Friday, February 4
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

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!**

** **

** **

After internally reviewing the policy for a third time, the Biden
administration has decided to keep in place Title 42, the Trump-era
health rule used to expel immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border,
reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Biden and Trump administrations
"have expelled migrants over 1.5 million times without affording them
the opportunity to request U.S. asylum, citing a series of CDC orders
that argue the expulsions are needed to reduce the transmission of
COVID-19 in border processing facilities." 

And while the Biden administration last summer proposed

offering vaccinations for most migrants who enter border custody, that
has yet to happen, notes Montoya-Galvez. 

As I tweeted

this morning, it is long past time for Title 42 to end. Surge testing
and vaccines to the area. Process cases. Just turning people around is
artificially increasing apprehension numbers and putting people in
greater danger. 

Welcome to Friday'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]

NURSING SHORTAGE - U.S. hospitals "facing a dire shortage of nurses"
are looking for health care workers from abroad, reports Amy Taxin of
the Associated Press
.
(There's also a record number of unused green cards this year.) Nurses
like Faith Akinmade, a 22-year-old from Nigeria, says she needs her work
permit renewed or her green card approved to keep her job at the
University of Louisville Hospital in Kentucky. "We have double the
number of visas we've had available for decades," said immigration
attorney Amy L. Erlbacher-Anderson. "That is kind of temporarily
creating a very open situation." I hope so. Meanwhile in Iowa, QC
Interfaith is asking its county to allocate $10 million from the
American Rescue Plan Act to immigrant essential workers impacted by the
pandemic, per Montse Ricossa of KWQC
. 

**EVACUATION EFFORTS** - On Wednesday, 81 Democratic House lawmakers
and one Republican, Florida Rep. Brian Mast, called on President Biden
to ramp up evacuation efforts for allies still stuck in Afghanistan,
reports Caroline Simon of Roll Call
.
"Our Afghan allies risked everything to aid in our mission in their
country, and it is a moral imperative that we keep the promises we
made," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the administration. "We must
do more to evacuate those remaining as quickly and safely as possible."
Among their recommendations: Automatically refer anyone denied
humanitarian parole to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for
protection. 

[link removed]

NASEMA

**'S STORY** - Last August, an American contact advised Nasema and
her family that they could be in danger in Afghanistan - just because
her younger sister was part of the acclaimed Afghan Girls Robotic
Team, reports Brooke Staggs of the Orange County Register
.
After time in Kuwait and then a military base in Wisconsin, they've
spent the last few months in one-room hotels in Irvine, California,
awaiting permanent resettlement. They're among an estimated 400 Afghan
refugees who've arrived in Orange County, where local nonprofits and
resettlement agencies are helping families navigate a challenging
housing market.  

On local welcome efforts: 

* For months, Debra Manske of South Milwaukee and her friends sewed
teddy bears for Afghan children temporarily living at Ft. McCoy military
base in Wisconsin. Now that many of the families are being resettled in
permanent homes, she's looking for other places to donate them.
(Natalie Shepherd, CBS 58 News
) 

* Pastor Kyle Rains and his church, New Life in Dubuque, Iowa, were
approved by the State apartment to help resettle an Afghan family of 10
after partnering with  Samaritan's Purse, the city of Dubuque, local
businesses, organizations and school districts. (Fernando
Garcia-Franceschini, KCRG
) 

* Ahead of a snowstorm, Muncie, Indiana-based Awaken Inc.
and other advocacy groups organized winter
coat drives and supermarket runs for the many Afghan refugees
experiencing snow for the first time. (Katiera Winfrey, WISH TV
) 

* Jason Lief, an associate professor of Biblical and Theological Studies
at Northwestern College (and one of our mobilizers) is hosting a
conversation about supporting Afghan refugees in Sioux City, Iowa, on
Monday. If you're in the area, tell Jason I sent you. (Eventbrite
) 

**FROM THE FAR RIGHT** - Over the last few weeks, two
immigration-related conspiracy theories have popped up in
far-right circles. One, that undocumented immigrants are being flown
around the country in "ghost flights." And the second, as we noted
earlier this week, that a butterfly sanctuary along the U.S.-Mexico
border was a transit point for human trafficking. The Washington
Post's

Glen Kessler debunks the first story, explaining that ICE and HHS often
transport adults and children in their custody, respectively. "The
Trump administration also operated such flights of unaccompanied
children. The only difference may be that there are more under Biden -
and that he's a Democrat." Meanwhile at the border, the National
Butterfly Center has closed after threats from right-wing activists
claiming it traffics undocumented immigrants, a conspiracy theory
spread by QAnon. "[T]he safety of our staff and visitors is our primary
concern," North American Butterfly Association President Jeffrey
Glassberg told
 AFP.
 

Thanks for reading,

Ali

P.S. On the anniversary of our Room to Grow paper, we took a moment to
reflect
on
how we are faring in this demographic crisis, and how immigration can
play a role in improving it.  

 

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