidos of Catholic News Service. "Millions of our brothers and sisters, our immigrant brothers and sisters, are in the United States without status, caring for our children, working in our hospitals, cleaning our homes and providing essential services, without (legal) status," said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville of Washington, chairman of the USCCB’s migration committee, also noted that undocumented immigrants aren’t looking for material goods, but for meaningful reform — "the chance to make a new life in the U.S," as Guidos puts it.

‘THEY DESERVE BETTER’ — Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders are an integral part of Houston’s Christian community, write Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church, and Andrea Castaneda-Lauver, co-youth pastor at Houston First Church of the Nazarene, in an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle. "TPS recipients are more than just contributing members of our society; they are also our neighbors, many are members of Houston’s diverse church community, and throughout the Bible, God calls upon his people to love, welcome and seek justice for vulnerable foreigners," they write, calling on Congress to create a path to permanent status for those left in TPS limbo. "This is an unsustainable life. They deserve better. As their neighbors and as Christians, we should do better by them."

GASTROADVOCACY — Food has an incredible power to bring communities together. For Salon Food, Kayla Stewart features Washington, D.C.’s one-of-a-kind Immigrant Food restaurant, showcasing its ability to counter misinformation about immigrants while serving delicious meals. "Food has forever unified people," explained Chief Operating Officer Téa Ivanovic. "For someone unfamiliar with the issues facing immigrants in America, it’s daunting to jump into the complex topic of immigration without a baseline understanding of what immigrants contribute ... But it’s a lot less tough to sit down with a group of friends and learn about how your favorite dishes or flavors have come from immigrant cultures across the globe."

Thanks for reading,

Ali

P.S. Highly recommend this coverage of the Book Truck, an initiative by the Mexican Consulate in San Diego "to promote literacy and reading, especially in Spanish, among children along the border and beyond," per Salvador Rivera of Border Report.

P.P.S. An important correction: We mistakenly got Univision’s David C. Adams’ name wrong in Friday’s Notes edition. Our apologies. We really appreciated your immigrant veterans story, David.