The Biden administration is using alternatives to detention (ATDs) as a step toward closing for-profit immigrant detention centers — but the tracking technology being used was "sold by the subsidiary of a major for-profit detention provider," reports Stef W. Kight of Axios. 

B.I. Incorporated — a subsidiary of GEO Group Inc. — "is the only company currently providing ATD technology and services to ICE, sources familiar with the services told Axios." 

Immigration advocates have mixed feelings about the increasing reliance on ATDs, which could be used to "put more immigrants under surveillance than before — rather than to decrease the use of detention," explains Kight. 

Under the B.I. Incorporated contract, the ATD program can monitor up to 400,000 people in non-detention programs, per a source familiar with the plans. There are currently an estimated 180,000 people enrolled in ATD programs. 

In other news, a sweet Valentine’s Day story: U.S. army veteran Mauricio Hernandez-Mata, who is originally from Mexico, reunited with his mom in California yesterday after he was deported over a decade ago. 

Welcome to Tuesday’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].  

‘PEOPLE OF FAITH’ — Aldaberto and his wife Liliam are known as Tía and Tío to the more than 250 unaccompanied migrant children they’ve welcomed into their home. But they may not be able to foster them anymore under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) recent order potentially revoking shelter licenses, reports Harvest Prude of The Dispatch. Several foster parents, childcare facilities, and a coalition of evangelical faith groups have criticized the order: "Whenever you’re having any level of government getting in the way of churches or individual Christians who want to serve as foster parents, or Christian ministries like Bethany or Catholic bishops that run several Catholic charities … their mission to protect children out of the motivation of their faith," said Matthew Soerens, national coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table. Added Bri Stensrud, director of Women of Welcome: "You can’t force people of faith to pick between vulnerable children." 

13 YARDS — For NBC News, Sakshi Venkatraman paints a picture of South Asian migration that is not often told. Inspired by flyers promising an opportunity for a better life abroad, the Patel family left their village in the state of Gujarat in western India. Jagdish Patel, like many others in the small village of Dingucha, had worked in a factory to support his family of four, making only an estimated $12o a month. Neighbors said Jagdish wanted a better education for his young children, and better employment opportunities for him and his wife. After flying to Toronto, they were dropped off in a Canadian border town just north of Minnesota and North Dakota. As they attempted to cross, a blizzard hit and separated them from their group. The bodies of Jagdish Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Patel, 37, and their children Vihangi, 11, and Dharmik, 3, were found 13 yards from the U.S. border. 

IMMIGRANT WORKERS — In December 2021, there were 10.9 million openings and fewer than 7 million unemployed workers, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The tight labor market is in part a result of Trump-era immigration policy restrictions, immigration flows, and the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, Marcela García writes in a column for the Boston Globe. Immigration reform can help stymie labor shortages across the U.S., she adds. "Not only are we not finding people to walk the dogs, we’re also not having [immigrants] in the labs, in the clinics, in the engineering centers that push technology forward," said UC Davis economics professor Giovanni Peri, noting that an estimated 1 million of the 2 million immigrants missing from the workforce would have been college educated. 

AFGHAN ADJUSTMENT ACT — In a Monday news conference outside the U.S. Capitol building, veterans and refugee advocates called on Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act, Rebecca Kheel reports for Military.com. Currently, more than 36,000 Afghans evacuees brought to the U.S. lack a direct pathway to secure permanent legal residency and stability in the country, per a January DHS report to Congress released by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). "If you’ve ever said that you stand with the troops, then you must stand with us on this issue," said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and founder of the Afghan Evac coalition. "Make no mistake, we are going to show up … We will make sure that voters know where you stood on the one thing that unites veterans across this country like no other." 

On the local (and Australian) welcome front: 

• After resettling in Oklahoma thanks to a partnership between Oklahoma State university and Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma (CCEOK) dubbed the Afghan Family Project, Tayyab Ghazniwal was recently "hired by Stillwater Public Schools as a translator for the Afghan students." His main goal? "[T]o bring education back to Afghanistan." (Mack Burke, OSU)  
• In partnership with Church World Services, Eastern Mennonite University, and the Massanutten Technical Center, some 200 Afghan refugees have gotten an opportunity to take free English classes in Harrisonburg, Virginia. (Colby Johnson, WHSV 3) 
• New Jersey resettlement agencies, faith groups, and sponsor circles are looking for more help to resettle Afghan refugees to the state. (Hannan Adely, NorthJersey.com) 
• Australians have donated more than a million dollars to support the Red Cross in Afghanistan, and the Australian Red Cross "has also called on the government to boost its intake of refugees from Afghanistan by 20,000." (7 News Australia) 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali