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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

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In 2017, Sharif Azizi, a combat interpreter who helped U.S. Special
Forces in Afghanistan for eight years, was finally brought to safety in
Los Angeles.

But last summer, when the Taliban took over, they came looking for his
mother and siblings, who had no choice but to flee to neighboring
Pakistan, reports Miriam Jordan ofThe New York Times
.

They applied for humanitarian parole under the assurance of U.S.
security officials that they qualified, but months later, they were
still denied. "All the certificates of commendation I received, all the
promises we got, it feels like a big lie," said Azizi. "They just leave
my family and basically say, 'That's done. We don't care.'"

For many Afghan refugees who were not airlifted out of Afghanistan
before the Taliban took control, such as Azizi's family, applying for
humanitarian parole puts them in a predicament, "either because they
have been denied entry or are still awaiting the outcome of their
cases," Jordan explains.

USCIS has processed fewer than 2,000 people out of a total of 43,000
humanitarian parole applications it has received since July. An
estimated 1,500 have been denied, and as of Feb. 11, only 170 were
approved.

"This was supposed to be a flexible mechanism for Afghans who supported
the U.S. mission and have provided ample proof of danger to their
lives," said retired Marine Lt. Col. Steve Brozak, who hired an
immigration law firm to help the Azizi family work on their
applications.

Whether via humanitarian parole or some other process, we need to honor
our allies' sacrifice and allow them and their families in - and
pass an Afghan Adjustment Act

to help those who are here.

Welcome to Thursday'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].

**LOCAL WELCOME**- Here's our compilation of local welcome, starting
with a letter signed by 28
Iowa pastors and other faith leaders thanking Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R)
for welcoming Afghan refugees to the state.

* New Hope Lutheran Church in Columbia, Maryland, donated $50,000 to
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) to help with Afghan
resettlement in the state. (Allana Haynes,The Baltimore Sun
)

* North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools International Center
is working with two resettlement agencies to enroll eligible Afghan
students in school, where they're assigned a mentor and a laptop.
(Shamarria Morrison,WCNC Charlotte
)

* In collaboration with other local organizations, the Port of Seattle
has helped welcome an estimated 3,000 Afghan refugees to the state, with
an additional 500 slated to arrive in the next week or so. (Cody
Miller,KING 5 Seattle
)

**FLORIDA SHELTERS** - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Archbishop
of Miami Thomas Wenski continue to be "at odds" over the recent order
not to renew the licenses of Florida shelters that care for
unaccompanied migrant children, reports Ana Rodriguez-Soto ofFlorida
Catholic Media
.
As Rodriguez-Soto puts it, "It's a battle of propaganda versus facts,
political posturing versus legal logic, Church versus state - with
at-risk children in the middle." Faith groups run all 16 of the
state's shelters that care for unaccompanied children, and a total of
180 such shelters nationwide, she adds. Says Wenski, "I don't think
it's good politics to look like the Grinch that still stole Christmas.
I would hope that we come to an agreement that allows him to save face,
but at the same time for us to continue to serve these children."

**8 MILLION**- In the midst of a massive labor shortage, USCIS is "now
taking about eight months to a year to issue work permits," including
for existing workers whose permits are expiring, Vox's

Nicole Narea writes. A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump-era
policy changes and budget cuts, and USCIS's own labor shortage has
contributed to an overall backlog of more than 8 million applications.
Left in the lurch? Current and would-be employers as well as immigrants
who are ready and willing to work. "We've now heard from 2,000 of our
members who have lost their jobs or are about to lose their jobs because
they haven't gotten their work permits renewed," said Conchita Cruz,
co-founder and co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy
Project. "That's something that the government could easily resolve."

**SAFER ROADS** - After a battle nearly two decades long (trust me, I
was there for the beginning), the Massachusetts House of Representatives
passed legislation granting undocumented immigrants drivers licenses,
with a veto-proof majority. The Boston Globe's

Samantha Gross and Matt Stout report that the legislation, "backed by
the attorney general, the majority of the state's sheriffs and
district attorneys, and the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police,"
now moves to the more liberal Senate. If Massachusetts passes the law,
it would be the 17th state to allow undocumented immigrants to have
driver's licenses.  

**BLACK MIGRANTS**  - Nearly two years after the institution of Title
42 as a de facto border enforcement policy - and months after the
expulsion of thousands of Haitian migrants - pressure is building on
the Biden administration. Eileen Sullivan of The New York Times

reports that more than 100 congressional Democrats are pushing the
president "to address 'disparate and often inhumane treatment' of
Black migrants by the immigration enforcement system." The Americas
advocacy director for Amnesty International USA, Amy Fischer said, "This
is probably the biggest and strongest message that we've seen coming
from Congress criticizing the Biden administration - from their own
party - so far on immigration."

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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