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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

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New USCIS guidance from the Refugee, Asylum and International Operations
unit will no longer use a Trump-era marriage standard to evaluate asylum
seekers' request for derivative status for their spouses, reports Mike
LaSusa of Law360
.
Under the new guidance, "informal" marriages, which are not legally
recognized, will be considered. 

"Without this narrow exception, individuals in committed relationships
with refugees and asylees who are unable to formally perfect their
marriage could remain separated from their families and may need to
independently establish access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
and eligibility as a refugee," per the guidance.  

This is especially crucial if "spouses demonstrate that they are unable
to have their marriage legally recognized in the place of celebration as
a result of their flight from persecution and circumstances beyond their
control or due to restrictive laws or practices in their country of
origin or country of first asylum." 

Applicants who were denied their request when Trump issued the marriage
standard in 2018 and 2019 can now request that USCIS review their case
again, according to an agency spokesperson.  

Welcome to Wednesday'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] . 

**MORE DESANTIS PRESSURE** - An ad

featuring Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski alluding to Gov. Ron
DeSantis' remarks about unaccompanied migrant children is getting heat
from DeSantis' office, reports Syra Ortiz Blanes of the Miami Herald
.
Christina Pushaw, the governor's press secretary, accused the
archbishop of lying in a tweet
.
"Children are children, whether they are escaping the oppressive Castro
regime or violence, socialism and dictatorship in Venezuela, Haiti and
Central America. None of these children are disgusting and caring for
them is an act of humanity," said Mike Fernandez, a Cuban exile and
co-chairman of the coalition which paid for the ad.  

**MARINE SMUGGLERS** - Emily Green of Vice News

reports a shocking story and investigation into how two U.S. marines
led a "massive human smuggling ring" in the spring and summer of 2019.
At their peak, Byron Law and David Salazar-Quintero "were going on
multiple runs a week, coordinating among themselves to see who was free
to go, and making excuses to get out of training exercises in order to
make a few hundred dollars" from vulnerable migrants seeking entry at
the southern border, per court records. "The smuggling ring at Camp
Pendleton underscores the widespread recruitment of military members
and Border Patrol into the billion-dollar criminal industry
,"
writes Green.  

MILITARY BASE DEPARTURE - The remaining several hundred Afghan
evacuees temporarily housed on U.S. military bases are slated to depart
over the next week, per a DHS official, reports Priscilla Alvarez of
CNN
.
While the Biden administration used a total of eight military bases to
support Afghan evacuation and resettlement efforts, only Fort McCoy,
Wisconsin, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey remain,
notes Alvarez. An estimated 2,800 Afghans are currently in locations
abroad, dubbed "lily pad" locations, which the U.S. used to vet and
process some evacuees prior to entering the country. "It's gone as
well as it can go given how difficult the circumstances have been," said
Mark Hetfield, the president and CEO of refugee resettlement agency
HIAS. 

Today's list of local welcome: 

* Lauren and Craig Peterson of East Moline, Illinois, partnered with
Moline-based World Relief Quad Cities to welcome and sponsor a total of
three Afghan families since December. "'When you give, you receive
back more than you give,' Craig said, noting their Christian faith has
been a strong motivating factor to open their home and hearts."
(Jonathan Turner, Local 4 Quadcities.com
) 

* In partnership with Des Moines Refugee Support, Kate Hoch, an Iowa
native now living in Massachusetts "is sewing culturally specific
clothing for dolls" for Afghan refugee children resettling in the metro
area. "I want to welcome these children," Hoch said. "They've been
through so much. Not only back in Afghanistan but their journey here has
been very difficult." (Khalil Maycock, Local 5 News We are Iowa
) 

* "The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend's
refugee program received a donation of $21,868 during a check
presentation ceremony from Congregation Achduth Vesholom and the Jewish
Federation of Fort Wayne," for Afghan resettlement in Fort Wayne.
(Jazlynn Bebout, Fort Wayne's NBC
) 

RESETTLEMENT PROPOSAL - Former MP Rory Stewart
for International Development in the
United Kingdom is proposing a new plan to resettle a set number of
refugees annually, saying it "would help [liberal democracies] regain a
lost sense of moral purpose," reports The Guardian
's
Patrick Wintour. "Reforming the international resettlement coalition
around the Afghan crisis presents a rare opportunity for key liberal
democracies to restore their moral authority, form a workable
international coalition, and deliver rapid, concrete, ethical results,"
he said. Under the proposed plan, countries that join the coalition
"should aspire within two years to take refugees equivalent to 0.05 % of
their population annually," explains Wintour. Speaking of refugee
resettlement levels, our recent paper

proposes that the U.S. should set its resettlement baseline at 10% of
the estimated population of forcibly displaced people who are most in
need of permanent resettlement each year.  

**SUPPORT SYSTEMS** - For America Magazine - The Jesuit Review
,
J.D. Long-García sheds light on the role that Jesuit Refugee
Service's Caminar Contigo plays in helping refugees, asylum seekers,
and displaced persons cope with trauma. Knowing that recounting their
experiences at the U.S.-Mexico border can be mentally harmful to them,
the JRS staff have built systems of support. Among them are one-on-one
help with a psychologist, ceremonies in which asylum-seekers could
grieve together or reflect in private, and a new partnership with JRS
Mexico to provide more support in border regions like Ciudad Juarez and
El Paso.  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

 

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