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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.
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:
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 |
