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NOORANI'S NOTES

 

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which will be open through April
22. Thank you!

During the Trump administration, the CDC implemented Title 42 at the
start of the pandemic. Under the policy, many migrants at the border
continue to be expelled without being able to make a case for asylum in
the U.S. - even though the public-health rationale for the policy has
all but disappeared. 

In Axios
,
Stef W. Kight and Alayna Treene summarize the minefield for the Biden
administration as it reportedly prepares to lift Title 42 in May.
"Republicans are already testing harsh new border messages for the
coming midterm ad war," they report, and although many Democrats have
called for Title 42's end, others are expressing concern. 

Elsewhere in dangerous border policies, Adolfo Flores and Hamed Aleaziz
of BuzzFeed News

report on the extremely dangerous conditions migrants face while waiting
in Mexico under the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP),
another Trump-era policy, this one still in effect because of a court
order. 

The pending asylum rule changes

the administration has announced should set the table for better border
management. Title 42 and MPP have been a boon to cartels and dangerous
to migrants, and Title 42 has inflated border numbers as previously
expelled migrants try repeatedly to reach the U.S. 

Rather than holler, Republicans and Democrats in Congress should meet
their responsibility to find solutions on border security and management
- and on the broken U.S. immigration system that helps drive this
situation. 

Welcome to Friday's edition of Noorani's Notes. I'm Dan
Gordon, the Forum's strategic communications VP, filling in for Ali
today. If you have a story to share from your own community, please
send it to me at [email protected]
. 

**'A MATTER OF WILL'** - Speaking of solutions, the words of Sens.
Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) continue to offer
some hope. Emergency visas for medical personnel

(per Durbin) and protections for DACA recipients (per Cornyn) are among
the possible areas of compromise on immigration reform, Warren Rojas
reports in Business Insider
.
As Jorge Lima, senior vice president of policy at Americans for
Prosperity, notes, recent polling [including from the Forum

and the LIBRE Initiative
] shows
support for solutions for the border as well as Dreamers and
farmworkers. "If Congress wants to add more to that, I think we would be
excited," Lima said. " ... [W]e definitely think it's a very positive
and impactful first step - if they can get it done." On whether the
Senate could find some consensus before the November election, Cornyn
suggested it's possible: "I think it's just a matter of will."  

**LIMBO** - Despite the Biden administration's promise last week to
welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, those arriving at the southern
border are in legal limbo, Alicia Victoria Lozano of NBC News

reports. Without a direct way to seek asylum, some have been stuck at
the border for a day or longer while relatives in the U.S. worry. At a
makeshift holding area in Tijuana, "Packed into a long line littered
with food and water, hundreds of Ukrainians crammed together in recent
days to stay out of the wind and rain," Lozano reports. "There is no
rhyme or reason why they treated people like this," said Mark
Lehmkuhler, who had been waiting for his fiancée to be processed.
"Nobody was prepared." Julia Ainsley, Yuliya Talmazan and Didi
Martinez of NBC News

share additional stories. 

**RESETTLEMENT REFLECTIONS** - Leaders of the Wisconsin National Guard
were key to helping Afghan refugees who were temporarily housed at the
Fort McCoy military base. This week they reflected on their experiences
with KSTP
.
The Guard oversaw 12,600 Afghan nationals and provided shelter, food and
clothing, in addition to translation services, resettlement efforts, and
medical support such as administering COVID-19 vaccinations. The
evacuees have since resettled in communities across the country. Lt.
Col. Cory Newmann, a liaison officer for the Wisconsin National Guard
Joint Staff, said the mission was "incredibly meaningful ... I will
never forget it as long as I live." Our digital map

continues to highlight Afghan resettlement and welcome efforts in the
U.S. 

On the local front:

* On Sunday, Pilar's Foundation hosted a fundraiser at the Zion
Lutheran Church to raise funds for Afghan resettlement and services in
Washtenaw County, Michigan. (Cecilia Duran, The Michigan Daily
) 

* Also in Michigan, the Community Chorus of Detroit is helping a
three-generation Afghan family get settled and integrate. (Quinn
Klinefelter, WDET
)

* With financial and emotional support from parishioners and volunteers
at the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Salimees family was able to
resettle in Elkridge, Maryland, after fleeing from the Taliban.
(Priscila González de Doran, Catholic Review
)

**BAIL BONDS** - On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court barred ICE and
Southern California immigration judges "from setting unreasonable bonds
for detained immigrants" based on their financial situation, reports
Scott Schwebke of The Orange County Register
.
Immigrants who are unable to pay high cash bonds are often forced to
stay in detention while awaiting a decision on their asylum
applications. "The settlement puts a stop to the government's shameful
practice of incarcerating immigrants without even considering their
ability to pay a bond," said Michael Kaufman, the Sullivan and Cromwell
Access to Justice senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern
California. "The Constitution forbids incarceration based on poverty,
for citizens and noncitizens alike." Added Michael Tan, deputy director
of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project: "No one should be locked up
because they don't have the money to buy their freedom." 

Thanks for reading,
Dan

 

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