First, according to our new poll, a majority of Americans show broad support for immigration reforms that address the U.S.-Mexico border, Dreamers, and farmworkers. Of 1,044 registered voters, 79% overall support lawmakers working together on key immigration reforms. Among Republicans, 76% show support for these efforts, compared to 78% of Independents and 84% of Democrats. 

"Even when sorted by religious affiliation, there is a relatively small gap in opinions on the urgent need for meaningful immigration reform that achieves some of the goals of both parties," Baptist News Global’s Mark Wingfield writes. "On most other social issues today, white evangelicals remain outliers compared [to] the rest of the nation. Not so on immigration reform." 

There isn’t just broad public support for immigration reforms — there’s a dire need for them.  

Adequately addressing labor shortages, inflation, and our demographic decline depends on an expanded approach to immigration, as Alana Semuels writes for Time.  

"[B]ecause of long-term demographic shifts, the U.S., like many other countries, simply doesn’t have enough workers to make and move all the things that people want to buy anymore," Semuels writes. "Too many older people have dropped out of the workforce, never to return, and too few young people and immigrants are coming to replace them." 

Our new policy paper, published yesterday, highlights the role immigration continues to play in shaping our economy, while also recommending ways immigrant workers can help fill urgent labor needs. 

In this morning’s Des Moines Register, Deacon Mark Prosser urges Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds to approach immigration with "a spirit of humility" in her response to the State of the Union address. "At a tense moment for the world, Reynolds has a rare and precious opportunity to return us to a more earnest, humane political conversation — to lead us toward unity, including on immigration. I hope she takes advantage of it." 

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].  

PROTECTING UKRAINIANS — The support for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s attacks is remarkable. In addition to European countries throwing open their doors, "@SenatorDurbin says he and other senators (likely bipartisan) are sending a letter to the administration soon, requesting Temporary Protected Status for the roughly 29,500 Ukrainians who are currently here on U.S. visas," The Washington Post’s Seung Min Kim tweeted. But, as The Post’s Anthony Faiola, Rick Noack, and Karla Adam report, the solidarity breaks "with the continent’s past resistance to asylum seekers from the Muslim world and Africa and embracing hundreds of thousands of new arrivals whom some leaders are hailing as culturally and ethnically European." In the light of reports of migrants from Africa and elsewhere blocked from fleeing Ukraine, I wonder if the current crisis will open the world’s eyes to refugees fleeing conflict around the world. 

SOUTH TEXAS — President Trump’s approach to immigration "has been widely viewed as an appeal to white voters. But similar grievances have resonated in the Rio Grande Valley in a profound way," reports Jennifer Medina of The New York Times. In this year’s midterm elections, "South Texas is the setting for the only competitive House race in the state, and both parties now consider Hispanic voters across the country a potentially decisive swing vote," she notes. "I want to bring God back into politics," said Pastor Luis Cabrera of City Church in Harlingen, where he has been hosting Republican leaders. He estimates that his church is around 96% Hispanic and 100% Republican.  

‘OUR NEWEST NEIGHBORS’ — Nine hundred Christian leaders have signed a letter spearheaded by the Evangelical Immigration Table urging Congress to provide a permanent legal pathway for Afghan evacuees in the U.S., reports Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global. "Without such changes to law, the majority of Afghans whom our government is resettling using parole authority could end up with a perpetual ‘temporary’ status that must be indefinitely renewed, at significant cost, without the opportunity to apply for permanent status that would affirm that they fully belong in this country," the letter reads. Added Matt Zeller of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: "Veterans have suffered a profound moral injury. We best heal from it by helping the Afghans who now find themselves as our newest neighbors." This is why Congress must pass the Afghan Adjustment Act now. 

In local news: 

• More than 200 people — from city council members to school representatives to the police chief — hosted a welcome event for Afghan refugees in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, last weekend. (Will Bauer, Nebraska Public Media) 
• In partnership with Catholic Charities, "a myriad of Harrisburg-based organizations and agencies are drawing together, collaborating to help relocate Afghan refugees to new homes and services in the area." (Deborah Lynch, TheBurg) 
• SLO4Home, a new official partner agency of Church World Service, hopes to raise $600,000 to help at least 10 Afghan families "connect with caring people and obtain basic necessities and services" to resettle in San Luis Obispo County, California. (The Tribune) 

2099 — "The government estimates that my family will finally get our green cards in 2099," writes Shristi Sharma, a Dreamer who grew up in Fairfield, Iowa, and attends college in North Carolina, in an op-ed for The Des Moines Register. Shristi’s parents are originally from India and brought her to the U.S. for better opportunities when she was only five. Her parents arrived with temporary work visas and applied for green cards in 2014 — but an outdated quota system has left them in limbo. "When I turn 21, just two and a half years from now, I’ll no longer qualify for a visa as my parents’ dependent," Shristi writes. "If their green card doesn’t come through by then, I’ll be forced to leave the country — even if I haven’t finished my studies."