Wednesday, March 23
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

NOORANI'S NOTES

 

It's now been four weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, spurring war
and an exodus in Europe.  

The EU has since committed to welcoming and supporting over 3.5 million
Ukrainian refugees, "the largest movement of people on the continent
since World War II," per Matthew Dalton of The Wall Street Journal
,
with photos by Stephane Lagoutte.  

In terms of numbers, "[t]he refugee crisis, fueled by a war on the
doorstep of the EU, is far larger than in the Syrian crisis, with 3.5
million people fleeing Ukraine in under a month, compared with the 1.3
million from Syria and other countries who entered the bloc throughout
2015," notes Dalton. 

But the treatment of Syrian refugees compared to Ukrainian refugees is
"evidence of racism - and reality," writes James Traub, a nonresident
fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation,
in a column for Foreign Policy
. 

"I felt a little ashamed as I tried to persuade my idealistic and
devoutly cosmopolitan students to accept the limits of universalism and
the political reality of kinship and nationalism," Traub writes. "Yet I
was arguing that when politics collides with morality, we have to find a
way to adjust both our moral propositions and our politics. Principle
without politics is every bit as dangerous as politics without
principle." 

ICYMI: Oula A. Alrifai, The Forum's Assistant Vice President of Field
and Constituencies, recently wrote a powerful, personal piece
on the 11th anniversary
of the war in Syria. 

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.
 

**UKRAINE WELCOME** - The Biden administration is planning to expedite
and streamline the resettlement process of vulnerable Ukrainian refugees
soon, including activists, journalists, and those who are a part of the
LGBTQ+ community, reports Julia Ainsley of NBC News
.
Meanwhile, Washington state has become a hub for Ukrainian refugees,
Alison Saldanha reports for The Seattle Times
.
In the past decade, more Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Washington
than any other state, per a Seattle Times analysis of government data.
To continue meeting the moment, resettlement agencies are considering
ways to provide culturally sensitive mental health resources to
refugees. Elsewhere, Washington resident Ben Sterciuc, a nurse and the
founder of Vital Solutions in Kirkland, recently spent more than two
weeks supporting refugees at the Romania-Ukraine border, reports
Jennifer Dowling of FOX 13
.  

**'IN PLAIN SIGHT'** - For many politicians and pundits,
immigration is one of the most divisive issues in the country. But "[n]o
one seems to have told the American people," write Ronnie Najarro,
state director of Americans for Prosperity-Nevada, and Eddie Diaz, state
director for The LIBRE Initiative-Nevada, in an op-ed for The Nevada
Independent
.
Highlighting recent polling that found broad support - and urgency
- for the types of reforms the Alliance for a New Immigration
Consensus

is advocating for, Najarro and Diaz write that the "immigration reform
Americans want and our economy needs is hiding in plain sight."  

PRIORITIES - U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Newman - a Trump
appointee - has partially blocked aspects of President Biden's
immigration enforcement guidelines, which prioritize noncitizen violent
criminals and limit deportations, report Nick Miroff and Maria
Sacchetti of The Washington Post
.
The preliminary injunction "potentially leaves more immigrants subject
to arrest and detention." The Biden administration maintains that
setting these priorities has not only made enforcement more effective,
but also has made communities safer. "Every administration has had
priorities to guide enforcement decisions and there's no basis in law
for the court to treat the Biden administration's priorities
differently," said Cody Wofsy, staff attorney at the ACLU's
Immigrants' Rights Project. 

AFGHAN DIPLOMATS - Some Afghan foreign service officials serving in
other countries before the Taliban took over are now stuck abroad,
awaiting U.S. help, reports Matthew Casey of KJZZ
.
Pheonix's Shadow Rock United Church of Christ is trying to get Afghan
diplomats and their families to safety before these countries deport
them back to Afghanistan. Baktash and his family are a prime example:
His wife worked as a diplomat in Saudia Arabia, where she focused on
women's issues. They've been stuck there for months with no income
since the country won't extend their visas and they face threats
back home in Afghanistan. Our friend Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan of the
Migration Policy Institute noted that while many countries can extend
temporary help to foreigners unable to return home, "Not every country
has this. Or is willing to extend it. It's always a political
decision." 

On local welcome: 

* After the Cleveland nonprofit partnership Joseph House reached out to
over 25 bike shops to obtain bikes for resettled Afghans, Ohio City
Bicycle Co-op donated several bikes and "offered to fit each bike to its
intended recipient and make sure they were safe and roadworthy." (Alexis
Oatman, cleveland.com
) 

* The San Diego County Board of Supervisors formed the Afghan Refugee
Resettlement Task Force last year to help Afghans resettle and adjust.
They've recently developed volunteer "ambassador circles" to continue
supporting these families and are looking for public support to help new
evacuees coming to the area soon. (The Coast News
) 

ARCHIVES - After more than a decade documenting thousands of American
immigrant stories, Tony Hernández's "Immigrant Archive Project
" will be published in the Library
of Congress, reports Carmen Sesin of NBC News
.
Interviewees range from actors to CEOs to farmworkers to Holocaust
survivors. Said Hernández: "When you're asking people to come in
and bare their soul on camera ... there's an amount of pressure on
your shoulders to ensure that those stories are made available as widely
as possible and not that they collect dust in a drawer somewhere." 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

DONATE

 

**Follow Us**

 

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum

10 G Street NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002

www.immigrationforum.org

 

Unsubscribe from Noorani's Notes

or opt-out from all Forum emails.

 
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum, 10 G St NE, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002, United States