Formerly Noorani's Notes
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THE FORUM DAILY

 

To our readers: We'd love your feedback on The Forum Daily (formerly
Noorani's Notes) via this survey
, which will be open through April
22. Thank you! 

With Title 42 ending in May, Democrats are alarmed with the lack of
current guidance on how to lift the pandemic-era order and targeted
messaging phasing the policy out, reports Sabrina Rodriguez of Politico
.  

"[T]he party has been unable to settle on a unified message on
immigration and border policy - a disconnect the party cannot afford
with their slim Senate majority hanging in the balance."  

Said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada): "We should be working to
fix our immigration system by investing in border security and treating
immigrant families with dignity. Instead, the administration is acting
without a detailed plan." 

For the Boston Globe
,
Marcela García breaks down the "long shelf life" of Title 42, its
implications on the immigration system, and next steps the
administration needs to take in order to "unravel the chaos and
backlogs, and deliver consistently humane asylum policies." 

Meanwhile, a Morning Consult
/Politico
survey shows that the move to end Title 42 is the Biden
administration's most unpopular decision so far, per Cameron
Easley.  

A majority of registered voters - 56% - oppose the decision, which
is "the largest backlash against a Biden administration policy among
dozens tracked by Morning Consult since January 2021." 60% of Democratic
voters support the move, while just 31% of independents and 8% of
Republicans do. 

As Easley notes, the findings underscore the challenge the Biden
administration faces moving forward from Title 42.   

But it must be done. And if we want border security that weakens the
cartels, keeps us safer and treats immigrants with dignity, Congress
needs to pass legislation.  

Welcome to Wednesday'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]
. And if you know others who'd
like to receive this newsletter, please spread the word. They can
subscribe here.  

BORDER OPERATION - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R)'s multibillion-dollar
border initiative was meant to combat cartels, in addition to drug and
human smuggling - but instead it has centered on arresting migrants
seeking asylum at the southern border, reports Jolie McCullough of The
Texas Tribune
.
An investigation by The Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and The Marshall
Project found "that trespassing cases represented the largest share of
the operation's arrests, despite Abbott's focus on arrests of people
accused of serious crimes. "What we are seeing is terrible," said
Gastón, an asylum seeker and former human rights attorney, who fled
from Venezuela and was later detained in a Texas prison for months.
"That in the 21st century we are seeing how human beings crossing the
river to seek protection from the U.S. government are being criminalized
by the Texas governor."  

CUBANS FLEEING - According to the latest U.S. Customs and Border
Protection data, 47,000 Cubans arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border between
October and the end of February. "That number is larger than the 39,303
Cubans who came in the entire fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2021, a
figure that already marked a steep increase over previous years,"
reports Nora Gámez Torres of the Miami Herald
.
Political strife, widespread poverty, and a lack of educational and
economic opportunities are among the reasons Cubans are fleeing. "Many
young people are trying to emigrate because they are looking for a
better future, but they also saw closely what this regime is capable of
doing to those who decide to confront or oppose it openly," said Abel
Cartaya, a Cuban entrepreneur. 

ALL REFUGEES - While the world is currently focused on Ukrainian
refugees, we must also remember that all refugees deserve sympathy and
compassion, South Sudanese refugee and community activist Nhial Deng
writes in an op-ed for Al Jazeera
.
"Where were these world leaders, corporations and universities when
armed invaders attacked and burned my village just 11 years ago? Where
were the people of goodwill offering for me to stay with them instead of
being stuck in a refugee camp for a decade?" We should use the
international community's support for Ukraine as a model, Deng writes,
and "repeat this successful example in other geographies and conflicts.
Because every child, every human being, everywhere, deserves peace and a
place to call home." 

'A PORTRAIT OF GRACE' - Churches in North Carolina are
spearheading efforts to build community with Afghan refugees, reports
Margaret Colson for The Baptist Paper
. 
"It is a beautiful portrait of grace to see God using His people to show
His love to those who feel such hurt and abandonment from their previous
lives," said Patrick Fuller, executive director of the Raleigh Baptist
Association. Jason Lief, one of our field mobilizers, offers his
personal take

on building community with immigrants and Afghan refugees - and what
the Christian community needs to do to advance these efforts. 

In local news: 

* Former U.S. diplomat Deborah Alexander and other volunteers have been
working nonstop to assist Afghans with asylum and visa applications.
(Ruchi Kumar, NPR
) 

* Framingham, Massachusetts-based Open Kitchens Project and Hospitality
Common Inc. helped gather 65 people virtually "to learn about the
experiences of Afghan refugees and watch a traditional Afghan appetizer
prepared." (Mary Ellen Gambon, Patch
) 

WORK SOLUTIONS - The "obvious - and much-needed" step to improve
U.S. labor shortages is immigration reform, writes The Washington Posts
'
Editorial Board. 9.5 million people are currently waiting for their
legal immigration paperwork to be processed by United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services. "More funding and more staffing is the clear
way to address all of these backlogs," said Julia Gelatt of the
Migration Policy Institute. (Recently, DHS announced a new asylum rule

that would help institute a more humane and orderly process for asylum
application processing, as noted in our statement.) "Companies are
desperate for workers. Millions of legal immigrants want to work in the
United States. This shouldn't be so hard to fix," the board
concludes. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali 

 

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