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MPP DIFFERENCES — There are important distinctions between the use of Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a.k.a. ‘Remain in Mexico,’ under the Biden and Trump administrations, report Nick Miroff and Arelis R. Hernández of The Washington Post. "The Biden administration has re-implemented the program with a narrow scope and none of the zeal demonstrated by Trump officials," they write. The biggest difference is the scale of the program: The Biden administration "has sent back about 410 MPP enrollees, according to the latest U.N. figures, equivalent to about seven asylum seekers per day border wide, compared with 300 to 400 returned daily in summer 2019." EVACUATION HURDLES — As the U.S. looks to ramp up evacuation efforts for Afghan allies still in Afghanistan, they face a lack of flights and the need for a new U.S. reception center, report Jonathan Landay and Ted Hesson of Reuters. They’re also running up against challenges securing passports and affordable housing. "We want to see enough resources applied to these issues so that even if one area fails or falters for a moment, there are options to make sure the pipeline isn’t cut off," said Navy veteran Shawn VanDiver, president of the #AfghanEvac coalition of advocacy groups. For Afghans already in the U.S., there’s also a need for pro bono asylum representation for evacuees who don’t qualify for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) or humanitarian parole, reports Marco Poggio of Law360. This is why we need an Afghan Adjustment Act now. On the local welcome front (including this great op-ed from members of Welcome.US for USA Today):
COMPETES ACT — In a 222 to 210 vote (with support from one Republican), the House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act last week. As Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy writes in Forbes, this new bill includes more immigration measures for foreign-born STEM students in the U.S. The expansion would also create a temporary visa for entrepreneurs who qualify, exempt STEM PhDs from annual green card limits, and provide immigration and human rights protection for persecuted Uyghurs and Hong Kongers. The bill now needs to overcome three challenges in the Senate, Anderson writes, including obtaining the required 6o votes to overcome a filibuster. For the Council on National Security and Immigration’s take, see their statement here. ROOM TO GROW — 2021 marked the slowest population growth in U.S. history — and what growth there was remains mostly driven by immigration, Miriam Jordan and Robert Gebeloff report for The New York Times. "The movement of the baby boom generation out of the labor force amid a plummeting birthrate has put into sharper relief the need to reverse the decline in new immigration," they note, adding that the current labor shortage is heightening calls for immigrant workers, especially in the restaurant service and nursing industry. As we’ve noted, America has room to grow. And in a column for Bloomberg Opinion, Adrian Wooldridge lays out the enormity of the challenge and the opportunity for immigration reforms to help fix the system. Thanks for reading, Ali |
