Monday, March 14
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

On Friday, President Biden said the U.S. would welcome Ukrainian
refugees who have been displaced by Russia's unprovoked and ongoing
invasion of the country, per Jacob Knutson of Axios
. 

"We will make sure Ukraine has weapons to defend against an invading
Russian force. We will. We will send money and food and aid to save the
Ukrainian people," he said. "And I will welcome Ukrainian refugees -
we should welcome them here with open arms if they need access." 

So far, over 2.5 million refugees

have fled Ukraine since Russia's attack on the country, "making it
the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II," writes
Knutson. More than a million people have already fled Ukraine for
Poland
,
while hundreds of thousands of others have fled to neighboring countries
like Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, and Russia. (Carolyn Tomlin of
The Alabama Baptist

has the story on how First Baptist Church Robertsdale pulled resources
together to go to Moldova and aid Ukrainian refugees in need).  

Now the question is, will the U.S. actually receive Ukrainian refugees
- and if so, how?  

For The New York Times
,
Peter Gatrell, an emeritus professor at the University of Manchester,
England, poses another thought-provoking question this morning: "Could
the current crisis in Ukraine actually be a catalyst for substantially
improving the rights of refugees around the world?" 

I hope so.  

Welcome to Monday's edition of Noorani's Notes (and
congratulations to our NN team member Dynahlee Padilla, who got married
last week!). If you have a story to share from your own community,
please send it to me at [email protected]
. And if you know others who'd
like to receive the Notes, please spread the word. They can subscribe
here.  

MIGRANT CHILDREN - Early Saturday morning, the Biden administration
ended the use of Title 42 as it relates to unaccompanied migrant
children at the U.S.-Mexico border, reports Priscilla Alvarez of CNN
.
However, due to operational constraints, families and single adults
"continue to be subject to the public health order, meaning they can
still be turned away at the U.S. southern border." Immigration activists
and Democrats are getting frustrated with Biden for backing Trump-era
policies (to some extent) and not following through on immigration
reforms he had promised, reports of Zolan Kanno-Youngs of The New York
Times
.
"Are Biden and Trump the same on immigration? No," said Lee Gelernt,
lawyer with the ACLU, representing families separated families at the
border in 2018. "Has Biden lived up to his campaign rhetoric? Also
no." 

**PRIORITIES** - In the past year, the Biden administration's
prioritization of serious crimes for immigration enforcement has led to
nearly double the number of immigration arrests for "aggravated
felonies" amid a sharp drop in arrests overall, Ben Fox of the
Associated Press

reports. Deportations were at their lowest level since U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) became an agency, although expulsions at
the border "without formal deportation proceedings" are a big
contributor to the drop. "ICE's officers and special agents focused on
cases that delivered the greatest law enforcement impact in communities
across the country while upholding our values as a nation," acting ICE
Director Tae Johnson said in a statement
. 

'WE'RE GOING TO HELP EVERYBODY' - Dr. Ali Karim, founder of the
non-profit "Global Shout" , is
spearheading efforts to help Afghan refugees and others resettle and get
the medical care they need in the Arlington, Virginia, area, reports
Victoria Sanchez of 7News
.
"We've been doing everything we can to establish their lives and make
sure that they're settled, and they can cope with the difficulties of
coming to a new land and leaving their homes," said Dr. Karim, whose
parents fled Afghanistan more than four decades ago. "There's a lot of
suffering going on in this world. I might be Afghan but I'm not
selectively helping the Afghans right now. We're going to help
everybody, which is why we're going to pivot to Ukraine." 

And locally (plus a story from Canada):  

* The Ken
Garff Ford and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat dealerships recently
donated $10,000 to Catholic Community Services to help an Afghan family
of five furnish their new apartment in Salt Lake City. (Samantha
Herrera, KSL NewsRadio
) 

* Through Operation Allies Welcome, U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Bjorn Utu was
able to welcome incoming Afghan refugees at several processing bases and
participated in a video chat Q&A with local students in his hometown of
Steamboat Springs, Colorado. (Suzie Romig, Steamboat Pilot & Today
) 

* Canada's colleges and universities are stepping up to provide
scholarships and other initiatives for Afghan refugee students in need.
(Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media
) 

IMMIGRATION REFORM - We need to include immigration in our approach to
addressing the U.S. labor shortage, writes Chris Romer, President & CEO
of the Vail Valley Partnership, in an op-ed for Vail Daily
.
There are about 212,000 unfilled jobs in Colorado alone Romer writes,
and immigrants already make up nearly an eighth of the state's
workforce. "With most Americans in support of immigration reform,
members of Congress must take advantage of the incredible opportunity
they have in front of them," he writes. "I urge our elected officials,
including Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, to get immigration
relief across the finish line and ensure that more businesses can find
the employees they need to stay open." State Business Executives
and
Improve the Dream recently joined
ANIC
,
a new alliance in support of passing immigration reforms this year. 

Thanks for reading,   

Ali 

 

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