The Trump administration has placed a formal request for more funding from the Pentagon for the construction of around 270 miles of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, reports Courtney Kube for NBC News.
“Although there's no price tag yet, the Pentagon obligated $2.4 billion of counternarcotics funds for 129 miles of wall last year. The Defense Department is beginning an assessment of the RFA [request for funding] now — including examining the legality of the request, the feasibility of construction, the impact on military readiness and the source of the funding.”
Meanwhile, I wrote an op-ed in The xxxxxx about how the President’s asylum restrictions harm our country: “The Trump administration has been clear: Its changes to asylum policy are designed specifically to deter migrants from coming to our country. These policies do not make America safer or stronger. Instead, by forcing asylum seekers to remain in dangerous communities, these policies encourage violence, slow economic growth, and undermine the very idea of America.”
Welcome to this Friday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes — have a wonderful long weekend. If you would like a detailed legislative rundown of the week, subscribe to our Legislative Bulletin.
Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].
NONSTOP CHAOS – The Associated Press provides an in-depth look at the “nonstop chaos” in immigration courts across the country, uncovered as part of its reporting from courts in 11 U.S. cities. “In courts from Boston to San Diego, reporters observed scores of hearings that illustrated how crushing caseloads and shifting policies have landed the courts in unprecedented turmoil…” And in Lumpkin, Georgia, attorney’s offices are hours away from the town, which “has more detainees than residents.” (Last year, I spoke with Lumpkin-area immigration attorney Marty Rosenbluth for an episode of “Only in America.”)
BISHOP’S SON DENIED – The son of an Anglican bishop from El Salvador — who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after escaping gang threats at home — has been denied asylum. Jose Alvarado Guerra, the son of Bishop David Alvarado of the Diocese of El Salvador, is awaiting possible deportation despite “being threatened by a San Salvador gang for refusing to work with them,” The Christian Post’s Michael Gryboski reports. “The Episcopal Church has been actively supporting Guerra. In addition to some bishops writing in support of the detainee, the Rev. Aaron Gerlach of Old Trinity Episcopal Church in Tiffin has been visiting him and offering pastoral support.”
AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE REFUGEES – Climatologist and geophysicist Michael Mann is warning that Australia’s rising temperatures could soon lead to a new generation of climate refugees, as residents are forced to flee a continent that could become “too hot and dry for human habitation,” Swati Pandey reports for Reuters. “Australia is in the midst of one of its worst fire seasons on record, with bushfires burning since September and claiming the lives of 28 people, killing more than a billion animals and razing forests and farmland the size of Bulgaria.”
CAMPUS SUPPORT – As the future of DACA remains in the balance, David Hernandez at the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on how eight local San Diego community colleges are taking part in a new statewide pilot program to provide on-campus immigration services for undocumented students. “The program, which is being rolled out this year, will provide students, faculty and staff at 65 community colleges with legal services, such as confidential consultations on immigration status and outreach events, including workshops on immigration-related topics.”
LITTLE AMERICA – Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani’s new TV series, “Little America,” debuts today — the anthology “traverses the country and the globe, each installment tracking a different immigrant’s journey to or within the United States.” In an interview with Brandon Yu of The New York Times, Nanjiani shares his sense of optimism: “Maybe it’s a little stupid to be thinking like this right now. But I do feel optimistic in this country, and so the show obviously has that perspective in it, too.”
Thanks for reading,
Ali
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