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

It has been a tough week. For immigration advocates, it has been a tough
5, or 10, or 35 years. 

So, taking a cue from our former chief, I'd like to start today by
focusing on joy. At a reception last night celebrating Ali Noorani's
14-year tenure at the Forum, he talked about joy as the reason he loved
this work. 

That resonates. For all the challenging news in immigration, for all of
the polarization and politicking, we at the Forum are lucky - some
would say blessed - to be able to work with, and on behalf of, people
for whom the promise of America is still alive and well. 

We see the joy among America's newest citizens, and among those who
have built lives here with no promise of permanence, even as they
contribute to their communities and their country. We see it, too, among
native-born Americans who have come to know the hope, the dignity, the
faith of their immigrant neighbors. 

Let's take a minute to honor that joy. 

Welcome to Friday'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] .  

**ASYLUM RULE** - Starting Tuesday, U.S. immigration authorities will
interview certain asylum seekers seeking humanitarian protection at two
Texas detention facilities under the Biden administration's new asylum
rule
,
per Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
.
With DHS officials able to process some cases fully and avoid the
backlog of 1.7 million immigration court cases, the program is meant to
"allow the U.S. to more quickly grant asylum to those fleeing
persecution, while expediting the deportation of migrants who don't meet
the legal threshold for U.S. refuge." 

UNDOCUMENTED GRADUATES - Most of this year's 100,000 undocumented
high school graduates will not be eligible for deportation protections
under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), according to a
new report
by Phillip Connor at FWD.us. That's because they arrived after the
DACA cutoff date of June 15, 2007. At the same time, "more than four in
ten (43%) of this year's undocumented graduates live in one of 28
states  where they
are denied full tuition equity, dramatically reducing many students'
ability to pay for higher education," limiting their access to
professional training, work experience, and income to support themselves
and their families. To ensure the future of all graduating classes,
federal and state leaders must work together to pass broad reforms,
Connor writes. 

**DEDICATED DOCKET** - The Biden administration said its "dedicated
docket
"
program would help resolve asylum seekers' cases "more expeditiously
and fairly." Instead, it has created more hurdles for migrants
navigating the system, including more orders for removal, reports Cindy
Carcamo of The Los Angeles Times
.
Per a new report

by the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA Law, an estimated
99% of the 449 cases completed in February resulted in removal orders.
The data show that 72% of those cases were issued to immigrants who
missed their court hearing - and almost half of those in absentia
removal orders are for children (many 6 and younger) in family units,
Carcamo notes. 

**DETERRENCE** - For The New Yorker
,
Rachel Monroe examines the history of both the Migrant Protection
Protocols and Title 42 as tools used to restrict migrants from seeking
asylum in the U.S. "M.P.P. is saying, 'You're staying outside the
country,'" said Theresa Cardinal Brown of the Bipartisan Policy
Center, a former DHS official. "Title 42 doubles down on that by saying,
'We're not even going to pretend to give you a process by which you
might eventually stay in the country. You're just not coming in,
period.'" Deterrence doesn't work when migrants fear for their lives
and their families' safety in their home country, she said, and that
means "[w]e need to rethink whether treating everything as a
law-enforcement matter is the right strategy here."  

'AMERICAN POVERTY' - A group of Democratic senators is urging the
Biden administration to treat Afghan refugees with the same level of
welcome as Ukrainians, reports Abigail Hauslohner of The Washington
Post
.
The push comes as Afghan refugees continue to struggle with finding
permanent affordable housing in the U.S., per Sanya Mansoor of TIME
Magazine .
Government assistance and support from resettlement organizations are
just not enough, experts say. "What happens is that people are admitted
and they're expected to be grateful, to live the American dream," said
Heba Gowayed, an assistant sociology professor at Boston University.
"Admitting people into American poverty is no one's salvation." 

More on Afghan welcome: 

* In Tallahassee, Florida, Pastor Candace McKibben and her family are
sponsoring Afghan refugees Nazir Niazi and his family, helping them
resettle by offering to "share meals, drive them to appointments, and
even take them to explore local hot spots." (Michelle Roberts, WCTV
) 

* For a moving personal take, also from Tallahassee, read Christina
Stanton's essay in the Saturday Evening Post
. 

* Catholic Charities of Boston honored 350 volunteers at 31 sites in the
archdiocese who have welcomed 160 Afghans and helped them resettle.
(Jacqueline Tetrault, Boston Pilot
) 

FAITH RESPONSE - The Department of Homeland Security dropped off 100
migrants seeking political asylum at the Valley Church in Phoenix, where
they were welcomed with open arms, reports Rachel Cole of 12 News
.
"We are a church, we are working with compassion, with mercy, with
love," said Pastor Magdalena Schwartz. "They want to have a better life
and more security because of what's going on in their country." Using
her faith as a guide to respond, she says, "In this situation, what
would Jesus do?" 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan  

 

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