Wednesday, March 16
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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

New CBP data

show apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border increased to 164,973 in
February, compared to around 148,000 in January, reports Priscilla
Alvarez of CNN
. 

According to the data, single adults make up most of the encounters,
followed by families and unaccompanied migrant children. Meanwhile, 30%
of migrants encountered in February had attempted to cross the border
before. 91,513 migrants were expelled under Title 42. 

The newly released border numbers come on the heels of Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' trip to Mexico and Costa Rica the past
two days. His goal? Getting Latin American allies to "shore up
immigration controls and expand their own asylum programs," report
Javier Córdoba and Christopher Sherman of the Associated Press
.

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] .
And if you know others who'd like to receive the Notes, please spread
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**WAR IN UKRAINE** - Half of the 3 million people who have fled the
war in Ukraine are children. To better understand the war through their
eyes, The Washington Post's

Zoeann Murphy and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff asked young refugees at a train
station near the Ukraine border in Przemysl, Poland, to share what
they've experienced through drawings and writings. Paired with video
interviews of the children, illustrations show tanks in combat and
their view from the departing train.  

**VIEJO PASS** - Once a smuggling corridor, Texas' Viejo Pass is
now being guarded by autonomous artificial intelligence, reports Nick
Miroff of The Washington Post
.
Whether a car, animal, or person is detected, the technology sends
coordinates to U.S. Border Patrol agents. Today, there are about 175
tech surveillance towers along the border as part of a five-year
contract with the security and defense contractor Anduril. The AI
towers are also a test for Democrats' support of such technology,
Miroff writes. "There's been a lot of talk about how surveillance is a
more humane alternative to a wall, but what we know is that when these
technologies are placed on the border, they end up forcing people to
take even more dangerous routes through the desert," said Dinesh McCoy
of Just Futures Law. Meanwhile, Alex J. Rouhandeh of Newsweek

reports that a bipartisan coalition of U.S. House representatives will
soon have their own caucus to promote border tech solutions.  

**SOUTH FLORIDA** - For decades, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of South
Florida has advocated and cared for migrants from around the world. Now,
as Patricia Mazzei reports for The New York Times
,
he's in a fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over Catholic
Charities and other nonprofits' ability to serve unaccompanied
children from Central America. Pointing out that the political right
likes to defend religious liberty, Wenski said, "Religious freedom
should be freedom to believe and freedom to act on those beliefs."
Meanwhile, as economic conditions in Haiti worsen and gang-related
violence and kidnappings rise, the Miami Herald
's
Jacqueline Charles and Gérard Maxineau report on the increasing number
of Haitians trying to make it to the U.S. by boat: "Over the past five
months, the U.S. Coast Guard has repatriated 1,527 Haitian migrants back
to Haiti after stopping them at sea." 

**VISA BACKLOGS** - With unprecedented delays due to Trump-era
restrictions and the ongoing pandemic - and little information about
the status of their visas - many immigrants are losing their jobs,
reports Dara Lind of Bloomberg Government
.
To make things worse: The government doesn't track data on how many
immigrants have had their permits expire while awaiting a renewal, "but
officials estimate that, at its worst in January and February, hundreds
per day were losing permission to work." Because of this, some
immigrants have gone on unpaid leave; others have been let go and have
resorted to jobs off the books. "I was working an under-the-table job,
because I didn't have any valid documentation," said one home health
aide, who asked for anonymity. "So this waiting period has caused us to
become illegal employees." 

'LOST EVERYTHING LIKE THUNDER' - This morning, Camilo
Montoya-Galvez at CBS News

reports that the Biden administration "plans to allow Afghans in the
U.S. to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which would protect
them from deportation and allow them to work legally for 18 months."
Meanwhile, challenges remain for the thousands of Afghans who have
resettled in communities across Europe, Canada, and the U.S., reports
Naseer Rahin of Vice News
.
Resettling elsewhere "is not an interesting process by any chance, it is
full of stress, depression, hopelessness and obstacles," said Shenkay
Karokhel, a former Afghan MP now resettled in Canada. And for resettled
Afghan professionals, the biggest challenge is that their credentials
are often not accepted by Western countries: "We made a living with 20
years of study and work, but we lost everything like thunder," said
Ilyaz Masnoor, an Afghan journalist who migrated to the U.S.  

On the local front: 

* Over the course of five months, Nasreen Khwaja of Charlotte, North
Carolina, volunteered to interpret, process, and help acclimate Afghan
refugees temporarily housed at the Fort Dix, New Jersey, military base.
(Derek Dellinger, Queen City News
) 

* Spearheaded by Pastor Manny Cumplido of West Newbury Congregational
Church in Massachusetts, volunteers plan to raise $45,000 to help a
newly resettled Afghan family buy a car and other necessities. (Jennifer
Solis, Newburyport Daily News
) 

* As part of the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts,
Berkshires Resettlement Coordinator Gabriela Sheehan is leading the
resettlement of 25 Afghan refugees in the area. "People from everywhere
[are] doing everything," she said, including providing access to
culturally appropriate food, driver education training, and more.
(Hannah Van Sickle, The Berkshire Edge
) 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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