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DENIALS — The U.S. "has begun issuing denials to Afghans seeking to emigrate to the United States through the humanitarian parole process" following an immense increase in applications, report Sophia Cai and Stef W. Kight of Axios. A Homeland Security official told Axios that while more than 100 Afghans have been approved for humanitarian parole since the summer, there are now "dozens of denials." Humanitarian parole "was never intended as a workaround to the established refugee resettlement program or Operation Allies Welcome, which has brought roughly 75,000 vulnerable Afghans to the U.S. — and counting," officials told Axios. "It’s intended only for people in extreme circumstances who are not included in the operation, and are unable to wait for refugee resettlement." ‘A SMALL CITY’ — New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is the only military base still accepting new Afghan arrivals, Andrea Castillo reports for the Los Angeles Times. "We have built a small city," said Gen. Adrian White, who manages the 2,000-person team operating the village of 11,100 "guests" awaiting resettlement. "Our unwavering goal has been to make their life in this temporary location better every day." In related news, Airbnb has made refugee resettlement "a core mission," per Glenn Gamboa of the Associated Press. The organization has helped resettle 7,600 Afghan refugees in recent months and has pledged to resettle 12,500 more. Here’s today’s local stories:
COUNTY JAILS — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit from McHenry and Kankakee County officials in Illinois, "clearing the way to end detention of federal immigration detainees at their county jails," reports Robert McCoppin of the Chicago Tribune. This year alone, around 180 federal detainees had been held at the McHenry jail, McCoppin notes, adding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) previously "paid the county about $8 million a year to imprison the detainees while they waited for court hearings on their immigration cases." Said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: "We look forward to the day when the remaining ICE contracts in our state finally end, and we will work to win release for everyone in those jails for immigration purposes and for everyone else who remains in the inhumane, costly, and unnecessary immigration detention system." WISCONSIN FARMWORKERS — Two decades ago, farmers in Wisconsin turned to immigrants to address their labor shortage. Today, the U.S. could learn from those lessons, reports Adam Rogan of Kenosha News. John Rosenow’s Rosenholm Dairy farm is a prime example, with about half of its workforce hired from Mexico. "Whenever one quits — often to move back home after having earned more money in Wisconsin than they could have ever made at home — they are almost always immediately replaced by a relative of a current employee seeking a better life and willing to travel 1,400 miles to Wisconsin to pursue it," writes Rogan. Meanwhile, Bryan Little, director of employment policy for the California Farm Bureau, writes in AgAlert about the bureau’s new partnership with the Forum, which will help eligible agricultural employees become U.S. citizens. Thanks for reading, Ali P.S. This week on Only in America, we learn about Fugees Academy, a refugee-centric school in Ohio and Georgia working to empower young new Americans to reach their full potential through sports and education. |
