Asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexican towns along the border are facing new dangers, including criminal cartels who seek to kidnap them and extort ransoms from their relatives, reports Miriam Jordan for The New York Times. One Honduran father was tortured in front of his three-year-old son until his wife, waiting for her family in New Jersey, paid $2,000. “In the past, migrants from places like Central America, Africa and Asia seeking asylum were allowed to enter the United States while their claims were adjudicated. … That changed earlier this year with the adoption of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, under which most asylum applicants are prevented from entering the United States except for their court hearings.”

In a separate story for Vox, Nicole Narea writes that thousands of asylum seekers waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border are desperately in need of humanitarian aid: “Some migrants are lucky to find housing in shelters, hotels, or rooms for rent, but for more than 5,000 others, only colorful tents and tarps, some held up by only sticks and stones, stand between them and the elements, even as temperatures drop below freezing.”

Welcome to Monday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. We’ll be taking a break after today, returning on Monday, January 6. Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year.

Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].

DACA DEPORTATIONS – As the Supreme Court considers whether to allow the Trump administration to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is asking immigration courts to reopen closed deportation cases against DACA recipients — potentially previewing an effort to deport Dreamers if the court rules in favor of the administration, Bob Ortega reports for CNN. So far, cases have been reopened in Arizona, Nevada and Missouri, and ICE plans to expand that effort nationwide. “I never thought they would reopen my case,” 33-year-old Zoila Pelayo, who arrived in the U.S. at age six, told CNN. “I feel like I’m an American … If they send me back to Mexico, what are my kids going to do without me? What am I going to do without them?”

ICE SURVEILLANCE – A yet-to-be-announced plan pioneered by Stephen Miller will allow ICE to collect data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — the refugee agency caring for migrant children — as part of an effort to collect fingerprints and other information from adults seeking to claim their children, reports Nick Miroff at The Washington Post. ICE could then use that information to deport potential sponsors of children in HHS care if they’re deemed ineligible to take custody. Furthermore, Max Rivlin-Nadler reports for The Intercept, ICE is simultaneously using social media and information shared by for-profit data brokers to track down and arrest immigrants, such as a Southern California man who “checked in” to a Home Depot on Facebook.

CAMP DOCTOR – Stranded as a result of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” Policy, Dr. Dairon Elisondo Rojas, a migrant from Cuba, has become the sole full-time doctor for a tent city of 2,500 migrants in Matamoros, Mexico, write Miriam Jordan and Mitchell Ferman for The New York Times. Dr. Elisondo, who is waiting for an answer on his own asylum case, serves about 50 patients per day, working with a team of American volunteers. He also supports another 1,000 migrants in Matamoros outside his camp, making $30 a day. “This is perfect, perfect,” Elisondo told the Times. “It’s what I know. It’s what I do best.”



REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) says his state will continue to resettle refugees, the Associated Press reports. “Faith leaders across the state reached out requesting the state continue its history of accepting refugees facing dire political or religious circumstances in their home countries,” Gov. Stitt said in a statement. As we reported in Notes last week, evangelical leaders across the South, from Tennessee to South Carolina, have continued to urge their states to accept refugees in response to a Trump executive order requiring states and municipalities to provide their consent. Stef Kight and Rashaan Ayesh at Axios report that no states have yet taken up Trump on his offer to block future refugee resettlement, though Texas “will likely become a battleground as Trump’s executive order divides Gov. Greg Abbott, a conservative, and liberal city mayors.” Jonathan Blitzer has a great analysis in The New Yorker.

STOCKING STUFFER – For those last-minute shoppers among us (guilty as charged), immigration-themed children’s books are a great choice. “Inspired by the political moment and their own experiences, a growing number of authors are writing children's books about immigration.” CNN’s Catherine Shoichet writes, highlighting books by Yuyi Morales, Juana Martinez-Neal, Bao Phi, Fiona McEntee, and Oge Mora.

Thanks for reading,

Ali