Wednesday, December 15
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

NOORANI'S NOTES

 

  If you haven't already, please let us know if you want to continue
receiving Noorani's Notes by clicking this link
, or any other link in this e-mail.
Thanks!  

On Tuesday, the European Union tightened border rules for
the 26 countries in its its Schengen zone, citing the COVID-19
pandemic and concerns over a "hybrid attack" from Belarus using
immigrants, reports Lorne Cook of the Associated Press
. 

Under the new rules, the "number of border crossings where people
register for asylum could be reduced," in addition to weekslong delays
in registering applicants (potentially leading to longer detention
time for migrants being held in temporary shelters) and fast-track
deportations for those not granted asylum. 

"The refugee crisis of 2015, the spate of terrorists attacks on European
soil and the global COVID-19 pandemic have all put the Schengen area
under strain," European Commission Vice President
Margaritis Schinas said. "This is a balanced, necessary step. It's
not the end of the story but it's enough to keep Schengen intact." 

Sorry. Painting migrants as existential threats is not a "balanced"
step.  

On the other hand, I am totally down with a Danish court's
decision
 to hold the
country's former immigration minister accountable for "illegally
ordering the separation of underage couples seeking asylum." 

Welcome to Wednesday'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]
.  

[link removed]

'A MIRACLE' - Back in April of 2019, according to his lawyers,
Claudio Rojas was deported
 in retaliation
for starring in the documentary "The Infiltrators." The film was
directed by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra, who went on to win
 prestigious
MacArthur "Genius Grants." (Look for an Only in America episode with
them in the coming weeks!) Rojas was allowed to return to the U.S. in
August, reports NPR's
 Joel Rose, who spoke to
Rojas in his first public interview since returning. "[I]t was a
miracle to be able to come back," said Rojas. "Bringing people home
who've been deported for their activism is a really important first
step in correcting what has been a really outrageous assault on our
democratic values," added one of his lawyers, Alina Das.  

REFUGEE ADMISSIONS - Trump-era immigration restrictions coupled
with the pandemic "have caused lasting damage to almost every part
of the refugee admissions process - resulting in
strained capacity, backlogs and processing delays all along the
pipeline, and historically low resettlement numbers," writes Danilo
Zak, the Forum's policy and advocacy manager, in an op-ed
for Baptist News Global
. So
how do we rebuild? Danilo points to multiple critical steps, from
rebuilding domestic resettlement infrastructure to expanding U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) capacity to developing
new legal pathways to earn citizenship. Most importantly, he
adds, we need "sustained commitment" to a program that for years saw
strong bipartisan support.  

**AFGHAN REFUGEES** - The AfghanEvac Coalition,
which represents 120 organizations, met with senior advisers from
the National Security Council on Tuesday to discuss evacuating next
steps for additional evacuations, Sophia Cai reports for Axios
. In
an open letter , the coalition
called on President Biden and other leaders to appoint an "evacuation
czar" to spearhead interagency evacuation efforts. Moreover, the
coalition expressed the need to increase capacity and resettlement for
Afghans under "P1/P2" refugee status who do not qualify for Special
Immigrant Visas (SIVs).  

In local news: 

* In Lincoln, Nebraska, Jeanette Tiwald sponsored an Afghan family
and their baby for Christmas. Thanks to a "parade of
strangers," Tiwald received so many donations she needed a U-Haul
truck to transport the goods to Catholic Social Services. (Peter
Salter, Lincoln Journal Star
) 

* High Point University students in North Carolina donated $16,000 to
World Relief Triad to help with Afghan resettlement. (High Point
University
) 

* In collaboration with Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw
County, Eastern Michigan University is opening its campus
apartments to newly arriving Afghan evacuees. (Meredith
Bruckner, All About Ann Arbor
) 

[link removed]

MPP RETURNS - International aid organizations like the Red Cross
and the UN Refugee Agency, along with federal shelters in Mexico,
are caring for the 80-plus migrant men who were returned to Mexico
last week under the re-implemented Migrant Protection Protocols,
a.k.a. "Remain in Mexico" policy, reports Julian Resendiz of Border
Report
.
"They are in good health, they have received COVID shots (in the United
States), and they are administered a COVID test before coming
over," said Santiago Gonzalez Reyes, head of Juarez's Human Rights
Office, which oversees the Kiki Romero migrant
shelter. The shelter "is supplied food by local government shelters
and gets in-kind donations from the Juarez Rotarians and various
foreign-run plants known as maquiladoras," notes Resendiz. Meanwhile,
for The Texas Tribune
, Uriel
J. García underscores the potential dangers of rebooting MPP,
centering around a Cuban woman's traumatic experience during the
first iteration of the policy. 

'DESTINATION USA' - For the Arizona Republic
, Rafael
Carranza chronicles his work with photojournalist Nick
Oza documenting the journeys of three asylum seekers - all
women with children - in search of safety and opportunity in the
U.S. for the Republic's 'Destination: USA' series. Traveling to
Nogales, Sonora, Carranza and Oza shed light on
the women's experiences, with some fleeing drug cartels in Mexico
 only
to face bureaucratic challenges
 and immigration
court realities
 on
their journey to safety. Carranza's behind-the-scenes look - not
to mention the entire series - are
must-reads. Our condolences to the loved ones of Nick Oza
,
who died in September. His work was critical to telling these
powerful stories in a memorable and humanizing way. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali  

 

DONATE

 

**Follow Us**

 

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

 

 

 

The

**Only in America** podcast brings you to the people behind our
nation's immigration debate.

 

Listen now on:

 

**iTunes**
,
**Stitcher**
,
**Spotify** ,
and **more.**

 

 

National Immigration Forum

10 G St NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002

www.immigrationforum.org

 

Unsubscribe from Noorani's Notes

or opt-out from all Forum emails.

 
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum, 10 G St NE, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002, United States