Ahead of the State of the Union next week, our policy team is out with a score card on President Biden’s first year in office. We looked at the full range of issues, from earned legalization and legal immigration to border security and enforcement.  

In other news, Georgia sheriffs and activists in two of metro Atlanta’s most diverse counties — Cobb and Gwinnett — said that ending their 287(g) agreements in January 2021 made communities safer and enhanced their trust in law enforcement, reports Thomas Wheatley of Axios. 

Under the program, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could conduct immigration-checks on detainees in county jails, potentially resulting in deportation. In 2020 alone, the Gwinnett Sheriff’s office accounted for 25% of nearly 17,000 ICE interactions through the program, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

"With the 287(g) program in place, I was getting phone calls when a crime was committed in the immigrant community," said Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of the GALEO Impact Fund. Without 287(g), some undocumented immigrants feel safer calling law enforcement. However, Gonzelez notes, "The erosion of trust doesn’t change on the flip of a switch. Trust has to be earned." 

Meanwhile, 25 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the Biden administration to reform the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) surveillance program and consider cutting ties with BI Inc., the private company providing the technology and profiting from detention, reports Johana Bhuiyan of The Guardian. 

"Ankle shackles, once a rarity, are now ‘standard equipment’. Individuals previously considered low risk such as family units, asylum seekers, or pregnant or nursing people are subjected to intensive supervision and for excessive periods of time," the letter reads.  

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].  

‘THE WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE’— In an analysis for Foreign Affairs, Kelly M. Greenhill, a professor at SOAS University of London and Tufts University, dives deep into the long history of weaponized migration in and outside of Europe. "By exploiting political divisions that exist within the targeted states, the threatened or actual deployment of engineered flows of migrants has long been a distressingly effective policy instrument, and it is unlikely to go away anytime soon," Greenhill writes. "Unless policymakers begin to confront the forces that enable weaponized migration, the favored policy responses seem destined to increase, rather than curtail, its use … None of this bodes well for the future of liberal democracy or for the protection of the world’s most vulnerable." How the world responds to a Ukrainian refugee crisis will be the next test.  

EU AND UKRAINE — Speaking of the world’s most vulnerable, on Monday the United Nations Refugee Agency expressed concerns for asylum seekers and migrants being turned away at Greek and other EU borders, reports Monique Beals of The Hill. "We are alarmed by recurrent and consistent reports coming from Greece’s land and sea borders with Turkey, where UNHCR has recorded almost 540 reported incidents of informal returns by Greece since the beginning of 2020," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. "… With few exceptions, European States have failed to investigate such reports, despite mounting, credible evidence." The bottom line: "Protecting human life, human rights and dignity must remain our shared priority." As for the escalating situation in Ukraine, Reason’s Fiona Harrigan outlines a way the U.S. can help prepare for and welcome Ukrainian refugees. 

WALI’S STORY — After working with the U.S. military for four years, Wali, a former Afghan translator, resettled in Austin, Texas, in 2015. But when the Taliban took over Kabul last year, he had to return to save his family still living there, Jenni Lee reports for KVUE. After more than a week trying to help his family escape, they began losing hope. As a last resort, Wali reached out to his former colleague, Cpt. Michael Thompson, who helped connect him to U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas). Eventually, Wali and most of his immediate family — his wife, mother and 2- and 3-year-old daughters — were able to leave via a classified gate at the airport. Still, he feels sorrow for his sister and extended family left in Afghanistan. "They’re being left behind. You know, they’re in hiding right now." 

More on local welcome: 

• American Gateways and the Texas Here to Stay Coalition recently hosted the first of several clinics to help Afghan refugees understand the asylum and immigration process in Austin. (Luz Moreno-Lozano, Austin American-Statesman) 
• Nebraska state Sen. Myron Dorn (R) recently introduced a proposal to provide more affordable housing for Afghan refugees. (Bria Battle, KOLN)  
• Interfaith communities in Broome County, New York, have stepped up to sponsor two Afghan refugee families resettling in the area. (Thomas Picciano, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin) 
• Northeastern Illinois University has raised $60,000 towards a goal of $500,000 in scholarships for Afghan refugee students. (Paris Schutz, WTTW) 

SHELTER REFUGE — As migrant families head north towards the U.S. and arrive in Nogales, Mexico, the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter offers them refuge and comfort, reports Julian Resendiz of Border Report. For the past 40 years, co-founder Gilda Loureiro estimates that 1.25 million migrants have found support at the shelter. "We decided to help because too many people were staying at the town square, on railroad tracks in the cold without anyone looking after them," said Loureiro, who with the help of her children and late husband helped transform an abandoned building into the shelter. "... My greatest satisfaction is to have helped so many people who did not have a place to stay." 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali