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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

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Last spring, border officials were so overwhelmed that they allowed tens
of thousands of migrants, many of them Haitian, to enter the U.S. with a
new "quick fix" document, reports Eileen Sullivan of The New York Times
.
The new document did not include pertinent details, however, such as
typical hearing dates or identification numbers, making it difficult for
recipients to apply for asylum. 

"Months later, the government has not been able to complete the
processing started at the border, showing how ill prepared the system
was for the surge and creating a practical and political quagmire for
the Biden administration," Sullivan writes. In some parts of the
country, local ICE offices weren't even able to give appointments to
migrants who initially registered with ICE to begin their court
process.  

"It was a quick fix - 'Deal with them later,'" said immigration
lawyer Evangeline Chan. "But they have not been able to." 

In other news, a nationwide protest, "Day Without Immigrants," will
take place today to call attention to the need for immigration reform.
The protest's organizer,  23-year-old immigration advocate and TikTok
star Carlos Eduardo Espina, discussed the protest with The Los Angeles
Times
'
Jean Guerrero. 

Welcome to Monday's edition of Noorani's Notes. Hope you have
a great Valentine's Day. If you have a story to share from your own
community, please send it to me at [email protected]
. 

DETAINED - Two foreign journalists and several Afghans have been
detained in Kabul by the Taliban since last week, Susannah George
reports for The Washington Post
.
The news was announced in a tweet from the United Nations
, which
confirmed that the detainees had been working with UNHCR. "Afghan
journalists and civil society activists have come under increasing
pressure in recent weeks as they push back against restrictions under
Taliban rule," George points out. "A number of female protesters

have been abducted; despite international pressure, their whereabouts
remain unknown." On a happier note, David Mack of BuzzFeed News

profiled Afghans who are rebuilding their lives in the U.S. six months
after the fall of Kabul. And North Dakota state Sen. Tim Mathern (D)
penned an op-ed for The Bismarck Tribune

on welcoming Afghans and the need for Congress to act
:
"They need us, we need them."  

More local welcome: 

* In partnership with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Peace
Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Virginia, has helped resettle about 1,000
Afghan refugees in just three months, with support from a largely Afghan
staff. (Hiba Ahmad, NPR
) 

* Tallahassee, Florida, residents welcomed two Afghan families with help
from the International Rescue Committee and Killearn United Methodist
Church. (Marina Brown, Tallahassee Democrat
) 

* Resurgent Church in San Antonio hosted a job fair for an estimated 200
Afghan refugees, who applied for job openings at the J.W. Marriott San
Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. (Jessie Degollado, KSAT 12 News
) 

BOSTON UYGHURS - Sidiq, a Uyghur living in Boston, is working hard to
preserve his culture, reports Aysha Khan of the Boston Globe
.
In 2019, he set aside college plans to launch a nonprofit, Boston Uyghur
School, which offers language, religion, and cultural classes for Uyghur
children and young adults in New England. Today, the Boston Uyghur
Association estimates about 200 Uyghurs live in the Greater Boston area.
Locals like Sidiq "are working to strengthen their bonds, pass on their
language to the next generation, and call attention to the intensifying
repression in Xinjiang, China."  

EMPLOYMENT CHALLENGES - A new study

from Cornell University highlights that after five years of living in
the U.S. and obtaining green cards, many refugees are still unable to
retain long-term employment, reports Shirin Ali of The Hill
.
Ali points out that refugees typically receive six months of federal
government support, but afterwards, they're expected to resettle into
the community, learn English, and find a job. (Quite a high bar.)
Researchers also cite the fact that most resettlement nonprofits
"receive federal funding that is contingent on the number of refugee job
placements they make, which leads many refugees stuck in 'survival
jobs," with little opportunity for career growth. "The reality is that I
think it's really hard for people to realize we've got a lot of this
talent already in the United States and we're just not tapping into
that talent, because it doesn't present itself in a way that we're
used to," said Jina Krause-Wilmar, president and CEO of Upwardly
Global. 

'UNTAPPED POTENTIAL' - More access to education and training
opportunities would help immigrants in Georgia counter the state's
labor shortage, Lautaro Grinspan reports for The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
.
Advocates are pushing for two Republican-led bipartisan bills in the
state legislature that would expand the availability of in-state tuition
at Georgia public colleges to refugees and DACA recipients,
respectively. "We currently have more jobs in Georgia available than we
have people to fill them," said state Rep. Wes Cantrell (R-Woodstock),
the lead sponsor of one bill. "A lot of small business owners are
telling me, 'We need access to more labor.' All [refugees] want to
do is work. They want to live the American dream." Speaking of
addressing labor shortages, my friend Jose Ocampo writes in a Charlotte
Observer
op-ed
that he and other Dreamers represent "untapped potential ... that would
benefit our communities economically and socially." 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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