Tuesday, December 14
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

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On Monday night, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against
the Biden administration's attempt to terminate
Trump's Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a.k.a. the "Remain in
Mexico" policy, report Tierney Sneed and Priscilla Alvarez of CNN
.  

The court said Biden's move to terminate the policy "violated an
immigration law that says noncitizens 'shall' be detained or
returned to the countries from where they arrived while their
immigration proceedings move forward." Since
the administration revived MPP last week
 in
compliance with a court order, 86 migrants have been returned to
Mexico, per the International Organization for Migration (IOM).  

Meanwhile, the administration is looking at Europe's reception
centers as a model for border policy, Nick Miroff reports for The
Washington Post
. Right
now, the administration is "testing innovative ideas that are humane,
that maintain the due process that's required in an asylum
adjudication but that get us away from a system where people wait five
years for a decision," said Katie Tobin, Biden's top immigration
adviser on the National Security Council.  

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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**PRIVATE INVESTMENTS** - Vice President Kamala Harris announced
 $540
million in private investments in Central America on Monday as part
of the administration's initiative to address root causes of
migration, reports Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times
. The
biggest investor is "PepsiCo, which plans to spend $190 million over the
next four years on upgrading plants, expanding distribution routes and
reducing emissions." Other investors include Cargill, Parkdale
Mills and Microsoft. "Administration officials hope investments from
big companies will create more transparent business practices -
including getting more people access to digital credit - and that will
make it harder to hide bribes and other black-market activity,"
Bierman writes, noting that total private commitments to the
region now top $1.2 billion.  

**RESETTLEMENT FUNDS** - Legislators in Oregon approved
$18.2 million for Afghan refugee resettlement as part of a larger
$215 million funding package to help Oregonians with
rent, reports Jayati Ramakrishnan of The Oregonian/OregonLive
. Led
by State Sen. Kayse Jama (D) and Rep. Khanh Pham (D), with support from
state Sen. Tim Knopp (R), the aid will help resettle up to 1,200
Afghans in the state next year, adds Alex Baumhardt of the Oregon
Capital Chronicle
. And
for NBC News
,
Sakshi Venkatraman explains why resettlement aid is personal for Sen.
Jama and Rep. Pham, who both come from refugee backgrounds
themselves. 

On the local welcome front: 

* The community at Trinity Woods, a senior living center in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, has partnered with local churches and Catholic Charities of
Eastern Oklahoma to provide housing and help resettle 800
Afghans in the Tulsa area. (Kimberly Bonvissuto, McKnight's
Senior Living
) 

* Retired lieutenant colonel Matthew Petro, an Afghanistan War
veteran, is now a teacher at Spokane's Linwood Elementary
School, where his students include two Afghan refugees. (Jim
Allen, The Spokane Spokesman-Review
) 

* Nonprofits in Jacksonville, Florida, are preparing to help
resettle at least 400 Afghan refugees, with Lutheran Social Services
calling for "volunteers to help with transportation, apartment setup and
language interpretation." (Claire Heddles, WJCT News
) 

ICE L

**EADERSHIP** - In April
,
the Biden administration nominated Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris
County, Texas, to direct U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE). But if the Senate further delays Gonzalez's confirmation,
the entire process "could soon go back to square one," reports Andrew
Schneider of Houston Public Media
.
"Under Senate rules, all pending nominations will be returned to the
president at the end of this first session of the Congress unless there
is unanimous consent to hold over a nomination until the second session
next year," explained Kristine Simmons, vice president for government
affairs at the Partnership for Public Service.  

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'HELICOPTERS AND HIGH-SPEED CHASES' - Under Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott's (R) border security initiative, hundreds of migrants accused
of trespassing into the U.S. now "languish in Texas prisons" - and a
county judge's recent decision may prolong detentions
further, reports Jolie McCullough of The Texas Tribune
. Last
week, "Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan canceled hearings for 20 men
and dismissed the three retired judges - two Republicans and a
Democrat - who had been hearing the majority of trespassing cases in
his county, according to a letter obtained by The Texas
Tribune." Unlike the dismissed judges, McCullough notes, Shahan has not
allowed migrants to be released on bond after pleading not
guilty. "This is clearly retaliation against the judges who have been
releasing hundreds of people and dismissing deficient cases under
Operation Lone Star and is a threat to the rule of law," said Amanda
Woog of the Texas Fair Defense Project. Over the weekend, The New York
Times'
 J.
David Goodman zeroed in on the "helicopters and high-speed chases"
that make up Abbott's (R) border operation, with striking photos
by Kirsten Luce.  

JERRY'S FAMILY - For the Boston Globe
,
Jazmine Ulloa recounts the story of Jerry, a 33-year-old
Haitian, and his family's journey to the U.S. seeking refuge and
stability. "We want to improve the quality of our lives - go to
school, find employment, be able to care for ourselves and our
families," Jerry said. Around 600 Haitian families have arrived in
Massachusetts since March after fleeing ongoing humanitarian, political
and economic crises in their home country. "In a U.S. immigration
system that tends to string people along with precarious lifelines,
[advocates] say, newly arrived Haitians are among the most vulnerable,
as families have minimal chances of pleading their cases and are often
pushed out of the country, through deportation, or leave out of
desperation," Ulloa writes. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali  

 

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