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HINDSIGHT — CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez looks back at immigration in 2021, and the Biden administration’s struggles to make good on its goals. From the reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) to the continuation of Title 42, Alvarez notes that many Trump-era policies have continued under Biden. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe’s Marcela García identifies immigration as "the most neglected story of 2021" — despite being "one of the things that just undergirds everything about this country," as CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe put it. While there are measures the administration can — and should — take to improve our immigration policies, there’s also a critical opportunity this year for Republicans and Democrats in Congress to build consensus around reforms that benefit native-born Americans and immigrants alike. ICE LEAD — Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County, Texas, a Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force co-chair, was nominated to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) back in April 2021. The deadline for the Senate to hold over his nomination for the next legislative session was yesterday, meaning "he likely will need to be nominated again and will face an uphill battle to be confirmed," Elizabeth Trovall reports for the Houston Chronicle. ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed leader in five years, including the entire duration of Trump’s presidency, notes Trovall. The Forum’s take: Sheriff Gonzalez would bring a more humane and measured approach to immigration enforcement.
‘FOR MY FAMILY’ — For the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Lara Farrar tells the story of Mahdi Faizy and Ahmad Ghani, who escaped Kabul and are adapting to life in Arkansas. With the help of refugee resettlement agency Canopy Northwest Arkansas, they were able to resettle safely; but starting a new life thousands of miles from home has not been easy. While Faizy is grateful for the opportunity to rebuild a life with his family in Fayetteville, he acknowledges that the transition "will be a hard journey [in the U.S.] for many families, for my family." Meanwhile, Amna Nawaz and Ebony Joseph of PBS News Hour report that more than 50,000 Afghan evacuees have been placed in local communities — but around 23,000, including unaccompanied minors, remain in legal limbo across six military bases in U.S. Here are today’s local stories:
ASYLUM — Back in May, the Biden administration implemented an expedited asylum process for recently arrived families like Pablo López and his son, who fled political violence in Nicaragua, in an effort to prevent them from joining the 1.5 million-plus immigration court backlog. But as Tyche Hendricks of KQED writes, "without legal help, López and thousands like him must navigate an unfamiliar system on their own — and face deportation if they fail." Unlike the criminal court system, federal immigration courts do not provide a court-appointed lawyer, and asylum seekers like Pablo have had little luck finding an affordable attorney with the resources to complete their case on the expedited timeline and bridge language barriers. López has been granted two court extensions as he continues searching for a lawyer, but if he doesn’t bring a completed asylum application to court on Jan. 26, he and his son face deportation.
Thanks for reading, Joanna |
