The Forum Daily, formerly Noorani's Notes
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THE FORUM DAILY

Welcoming refugees and asylum seekers helps the U.S. economically,
Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy writes in
Forbes
.  

Recent research

from economist Michael Clemens at the Center for Global Development
homes in on the effects of the Trump administration's restrictive
policies, arriving at a price tag of $9.1 billion a year for the U.S.
economy from restricted refugee admissions alone. 

Between fiscal years 2016 and 2020, refugee admissions declined 86%,
Clemens notes. And a 68% drop in affirmative asylum applications
occurred between March 2017 and September 2019. 

Not only did our reputation as a place of welcome

and a beacon of freedom for displaced people throughout the world
falter, cutting refugees and asylum seekers harmed the U.S. economy.  

"Beyond claiming a need for protection, refugees and asylum seekers are
economic actors," writes Clemens. "All are consumers, most are (or
become) workers, and many are (or become) investors. All incur fiscal
costs by using public services directly or indirectly, and all generate
fiscal revenue either directly or indirectly." 

Anderson also notes that national-security concerns around refugees are
unfounded, as former DHS official Elizabeth Neumann wrote in a National
Foundation for American Policy report

[and has written elsewhere
].  

Welcome to Thursday's edition of The Forum Daily. I'm Dan
Gordon, the Forum's strategic communications VP. If you have a story
to share from your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected] .  

**WAITING** - More evidence that Title 42, and uncertainty around it,
are not the real border solutions we need: An estimated 50,000 migrants
are currently waiting in Mexican shelters for an opportunity to seek
asylum in the U.S., reports Stef W. Kight of Axios
. One DHS
official was critical of the focus on Title 42, noting that migration
levels are high already with Title 42 in place, Kight notes. Internal
government data show that 8,000 people are trying to cross the southern
border daily. A reminder that we've suggested 42 Border Solutions That
Are Not Title 42
.  

**'UNREASONABLE DELAYS'** - Ali Mohammed, a Kurdish refugee,
applied for U.S. citizenship as soon as he was eligible in April 2020.
He's still waiting. On Wednesday, Mohammed and 12 other applicants
sued the federal government, citing "unreasonable delays in the
processing of their applications," The Wall Street Journal
's
Michelle Hackman reports. The delays stem from the National Archives and
Records Administration having fielded only emergency requests for stored
paperwork during COVID, as Hackman reported earlier
.
Since that report, the Archives fully reopened its facilities and is now
responding to all incoming requests, she notes. But Mohammad and the
other plaintiffs have not heard when their citizenship applications will
move forward.  

MILITARY RECRUITMENT- Immigration can be a solution to U.S. military
personnel and recruitment challenges that detract from our national
security, retired Lt. Col. Margaret D. Stock, a member of the Council on
National Security and Immigration , writes in
an op-ed for The Washington Post
.
While thousands of immigrants would qualify, obtaining green cards
required for enlistment is a "herculean task" due to the backlogs, Stock
notes. Broader solutions would help, too: "Our lawmakers could boldly
address the need for reforms across the U.S. immigration system, from
the asylum process to refugee vetting to legalizing agricultural workers
and [D]reamers, to make it easier for immigrants to get green cards."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg

columnist Allison Schrager underscores how educated migrant workers
could help combat labor shortages elsewhere. 

AFGHAN RESETTLEMENT - The State Department has asked to be released
from a court-ordered plan requiring faster visa processing for Afghan
allies, per The Hill
.
The department cites last year's change in power in Afghanistan, as
well as COVID, but some advocates are skeptical. Meanwhile, for WBUR
,
Julie Wittes Schlack gives her personal take as a volunteer welcoming
Afghan refugees and her experience trying to explain America to them.
Among the enigmas are how health care, credit, and higher education in
the U.S. work, just to name a few. "Despite the fact that all three of
these young men are taking English classes and making remarkable
progress, fluency in our language will not help them understand much of
what they need to master," she writes.

On the local front: 

* With support from Ethik Collective, Afghan refugee Hanifa Javadi
opened her own sewing and handicraft business in Salt Lake City, Free
Women, which has "brought in $130,000 and employed close to 30 women
refugees" from 2020 to 2021. (Tasia Jensen, Grow
) 

* Jonathan Bressler, a medical student in Wausau, Wisconsin, and
volunteer for Ethiopian Community Development Council Inc., is helping
Afghan refugee Mohammad and his family "negotiate medical appointments
and deal with health issues" - and learning from them, too. (Keith
Uhlig, Wausau Daily Herald
)  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan  

 

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