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BORDER NUMBERS — Border apprehensions increased by more than 5 percent in November, according to preliminary CBP data, the first increase since July, report Maria Sacchetti and Nick Miroff of The Washington Post. Arrests totaled more than 173,600, a number "driven by sharp increases in arrivals from Venezuela, which smashed the record set in October, as well as steady arrivals from Cuba, parts of Central America and Mexico." About half of those arrested were expelled back to their countries of origin or Mexico under the pandemic-era Title 42 policy. Separate from the data, reporters from the Associated Press take a moment to reflect on their border coverage this year, offering some incredible anecdotes. And in a new post on our website, my colleague Danilo Zak reflects on his first experience at the border this fall. CHILDREN STUCK — More than 44,000 immigrant children who have survived abuse or abandonment are stuck in a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) backlog, waiting up to five years to receive their earned green cards, reports Jasmine Aguilera of TIME. A November report from The Door, a nonprofit youth advocacy organization, and the End SIJS Backlog Coalition "shows that the SIJS backlog began in 2016 and grew to nearly 64,000 by April 2020, mostly impacting children from Central American countries and Mexico," notes Aguilera. AFGHAN DEVELOPMENTS — On the resettlement front, CBS News’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez reports that seven states have received more than half of the 31,611 Afghan evacuees relocated from U.S. military bases. Meanwhile, Jessica Donati of The Wall Street Journal reports that "[m]ore than 60,000 Afghan interpreters and others who have applied for visas to seek shelter in the U.S. after working alongside American forces still remain in Afghanistan." According to a State Department official who provided the numbers, some 33,000 of them have met stiff vetting requirements "and could be eligible for immediate evacuation."
VIETS FOR AFGHANS — Many Vietnamese American families remember what it’s like to flee a country post-war and are now stepping up to help Afghan refugees resettle, reports Kurtis Lee for the Los Angeles Times, with photos from Francine Orr. In September, the Biden administration developed a pilot program for groups to become "sponsor circles." Among those groups is Viets for Afghans, a nonprofit founded after the Taliban takeover by Vietnamese refugees and the children of refugees. The group has raised more than $15,000 since August and has helped three Afghan families so far. "We see our families — our own loved ones — in the current situation with Afghan refugees," said Thanh Tan, who helped found the group. Here are more stories of local welcome:
MEET ME FOR LUNCH? — At a family of Afghan restaurants in the D.C. area, the women are in charge — and that’s no accident. In the weeks after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Omar Masroor, owner of four Afghan restaurants in the area, raised funds, but "it didn’t seem like enough," Jada Yuan of The Washington Post reports. So, in a "direct reaction to how Taliban society forces women into the shadows," he turned his restaurants — Bistro Aracosia, Aracosia McLean and Afghan Bistro — to the women in his family. His wife, Sofia, said, "It doesn’t matter where you’re from, whether you’re from Afghanistan, America or any other country. I think women have to work harder to prove
what they’re capable of doing or for someone to listen to them or to acknowledge them." This is a fantastic story. P.S. Perennial holiday favorite "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is scheduled to air Sunday on most PBS stations. You may not know that Mexican American Cuauhtémoc Melendez, known as Bill, directed the 1965 CBS special, at a time when Hispanics in American entertainment were rare. Russell Contreras of Axios has the story. |
