Formerly Noorani's Notes
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THE FORUM DAILY

 

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The attorneys general of Arizona, Louisiana, and Missouri - three GOP
states - sued the Biden administration Monday over its plan to end
Title 42, the pandemic-era rule which has prevented most migrants from
seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, Adam Shaw reports for Fox News
.  

The states argue that the pending Title 42 lift "is not only bad policy
but is in breach of the notice-and-comment requirements." (Side note:
Title 42 was instituted in March 2020 without notice-and-comment). 

"We are doing everything we can to prepare for this increase, ensure we
continue to process people humanely, and impose consequences on those
who break the law," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner
Chris Magnus, per Ellen M. Gilmer of Bloomberg Government
. 

In an op-ed for Politico
,
immigration policy analyst Sam Peak takes a deeper dive into the
problems of Title 42. While most Democrats and Republicans can agree
that there is no longer a public health rationale for the policy "the
benefits of repealing or leaving in place Title 42 are not as
straightforward as either border security or human rights advocates
claim." 

Still, "the procedural steps that Title 42 bypasses are critical for the
U.S.'s ability to target smuggling networks and discourage repeat
crossings," with the policy's quick expulsion of migrants giving
Border Patrol agents "no time to collect intelligence from migrants
concerning nearby smugglers and other illegal activity." 

The CDC's announcement to rescind Title 42 is a step in the right
direction. But the Biden administration still needs a plan in place to
do so while also "expanding legal channels for those in pursuit of a
better life," Peak concludes.  

Such channels are needed for people like Marleny and her son, who fled
death threats in Guatemala and yet, were initially denied refuge in the
U.S. when they needed it most, per Uriel J. García of The Texas Tribune
. 

Our statements on the need to end Title 42
and
prioritize better border policies

underscore many of these points. For more on the politics of it all, see
Oliver Laughland's piece in The Guardian
. 

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of The Forum Daily, formerly
Noorani's Notes. If you have a story to share from your own
community, please send it to me at [email protected]
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PAPER VS. REALITY - An estimated 16,000 Afghan refugees who were
placed in the priority refugee program

eight months ago are still waiting for their applications to be
processed, signaling "potential challenges for Ukrainians hoping to
reach the U.S.," report Jessica Donati and Michelle Hackman of The Wall
Street Journal
.
"On paper, there is a program, there is some sort of nominal process,"
said Sunil Varghese, policy director at the International Refugee
Assistance Project (IRAP). "But it doesn't seem like there's the
political will to make this a big, robust thing." Meanwhile, for NowThis
,
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service's Krish O'Mara Vignarajah
breaks down how we can continue to support Ukrainian refugees.  

**SHAHAB'S JOURNEY**- Hannah Ray Lambert of Coffee or Die Magazine

recounts a family of 1o's incredible journey from hiding in
Afghanistan to finding refuge in Houston, Texas. Shahab had worked with
the U.S. military for over 15 years and spent time as an interpreter
for Kevin Rardin, a judge advocate general in the Army Reserves. After
Rardin returned to the U.S. in 2008, they stayed connected. Shahab began
calling Rardin "Uncle Kevin" and by 2016, Rardin had helped him apply
for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). But by the time Shahab's SIV was
approved, the Taliban had taken over. Understanding the severity of the
situation, Uncle Kevin called upon a coalition of veterans known as
"digital Dunkirk" to help Shahab and his family escape. "They deserve a
lot, and they did a lot for me," Shahab said. "I wish, one day, I could
return their favor." 

On local welcome: 

* A group of University of Cincinnati Clermont College students,
paralegals and lawyers helped process 100 humanitarian visa applications
for Afghan refugees in November. "It's not getting better for those
waiting; it's getting worse," said student paralegal Barbara Rugen.
"... I will probably come back to UC Clermont and do this again."
(Cincinnati Edition
) 

* Two families and a military veteran from Idaho have worked together to
help welcome and assist an Afghan family of 11: "The same way we would
take care of our military families, we take care of the interpreters
that gave us the ability to be safer, reduce risk and allow our comrades
to come home," said Alex Castagno. "So we should treat them the same way
that we treat our own." (Candice Hare, KMVT/KSVT
) 

DEPORTATION DISCRETION - The Biden administration issued a memo to ICE
prosecutors on Monday permitting them to consider dismissing certain
deportation cases "involving immigrants who did not cross the border
recently and are not public safety threats," reports Hamed Aleaziz of
BuzzFeed News
. "Prosecutorial
discretion is an indispensable feature of any functioning legal system,"
wrote chief ICE attorney Kerry Doyle in the new guidance. It "can
preserve limited government resources, achieve just and fair outcomes in
individual cases, and advance DHS's mission of administering and
enforcing the immigration laws of the United States in a smart and
sensible way that promotes public confidence." 

POPE PROMOTES PEACE - Pope Francis urged humanity and kindness at
a Maltese migrant welcome center and "Peace Lab" Sunday, Elise Ann
Allen reports for Crux
. Drawing
parallels between a Biblical shipwreck in Malta and the shipwrecks of
migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean in recent years, the pope
said, "In these events we see another kind of shipwreck taking place:
the shipwreck of civilization, which threatens not only migrants but us
all." This can only be stopped, he added, "by acting with kindness and
humanity - by regarding people not merely as statistics, but...for
what they really are." 

Thanks for reading, 
 
Ali 

 

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