Wednesday, January 26
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

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!**

** **

** **

The Biden administration is planning to roll out an expedited
resettlement process to potentially bring thousands of Afghan refugees
from Qatar to the U.S., report Stef W. Kight and Jonathan Swan of Axios
. 

This accelerated process "would allow Afghans to be screened, vetted,
approved for refugee status and placed on planes to the United States
within 30 days of their arrival at the military site in Qatar being used
to house them." The resettlement process typically takes two to five
years. 

The benefit of an expedited U.S. Refugee Admissions Program process in
Qatar is that it "would immediately put Afghans on a pathway to green
cards," they add, unlike the lengthy process to obtain a path to
permanent status via humanitarian parole.  

This is great work by the Biden administration. And another reason to
pass an Afghan Adjustment Act
. 

Also, this morning at 11:30 Eastern, I'm moderating a press conference
on immigration and the economy, featuring Idaho Dairymen's Association
CEO Rick Naerebout, Professors Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell and Tony
Payan of Rice University, and LIBRE Initiative President Daniel Garza.
Interested media may contact Audrey Garden
for registration details. (Tell
Audrey I sent you.) 

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]

THE SCRAMBLE - More than 76,000 Afghan refugees have arrived across
the U.S., but resettlement agencies and nonprofit organizations "have
struggled to keep up, leaving many families and individuals in a state
of limbo," Charlotte Lawson and Harvest Prude report for The Dispatch
. As of
Monday, some 11,000 Afghan arrivals temporarily remained at five
military installations, a Pentagon official told The Dispatch. Another
wrinkle in this resettlement process: The government has granted
different statuses to Afghan arrivals, impacting the benefits they can
receive. (Think Special Immigrant Visa

recipient vs. those granted Priority 2

status).  

**THE MOHIB FAMILY** - After a harrowing escape from Kabul, and
lodging at a hotel for over a month, the Mohib family has secured
apartments in McLean, Virginia, reports H. J. Mai of NPR News
.
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) helped
the family secure housing, and the nonprofit KindWorks helped them
furnish their apartments. "I'm glad they can grow up here and have a
good life," said former prominent Afghan judge, Kamila Noori, of her
children and grandchildren's new lives in Virginia. "We already had
our life." 

Here are today's stories of local welcome: 

* "People like Mohibullah and his brothers and sisters are filled with
gratitude," says Clayton Naff, executive director of Lincoln Literacy in
Nebraska, a nonprofit which is helping resettled Afghans adjust. "They
bring great vitality to our community, just as refugees and immigrants
before them. I am fully confident we will be better off for having
welcomed refugees to Lincoln." (Mary Kay Roth, L Magazine/Lincoln
Journal Star
)  

* The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is feeding 300 Afghan
refugees weekly. "It becomes a sense of safety and love," said
Jeff Marlow, who is with the organization. (Sawyer Buccy, News On 6
) 

* In partnership with World Relief Fox Valley's Good Neighbor Teams
, 14 members of Christ the
King Lutheran Church have helped refugees in Wisconsin "with things
like furnishing homes, driving to appointments, setting up internet,
communicating with neighbors and adjusting to life in an unfamiliar
place." (Kelli Arseneau, Appleton Post-Crescent
) 

* Oasis International, a St. Louis-area ministry, has helped to resettle
450-500 Afghan refugees as part of their Good Neighbor Initiative
. In collaboration with Missouri Baptist
churches, "[t]he ministry gave 25-plus new cars to new Afghan refugees,
signed 18 Afghan women up for English classes, gave tens of thousands of
dollars in grocery gift cards to refugees, and celebrated 10-plus baby
showers for Afghan families..." (Ben Hawkins, The Pathway
) 

[link removed]

**UNACCOMPANIED MINORS** - In an op-ed for The Sun-Sentinel
,
Archbishop of Miami and Metropolitan of the Province of Miami Thomas
Wenski draws parallels between the unaccompanied migrant children of
today and Cuban children seeking refuge 60 years ago. Under Operation
Pedro Pan in the 1960s, he points out, more than 14,000 unaccompanied
minors were resettled in the U.S. "Their contributions to America show
that magnanimity rather than mean-spiritedness is a 'best practice'
in resolving immigration challenges." Now, as Florida Gov. Ron
DeSantis (R) attempts to cut all federal programs in the state serving
unaccompanied immigrant children, Wenski writes that the governor's
recent order and accompanying proposed legislation "would hurt
vulnerable populations but also would end up hurting the citizens of
Florida." 

HEALTH WORKERS - Wealthy nations such as the U.S. and Canada are
luring healthcare workers from developing nations to address shortages,
Stephanie Nolen reports in The New York Times
.
In the U.S. alone, about 1,000 nurses from African nations, the
Philippines and the Caribbean are arriving each month. The practice has
caused shifts in migration and raises ethical questions, Nolen
notes: "The high, high risk is that you are recruiting nurses from
countries that can least afford to lose their nurses," said Howard
Catton, chief executive of the International Council of Nurses.   

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