Wednesday, February 2
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

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For the first time, the Biden administration said it supports permanent
legal status for families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under
Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, report Jacob Soboroff and Teaganne
Finn of NBC News
.
This comes one year after President Biden established a family
reunification task force. 

More than 5,600 children were separated under the policy. Today, up to
1,200 families remain separated, per task force executive director
Michelle Brané. About 130 families have been reunited under the Biden
administration while some 400 reunifications are in progress. 

"...[I]t's still our goal to reach all the families and reunify all of
those who want to be reunified, who want to travel to the United States
to be with their children," said Brané. "We are working towards
that." 

Meanwhile, a bill

to reunite separated migrant families, which was introduced by
Democratic lawmakers in April of last year, has yet to advance in the
House or Senate. 

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]

**TEXAS SCRAMBLE** - Last fall, Texas National Guard troops were
deployed in a rush to fulfill Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) order to manage
the southern border, James Barragán of The Texas Tribune

and Davis Winkie of Military Times report. Some guardsmen have expressed
that the mission, Operation Lone Star, was not only "unclear,"
but "set back their income, education and well-being." Today, many are
no longer re-enlisting in the service. Said one soldier directly
familiar with the operation's mobilization: "We pride ourselves on ...
the number of [federal] deployments Texas supports. But this? This is
not something to be proud of." 

FAHIMA'S STORY - Out of more than 40,000 Afghans who applied for
humanitarian parole in the U.S., only 160 have been approved to enter
via the program. Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal

puts a human face on the tens of thousands of Afghans whose applications
for humanitarian parole were denied: Fahima, a single parent of three
teenagers and a member of the Shia religious minority, was ineligible
for a Special Immigrant Visa. In August, family and friends helped her
raise $2,300 for the cost of the family's four humanitarian parole

applications. But this January, Fahima and her family were denied due to
a lack of documented proof showing she is in "immediate and targeted
danger," Hackman explains. "Parole is totally inadequate - everyone
knows that," said Doris Meissner, a Migration Policy Institute senior
fellow and former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service. "It's just that there's no other option." This is why we
need an Afghan Adjustment Act
. 

On local welcome efforts: 

* Volunteers and staff at Catholic Charities of Central and Northern
Missouri Refugee Services, MU Health Care and MU International Programs
recently threw a baby shower for expecting Afghan mothers resettled in
Missouri. (Ellie Marshall, Columbia Missourian
)
 

* Arlington Neighbors Welcoming Afghans, a Facebook group spearheaded
by military veteran Ryan Elizabeth Alvis in Virginia, has raised about
$20,000 for newly resettled Afghans, and is raising more via
GoFundMe. (Matt Blitz, ARL Now
) 

* The Western New York Refugee and Asylee Consortium has so far raised
$950,000 to help resettle Afghan families in the area. (Natalie Fahmy,
WKBW
) 

* With the Chicago area planning to welcome about 400 Afghan refugees
beginning this month, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater
Chicago "is calling for people to volunteer their time to help the
refugees and for landlords to offer housing at discounted prices."
(Chris Coffey, NBC 5 Chicago
) 

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'NO ASYLUM' - These days, it is difficult to get access to the
U.S. asylum system - let alone approved for asylum, reports John
Lavenburg of Crux
.
Yet people from all over the world are still seeking it, driven by the
COVID-19 pandemic, government corruption, climate change and more.
"What's happening now is that the U.S. government is telling those who
arrive at the port to seek protection that they have no options, that
they have to wait and there is no asylum," explained Sister Tracey Horan
in a 2022 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering conversation about the
border. "Those people are forced into uncertainty for months, or
sometimes years."  

IMMIGRANT WORKERS - We need immigration reform to mitigate the
shortage of health care workers in Maine, writes Lori Dwyer, J.D.,
president and CEO of Penobscot Community Healthcare, in an op-ed for
Lewiston Sun Journal
.
"In Maine and across the country, Dreamers, temporary protected
status-holders, and immigrant essential workers are the backbone of the
health care sector," Dwyer writes, adding that a pathway for more
immigrants to earn legal status and citizenship could really help Maine
meet its health care needs, especially in rural areas. "Welcoming
immigrants to our state is not simply about loving one's neighbor or
doing what is morally right ... It is also about making sure you and
your loved ones get the care you need when you need it."  

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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