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‘NOBODY CAN PROTECT YOU’ — Per dozens of internal ICE emails, "the Trump administration aggressively recruited local law enforcement partners and courted sheriffs who championed similar views on immigration policy" by trying to expand the controversial 287(g) program. "[T]he program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to act with federal authority: questioning, reporting and detaining undocumented immigrants," reports a team at The Washington Post. Partners in 287(g) and a related program quadrupled between 2017 and 2021, from about 35 to more than 140. "You’re living with the grace of God, constantly worried the cops are going to show up," said a 48-year-old undocumented worker. "It’s a constant fear. Nobody can protect you." For more on 287(g), see this explainer from the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force. TEXAS BORDER POLL — According to a new Texas poll, about half of Texans support Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) handling of immigration at the border, while only a third say they approve of Biden’s. Dianne Solis of The Dallas Morning News reports that the governor’s "get-tough border policies may give him an edge in his bid for re-election in 2022 and prove a testing ground for a politico who’s also eyeing a White House run." The numbers illustrate polarization by party and underscore the need for reforms that protect immigrants and the southern border alike.
ZABI — For CBS News, Camilo Montoya-Galvez tells the incredible story of Zabi, now a 20-year-old college student, who fled Afghanistan when he was 13. After more than three years in a shelter for migrant children in Indonesia, Zabi eventually came to the U.S. as a refugee in 2019, resettling in Michigan. With the fall of Afghanistan, his family fled to neighboring Pakistan; now Zabi is "imploring the U.S. to grant his family refuge." He’s helped his family register with the United Nations refugee agency, and recently submitted requests for his family to secure humanitarian parole, explains Montoya-Galvez. "His whole life he’s had things happening to him and he’s worked so hard to be here and yet other people are still taking a priority in his life," said Tori Grant, Zabi’s case manager at Bethany Christian Services. "I think that shows how compassionate he is." GOING LOCAL — Before we get to today’s local stories: Casey Smith of the Associated Press reports that federal officials have extended the deadline "to resettle roughly 4,100 Afghan refugees who are still at the Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury training post more than two months after they arrived there." (And in case you missed it: This NPR piece by Marisa Peñaloza and Joel Rose is worth a look and listen.)
Thanks for reading, Ali P.S. Check out how Wayside Food Programs in Maine "conducted seven focus groups with 33 community leaders from seven cultures to figure out how they could serve immigrants better," per Jackie Mundry of News Center Maine. P.P.S. Apologies to Rochester, Minnesota: Yesterday we identified the wrong Rochester for John Molseed’s Post Bulletin article. Several non-profits in Rochester, Minnesota (not New York), have joined a community partner program to support Afghan refugees.
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