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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:
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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