California is to set to spend $187 million to maximize census participation next year — while in Texas, the state legislature has declined to spend a single dollar on the effort, Michael Wines and Jose A. Del Real report in The New York Times. Partisan politics is likely a prime factor, they write: Of the 24 states not spending any money on census participation, “Seventeen of those 24 are led by Republican governors and legislatures, including population heavyweights like Texas, Florida and Ohio. But of the 26 states that are spending money, only four are Republican-controlled.”
This is a misguided move: In the 2016 presidential election, Trump won nine of the top 12 states with the largest increases in immigrant populations — and these Trump states would lose federal resources and clout if there’s an undercount. Or, as Daniel A. Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Florida, told The Times: “To send a political statement that you don’t want people to be counted, which might reduce the amount of federal funding your state gets, would seem to be cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
Welcome to the Monday edition of Noorani’s Notes. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].
CLIMATE MIGRANTS – Although there will be 143 million climate change-driven migrants by 2050 according to World Bank estimates, there’s no official classification for climate change refugees, Stephanie Garcia reports for PBS. This is problematic because “climate migrants find themselves in legal limbo and a financial pit. Once resettled, traditional refugees are given government assistance, housing, help with job placements and other temporary services to rebuild their lives. Climate migrants are not granted the same privileges, even though their forced displacement can last for years as communities rebuild.”
TENT COURTS – One manifestation of the Trump administration’s response to an influx of migrants seeking asylum at the southern border is to convert shipping containers into temporary courtrooms, where flat screen monitors connect offsite judges and translators, Michelle Hackman and Alicia A. Caldwell write in The Wall Street Journal. The administration says these temporary courts offer the same procedures and rights, but “immigrant-rights advocates and the union representing immigration judges — who are Justice Department employees — say the unique conditions of the tent courts deny migrants due process by depriving them of meaningful access to lawyers or interaction with judges, making the setup essentially a rubber stamp for deportation.”
RIACE – During the height of Europe’s immigration crisis a few years back, one town in southern Italy became a hub of resettlement and integration. Riace, Italy, then led by Mayor Domenico Lucano, became famous “for welcoming migrants and refugees, with a smile.” This year, PBS NewsHour returned to Riace — now led by an anti-immigrant political party, The League — to find that the “once busy so-called “Global Village” which was the heart of the immigrant area is now more like a ghost town.”
OREGON – Som Subedi, who came to Oregon as a refugee from Bhutan, created the Eat with a Refugee and Immigrant lunch in Portland “because he knows how isolating it can be when rebuilding your life in a new country,” Brittany Falkers reports for KGW8. “Anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment can be hard to escape, Subedi said, but at Saturday’s lunch, alongside his neighbors, he couldn't feel more at home. ‘This kind of festival brings some joy and happiness and also send a strong message to the outer community that Portland is a welcoming place,’ Subedi said.”
AMERICA IN 2020 – The 2020 election will mark “the first time in history that Latinos will be the largest minority ethnic or racial group in the electorate, with 32 million eligible voters,” Alexi McCammond writes for Axios. And when you dig into those numbers, Texas is key: the state “accounts for 25% (2.5 million) of eligible but unregistered young Latino voters.” And Stef W. Kight at Axios writes that first-time voters are set to usher in a wave of demographic transformation: “Millions of Generation Z Americans — those born after 1996 — will be able to vote for the first time next year. Why it matters: The 2020 census, redistricting and elections will begin to reveal population changes that will empower new voices and reshuffle the swing-state map and both parties’ bases.”
Thanks for reading,
Ali
Was this email forwarded to you?
Sign up now to get Noorani's Notes in your inbox.
 |  |  |  |  |