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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

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President Biden's first anniversary in office is around the corner,
and Republicans are zeroing in on his immigration performance as part of
their 2022 midterms strategy, reports Priscilla Alvarez of CNN
. 

Anti-immigrant groups are also exploiting this opening. The Federation
for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) "plans to invest millions in
issue-based ads this year and roll out additional Spanish-language ads
- a first for the group," FAIR President Dan Stein told Alvarez. 

Still, "[t]he issue of immigration cannot be synonymous with the Latino
issue, which too often happens with candidates and campaigns," said
Arturo Vargas, CEO of NALEO Educational Fund. "There are certainly
segments of the Latino electorate for whom immigration reform is a top
priority and they'll hold candidates accountable for whether they'll
get immigration reform." 

For more on Biden's immigration record this past year, see Catherine
Rampell's column for The Washington Post
. 

This whole situation has me thinking about what James Madison wrote in
Federalist No. 10: Our "zeal for different opinions has ... divided
mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered
them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate
for their common good." 

As I wrote yesterday , if we are
ever going to get back to cooperating for the common good, politicians
need an incentive to take small, courageous steps towards new
coalitions. The shifting coalitions of immigration may provide such an
incentive.  

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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RACIST 'UNDERBELLY' - The Great Replacement Theory "is the dark
underbelly of the immigration restriction movement, but its danger is
not merely in stifling debate over necessary changes to our
dysfunctional immigration system," Forum Senior Fellow Linda Chavez
writes for The UnPopulist
.
"Without expanded immigration, declining birth rates coupled with an
expanding population of elderly, dependent Americans puts the U.S.
economy in long-term peril," notes Chavez. "But so long as right-wing
media can make money pushing racial anxiety, we're unlikely to see
sensible changes to our immigration laws." Our recent paper

dives deep into the theory's origins and its relation to
immigration. 

COVID

**IN DETENTION** - The number of coronavirus infections in ICE
detention centers has increased 520% since the new year, "prompting
calls for increased vaccination efforts and detainee releases," reports
Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
.
As of Thursday, 1,766 detainees were either being monitored or isolated
for confirmed COVID-19 cases, compared to 285 cases reported Jan. 3,
per government data . "Making vaccines
available to detainees is essential but it must be coupled with
effective education and counseling to overcome skepticism and confusion
regarding COVID and vaccinations," said Scott Allen, a doctor who
specializes in the medical treatment of migrants in U.S. custody.  

TEXAS ARRESTS - Travis County, Texas, district Judge Jan Soifer last
Thursday dismissed a trespassing charge of an Ecuadorian man, Jesús
Guzmán Curipoma, who was arrested while seeking asylum in the U.S.,
reports Jolie McCullough of The Texas Tribune
.
While the ruling may be appealed and applies only to Guzmán Curipoma,
it has "opened the door to constitutional challenges" against Operation
Lone Star (OLS), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) "trouble-plagued border
security initiative." Meanwhile, all of Texas' congressional
Democrats have co-signed a letter calling for a probe of "suicide
attempts, abysmal conditions and delayed pay" among the Texas National
Guard members deployed under OLS, reports The Tribune's

James Barragán and Military Times' Davis Winkie. Finally, Matt Shuham
of Talking Points Memo

has a great breakdown of the operation's mishaps and its implications
for Texas Gov. Abbott (R). 

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'THIS IS LIKE A DIVORCE' - The federal government is asking
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to set the record straight on whether the
state will shut down shelters temporarily housing unaccompanied migrant
children, Katie LaGrone reports for WFTS Tampa Bay
.
Florida's new rules
for shelters
take effect in February, but their specific requirements for shelters
remain unclear. "We oppose the executive order because we support
children," Silvia Smith-Torres, executive director of His House
Children's Home in Miami Gardens, told the Miami Herald
on Jan.
7. "This is like a divorce. DeSantis and Biden divorce. And who gets
affected? The children." 

BREEDLOVE AND NOORI - For the Springfield News-Leader
,
Andrew Sullender tells the story of how U.S. Army veteran Tommy
Breedlove helped Romal Noori's family escape Afghanistan and start
anew in the Missouri Ozarks. "We are so excited. We are going to start
our new life here, so we are very happy," said Noori, who worked with
the U.S. military in Afghanistan for nearly a decade. Breedlove and his
wife are now sponsoring the Nooris, including their four children
ranging from ten months to six years old. "I'm just overwhelmed with
joy. There's nothing better," said Sally Breedlove. 

Here's today's compilation of local stories: 

* Jacksonville, Florida, residents hosted a welcome pizza party for
Kaihan, a former Afghan combat interpreter, and his family as they
resettle in Jacksonville Beach. (WJCT News
) 

* New Heaven and New Earth Church, along with interfaith organizations
and local Afghan restaurants in Springfield, Virginia, "committed to
donating $15,000 worth of food" for an Afghan refugee food drive. (Emily
Leayman, Patch
) 

* Nevada State College will temporarily house three Afghan families on
campus "thanks to a $60,000 grant from the county's rescue plan
funds." (Sophia Perricone, KVVU-TV
) 

* Students at Steinert High School in Hamilton, New Jersey, collected
"more than 1000 gently used books for refugee children who are living at
the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst." (Elizabeth Meyers, TAPinto
) 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

 

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