Monday, January 31
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

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Some 30,000 Afghan evacuees - either already in the U.S. or set to be
resettled in the country - lack a pathway to permanent legal status,
per a government report

published last month, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
. 

The number "represents over 40% of the tens of thousands of Afghans who
were airlifted from Afghanistan as part of the largest evacuation and
resettlement operation undertaken by the U.S. government since 1975," he
notes. 

Without Congressional action, these refugees will stay in limbo.
That's why we need an Afghan Adjustment Act
.
 

And for Afghan refugees who have already resettled in the U.S.,
accessible and affordable housing remains a challenge - especially in
Maryland, reports Antonio Olivo of The Washington Post
.
 

State officials have imposed restrictions that limit resettlement for
Afghan refugees in northern Virginia, Olivo explains, meaning "the bulk
of housing headaches has shifted to Maryland, which does not have a
formal family connection requirement and leaves resettlement agencies
with the responsibility of finding homes." 

Welcome to Monday'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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OPERATION ALLIES WELCOME - On the flip side: Last Tuesday, the
remaining group of Afghan nationals temporarily housed at Camp
Atterbury, Indiana, officially departed, per Homeland Security Today
.
As of Jan. 27, more than 66,000 Afghan refugees have resettled in
communities across the country as part of Operation Allies Welcome, with
the support of 290 local resettlement affiliates. The Department of
Defense "continues to provide temporary housing facilities for the
remaining approximately 9,000 vulnerable Afghans who are in the process
of completing their resettlement while at the following three military
installations."  

On the local welcome front:  

* In partnership with Project Seva, part of the Federation of India
Community Associations , Indian
immigrant Gauri Wagle has "been donating boxes full of essential items
to help Afghan refugees start their lives here in Ohio." (Jade Nash,
Spectrum News 1
)  

* The Afghan Welcome Home Project of Central Illinois is gathering
donations to help Afghan refugees with resettlement, English-language
services, legal support, and employment. (Harry Croton, Heart of
Illinois ABC
) 

* Public schools in Harvard, Massachusetts, recently welcomed 12 newly
settled Afghan children. "They've wanted to come to school, and they
want to be a part of the community," said Superintendent Linda Dwight.
"It's a privilege that they're here at all, so we would love for
them to find a home here in Harvard." (Rebecca Zhang, The Harvard Press
) 

'SO THEY CAN DO THEIR JOB' - After spending three days at the
U.S.-Mexico border with Border Patrol agents, Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised he would provide the agency
additional resources and equipment moving forward, reports Lauren
Villagran of the El Paso Times
.
"They need the technological advances that really are force multipliers,
whether they be surveillance towers or automation and equipment and
vehicles so they can do their job," Mayorkas said. Related to the
border, Charles R. Davis of Insider

highlights a new documentary that premieres today on PBS's Independent
Lens: Missing in Brooks County
,
which "exposes how border policies have contributed to the deaths of
thousands of migrants right here in the United States." 

COVID-19 PROTECTIONS - A California lawsuit settlement reached last
Thursday will now prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from
re-detaining an estimated 250 immigrants who were released due to
"health vulnerabilities" amid the pandemic, reports Andrea Castillo of
The Los Angeles Times
.
Under the settlement, immigration authorities must also implement social
distancing measures and vaccination mandates for both staff and
detainees at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield and
the Yuba County Jail, Castillo notes.  

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DIVERSITY VISAS - In April 2o20, the Trump administration blocked
"nearly all immigrants," including Diversity Visa holders, from
entering the U.S. Although the Biden administration "denounced
and ended the Trump proclamation
 against
Diversity Visa winners and other immigrants ... [it] has appealed court
rulings that would allow many Diversity Visa recipients to immigrate to
the United States," writes Stuart Anderson, executive director of the
National Foundation for American Policy, in Forbes
.
"Congress established the Diversity Visa, and no administration has the
authority to refuse to administer it in good faith," said Aaron Hall,
one of the attorneys representing FY 2021 Diversity Visa
recipients. "It's long past time for the Department of State to stop
defending the devastation of the Diversity Visa program in court and to
get to work on expeditiously processing applicants whose hopes and
dreams are on the line."  

FLORIDA PUSHBACK - Caring for unaccompanied migrant children is a
matter of religious freedom - one that's specifically protected by
law, writes Matt Soerens, U.S. Director of Church Mobilization and
Advocacy for World Relief, in an op-ed for Christianity Today
.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R) recent "emergency rule
" blocks both
the issuance and renewal of state licenses for organizations serving
these children, hurting both migrant and U.S.-born children in Florida.
"... religious liberty is more than just the right to worship in a
church building on Sunday. It is the freedom to follow and obey all the
tenets of one's religion, including caring for vulnerable children,"
writes Soerens, who is also the national coordinator of the Evangelical
Immigration Table. 

'GROUNDED IN THE GOSPEL' - Another powerful op-ed from the faith
community: Christians can push back against Great Replacement Theory

narratives by looking to the Gospel and acting out of love towards our
immigrant neighbors, write Rev. Mark J. Seitz, bishop of the Catholic
Diocese of El Paso, Texas, and Alan Cross, a Southern Baptist pastor in
California, for The Dispatch
. "In the
spirit of the welcoming love and hospitality of Jesus, which animates
the mission of the church, we must oppose the great replacement
theory's message," they write. "...we must reach out, make
connections, and illuminate a better path forward, grounded in the
Gospel."  

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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