Wednesday, August 17
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THE FORUM DAILY

The Biden administration is developing an Afghan family reunification
portal to help thousands of people still in Afghanistan reunite with
loved ones already in the U.S., reports Sophia Cai of Axios
. 

The portal would be run by the State Department, allowing family members
to upload required documentation in a streamlined process. The
administration is also considering waiving the $535 fee associated with
filing an I-130 form, which permits a U.S. citizen to petition for a
relative to enter the country. 

"AfghanEvac has been advocating for the family reunification portal,"
said Shawn VanDiver, founder of the AfghanEvac Coalition, which
comprises more than 200 organizations. "We haven't met resistance on
it. We really want to see any fees associated with reunification be
waived. It should cost Afghans nothing to have their family
reunified." 

Laya Neelakandan for TODAY

sounds a similar theme, featuring Amina Ahmadi, 27, who has stepped up
to take care of her two younger siblings and nephew, while her parents
remain stuck in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The family was
separated by the Kabul airport bombings on Aug. 26, 2021. 

"I'm no more than a sister for those kids," she said. "I can't be
their mom, I can't be their dad. They need their actual mom and dad
... I request that (my parents) should be helped to get into the U.S.
and take care of their kids because I cannot do much more than that." 

Passing the Afghan Adjustment Act

would offer families some hope, Spojmie Nasiri, a member of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association Afghan Response Task Force,
writes in an op-ed for Pleasanton Weekly

in California: "Indeed, it is one of the fastest ways to help Afghan
parolees reunite with their families." Laura Fontaine, Director of World
Relief Quad Cities, makes a similar argument in The Quad-City Times
.
 

Locally:  

* Women for Afghan Women in
Alexandria, Virginia, has helped more than 400 evacuees file
applications for asylum in the past year and continues its efforts.
(Héctor Alejandro Arzate, DCist
) 

* The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported that 1,727
Afghan evacuees have resettled in the state since last year, thanks to
the federal Afghan Placement and Assistance Program (APA), with more
expected. (Jo Ingles, The Statehouse News Bureau
) 

A DECADE LATER - Monday marked 10 years since the implementation of
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), meant to temporarily
protect undocumented people who were brought to the U.S. as children. A
group of USA Today

network journalists feature DACA recipients from across the country to
better understand how the policy continues to impact their
lives. "It's been very difficult to know that people are politicizing
my existence," said Min Hee Cho, 25, who came to the U.S. from South
Korea at age 4. Added Rita Castañon, 24, who came to the U.S. from
Mexico at age 6, "I don't like the question a lot of people ask me:
'Where do you see yourself in five years?' ... I hate the constant
living in limbo." 

BORDER SECURITY - What defines border security? That's the question
at the heart of the Forum's newly published paper

on how to build a healthier dialogue around securing our border. In the
paper, our policy-expert colleagues have worked to lay out "an
actionable border security framework based on the best and most
appropriate available metrics and data." Come for a look at past and
present attempts to quantify border security, stay for the policy
recommendations. 

'IN THIS MOMENT, I AM FREE

**'** - While the end of the "Remain in Mexico" policy has brought
relief to some asylum seekers, the abrupt termination of the program has
resulted in confusion and lack of coordination among officials, leading
to a slow disenrollment process for those remaining in the program, Kate
Morrissey reports for The San Diego Union-Tribune
.
In San Diego this week, one to three people per day are being removed
from the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, Morrissey notes.
"In this moment, I am free," said a man who just learned of his release
from MPP. "Before, I was not free." 

CARTEL VIOLENCE - According to state officials, at least two dozen
vehicles were hijacked and burned near Baja California, Mexico, on
Friday, reports Salvador Hernandez for The Los Angeles Times
.
While no deaths were reported, it was the third time in a week "that
violence erupted in towns across the border, a grim reminder of the hold
cartels continue to have in the region." As of Tuesday, business and
traffic seemed to return to normal.  

IMMIGRANTS AS ALLIES - In an op-ed for The Dispatch
, Daniel
Darling, director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, looks at the shifting
politics among Hispanics and concludes that conservatives "should see
immigrants not as adversaries, but as allies." Among his takeaways are
that "conservatives, while prioritizing border security, should look for
ways to open up more legal pathways for immigrants to come here
legally," and "should stop sending messages that immigrants are somehow
a threat to our way of life." 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. The links were missing from one of our items yesterday (thanks,
tech gremlins). Here is that item again, links included:  

The hurdles to establishing lives in the U.S. are greater for our Afghan
allies than for Ukrainians, writes retired Lt. Col. Margaret D. Stock in
an op-ed for The Hill
.
Helping more of our Afghan allies reach the U.S., and offering certainty
to those already here, "is a matter of national security," Stock writes.
"[I]n future conflicts, why would anyone risk their lives by serving
alongside our soldiers or providing critical translation services if the
U.S. can't keep our promises to them when we depart? ... What was true
a year ago, as the U.S. withdrew, remains true now: We must not turn our
backs on our Afghan allies." Passing the recently introduced bipartisan
Afghan Adjustment Act could be a solution, Forum Senior Fellow Linda
Chavez writes for The xxxxxx
.
Evangelical leaders and national security experts also support
congressional action, as Jeff Brumley reports in Baptist News Global
.
(And read the Forum statement

here.) 

 

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