Thursday, July 7
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THE FORUM DAILY

Refugee resettlement data
for June was
published Tuesday evening, with the U.S. resettling 2,457 total
refugees, a 29% increase from the 1,900 resettled in May - marking the
highest resettlement total so far, this fiscal year.  

An improvement's an improvement, but with three months left in that
year, the U.S. is on track to resettle only 20,133 refugees total.
That's a Trump-era number and, as our policy expert Danilo Zak notes
,
nowhere near the Biden administration's maximum of 125,000. UNHCR, the
UN refugee agency, recently estimated

that more than 2 million refugees will be in need of resettlement in
2023. 

Digging into the data, Danilo notes that the number of Ukrainian
refugees resettled in June nearly doubled from May - to 142. In other
words, "we continue to rely on less-permanent parole programs" as the
administration looks to resettle 100,000 Ukrainians. As for Western
Hemisphere refugees, the administration's commitment to resettle
20,000 in 2023 and 2024 will require work: In June we resettled 199. 

On the upside, 1,292 Afghan Special Immigrant Visas were granted in
June, a 91% increase from May and easily the most this fiscal year. As
we approach the anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal, that's
promising. 

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]
. 

DACA HEARING - Kevin McGill of the Associated Press

reports on Wednesday's appeals court hearing on Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The U.S. Justice Department and allies
defended the program amid a challenge by Texas and eight other states.
The government invoked the longstanding principle of prosecutorial
discretion: "DHS has limited resources," Brian Boynton of the Justice
Department argued. "It's unable to remove 11 million people in the
country. It has to decide who it's going to target first." No matter
the appeals court's ruling, the case likely will be appealed to the
Supreme Court, per Suzanne Monyak of Roll Call
.
As a quick reminder, here is a statement ahead of the hearing

and our recent summary of where DACA stands
.
And for a look at what an end to DACA could mean for colleges and
universities, read the new Inside Higher Ed

piece by Miriam Feldblum and Jose Magaña-Salgado of the Presidents'
Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.  

**SPLIT DECISIONS** - Appeals court judges in separate districts have
ruled differently on whether the Biden administration has the authority
to create immigration enforcement priorities
,
reports Elizabeth Trovall of the Houston Chronicle
.
That makes it more likely the Supreme Court will take up the question.
As it stands now, a 5th Circuit ruling means anyone in the country
without authorization can be prioritized for deportation, regardless of
other factors such as criminal record. "They (ICE) can just arrest
anybody like before, for any reason," said Zenobia Lai, immigration
attorney and director at the Houston Immigration Legal Services
Collaborative. Separately, some county officials in South Texas want
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to use state resources to deport migrants, despite
deportation being a core, and exclusive, federal government function,
James Barragán reports for The Texas Tribune
. 

**DETENTION BEDS** - According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) data, the U.S. government pays to guarantee that 30,000
immigration detention beds are available for use in four dozen
facilities across the country. On average, only about half of the beds
this fiscal year have been occupied, reports Amy Taxin of the Associated
Press
.
Specifically, the California-based Adelanto facility can house almost
2,000 immigrants who may be facing deportation, but these days it's
nearly empty due to a federal judge's 2020 pandemic-related ruling.
"It's really concerning [that ICE is] still getting paid for all the
beds every single day. It's empty," said Lizbeth Abeln, deportation
defense director at the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice in
Southern California. 

'LITTLE GIFT' - After 6-year-old Asra Hajizada and her family fled
Afghanistan, she experienced elevated levels of anxiety in her new
kindergarten in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, per Jenny Roberts for The
Morning Call
.
"It was the first time that she was being separated from her family, so
there was a lot of anxiety coming into school, leaving her parents and
just being uncertain of the environment," said Hilari Takacs, Asra's
English teacher. But with help from the school, Asra conquered her fears
and gained confidence. "She would go from that observer role to by the
end of the school year, she was running the [recess] games," Takacs
explained. "... She's just this little gift." 

Today's local stories:  

* In Northeast Ohio, faith organizations and local nonprofit U.S.
Together are sponsoring Afghan and Ukrainian refugees to help cover
expenses including health care, job training, transportation, financial
literacy and rent. (Charita M. Goshay, The Repository
) 

* Nonprofits ARYSE and the Jewish Family and Community Services are
helping Afghan youth and their families resettle in the Pittsburgh area,
supporting them with English language development, mental health
resources and homework help. (Sarah Schneider, WESA
) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. As usual, Storm Lake Times Pilot
editor Art
Cullen doesn't mince words in looking at last week's migrant deaths
in Texas as the latest in a long line of immigration failures. "Our
immigration policies shame our ideals. They always have. We could change
them," he writes. Meanwhile, for Al Jazeera
,
Jeff Abbott explains how the tragedy "highlight[s] a growing desperation

in Guatemala," as families and communities mourn the loss of two local
teens who were in pursuit of a better life. 

 

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