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 the word. They can subscribe here.
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.
- 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)
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