Thanks to all those faith, law enforcement, and business leaders from around the country – and Senators Durbin and Gardner – who joined us yesterday in D.C. for Leading the Way: An American Approach to Immigration. It was a robust, meaningful dialogue focused on building consensus.
Last night’s Keepers of the American Dream awards were presented to individuals and organizations who advocate for immigrants (Sister Norma Pimentel of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley; Chief Mark Prosser of Storm Lake, Iowa; Pati Jinich of “Pati’s Mexican Table;” and Lyft).
When you’re with this diverse and inspiring group, you can’t help but feel hopeful.
Speaking of hopeful, check out Miriam Jordan’s excellent feature on the human impact of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in The New York Times.
Welcome to Friday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes.
Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].
DACA AND HEALTHCARE – With the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments on DACA next week, Dr. David J. Skorton writes in an op-ed for The Washington Post that as “a physician, I’m deeply concerned about the impact this decision will have on the health of the nation.” DACA recipients, Skorton argues, play a key role in America’s healthcare system – and excluding these people from the workforce makes it harder for other Americans to access quality health care. “Today there are approximately 27,000 doctors, nurses, dentists, physician assistants and other health-care workers whose DACA status allows them to work and contribute to patient care. The program also is enabling nearly 200 current medical students and medical residents to pursue careers in medicine.”
REMAIN REMAINS PROBLEMATIC – There are roughly 55,000 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. who are waiting in Mexico as a result of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy – and they continue to face violence, Elliot Spagat writes for the Associated Press. One Salvadoran woman seeking asylum was beaten by two men “after she spent four months in captivity in Mexico, kidnapped into prostitution during her journey toward the U.S.” While the Trump administration insists the program is safe, critics argue that “the administration’s policy denies asylum seekers like the Salvadoran woman fair and humane treatment, forcing them to wait in a country plagued by drug-fueled violence — illustrated this week by the slaughter near the U.S. border of six children and three women.”
STEPS TOWARDS HEALTH – A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the government “must provide mental health services to thousands of migrant parents and children who experienced psychological harm as a result of the Trump administration’s practice of separating families,” Miriam Jordan reports for The New York Times. The decision is a rare instance of the administration being held legally accountable for its policies – “in this case, border security measures that locked thousands of migrant parents in detention while their children were placed in government shelters or foster homes.”

“CURIOSITY” – The key to President Trump’s ongoing support among many voters? According to David Brooks: immigration. Brooks writes in The New York Times that “Trump, like global populists everywhere, understands that we’re in the middle of a vast social experiment. Waves of migration are transforming societies across the globe.” So how do you build bridges and create consensus? First we “have to help people embed in a secure base. That includes economic and health care security, but it also involves cultural and spiritual security.” And then we must recognize that pluralism provides the opportunity, “and the civic duty, to be a daring social explorer, venturing across subcultures, sometimes having the exciting experience of being the only one of you in the room, harvesting the wisdom embedded in other people’s lifeways. A key pluralist trait is curiosity, the opposite of anxiety.”
AGENDA HAMPERED – There’s so much immigration news these days, it can be difficult to recognize the “confusion and dysfunction” that have hampered President Trump’s ability to follow through on his immigration priorities, Anita Kumar writes in Politico. While the President has made progress building (parts of) a border wall, limiting access to asylum, and intensifying enforcement, “the rest of the immigration policy is ‘chaotic and ineffective.’” But, in addition to a failure of most legislative priorities, “judges have put a hold on a number of other Trump orders.” (My two cents: there may be chaos, but the president has, and continues to, remake our immigration system – and not in a way that aligns with the values of this country.)

DOES DIVERSITY = POLARIZATION? – As the U.S. continues to become a richer, more diverse society, it’s no surprise that we experience growing pains and identity crises. This week, for our “Only in America” podcast, I chatted with Cherie Harder, President of the Trinity Forum, about how she works at the intersection of faith and politics to address polarization. We discussed what the idea of America means, and how to find unifying forces that bind us together as Americans.
Thanks for reading,
Ali