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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:
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 |
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