Category: Economics

⚖️ THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-07-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Managing Attorney, NIJC — HEADLINERS: Analysts Agree: Immigrants Are “Political Toast” Regardless of Midterms’ Outcome — Neither Party Sees Legal Immigration, Human Rights, Rule of Law, Racial Justice As “Electoral Winners!” — Garland’s DOJ “On A Roll” In Courts Of Appeal, Snuffing Asylum Claims in 2d (2x), 3rd, 8th, & 9th Circuits!

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Managing Attorney
National Immigrant Justice Center
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

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Weekly Briefing

 

This briefing is designed as a quick-reference aggregation of developments in immigration law, practice, and policy that you can scan for anything you missed over the last week. The contents of the news, links, and events do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Immigrant Justice Center. If you have items that you would like considered for inclusion, please email them to egibson@heartlandalliance.org.

 

CONTENTS (jump to section)

  • NEWS
  • LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES
  • RESOURCES
  • EVENTS

NEWS

 

Analysts Don’t Expect Significant Changes in Immigration Policy After the Midterms

VOA: The three analysts said that no one is willing to form a framework to write immigration legislation because they do not see an electoral advantage. See also Democrats Twist and Turn on Immigration as Republicans Attack in Waves; Canada plans record immigration targets amid labour crunch.

 

Attention Travelers: New Rules Will Require More Caution When Entering USA

Forbes: Evidently, USCBP is eliminating the passport entry stamp to streamline the entry process. So now, foreign nationals will only have access to the Form I-94 website as proof of their lawful immigration status.

 

Abrupt New Border Expulsions Split Venezuelan Families

NYT: The decision to expel Venezuelans under a pandemic-era policy that allows swift expulsions, previously applied mainly to Mexicans and Central Americans, has had the unintended effect of trapping many Venezuelan families on opposite sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. See also Tougher US Asylum Laws Trigger Drop in Venezuelan Migrants Traveling Through Panama; Migrants Encounter ‘Chaos and Confusion’ in New York Immigration Courts; Nearly 500 Venezuelans admitted to U.S., thousands approved via new plan.

Accounts of migrants’ documents being confiscated by border officials prompt federal review

CBS: The department confirmed the review when asked to respond to accounts from migrants who told “60 Minutes” that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials along the U.S.-Mexico border kept their documents, despite agency policy instructing agents to return migrants’ personal property unless they are fraudulent.

 

130+ Civil Rights Groups Call On President Biden To Include Immigrants In Pardon Process

NIJC: More than 130 immigration, criminal justice, and civil rights organizations released a letter today urging the Biden administration to include immigrants in the pardon process.

 

Over 100 Orgs Want Visits For Detained Immigrants Restored

Law360: More than 100 immigrant rights organizations are urging the Biden administration to fully reinstate visitation at immigration detention facilities, saying in a Thursday letter that visitation is crucial for detainees’ mental health and monitoring human rights violations.

 

ACLU condemns Texas Border Patrol agents’ use of pepper balls against protesting migrants

SA Current: The ACLU is condemning the actions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents allegedly caught on video firing pepper balls at a group of Venezuelan migrants protesting along the banks of the Rio Grande River near El Paso.

 

LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES

 

2nd Circ. Won’t Review Honduran Man, Son’s Asylum Request

Law360: The Second Circuit on Wednesday declined to review a decision denying an asylum application from a Honduran man and his son who claim they will be killed by gang members if they return home, finding the Board of Immigration Appeals properly reviewed the immigration judge’s decision.

 

2nd Circ. Won’t Revive Ecuadorian’s Asylum Bid

Law360: The Second Circuit on Tuesday backed the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeal’s decision to apply a persecution motive standard used in asylum requests to an Ecuadorian’s withholding of removal request, saying it was reasonable for the agency to do so.

 

3rd Circ. Nixes Asylum Over Evangelical Christianity Link

Law360: The Third Circuit on Tuesday knocked down a Guatemalan man’s asylum bid after concluding he failed to back up his fears of violence in the Central American nation based on gang recruitment efforts and his rejection of gangs due to his evangelical Christian faith.

 

8th Circ. Denies Family’s Asylum Bid Over Gang Fears

Law360: The Eighth Circuit has upheld a Board of Immigration Appeals ruling that denied a family asylum based on alleged gang threats for lack of evidence that the government of El Salvador could not or would not protect them.

 

9th Circ. Upholds Ruling Denying Bisexual Man Asylum

Law360: A Mexican citizen who said police and criminal gangs would torture him for being bisexual and suffering from mental illness if he is deported a third time

 

9th Circ. Backs Juvenile Immigrant Adjudication Deadline

Law360: The Ninth Circuit on Thursday backed an order requiring U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to adjudicate Special Immigrant Juvenile petitions within 180 days, rejecting the government’s argument that a lower court relied on “stale evidence” and disregarded hardship considerations.

 

States Cry Foul Over Steep Drop In Title 42 Haitian Expulsions

Law360: Republican state attorneys general accused the Biden administration of violating an injunction requiring it to repel migrants from the border under pandemic-era restrictions, saying a sharp drop in Haitian expulsions indicated the administration was selectively lifting the so-called Title 42 border block.

 

DHS Begins Limited Implementation of DACA Final Rule

AILA: On 10/31/22, DHS began limited implementation of the DACA final rule. USCIS will continue to accept and process applications for deferred action, work authorization, and advance parole for current DACA recipients. Due to litigation, USCIS will accept but cannot process initial DACA requests.

 

EOIR 30-Day Notice and Request for Comments on Proposed Revisions to Forms EOIR-42A and EOIR-42B

AILA: EOIR 30-day notice and request for comments on proposed revisions to Form EOIR-42A and Form EOIR-42B. Comments are due 12/5/22. (87 FR 66326, 11/3/22)

 

EOIR 30-Day Notice and Request for Comments on Proposed Revisions to Form EOIR-31A

AILA: EOIR 30-day notice-and-comment period for proposed revisions to Form EOIR-31A, which allows an organization to seek accreditation or renewal of accreditation of a non-attorney representative to appear before EOIR and/or DHS. Comments are due by 12/5/22.

 

CIS Ombudsman Introduces Revised Form for Requesting Case Assistance

AILA: The CIS Ombudsman’s Office updated the DHS Form 7001, Request for Case Assistance, used for requesting case assistance.

 

RESOURCES

 

EVENTS

 

 

To sign up for additional NIJC newsletters, visit:  https://immigrantjustice.org/subscribe.

 

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Elizabeth Gibson (Pronouns: she/her/ella)

Managing Attorney for Capacity Building and Mentorship

National Immigrant Justice Center

A HEARTLAND ALLIANCE Program

224 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604
T: (312) 660-1688| F: (312) 660-1688| E: egibson@heartlandalliance.org

www.immigrantjustice.org | Facebook | Twitter

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Supposedly, the main political issues right now are the economy and inflation. But, the economy and inflation are largely determined by the Fed, markets, global conditions, weather, and a certain amount of pure luck — all things beyond the direct control of the political branches of the USG.  

As mentioned by Chuck Todd on last Sunday’s NBC “Meet the Press,” many experts say that the most effective tool that the Administration and Congress have to improve the economy without triggering a recession is to increase legal immigration — sooner rather than later. But, neither party is interested. The GOP sees an anti-immigrant stance as a key to political success. And, the Dems are “actively disinterested” in the issue. So, the opportunity passes.

But, the reality is that, in the long run, no amount of shipping containers, walls, prisons, family separations, deportations, exclusions to death or despair, hate rhetoric, or restrictive legal roadblocks will halt the future flow of human migration, and not incidentally, the internal relocation in America as certain areas become “unlivable.” 

According to a government report published in today’s Washington Post:

 The U.S. can expect more forced migration and displacement

Already, the authors of Monday’s report said, major storms such as Hurricane Maria, as well as extended droughts that strained lives and livelihoods, have led people to leave their homes in search of more-stable places.

In the hotter world that lies ahead, they write, additional climate impacts — along with other factors such as the housing market, job trends and pandemics — are expected to increasingly influence migration patterns.

“More severe wildfires in California, sea level rise in Florida, and more frequent flooding in Texas are expected to displace millions of people, while climate-driven economic changes abroad continue to increase the rate of emigration to the United States,” the report finds.

Such shifts are inherently complicated and fraught.

Several Indigenous tribes in coastal regions, facing fast-rising seas, have already sought government help to relocate, but have struggled to do so without significant hurdles.

“Forced migrations and displacements disrupt social networks, decrease housing security, and exacerbate grief, anxiety and mental health outcomes,” the authors write.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/11/07/cop27-climate-change-report-us/

Neither political party appears serious about addressing these migration realities — already underway. The ideas that we can wall ourselves off, invest in “sending countries,” detain, and deport our way out of migration are not  “solutions.”  

Failure to act boldly and expansively on legal immigration will create a huge class of exploitable, disenfranchised, extralegal residents and plenty of work for border agents, internal police, righty judges, and jailers. It will also be a huge boon to smugglers and cartels who basically will “own” the American migration franchise. But, in the long run, building a large “underground humanity” won’t be enough to offset the “downside” of lacking a robust, realistic, orderly, legal immigration process.

Eventually, those nation-states that figure out how to harness, welcome, and distribute the power of human migration will rule the future. Right now, America’s leaders, of both parties, seem wedded to a “sure to fail” approach of either opposing or ignoring the realities and unlimited potential of human migration. Too bad — for all of us!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-08-22

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT— 01-02-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Garland’s Aimless Docket Reshuffling (“ADR”) Squeezes Refugees On Both Ends Of His Ludicrous Backlog, As Those Patiently Waiting Given Court Dates Nearly A Decade In The Future, While Recent Arrivals Mindlessly Rocketed To The “Front Of The Line” Struggle To Find Lawyers & Prepare Cases — Plus Other New Year News From The Dystopian World Of U.S. Immigration!
  2. 🤯👎🏽MORE CIRCUIT REJECTS FOR GARLAND & PRELOGAR — 1st & 3rd Cirs “Just Say No” To DOJ’s Ill-Advised Positions On “Theft Offense” & Derivative Citizenship!  — It’s Part Of A Larger Leadership Failure @ Garland’s Broken DOJ!
  3. ICRC: “Migration is not going to stop. If you try to prevent it or strictly regulate it, people start to pile up at the borders, which is happening in Mexico and other countries.”
  4. ⚖️ THE GIBSON REPORT — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, Managing Attorney, NIJC: Stephen Miller Was Even More Of A Disreputable Scofflaw! — 9th Halts BIA’s “Rote Formula” For Improperly Denying CAT W/O Meaningful Analysis — EOIR In Louisiana Continues To Be “Death Valley” ☠️⚰️  For Asylum Seekers:  “‘I feel that the big problem we face today is that there is a real dehumanization of the entire process,’ said Mich Gonzalez, Associate Director of Advocacy at the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

😰 EOIR EARNS “F” FROM DOJ I.G. FOR MISMANAGEMENT OF MULTIMILLION $$ TECHNOLOGY CONTRACT!

 

https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-

We found that JMD’s and EOIR’s contracting files did not demonstrate that the acquisition planning team applied well-established techniques to facilitate monitoring and overseeing the contractors’ performance in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), DOJ and EOIR policies, or the award terms and conditions.

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In simple terms, with well over a million lives at stake and with tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money on the line, EOIR screwed up! Royally!👑 This report focuses on the period 2017-22, that included the Trump Administration. During that time, the Trump-Era “EOIR Clown Show” 🤡 was busy on such frivolous things as:

  • Developing a list of lies, distortions, and misrepresentations about asylum seekers and their attorneys and putting it out as a bogus (now eradicated without a trace) “fact sheet;”
  • Implementing since-abandoned “production quotas” and wasting money on so-called “IJ Dashboards” to micromanage production;
  • Creating an “Office of Policy” in an agency where such “policy” is largely the responsibility of what is supposed to be a body of independent quasi-judicial adjudicators, the BIA, and which office largely duplicated functions that were being satisfactorily performed by the EOIR Office of General Counsel;
  • Mismanaging the COVID response in the Immigration Courts; 
  • Building record backlogs.

While Garland did eventually push out the Director, Deputy Director, and Chief Immigration Judge, the later position remains vacant and there is no hard evidence that the replacements for Director and Deputy Director are any more qualified than their inept predecessors to lead “America’s worst courts” back to some level of competence and functionality.

And, as has become the “norm” under Garland, there is no firm indication of any accountability or meaningful institutional improvements to insure due process and appropriate expenditure of public funds. 

And, it’s not like things were better before 2017. As the report noted, between 2001 and 2016, EOIR “blew through” $80 million on its so-called “eWorld Adjudication System (eWorld),” without producing a functional product that could be used nationwide! Hence the need to throw even more money at the problem from 2017-22!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-02-22

Related posts:

  1. 🤮🆘CHAOS IN COURT!  — Unqualified, Controversial Barr Immigration Judge Quits In SF, Leveling Charges Of Systemic Incompetency @ EOIR HQ — “[I]t is hard to understand how any court system can function like this!” — Actually, It Can’t & Hasn’t Functioned As Anything But A Sick Joke For Years! 🤡🦹🏿‍♂️⚰️ — Garland Slow On The Uptake, As Outrage, Anger At His Inept Stewardship, Lack Of Due Process Leadership, Indifference To Institutionalized Racism Grows In Legal Community! — Tal Kopan Reports @ SF Chron
  2. ⚖️🗽🧑🏽‍⚖️CAMILLE J.  MACKLER @ JUST SECURITY “GETS IT!” — How Come Judge Garland & The Biden Administration Don’t? — “If we want to re-build a better, stronger immigration system, we need to start with immigration courts.” — Get Involved! Get Angry! Say No To Institutionalized Racism, Misogyny, & Dehumanization (“Dred Scottification”) @ EOIR! Force Judge Garland To Pay Attention! Demand Change, Now!
  3. 🏴‍☠️THE PROBLEM @ THE BORDER ISN’T THAT BIDEN HAS  SOFTENED TRUMP’S RACIST, WHITE NATIONALIST, SCOFFLAW RHETORIC! — IT’S THAT BIDEN, GARLAND, & MAYORKAS HAVE FAILED TO RESTORE A ROBUST ASYLUM SYSTEM AT LEGAL PORTS OF ENTRY, STAFFED WITH EXPERT ASYLUM OFFICERS & QUALIFIED IMMIGRATION JUDGES WHO WILL GRANT ASYLUM TO THOSE QUALIFIED, END IDIOTIC TRUMP-ERA MISINTERPRETATIONS & MIS-APPLICATIONS OF ASYLUM LAW, AND ARE DEDICATED TO DUE PROCESS FOR ALL! — Administration’s  Misguided “Trump Lite” Approach Continues To Create Human Misery,☠️⚰️ Trash The Law, 🤮 Without Addressing The Real Problems Generated By Years Of “Malicious Incompetence” 🤡🆘 In U.S. Asylum & Refugee Policies!  — Jack Herrera Reports From The Border For Politico!
  4. 🏴‍☠️👎🏽🤮PARODY OF JUSTICE @ “JUSTICE” — EOIR’s ETHICAL WASTELAND EXPOSED BY FOIA: The Only “Surprise” Here Is Garland’s Failure To “Clean House” @ EOIR, Remove Unethical Lawyers @ DOJ, & Demand Accountability For Ethically Challenged DHS Attorneys!🦨

🤯AMERICA NEEDS IMMIGRANT WORKERS: THE GOP LIES, DENIES, DEHUMANIZES, EXPLOITS — DEMS ARBITRARILY DEPORT POTENTIAL LEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHILE LEAVING OTHERS IN LIMBO WITH BUMBLING BUREAUCRACY & BROKEN COURTS  — “Can’t Anyone Here Play This Game?”

Casey Stengel
“Can’t anyone here play this game?” The GOP lacks honesty and decency. The Dems lack vision and guts. The public is misinformed about the realities of immigration. Migrants and their supporters are caught in the crossfire of political failure! 
PHOTO: Rudi Reit
Creative Commons

Lack of immigration reform hurts businesses and farmers, puts nation’s food supply at risk

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2022/10/30/immigration-reform-southern-border-farmers-congress-dreamers-midterms/8189018001/

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Note the comments from immigration lawyer George Pappas in North Carolina.

The hostility is reflected in the immigration courts in Atlanta and in Charlotte, where the highest denial rates for asylum prevail,” he told USA TODAY. “They will not be talking about outsourcing workers or about education. The right wing base of the Republican party has used immigration as a political wedge issue to deflect attention and to deflect media, airwaves, and media space from real issues.

While undoubtedly the Immigration Courts in Atlanta and Charlotte do reflect the type of biased, anti-immigrant approach pushed by GOP politicos, today they are run by Dem AG Merrick Garland. He has failed to make needed reforms and changes at the top, starting with inept leadership from EOIR Headquarters and a precedent setting appellate board (BIA) that does not reflect the best-qualified expert judicial talent available who would implement due process, fundamental fairness, consistency, and best judicial practices nationwide.   

Ironically, these values WERE once part of the “EOIR Vision,” abandoned and trashed by Administrations of both parties over the past two decades. For Dems who believe in the power of immigrants and immigrants’ tights, it’s now basically “Pogoland:” “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

A number of the public comments in the articles also show gross misconceptions about the nature of migration, the goals of the GOP, the reasons why migrants can’t apply for asylum in a safe, orderly manner at ports of entry, the immense benefits to both the workforce and society brought by family-based immigrants and those seeking to enter as refugees and asylees, and the relationship between an improved economy and a sensible, robust, realistic approach to immigration (eschewed by the GOP; bobbled by the Dems).

Both parties have squandered opportunities to acknowledge truth, make the current system work better, and create order at the border. Neither has a serious plan for reform on its agenda. 

Unlike the Trump “shut the border/build the wall” racist fiasco, Biden’s initial US Citizenship Act of 2021 had some good ideas. But, after quickly “throwing it out there,” apparently as a sop to those who helped elect them, the Administration shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it. Instead, they pursued a mishmash of “built to fail gimmicks,” bureaucratic bungling, broken courts, poor legal positions, lack of vision, inept PR, and weak leadership.

The failure of the world’s leading “nation of immigrants” to discard and disavow the racist nonsense on immigration and come together on realistic, forward looking, generous, welcoming immigration policies makes our nation look bad and robs us of opportunities to improve the economy and build for the future.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-31-22

Related posts:

  1. 🆘🤮IS 11TH CIR. GROWING WEARY OF GARLAND’S SCOFFLAW BIA? —Two Trips To The Circuit, & The BIA Still Violates Own Regulations, Ignores Precedent, Spouts Gibberish While OIL’s Defense Of This Nonsense & Malfeasance By EOIR Raises Serious Ethical Questions! — THAMOTAR v. U.S. ATT’Y GEN. — Garland’s Dysfunctional & Systematically Unjust Courts Undermine OUR Democracy☠️ — Demand An IMMEDIATE End To The Scofflaw Nonsense🤡 🧹 At OUR Justice Department! 🏴‍☠️
  2. WOW, HERE’S A SURPRISE: MANY KIDS FLEEING VIOLENCE IN THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BIDEN BORDER POLICIES — They Are Just Trying To Save Their Lives!
  3. 🤯👎🏽MORE CIRCUIT REJECTS FOR GARLAND & PRELOGAR — 1st & 3rd Cirs “Just Say No” To DOJ’s Ill-Advised Positions On “Theft Offense” & Derivative Citizenship!  — It’s Part Of A Larger Leadership Failure @ Garland’s Broken DOJ!
  4. 👍🏼⚖️🗽MAJORITY OF ASYLUM SEEKERS WIN THEIR CASES, EVEN IN A BROKEN & BIASED  SYSTEM INTENTIONALLY STACKED AGAINST THEM — But, Only, If They Can Get To A “Merits Adjudication!” — Nativist Lies, Myths, Driving USG Policies Exposed! — Why USCIS & EOIR Self-Created Backlogs Primarily Shaft Those Deserving Legal Protection Of Some Type!

🤯BILL FRELICK @ THE HILL BLASTS BIDEN’S SCOFFLAW, ELITIST MISTREATMENT OF VENEZUELAN REFUGEES! — Welcome A Few Of The Well-To-Do, Give Others In Need The Screw! 🔩☠️ — Whatever Happened To The Refugee Act of 1980 & The Rule Of Law?

Statue of Liberty
Too many Biden Administration Immigration officials appear to share Stephen Miller’s “upside down” view of the Statue of Liberty, in whole or in part! Why can’t they just follow the Refugee Act of 1980 and establish the robust, timely, generous legal approach to refugees and asylum seekers that best serves America?
Bill Frelick
Bill Frelick
Director
Refugee and Migrant Rights Division
Human Rights Watch

https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/3704714-bidens-new-plan-no-help-for-desperate-venezuelan-refugees/

Refugees are people who flee for their lives. Escape from danger and abuse is usually chaotic, sudden, desperate. The Biden administration’s rollout of its new policy for Venezuelan refugees seems oblivious to this refugee reality and risks doing more harm than good.

. . . .

Announcing the program on Oct. 12, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said Venezuelans who enter irregularly “will be returned to Mexico.”

He didn’t mention — and appeared to disregard — U.S. law, which recognizes that anyone who arrives in the United States has the right to seek asylum “whether or not at a designated port of arrival” and “irrespective of such alien’s status.”

The impact of this announcement, “effective immediately,” was the summary return to Mexico without examination of their asylum claims of any Venezuelans entering the United States without authorization. Mexico has given no assurances that it will examine their refugee claims or provide asylum to those who fear return to Venezuela. In fact, the 4,050 Venezuelans expelled to Mexico since the implementation of the policy have been given visas valid for only one week and instructed to leave the country.

. . . .

With the Biden administration’s plan in effect, we might as well apply a blowtorch to Emma Lazarus’s welcoming poem at the foot of the Statue of Liberty and chisel in a new message: “Give me your well-rested, your well-to-do, your properly ticketed jet-setters yearning to breathe free.”

Bill Frelick is the refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch. Follow him on Twitter @BillFrelick.

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Read Bill’s complete op-ed act the link. Bill is one of many “practical experts” who would do a much better job than current Administration politicos in establishing and running a refugee and asylum program that would comply with the law,  due process, human dignity, and America’s best interests. Why is Biden following the lead of his “clueless (and spineless) crew?”

The Refugee Act of 1980 was enacted and amended to deal with these situations! Robust, realistic refugee programs outside the U.S. should encourage many refugees to apply, be screened abroad, and admitted legally. 

Other refugees arriving at our border can be promptly screened for credible fear. Those who fail that test can be summarily removed in accordance with existing law. 

Those who pass that test should have access to counsel and receive timely, expert adjudications, with full appeal rights, under the generous “well founded fear” (1 in 10 chance) international standard established by the Refugee Act. See, e.g., INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca (Supremes); Matter of Mogharrabi (BIA).

It’s not “rocket science!” With dynamic, experienced refugee experts running the system and “practical scholars” with expertise in refugee processing and human rights laws serving as USCIS Asylum Officers and EOIR judges at the trial and appellate levels the legal system should be flexible enough to deal with all refugee situations in an orderly manner.

Many, probably a majority, of today’s asylum seekers should be granted asylum and admitted to the U.S. in full legal status, authorized to work, and on their way to green cards and eventual citizenship. Like those admitted from abroad, they could also be made eligible for certain resettlement assistance to facilitate integration into American communities who undoubtedly will benefit from their presence.

The more robust, realistic, and timely our overseas refugee programs become, the fewer refugees who will be forced to apply for asylum at our borders. Also, real, bold, dynamic humanitarian leadership, including accepting our fair share of refugees and asylees, could persuade other countries signatory to the Geneva Refugee Convention to do likewise.

No insurmountable backlogs; no bewildered individuals wandering around the U.S. in limbo waiting for hearings that will never happen; few “no shows;” no long-term detention; no botched, biased “any reason to deny” decisions from unqualified officers and judges leading to years of litigation cluttering our legal system, no diverting Border Patrol resources from real law enforcement, no refugees huddled under bridges or sitting on street corners in Mexico!

It’s not “pie in the sky!” It’s the way our legal system could and should work with competent leadership and the very best available adjudicators and judges! It would support the proper, important role of refugees as an essential component of LEGAL IMMIGRATION, not an “exception” or “loophole” as racists and nativists like to falsely argue.

Instead of demonstrating the competence and integrity to use existing law to deal with refugee and asylum situations, the Biden Administration resorts to ad hoc political gimmicks. Essentially, the “RA80” has been repealed “administratively.” Effectively, we’re back to the “ad hoc” arbitrary approaches we used prior to ‘80 (which I worked on during the Ford Administration, and where I recollect I first heard of Bill Frelick). 

I doubt that the late Senator Ted Kennedy, former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, and the rest of the group who helped shepherd the Refugee Act of 1980 through Congress would have thought that using Border Patrol Agents as Asylum Officers or packing the Immigration Courts and the BIA with judges prone to deny almost every asylum claim, regardless of facts or proper legal standards, was the “key to success!”

Congress specifically intended to eliminate the use of parole to deal with refugees except in extremely unusual circumstances, not present here. Biden’s latest ill-advised gimmick violates that premise. It’s totally inexcusable, as the refugee flow from Venezuela is neither new nor unpredictable. I was granting Venezuelan asylum cases before I retired in June 2016. Even then, there were legions of documentation, much of it generated by the USG, condemning the repressive regime in Venezuela and documenting the persecution of those who resisted!

A better AG would say “No” to these improper evasions of existing law. But, we have Merrick “What Me Worry” Garland! His botching of the Immigration Courts has been combined with a gross failure to stand up for equal justice for migrants (particularly those of color) across the board! America and refugees deserve better from our chief lawyer.

The Refugee Act of 1980 actually provides all the tools and flexibility the Biden Administration needs to establish order on the border and properly and fairly process refugees and asylees. Why won’t they use them?

Alfred E. Neumann
AG Merrick Garland has “looked the other way” while the Biden Administration flaunts applicable protection laws in and outside the U.S. He also runs a dysfunctional “court system” where anti-asylum bias, worst practices, poorly qualified decision makers, and grotesque inconsistencies undermine the legal rights of asylum seekers and other refugees. Doesn’t America deserve more competence from its top lawyer?
PHOTO: Wikipedia Commons

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-28-22

Related posts:

  1. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 
  2. GROSS NATIONAL DISGRACE: “A Fucking Disaster That Is Designed to Fail”: How Trump Wrecked America’s Immigration Courts — Fernanda Echavarri Reports For Mother Jones On How Our Failed Justice System Daily Abuses The Most Vulnerable While Feckless Legislators &   Smugly Complicit Article III Judges Look On & Ignore The Human Carnage They Are Enabling — “ Two days after US immigration officials sent her to Tijuana, she was raped.”
  3. EOIR TARGETS UNACCOMPANIED KIDS FOR DEPORATION RAILROAD!
  4. ⚖️🗽🧑🏽‍⚖️COURTS OF APPEALS CONTINUE TO THROW ROTTEN TOMATOES 🍅 @ BIA’S ANTI-ASYLUM BIAS — Basic Analytical, Legal Errors Continue From Weaponized, Non-Expert “Star Chamber” ☠️ Posing As ”Tribunal!” — Judge Garland Must Fix This Inexcusable, Unnecessary, Systemic Failure Now! — Justice For Persons Of Color & Migrants Can’t “Wait For Godot!”

😎🌮🍱🍝🍜 ANOTHER “FOOD DRIVEN” IMMIGRANT SUCCESS STORY!

La Cocina, a San Francisco-based nonprofit group, is helping low-income women and immigrants start their own food businesses. The 130 chef-owners receive support, including access to an industrial kitchen, to craft a recipe for a better life.

Oct. 20, 2022

Jay Gray reports for NBC Nightly News in this video:

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/san-francisco-nonprofit-helping-chefs-in-need-to-build-their-own-businesses-151187013820

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I loved the shot of 1950’s-style “boring American food!” As a “child of the 50’s,” so true! Also, reaffirms the “food-based approach” to promoting social justice!

Heck, I remember from my days at the BIA that the best way to get folks to show up for a meeting or event and be in a good mood to participate was to “put out the food.” I used to bring bagels to BIA en banc conferences. It often helped “lighten the mood,” even if it didn’t garner me enough votes to win very many of my “en banc legal battles!”

Some things that stand out:

  • Teamwork, skill, and cooperation;
  • The power of immigrant women;
  • Diversity and variety improving American food;
  • Investment in “human capital;”
  • Self-sufficiency;
  • Jobs and education for others;
  • Teaching and training for success.

I think there are “messages” here about the benefits of immigrants and how many of those arriving at our borders could be successfully integrated into, energize, and expand opportunities in communities in need throughout America.

For example, almost everyone agrees that there is a shortage of affordable, livable, attractive housing that is adversely affecting communities around the U.S. Why not invest in the hard work, creativity, skills, and initiative of arriving migrants to help address these problems and make life better for everyone? Expand the economy, expand the tax base, raise wages, solve problems, revitalize “hurting” communities! Decent jobs with a future and homes in the community might also help address the opioid and other substance abuse problems in many areas.

Rather than squandering money and resources on “sure to ultimately fail” “deterrence” strategies and counterproductive restrictions, detentions, and deportations, why not think about ways to 1) recognize the realities of human migration; and 2) harness and direct the undeniable power of that migration for everyone’s benefit?

Leaders of both parties seem “willfully blind” to the realities and benefits of migration in the 21st century. Could public-private partnerships be part of the answer? There must be some more “humane pragmatists” out here who are interested in actually solving problems, building on diversity, and doing things for the common good.

One promising initiative, brought to my attention by my long-time friend and former colleague Lori Scialabba, Specialist Executive at Deloitte Consulting, LLP, is Deloitte US’s recently announced “$1.5 Billion Social Impact Investment to Foster a More Equitable Society.” Read about it here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deloitte-us-announces-1-5-billion-social-impact-investment-to-foster-a-more-equitable-society-301633710.html.

Lori L. Scialabba
Lori L. Scialabba
Specialist Executive
Deloitte Consulting LLP
PHOTO: Deloitte

(Historical Footnote: I helped recruit Lori for the Honors Program when I was the Deputy General Counsel of the “Legacy INS.” Later, we were both BIA Members. Lori was one of my Vice Chairs — along with Mary Maguire Dunne — and eventually succeeded me as Chair before going on to a distinguished career as a Senior Executive at USCIS and then Deloitte.)

And, of course, we can and should build upon the extraordinary success of “our own” DMV immigrant entrepreneur Tea Ivanovic and her team over at Immigrant Food. Tea exemplifies the “power of food” and its fundamental connection to immigration, diversity, economic vitality, and social justice! I highlighted Tea’s success in a recent “Courtside” profile: https://immigrationcourtside.com/2022/09/10/🇺🇸🗽👍🏼-immigrant-nation-teas-truth-wisdom-americans-views-on-immigrants-and-immigration-are-overwhelmingly-positive/.

Tea Ivanovic
Tea Ivanovic
Director of Communications & Outreach
Immigrant Food
PHOTO: Immigrant Food

Congrats to the folks at La Cocina and to NBC News for featuring this great, thought-provoking, story!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-21-22

Related posts:

  1. “Warren Buffett on Immigration Reform: Buffett feels that immigrants (including undocumented ones) have been and continue to be a key part of our prosperity — not a part of the problem.“
  2. LA TIMES: MAJORITY OF CALIFORNIANS VALUE MIGRANTS (REGARDLESS OF STATUS) — OPPOSE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S “GONZO” IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT!
  3. NOLAN’S LATEST IN THE HILL: “Undocumented immigrants shouldn’t replace legal ones”
  4. JIM CROW WINS, AMERICA LOSES, AGAIN — WHITE NATIONALIST CLOWN-IN-CHIEF 🤡 HALTS IMMIGRATION TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM MASSIVE FAILURE OF GOVERNANCE, AS FECKLESS DEMS PROTEST! — Announced By Tweet At Time When Borders Closed Anyway — A “pathetic attempt to shift blame from his Visible Incompetence to an Invisible Enemy,” Says Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) 😰👎🏻

🤯 POLITICS: WITH THE ECONOMY THE #1 ISSUE, WHY WOULD VOTERS TRUST AN EXTREME RIGHT GOP PLEDGED TO DESTROY IT, INCREASE INFLATION, & PROVOKE A WORLDWIDE ECONOMIC CRISIS? — Tax Cuts, Slashing The Safety Net For The Most Vulnerable, Increasing Income Equality, & “Playing Chicken” With The Debt Ceiling Are A Recipe For Disaster! — C. Rampell @ WashPost

Catherine Rampell
Catherine Rampell
Opinion Columnist
Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/18/gop-debt-ceiling-plan-financial-crisis-recession/

. . . .

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and other Republicans have recently backed proposals to make the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, as well as to extend or expand several other corporate tax breaks.

Never mind that Americans think corporations already pay too little in taxes, according to many polls. Cutting taxes further is also likely to make inflation worse, for the same reason that Republicans argue that increased government spending can also make inflation worse: Giving people more cash to spend when there’s limited stuff to buy drives prices up.

The scariest part of the recently disclosed GOP economic agenda, however, has largely gone under the radar. It’s the plan to hold the debt ceiling hostage next year, which could easily precipitate a global financial catastrophe.

Republicans have withheld their support from raising the debt limit before, usually framing their hostage-taking as a commitment to fiscal restraint. But the debt ceiling has nothing to do with new spending; rather, it’s a somewhat arbitrary statutory cap on how much the government can borrow to pay off bills that it has already incurred, through tax and spending decisions that Congress has already made. Refusing to raise the debt limit is like going to a restaurant, ordering the lobster and a $500 bottle of wine, and then declaring yourself financially responsible because you skipped out on the check.

Actually, it’s worse than that.

. . . .

Forcing a debt limit crisis, as the world teeters on the verge of recession, is the opposite of what you would pursue if you cared about strengthening the economy. But no matter: Just look at the context-free polls! Surely, under GOP stewardship, the economy will be in good hands.

*******************

Read Catherine’s complete op-ed at the link.

Democrats try hard, if imperfectly, to solve problems for the general good. The GOP, not so much! Their focus is on lining the pockets of their “fat cat” funders, replacing “good government” with chaos,  and “beggar thy neighbor” policies. 

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-19-22

Related posts:

  1. CATHERINE @ WASHPOST “GETS IT!” — Why Are The Biden Administration & Some Dem Pols “Running Scared” From What Should Be A Big Win? — Many Of The Legal,Workers We Need Are Patiently Waiting @ The Border For Processing & Legal Admission — Dems Need To Stop “Shaking In Their Boots” & Start “Shaking Their Tails” To “Pre-Process” Refugees For An Orderly Restoration Of The Rule Of Law On May 23!
  2. 🇺🇸🗽👍🏼😎MAKING AMERICA BETTER, FINALLY: “Mr. Biden has laid out an immigration program that would genuinely put America first.” (WashPost) — No Wonder GOP Anti-American White Nationalists Like Tom Cotton Are Apoplectic & Spouting Their Racist, White Elitist Nonsense!
  3. @WASHPOST: CATHERINE RAMPELL SAYS IT WELL! — “Contrary to Trumpers’ claims, keeping our word to Afghan allies in trouble is wholly consistent with a philosophy that puts ‘America First.’ Indeed, it’s central to the entire operation.”  — Getting Beyond Bogus Racist Nativism To A Robust, Honest, Expanded Legal Immigration System That Treats Refugees & Asylees Fairly, Humanely, & Generously — As Assets, Not “Threats” — Is Putting America First!
  4. WASHPOST: Catherine Rampell Takes The Measure Of Stephen Miller’s Neo-Nazi View Of American Immigration History – Exposing A Lifelong Hater’s Knowingly False, Misleading & Existentially Dangerous Narrative!

🇺🇸 MIGRANTS, W/ OR W/O DOCS, ARE AGAIN BAILING OUT FLA, DESPITE DeSANTIS’S RACIST STUNTS — Don’t Expect Reality To Change The White Nationalist False Narrative!

https://apple.news/AFdtHuzYiQS-N1caP0gT6UA

Ciara Nugent
Ciara Nugent
Staff Writer
Time
PHOTO: Time.com

From Time Maggie:

Migrants Are Leading Clean-up Efforts in Florida, Despite DeSantis’ Crusade Against Them

Migrant workers are flooding-in to help Florida rebuild after Hurricane Ian, even as Governor Ron DeSantis wages a crusade against them.

CIARA NUGENT

Three days after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on Sept. 28 as a Category 4 storm, Johnny Aburto arrived in Port Charlotte, a mostly white community of 64,000, popular with retirees, on the state’s southwestern coast. The town suffered extensive damage during the storm: roofs blown off, homes flooded, power lines downed. There is a lot of work to be done.

Aburto, 42, is here to do it. Originally from Nicaragua, he is part of a large, informal, overwhelmingly immigrant workforce that travels the U.S. cleaning up after increasingly frequent climate-related disasters. Once a hurricane hits, these crews are bussed in by contractors desperate for workers, or they drive to the area themselves and wait in Walmart or Home Depot parking lots to be picked up for a day’s work. Aburto, a skilled laborer, was in New Orleans after Katrina in 2005, Baton Rouge after Louisiana’s floods in 2016, Panama City Beach after Michael in 2018, and Lake Charles after Laura in 2020. “These kinds of events really affect people,” he says. “We do our bit to help them.”

In Port Charlotte, Aburto is now busy covering roofs with tarpaulins—a crucial first step to keep homes safe from future rain, so that power can be restored and residents can come back. He’s also cleaning out soaked debris from interiors. When that kind of work is done, he says, many of his colleagues will stay on to make more permanent repairs.

. . . .

*****************

Read the complete article at the link.

Sadly, America has a long disreputable history of denying the humanity and rights of those whose labor and skills built our nation and made it great. African Americans,  Chinese-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Filipino-Americans, Haitian-Americans, and many others have all felt the sting of racism, demonizing myths, dehumanization, exploitation, and grotesque ingratitude. 

I happen to be reading UVA Professor Amanda Frost’s outstanding book on “citizenship stripping.” I was struck by this quote about the exploitation of Mexican workers during the “Bracero Program” which was followed by “Operation Wetback” — the Eisenhower Administration’s totally illegal mass removal of Mexicans, including lawful immigrants and U.S. citizens!

“As one grower put it, “We used to own our slaves. Now we just rent them.” 51”

— You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers by Amanda Frost

https://a.co/0BsTPuZ

Amanda Frost
Amanda Frost
Professor UVA Law
Author, “You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers “
PHOTO: UVA Law

It would be nice to think this time will be different — that we have advanced as a nation. But, I wouldn’t bank on it!

Floridians have a golden opportunity to replace DeSantis with a real Governor, Charlie Crist, who would serve all people, use government resources prudently, and govern in the public interest. Polls, however, say that such a “Florida epiphany” is unlikely. But, it’s still possible.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-08-22

Related posts:

  1. 👹🎃HALLOWEEN HORROR 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻REICHSREPORT: GRUPPENFUHRER MILLER REVEALS “REICHSPLAN” FOR EXTERMINATION OF IMMIGRATION, ASYLUM, REFUGE BY EXECUTIVE DECREE!  — “The Final Solution??”  — Parents, Protect Your Kids, Families, & Your Country From This Grotesque Un-American Monster!
  2. POLITICS: DANIEL DENVIR @ LITERARY HUB: The Case Against Immigration Centrism – Liberals Inevitably Get Co-Opted Into “Nativism Lite” & The Result Is Donald Trump & His Overtly White Nationalist GOP!
  3. 😰👹👺🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮“DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN” — Nicole Narea @ Vox With A Glimpse Of Trump’s Second Term: American Apocalypse — Dark, Ugly, Hateful, Violent, Dishonest, Exclusionary, Stupid, Racist, Diminished, Yet Very White & Privileged — Are People Of Color & Their Allies Really Going To Stand By & Watch While Their Past & Our Future As A Strong, Creative, Tolerant, Diverse, Humane Nation Is Written Out Of History By A Racist GOP & Its Totally Wacko Yet Dangerously Evil Cult Leader?
  4. INCONVENIENT TRUTH: HALEY SWEETLAND EDWARDS @ TIME TELLS WHAT TRUMP, MILLER, COTTON, SESSIONS, & THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST GANG DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW: Human Migration Is A Powerful Force As Old As Human History; It’s A Plus For Receiving Nations; It Won’t Be Stopped By Walls, Jails, Racist Laws, Or Any Other Restrictionist Nonsense; But, It Can Be Intelligently Controlled, Channeled, Harnessed, & Used For The Benefit Of The U.S. & The Good Of The Migrants! — “But to maximize that future good, governments must act rationally to establish humane policies and adequately fund an immigration system equipped to handle an influx of newcomers.”

😰ASYLUM: “PROGRAMMED FOR FAILURE” — “Refugee Roulette Three” (“RR3”) Confirm What Many Of Us Said Right Off The Bat About Biden Administration’s Tragically Botched Stab At Asylum Reform!

The “Notorious RR3:”

Professor Philip G. Schrag
Professor Philip G. Schrag
Georgetown Law
Co-Director, CALS Asylum Clinic
Professor Andrew Schoenholtz
Professor from Practice; Director, Human Rights Institute; Director, Center for Applied Legal Studies
PHOTO: GeorgetownLaw
Professor Jaya Ramji-Nogales
Professor Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
I. Herman Stern Research Professor
Temple Law
PHOTO: Temple Law

 

Here’s the abstract of the latest “practical scholarship” from the RR3:  Professors Phil Schrag, Andy Schoenholtz, and Jaya Ramji-Nogles, “The New Border Asylum Adjudication System: Speed, Fairness, and the Representation Problem,” which will appear in the Howard Law Journal:

The New Border Asylum Adjudication System: Speed, Fairness, and the Representation Problem

Howard Law Journal, Vol. 66, No. 3, 2023

59 Pages Posted:

Philip G. Schrag

Georgetown University Law Center

Jaya Ramji-Nogales

Temple University – James E. Beasley School of Law

Andrew I. Schoenholtz

Georgetown University Law Center

Date Written: September 29, 2022

Abstract

In 2022, the Biden administration implemented what the New York Times has described as potentially “the most sweeping change to the asylum process in a quarter-century.” This new adjudication system creates unrealistically short deadlines for asylum seekers who arrive over the southern border, the vast majority of whom are people of color. Rather than providing a fair opportunity for those seeking safety to explain and corroborate their persecution claims, the new system imposes unreasonably speedy time frames to enable swift adjudications. Asylum seekers must obtain representation very quickly even though the government does not fund counsel and not enough lawyers offer free or low-cost representation. Moreover, the immigration statute requires that asylum seekers must corroborate their claims with extrinsic evidence if the adjudicator thinks that such evidence is available – a nearly impossible task in the time frames provided by the new rule. As a result, the new rule clashes with every state’s Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1 and 1.3, imposing duties of competence and diligence in every case that a lawyer undertakes. It will be extremely difficult for lawyers to provide competent and diligent representation under the new, excessively short deadlines. For immigration lawyers, the new rule exacerbates a challenge that they share with public defenders and other lawyers working within dysfunctional systems: how to provide even the most basic level of procedural due process for their clients, most of whom are people of color.

This article begins by describing the regular asylum process. It then summarizes the history of expedited removal, a screening system that limits access to that process for asylum seekers who arrive at the southern U.S. border without visas. It then explains and assesses the Biden administration’s first and second versions of the new asylum rule, highlighting the major flaw that will make the current version an unfairly formidable hurdle for asylum seekers subject to it. The article concludes by setting out a way for the Biden administration to create a more fair, accurate and efficient border asylum adjudication system and ensure that the U.S. can comply with domestic and international refugee law.

Keywords: Asylum, Asylum adjudication, Asylum process, Expedited removal, Immigration, Legal ethics, Due process, Administrative law

JEL Classification: K39

Suggested Citation:

Schrag, Philip G. and Ramji-Nogales, Jaya and Schoenholtz, Andrew I., The New Border Asylum Adjudication System: Speed, Fairness, and the Representation Problem (September 29, 2022). Howard Law Journal, Vol. 66, No. 3, 2023, Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4233655

*********************

Four Horsemen
New regulations pasted on old anti-asylum, anti-lawyer, anti-due-process attitudes and relying on an ever more dysfunctional EOIR, now at war with the asylum bar, won’t cut it! 
Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

You can download the complete article from SSRN at the above link. 

Expect the Biden Administration to “blow off” the suggestions for improvement at the end of the article. They seem to glory in “tuning out” the views of practical experts who know how to fix the broken asylum adjudication system. 

As I predicted when these regulations first came out, they were “programmed for failure.”

https://immigrationcourtside.com/2022/06/06/⚖%EF%B8%8F🗽-human-rights-first-files-public-comments-pointing-out-due-process-eroding-flaws-in-biden-administrations-new-asylum-regulations/

Due-process-denying, representation-killing, arbitrary time limits imposed from above have been tried by Administration after Administration. They have always failed and will continue to do so. So, why are they a key part of the Administration’s so-called “reforms?”

Rather than addressing the representation crisis in a rational, cooperative manner, the Biden Administration’s EOIR farce has driven a huge wedge between the clueless policy makers who operate in the “twilight zone” and the NGO, pro bono, and low bono legal community that they need to succeed on immigration, human rights, and racial justice. See, e.g., https://immigrationcourtside.com/2022/09/30/%f0%9f%86%98-sos-from-round-tables-%f0%9f%9b%a1-%e2%9a%94%ef%b8%8f-judge-sue-roy-complete-due-rocess-meltdown-eoir-newark-as-garlands-leadership-continues-to-fail-%e2%98%a0/

Compare the article’s discussion of the importance of representation and the practical and ethical problems caused by the new regulations with the reality of the “nutsos” ways EOIR is mis-treating attorneys currently trying to practice before the Immigration Courts!

Additionally, the unwarranted, yet largely self-fulfilling assumption by the Biden Administration that only 15% of asylum applications would be granted at the “Asylum Office stage” show why this program was designed to fail by the wrong officials. For the system to meaningfully address the Immigration Court asylum backlog, the grant rate would have to be multiples of that — probably at least 50%.

That’s a realistic projection, given the well-documented, atrocious human rights conditions in most “sending countries” and the current artificial limitations on grants imposed by bad precedents and flawed, biased, or incompetent adjudications. When I was at the Arlington Immigration Court from 2003-16, a significant majority of the “referrals” from the Asylum Office were granted asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT protection, often with concurrence or only token opposition by ICE. That suggests that there is a huge unrealized potential for many more timely asylum grants at the Asylum Office. But, success will never be achieved with the current “anti-asylum, afraid to correctly and fairly implement refugee law gang” in charge — committed to retaining the bad attitudes and repeating the mistakes of the past!

Hanging over the whole disaster is the “uncomfortable truth” that I’ve been shouting:

  • The Biden Administration is still operating EOIR and large portions of the immigration bureaucracy at DHS with Trump-era “holdovers” who were improperly “programmed to deny” asylum.

  • There is a dearth of positive precedents from the BIA on gender-based asylum and other types of common asylum applications at the border that are routinely and wrongfully mishandled and denied.

  • There are cosmic problems resulting from failure to provide qualified representation of asylum seekers at the border.

  • Detention continues to be misused as a “deterrent” to legal claims and “punishment” for asserting  them. 

  • Despite “touting” a much larger refugee admissions program beyond the border, the Administration has failed to deliver a robust, realistic, refugee admissions program for Latin America and the Caribbean which would take pressure off the border. 

  • Racism and White Nationalism continue to drive the Administration’s dramatically inconsistent approach to White refugees from Ukraine compared with refugees of color at the Southern Border.

Indeed, this entire “reform effort” is essentially “upside down.” It’s a “designed to fail” attempt to avoid the broken and malfunctioning Immigration Court system without dealing with the REAL problem: EOIR!

Without the necessary progressive personnel and structural reforms at Garland’s EOIR (“clean house” of unqualified, under-qualified, or misplaced administrators and judges from past Administrations), the cultural changes (“out with the anti-asylum, anti-immigrant, racially challenged, too often misogynistic, EOIR culture”) it would bring, and most of all, the substantive changes to align asylum law with due process, best practices, and the generous interpretations that were foreshadowed by the Refugee Act of 1`980 but have been intentionally suppressed by politicos of both parties, there will be neither justice nor stability in our asylum and immigration systems, nor will there be equal justice for all, including racial justice, in America! 

Even my esteemed “RR3” friends understate the debilitating effects of the ever-worsening dysfunction at EOIR and Garland’s failure of leadership on due process and human rights!

Perhaps the most telling statement in their article is this: “Asylum officers are more highly trained in asylum adjudication than immigration judges . . . .”  Why, on earth, would that be? 

Why isn’t the BIA led and comprised of internationally-respected asylum experts like Schrag, Schoenholtz, Ramji-Nogales, and others like them? Why aren’t all Immigration Judges drawn from the ranks of universally-respected “practical scholars” in asylum and human rights?  Plenty of them are out here! Why aren’t they on the bench? Why is the Biden Administration running a “D-Team Judiciary” at EOIR rather than “the world’s best administrative tribunals, guaranteeing fairness and due process for all” as EOIR was once envisioned? What’s the excuse for lousy training at EOIR when top-flight “modulated” asylum training is available from expert sources like Professor Michele Pistone’s innovative VIISTA Villanova program? What’s the excuse for the colossal EOIR failure that threatens lives and our democracy on a daily basis? Why aren’t alarm bells going off at the White House about Garland’s failed stewardship at EOIR?

Reforming the asylum system, starting with EOIR, could also potentially have big societal and economic benefits for America. Asylees gain legal status, can work, get in line for green cards, eventually become citizens, and realize their full potential as productive members of our society. Not incidentally, they also become regular taxpayers and can help bolster essential enterprises and infrastructure improvements.

For example, just yesterday the Portland (ME) Press Herald featured an article about the critical, chronic shortage of workers in Maine. https://www.pressherald.com/2022/10/02/how-can-maine-solve-its-workforce-crisis/ Why isn’t the Biden Administration working with Maine authorities, NGOs, and economic development groups to “fast track” asylum approvals for those who might be persuaded to resettle in Maine to take advantage of these economic opportunities, for everyone’s benefit? Mainers also are suffering from a shortage of affordable housing. I’ll bet that with a little “seed money,” there are enterprising, skilled groups of potential asylees who could help build and maintain affordable housing for communities in need, in Maine and elsewhere in the U.S. Why are they instead “rotting at the border” or being aimlessly “orbited” around America by nativist GOP governors trying to score political points with their White Nationalist base?

By adopting the nativists’ dehumanizing mis-characterization of asylum seekers as a “problem” to be measured in “numbers,” deterred, and held at bay, the Administration is missing a golden opportunity to achieve some much-needed “win-wins.” Why run bone-headed “built to fail, haste makes waste” asylum pilot programs in a few cities rather than trying things that might work to everyone’s advantage, as I have described above?

At a time when many in America are finally learning the truth about our disgraceful failure to offer refuge to Jews during the period leading up to the Holocaust from the Ken Burns documentary, we (our at least some Americans) appear to be committed to making the same mistakes again. We should not undervalue the lives and contributions of refugees because of systemic or structural boas against certain groups!

Claiming to “reform” the U.S. refugee and asylum system without dealing with the ongoing, worsening, disasterous dysfunction at EOIR is a fool’s errand. The way to make the system work more efficiently is to grant the large number of deserving asylum cases in a timely, practical, manner driven by due process, best practices, and best interpretations of asylum law. Unless and until those in charge act on this truth, the awful mess at EOIR will continue to be an existential threat to democracy!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-03-22

Related posts:

  1. WOW, HERE’S A SURPRISE: MANY KIDS FLEEING VIOLENCE IN THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BIDEN BORDER POLICIES — They Are Just Trying To Save Their Lives!
  2. 🏴‍☠️CLOSING THE BORDER TO LEGAL ASYLUM SEEKERS IS A VIOLATION OF BOTH DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL LAW — It’s Neither Something To Tout (Biden Administration) Nor A Solution (GOP) (Except, Perhaps, In The “Hitlerian” Sense) — Our Inability To Solve A Humanitarian Situation By Acting Lawfully, Sensibly, & Humanely Is A Sign Of Gross National Weakness Spurred By Unwillingness To See The Human Tragedies We Are Promoting! — And The Lousy, Misleading, & Tone-Deaf Reporting By The Some Of The “Mainstream Media” Is Making It Worse! — Leon Krauze & Suzanne Gamboa With Simple Truths About Human Migration That Neither Pols Nor Nativists Want You To Hear! — PLUS BONUS COVERAGE: Friday Mini-Essay: “Degrading Ourselves As A Nation Won’t Stop Human Migration”
  3. DEMS NEED TO STOP REPEATING THE BOGUS 🤥 NARRATIVES ABOUT THE (LARGELY SELF-CREATED & OVERBLOWN) “SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS:” Channeling “Courtside,” Yale Schacher Sets Forth A Plan For Using Experts To Not Only Reinstitute But Drastically Improve Due Process ⚖️🗽🇺🇸 For Asylum Seekers! — It’s NOT Rocket 🚀 Science!
  4. ICRC: “Migration is not going to stop. If you try to prevent it or strictly regulate it, people start to pile up at the borders, which is happening in Mexico and other countries.”

CATHERINE RAMPELL @ WASHPOST — The GOP’s “Performative Cruelty” Is Bad Policy!

Catherine Rampell
Catherine Rampell
Opinion Columnist
Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/19/immigrants-marthas-vineyard-desantis-performative/

. . . .

Not to mention that even the Trump administration (the Trump administration!) found that refugees and asylees are a net positive for public budgets over the long run. That is, despite typically arriving penniless, these immigrants ultimately pay more in taxes than they receive in government benefits.

Michele L. Norris: What Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis don’t understand about America

Contra DeSantis’s insinuations about immigrant moochers, these are people who want to work and become economically self-sufficient. That’s presumably why DeSantis’s own henchmen promised fictitious jobs to lure the asylum seekers onto flights.

. . . .

If Republican officials actually wanted to reduce the number of people coming to the border without advance permission, there are plenty of things these politicians could do. They could push for expansion of guest-worker visas, for instance. Or more funding for the refugee admissions program. Or really any other legal, orderly pathway to come to the United States.

After all, the main reason there is such a crush at the border — and why the asylum system in general is so overwhelmed — is that right now this is one of the very few legal ways to get to America.

Yes, I said legal: The families being hoodwinked and shipped around the country like chattel on chartered buses and flights are here lawfully, based on what’s been publicly reported. They turned themselves in upon crossing the border precisely so that they can apply for asylum, as is their legal right. The federal government has screened them, and granted them humanitarian parole while they pursue their asylum cases in court.

It’s not an ideal system. Or an especially fast one. It would be much better to fix the rest of our broken legal immigration system so that those other, more orderly pathways are available. Especially the pathways that offer quicker access to work permits, given America’s current massive labor shortages.

It’s true that Democrats have also put forth relatively little effort to fix these problems. In some cases Democrats seem fearful of appearing too pro-immigrant, having apparently bought into the GOP lore that deep down Americans are xenophobes. But even what little Democrats have tried to do they generally can’t do without 60 Senate votes. Which Democrats don’t have.

Democrats need Republicans to cooperate on immigration reform, and Republicans won’t. Even when those reforms are coupled with investments in border security that Republicans claim to want. The GOP would rather keep around a dragon they can perpetually promise to slay one day — and better yet, to taunt and torture for a while, in public, first.

*************************

Read Catherine’s complete article at the link. Interesting that Catherine understands so much so well, while those in the Biden Administration charged with immigration and human rights policy are so clueless, timid, and inept!

In the meantime, the Dems have done little to make the current laws relating to refugees and asylum work. The much-hyped “asylum rule changes” at DHS have had little, if any, discernible positive impact. EOIR is a national disgrace — continuing the “death spiral” that accelerated during the Trump kakistocracy. The refugee system remains in shambles. The proposed 15,000 allocation of refugee admissions for FY 2023 to Latin American and the Caribbean is an insult and a “signal” to other receiving nations in the area that we are not serious about addressing the problem. There is no rational resettlement program for asylum seekers crossing the border, thus providing an unnecessary opening for the “performative cruelty” of  clowns like DeSantis and Abbott.

None of these things are “rocket science” or “budget busters.” They just require knowledgeable leadership, values, and the courage to act on them. Apparently, faced with the cruelty and desecration of values by the “MAGA GOP,” the Dems think that “all they have to do is show up, smile, and mumble platitudes” to seem like the only choice for Americans who believe in democracy. Maybe — but I wouldn’t count on it!

I think that Catherine “hit the nail on the head” with this assessment of the spineless policy officials driving refugee and asylum policies in the Biden Administration: “In some cases Democrats seem fearful of appearing too pro-immigrant, having apparently bought into the GOP lore that deep down Americans are xenophobes.” Cowardice on immigrants, immigrants’ rights, and racial justice has become an endemic problem in the Democratic Party.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS
09-22-22

 

Related posts:

  1. ⚖️🇺🇸👍🏼🗽DEAN KEVIN JOHNSON’S SUCCINCT RESPONSE TO GREG ABBOTT’S PREDICTABLE SOUTHERN BORDER BS IS WORTH A READ! — PLUS: ARELIS HERNANDEZ OF WASHPOST WITH SOME MUCH-NEEDED TRUTH & PERSPECTIVE FROM THOSE ACTUALLY LIVING ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER: “We need more lawyers and judges, not more troops or technology.”
  2. WOW, HERE’S A SURPRISE: MANY KIDS FLEEING VIOLENCE IN THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BIDEN BORDER POLICIES — They Are Just Trying To Save Their Lives!
  3. ICRC: “Migration is not going to stop. If you try to prevent it or strictly regulate it, people start to pile up at the borders, which is happening in Mexico and other countries.”
  4. ⚖️🗽MORE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOUTHERN BORDER FROM ONE OF AMERICA’S 🇺🇸 LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS: “Real Needs, Not Fictitious Crises Account For The Situation at US-Mexico Border,” By Donald Kerwin Center For Migration Studies

GARY SAMPLINER @ WASHPOST — The DMV Can Turn Abbott’s White Nationalist Stunt Into A “Win – Win!” — It Requires A Durable Approach! — Don’t Expect It To Come From The Biden Administration!

Gary Sampliner
Gary Sampliner
Senior Consultant for Advocacy
Shoulder to Shoulder

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/09/dc-grateful-texas-migrants/?utm_campaign=wp_afternoon_buzz&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_buzz&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F37e0c1d%2F631b9b1ff3d9003c58ca5081%2F598a8acf9bbc0f6826fe4cb8%2F50%2F67%2F631b9b1ff3d9003c58ca5081&wp_cu=565797071f2aa4e140538667638665f9%7CC0D6D8DF75AF4203E0430100007FC096

Opinion by Gary Sampliner

September 9, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. ET

Gary Sampliner is a director of JAMAAT (Jews and Muslims and Allies Acting Together) and a member of the Bethesda Jewish Congregation, which with Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church and the Maqaame Ibrahim Islamic Center is working to assist arriving migrants and asylum seekers. JAMAAT is a member organization of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.

Gratitude might not be the reaction Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was expecting when he began sending frequent busloads of migrants and asylum seekers to the greater D.C. area. But gratitude, warmth and a renewed sense of collective responsibility are the responses I have seen as D.C.-area organizations and faith communities (and, most recently, its government) have stepped up to welcome and support newcomers.

With Abbott’s bus initiative — a costly venture likely to be funded in large part by Texas taxpayers — we’ve seen an apparent strategy to inflict maximum pain on our region and score political points, using vulnerable people as weapons aimed at pressuring the Biden administration into taking more drastic measures to seal our nation’s southern border.

But, despite the deeply cynical nature of Abbott’s plans, we might actually owe him a debt of gratitude.

We know that providing transportation is one part of establishing a dignified reception system for people seeking safety, and we’ve witnessed repeatedly the long-term payoffs to our communities and nation when we offer support to those in need of refuge.

The D.C. area has been generous in welcoming migrants fleeing persecution. With community and government support, Virginia has been the third-highest recipient of recent Afghan refugees to the United States, and Maryland is not far behind. My own synagogue and the church and mosque with whom we share our building have been active in helping welcome Afghan refugees to the area since 2017. The Jewish-Muslim community organization I help to direct has been working to get other interfaith partnerships involved in similar efforts.

Afghan arrivals are not the only ones receiving a warm reception. With the help of some heroic community and faith groups — many of which are part of the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network — our area has mobilized quickly to welcome the migrants being bused here from the southern border. These tremendous efforts have demonstrated, yet again, the area’s commitment to extending welcome and hospitality to those in need.

As with the public-private, multisector approach used in Afghan and other refugee resettlements, we need all hands on deck to welcome new arrivals to the area. We need as many available resources as possible, including the support of local, state and federal governments, faith groups, nonprofit organizations and community volunteers.

It is heartening to see D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) now stepping up to the challenge and opportunity posed by the arriving migrants. On Thursday, she announced the establishment of an Office of Migrant Services, with an initial allocation of $10 million, to meet the needs of the migrants who are moving elsewhere or intending to reside here. As an official “Welcoming City,” D.C. government assistance should be an essential element of the response to welcome migrants to our region — especially considering that, as a majority of the D.C. Council has told Bowser, D.C. is expected to have a surplus of around $500 million in fiscal 2022 — even though D.C. has good reason to request Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement to help satisfy the overriding federal responsibility over immigration matters.

But the need for private and community support for the incoming migrants remains critical for their successful integration into our community. Though my organizations’ work with the Afghan community continues, we’ve begun to provide various types of assistance to the newcomers being bused here. We are pleased to see and strongly encourage fellow faith communities and groups around the area to join us in this important work of welcome and are pleased when they do. This is an opportunity to demonstrate the best of who we are in the face of unprecedented levels of forced dislocations worldwide.

The bottom line is this: If we want to continue to live up to our values, many more of us need to step up to assist the new arrivals. And if we can meet this challenge, we will set an example for the rest of our country to follow.

******************

One frequent mistake is to view this situation as “an emergency” or “temporary.” That leads to “short-term thinking” — throw some money at it, energize volunteers, and “hold the fort” until the so-called “crisis” subsides.

Problem is, money runs out, volunteers burn out or get called to pitch in on other issues, and the media turns its attention elsewhere. But, refugees and asylees will continue to come. 

And, the better we treat our new arrivals, the more who will develop ties here and choose the DMV as their U.S. residence. While nativists like Abbott view this as a “crisis” and an “invasion,” I agree with Gary that it’s a great opportunity for us and these migrants. We’ve lived the DMV area for almost 50 years. Most of the growth and prosperity over that time can be linked, directly or indirectly, to recent immigrants, both with and without documents!

In many ways, the situations in other countries that drive migration are worse than at any time since the end of the Cold War. And, it’s not getting better, at least in the short run. Meanwhile, our legal refugee and asylum systems remain a shambles, despite the Biden Administration’s promise to do better than the Trump White Nationalist kakistocracy.

For example, one  of the largest, probably the largest, flow of refugees in the Western Hemisphere is from Venezuela. And, contrary to the restrictionist blather, the vast majority of the six million who have fled Venezuela are NOT in the U.S. Colombia has received at least 1.8 million, where the U.S. has fewer than 350,000. 

But, there is no immediate prospect that most Venezuelans will return or stop coming. Nor is there any chance that countries like Colombia are going to “up their share” so that the U.S. can take fewer!

Yet, the Biden Administration has failed to provide consistent, helpful, guidance on Venezuelan asylum at either DHS or DOJ. An improved and better BIA, with expert judges committed to a proper application of asylum law, should have issued appropriate precedents that could have been a basis for getting tens of thousands of grantable Venezuelan asylum cases off the endless backlogs and on the road to green cards. 

But, Garland continues to mismanage asylum law at all levels. He employs unfocused politicos, unqualified Trump-era bureaucrats, and judges who got or retained their jobs under Sessions or Barr because of their actual or perceived willingness to unlawfully deny asylum. Nor has DHS implemented any semblance of the necessary, realistic, robust overseas refugee program for Venezuela, Haiti, and the Northern Triangle! 

Mayorkas has “beefed up” the TPS program for Venezuela. But, by its own terms, that’s not a long-term solution. They extended TPS for Haitians while denying recent arrivals their legal rights to seek asylum and inexplicably returning thousands to the dangerous, failed state without any process at all. It’s a farce — but one with ugly racial overtones and a horrible message! To say that Biden’s refugee and asylum programs are screwed up would be an understatement!

Refugee flows, including asylum, are both inevitable and continuing. They are an important, beneficial, and essential component of legal immigration.

Those seeking legal refuge can be forced largely into the underground system, as Trump tried to do; largely admitted in an orderly legal fashion as progressive experts urge; or there can be a haphazard “combination of the two” which is what we have now! 

Undoubtedly, refugees and asylees are good from America. They will get jobs, make contributions, and have families of U.S. citizens. The tax base and U.S. institutions will benefit. But, that’s the “long view.” 

In the short run, migrants need food, affordable housing, orientation, and education. Kids will need more teachers with specialized skills in a time of nationwide teacher shortage and politicized demonization of educators and administrators. School populations will increase. That takes money. Taxpayers and the politicians answerable to them are notoriously focused on the now, rather than the whenever.

So, the pressing issue is how to institutionalize, regularize, and fund successful migrant resettlement. In other words, how do we get from here to there in the absence of effective government leadership, planning, and funding – often on multiple levels?

I wish I had the answers. But, I don’t. We have to hope that Gary and others like him outside the dysfunctional government structure do! Because, ready or not, migration will  continue! See, e.g., https://immigrationcourtside.com/2022/09/10/🇺🇸🗽👍🏼-immigrant-nation-teas-truth-wisdom-americans-views-on-immigrants-and-immigration-are-overwhelmingly-positive/.

Meanwhile, Texans might want to give the financial shenanigans of their corrupt, inept, so-called Governor a closer look! According to NBC, he’s spending an average of $1,400+ for each individual bussed from the border to DC. A commercial coach ticket is $200-300! https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/abbotts-border-buses-cost-1400-per-rider-taxpayers-could-be-stuck-with-bills/2993548/ 

Texans will have a chance to replace Abbott with a real Governor, Democrat Beto O’Rourke in November.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-11-22

 

Related posts:

  1. INCONVENIENT TRUTH: HALEY SWEETLAND EDWARDS @ TIME TELLS WHAT TRUMP, MILLER, COTTON, SESSIONS, & THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST GANG DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW: Human Migration Is A Powerful Force As Old As Human History; It’s A Plus For Receiving Nations; It Won’t Be Stopped By Walls, Jails, Racist Laws, Or Any Other Restrictionist Nonsense; But, It Can Be Intelligently Controlled, Channeled, Harnessed, & Used For The Benefit Of The U.S. & The Good Of The Migrants! — “But to maximize that future good, governments must act rationally to establish humane policies and adequately fund an immigration system equipped to handle an influx of newcomers.”
  2. ⚖️🇺🇸👍🏼🗽DEAN KEVIN JOHNSON’S SUCCINCT RESPONSE TO GREG ABBOTT’S PREDICTABLE SOUTHERN BORDER BS IS WORTH A READ! — PLUS: ARELIS HERNANDEZ OF WASHPOST WITH SOME MUCH-NEEDED TRUTH & PERSPECTIVE FROM THOSE ACTUALLY LIVING ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER: “We need more lawyers and judges, not more troops or technology.”
  3. ⚖️🗽MORE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOUTHERN BORDER FROM ONE OF AMERICA’S 🇺🇸 LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS: “Real Needs, Not Fictitious Crises Account For The Situation at US-Mexico Border,” By Donald Kerwin Center For Migration Studies
  4. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 

🇺🇸🗽👍🏼 IMMIGRANT NATION: TEÃ’S TRUTH & WISDOM: “Americans’ views on immigrants and immigration are overwhelmingly positive. However some get swayed by some of the myths and misinformation that’s out there! One way that you can fight against this intolerance is to educate yourself on the topic!” — The Ever-Amazing Téa Ivanovic of Immigrant Foods is “Courtside’s Latest NDPA Hero 🦸‍♀️ Of The Day.”🎖😎🗽

Immigrant Food
The essence of life, food has been a unifying force throughout history. Téa Ivanovic and Immigrant Food are using it to welcome and unify America for social justice!
PHOTO: IF website

From the September Edition of Immigrant Food:

Editor’s Note – September

Dear Reader,

With November’s midterm elections just around the corner, immigration will (again) become a hot national topic. Is immigration really as controversial as America’s politicians want us to believe? In this month’s issue, we explore the question: “Do Americans Support Immigrants?”.

Official immigrants account for 14 percent (40 million people) of the US population, making them an integral part of American society. Immigrants have always been part of the American identity, contributing to the economy, creating employment, and molding America’s unique culture. After all, unless you’re native American, you or your family came from somewhere.

This month, we speak to Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US, an incredible new national initiative built to inspire, mobilize, and empower Americans from all corners to welcome and support those seeking refuge. We also spoke with people on the street to understand how real Americans think and feel about welcoming immigrants.

Hope you gain new insights,

Téa

Here’s the link to Téa’s latest great video, “Téa’s Coffee presents:  Are Americans Welcoming Immigrants?”

https://youtu.be/HCX5yIniTT4

******************

Get to know “Courtside’s NDPA Hero of the Day, Téa Ivanovic!”

Tea Ivanovic
Téa Ivanovic
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Communications, “Chief Cook & Bottle Washer”
Immigrant Food
PHOTO: Immigrant Food

An immigrant herself, social justice dynamo Téa Ivanovic came roaring out of Virginia Tech only eight years ago and hasn’t looked back! No time for anything but moving forward and taking on new challenges! 

The former Hokie D-1 tennis player is busy leading, innovating, and using her amazingly broad liberal arts skill set to serve our DMV area and make America better! 

She’s a successful businesswoman, media presence, organizer, advocate, historian, ethicist, humanitarian, innovator, journalist, educator, practical scholar, foodie, sportswoman, financial manager, and all around cheerleader for the immigrant community of which she is a part! As you might expect, her omnipresent passion for life and community is tempered by a sense of humor, perspective, and self-awareness.

Tellingly, the themes for the Immigrant Food website and for their logo run heavily to “burnt orange and maroon” undoubtedly a product of her “Hokie heritage.”

Immigrant Food
“Hokie Nation” might get a certain nostalgic feeling when they visit the Immigrant Food website!

Téa’s a promotional icon for another one of my “crusades” — recognizing and nurturing the enduring value of liberal arts education in America.

That’s NOT the BS, “whitewashed” (in more ways than one) version of education promoted and foisted upon us by the far right and its highly motivated yet badly misguided acolytes, but rather the “real deal.” Honesty about our past, knowledge, applied scholarship, versatility, flexibility, communication, reasoning, debating, critical dialogue, problem solving, business acumen, financial skills, multiculturalism, language skills, agriculture (Tech is Virginia’s “land grant” college), moral courage, sports, scientific and environmental truth, leadership, compassion, creativity, artistry, humane values in action — Téa’s got all of this going on!  Folks, she’s the “complete package” – a one-woman “Liberal Artists’ Dream Team.”

Let’s start with first impressions. Clearly a powerful intellect — summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, ACC All-Academic — Téa radiates energy, competence, creativity, personality, kindness, infectious enthusiasm, good humor. Some of it undoubtedly stems from her Hokie varsity tennis days where she also honed her competitiveness, sportsmanship, and performance skills. But, as I’m sure she did on the tennis court, Téa plays hard, to win, but respects the rules of the game.

Tea Tennis
A formidable presence on and off the court, Téa never achieved the athletic recognition of her Serbian almost namesake, Ana Inanovic, a former World #1. But, Téa is “World Class” in her own right. Somewhere, a whole bunch of Ivanovics must be really proud of their social justice prodigy!
PHOTO: coretennis.net

How dynamic, talented, and committed is Téa? Here’s the “lede” on her “official Immigrant Foods bio:”

Téa started as the hyper-talented head of communications for Immigrant Food, but as the pandemic took its toll, it became clear that she had to become Jack of all Trades. So she took on management.  And then took on operations.  And then took on financial responsibility.  So, she became the COO.

In other words, Téa awoke one day and decided “the best way I can help my organization and my team is by taking on the additional responsibility of Chief Operating Officer.” So she did it! No waffling or second thoughts about whether someone less than a decade out of college could pull off this stressful, yet rewarding, “high wire act!”

Tightrope
Walking a tightrope requires skill and courage. Téa’s never afraid of new challenges!
PHOTO: Creative Commons

Somewhere along the trip from Blacksburg to DC, Téa picked up a M.A. at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Born in Belgium, the daughter of former Yugoslavians, she’s fluent in English, Flemish, and Serbian. Téa describes herself as “an immigrant squared” (quite different from a “square immigrant,” which she certainly isn’t).

The first Washington correspondent for Bosnia and Herzogevina’s leading newspaper, Téa has worked at think tanks, written for various online publications, and been a researcher and fellow. She’s lived a lifetime, accomplished great things, undertaken new challenges, and helped lead the charge to blow away the myths and achieve social and legal justice for migrants and everyone else in America. Hers is a life already laser focused on her larger community, making the world better, and helping others!

Folks, Téa’s 30th birthday is still on the horizon! Her “full due process potential” is breathtaking, inspiring, encouraging, and reassuring (particularly for those of us “on the bell lap” of life’s journey, concerned for American’s future)!

Téa is confident, not arrogant or imperious. She’s just as comfortable interviewing some of the “movers and shakers” of the DC area about profound national issues as she is connecting with a recent immigrant working in a bistro about their American experience. And, despite her obvious love of the kitchen, I’m sure the immigrant Food books aren’t “cooked” with Téa as COO!

Immigrant Food
Mutual Support: Meet Immigrant Food’s Leadership: L-R, Mile Montezuma, Chef; Peter Schecter, Co- Founder; Enrique Limardo, Co-Founder & Executive Chef; Téa Ivanovic, Co-Founder & COO
PHOTO: IF website

You can keep up with Téa and her talented band of social justice/good food brothers and sisters by subscribing to Immigrant Food (“IF”) here:  https://immigrantfood.com/. 

Like “Courtside,” it’s free — making it one of the best bargains in a town not necessarily known for them! 

In addition to connecting you with some great local immigrant cuisine, IF also highlights local events and ways to connect with immigrants in the community.

Immigrant Food
Getting down to business, the food is tasty and tastefully presented!
PHOTOS: IF website

Immigrant Food

For example, each week, the “IF Team” shows you five ways to engage with the immigrant community. It might be through a donation, volunteering, or educating yourself about immigrant issues (Téa’s above video is a terrific example). 

There are so many ways you can make a difference! This week’s “Engagement Menu,” features volunteering, donating, and educational opportunities, like supporting the Afghan Adjustment Act! Something good is always “cooking in the kitchen” at IF! Téa Calls it “gastroadvocacy!” What a great concept!

Additionally, IF has partnered with five amazing immigrant justice NGOs in the DMV area: AsylumWorks, AYUDA, CAIR Coalition, APALRC, and CARECEN. Imagine having the expertise, kinetic energy, and social justice firepower of giants like Paula Fitzgerald (AYUDA), Joan Hodges Wu (AsylumWorks), Adina Appelbaum (CAIR Coalition, one of my “best ever” Georgetown Law “Refugee Law & Policy” alums), Laura Trask (AYUDA), Téa, and other immigrants’ rights advocates from these venerable organizations on your side. Truly, a “Social Justice Dream Team.”

As my Georgetown Law students know, I’m always “preaching”  about the “big five life values” — fairness, scholarship, timeliness, respect, and teamwork. Téa, and her equally spectacular colleagues at IF embody all of those. They inspire, energize, and show us how the “new generation” of the NDPA can make an immediate impact in the never-ending battle for social justice in America and help forge a better world.

Thinking like Téa.  Earlier this week, I highlighted the work of Beth Baker and United We Eat in Missoula, Montana.  Beth is another innovative thinker and doer creating “win-wins” for America! https://immigrationcourtside.com/2022/09/08/courtside-food%f0%9f%a5%99%f0%9f%8d%b1%f0%9f%a5%98%f0%9f%8c%ae%f0%9f%8d%9d-does-the-road-to-national-unity-go-through-our-stomachs-immigrant-kitchen-brings-missoula-montana-together/

Maybe it’s time to take “gastroadvocacy” to the next level: a nationwide network — call it the “Social Justice Food Network” (“SJFN”).

Get a YouTube channel! Create an app! Folks can hook up their mobile phones and “eat their way from coast to coast” while promoting unity and equal justice for all!

As somebody who still loves the “American road trip,” the idea of hitting the next roadside eatery where we can get good food (some vegan entrees, please), meet great immigrants, and chat with local folks about social justice is hyper-appealing! Outdoor seating and/or carryout for those of us traveling with our dogs would also be a huge plus!

Duncan
Duncan, pictured here on the outdoor patio are the Whale’s Tales Pub in Boothbay Harbor, loves road trips and outdoor seating!

Téa, thanks again from all your NDPA colleagues and friends for all you do! I hope that this “mini-profile” will inspire others to get to know you, either online or in person, and join your fight for a better America — one where the unfulfilled promise of “equal justice for all” will finally become a reality!

One thing’s for certain. Téa’s time on the front lines of the fight for social justice is just getting started. I can’t wait to find out what she has up her sleeve next! Whatever it is, I know that it will be creative, energetic, and dedicated to helping others.

There is no mountain that Téa and her team can’t climb. I’m just grateful that she and others like her have chosen to “throw in their lot” with the NDPA! Hats off to you, Téa, and other immigrants, past, present, and future, who “make” our nation!

Immigrant Food
The Team @ Immigrant Food serves up social justice and good grub!
PHOTO: IF website

If, indeed, “we are what we eat,” I encourage everyone to order up an extra big helping of social justice at Immigrant Food!

To close this circle, I started out to write a profile of my friend and NDPA colleague, Téa. By the time I finished, I had connected all kinds of dots from my own life (e.g., my dad was a physician at the student health center at Tech before Téa was born, and remained an avid Hokie fan till the end), my relationships with other NDPA colleagues, former students, NGOs that played a role in my life on and off the bench, public service, “gonzo journalism,” vegan eating, road trips, dogs, the future fight for social justice, and “the heart and soul of America.” That’s what makes the enlightened leadership of folks like Téa so special and generates optimism for a better, more just and unified, America for the future.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-09-22

 

Related posts:

  1. VICTORY DANCE! — ICE’S HOMAN SAYS CLIMATE OF FEAR HAS STEMMED BORDER CROSSINGS & PROVES UNRESTRAINED, ARBITRARY IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT WORKS! — “There’s no population that’s off the table,” he said. “If you’re in the country illegally, we’re looking for you and we’re looking to apprehend you.” — America Won’t Be Truly Safe Until The Last Cook, Gardner, Construction Worker, Nanny, Janitor, Tree Cutter, Mechanic, Handyman, Carpenter, Home Health Aide, Computer Programmer, Healthcare Worker, Lettuce Picker, Cow Milker, Landscaper, Lawnmower, Bricklayer, Roofer, Window Washer, Waiter, Sandwich Artist, Teacher, Minister, Coach, Student, Parent, Clerk, Fisherman, Farmer, Maid, Chicken Plucker, Meat Processor, Etc., Without Docs Is Removed And US Citizens Take Over All These Jobs!
  2. WHITE NATIONALIST AGENDA: Trump Regime Announces Plans For All-Out Assault On Legal Immigration — “It’s an attempt to lock into place changes to immigration policy that cannot be easily undone, regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.”
  3. COURTSIDE FOOD🥙🍱🥘🌮🍝: DOES THE ROAD TO NATIONAL UNITY GO THROUGH OUR STOMACHS? — Immigrant Kitchen Brings Missoula, Montana Together! — NBC News Reports!
  4. EUGENE ROBINSION @ WASHPOST & DAVID BROOKS @ NY TIMES: GOP IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONISTS’ PROPOSALS TO CUT LEGAL IMMIGRATION LEVELS HAVE NO RATIONAL BASIS! – That’s Going To Be A Big Problem In Trying To Forge A “Compromise!”

COURTSIDE FOOD🥙🍱🥘🌮🍝: DOES THE ROAD TO NATIONAL UNITY GO THROUGH OUR STOMACHS? — Immigrant Kitchen Brings Missoula, Montana Together! — NBC News Reports!

United We Eat
United We Eat Chef Haroon Eshani
United We Eat
United We Eat Program Manager Beth Baker
United We Eat
United We Eat Kitchen Assistant Rozan Shbib
United We Eat
Eshani and Shbib hard at work in United We Eat. Kitchen
Unite We Eat
Sbib Shows NBC News Reporter Steve Patterson around United We Eat Kitchen
United We Eat
United We Eat Kitchen Manager Casey Chapman has a tough job, but keeps smiling!

Check out this inspiring video on great people working together, helping each other, and integrating the skills, enthusiasm, and energy of new Americans into the community:

https://youtu.be/dIPAkTXzqJ8

*****************

Great story! Congrats to the people of Missoula!😎 A nation of immigrants needs new immigrants and their human potential! Everybody wins when we welcome immigrants to our communities!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-08-22

Related posts:

  1. WALL? WHAT WALL? – BUREAUCRATIC BARRIERS BEST BAR TO (NEEDED) IMMIGRATION (Hey, I Could’ve Told ‘Em That!) – But, White Nationalist Goal Of Returning To A “White America” Ultimately Doomed — “You can slow the rate of Latino and Asian immigration, but it won’t make the population whiter,”. . . “It will just become less white at a slower pace.”
  2. VICTORY DANCE! — ICE’S HOMAN SAYS CLIMATE OF FEAR HAS STEMMED BORDER CROSSINGS & PROVES UNRESTRAINED, ARBITRARY IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT WORKS! — “There’s no population that’s off the table,” he said. “If you’re in the country illegally, we’re looking for you and we’re looking to apprehend you.” — America Won’t Be Truly Safe Until The Last Cook, Gardner, Construction Worker, Nanny, Janitor, Tree Cutter, Mechanic, Handyman, Carpenter, Home Health Aide, Computer Programmer, Healthcare Worker, Lettuce Picker, Cow Milker, Landscaper, Lawnmower, Bricklayer, Roofer, Window Washer, Waiter, Sandwich Artist, Teacher, Minister, Coach, Student, Parent, Clerk, Fisherman, Farmer, Maid, Chicken Plucker, Meat Processor, Etc., Without Docs Is Removed And US Citizens Take Over All These Jobs!
  3. JIM CROW WINS, AMERICA LOSES, AGAIN — WHITE NATIONALIST CLOWN-IN-CHIEF 🤡 HALTS IMMIGRATION TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM MASSIVE FAILURE OF GOVERNANCE, AS FECKLESS DEMS PROTEST! — Announced By Tweet At Time When Borders Closed Anyway — A “pathetic attempt to shift blame from his Visible Incompetence to an Invisible Enemy,” Says Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) 😰👎🏻
  4. @WASHPOST: CATHERINE RAMPELL SAYS IT WELL! — “Contrary to Trumpers’ claims, keeping our word to Afghan allies in trouble is wholly consistent with a philosophy that puts ‘America First.’ Indeed, it’s central to the entire operation.”  — Getting Beyond Bogus Racist Nativism To A Robust, Honest, Expanded Legal Immigration System That Treats Refugees & Asylees Fairly, Humanely, & Generously — As Assets, Not “Threats” — Is Putting America First!

⚖️🗽🦸🏻‍♀️🎖 A TRUE AMERICAN HERO GETS HER DUE: FRANCES PERKINS WAS THE “MOTHER OF AMERICA’S SAFETY NET!” — By Professor Heather Cox Richardson — “She recognized that the ideas of community values and pooling resources to keep the economic playing field level and take care of everyone are at least as deeply seated in our political philosophy as the idea of every man for himself.”

Heather Cox Richardson
Heather Cox Richardson
Historian
Professor, Boston College
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins (1880-1965)
U.S. Secretary of Labor (1933-45)
PHOTO: Public realm

Letters from an American

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August 13, 2022

Heather Cox Richardson

11 hr ago

1,608

344

Since it seems clear we will be deciding whether we want to preserve the Social Security Act by our choice of leaders in the next few elections, I thought it not unreasonable to reprint this piece from last year about why people in the 1930s thought the measure was imperative. There is more news about the classified material at Mar-a-Lago, but nothing that can’t wait another day so I can catch this anniversary.

By the time most of you will read this, it will be August 14, and on this day in 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. While FDR’s New Deal had put in place new measures to regulate business and banking and had provided temporary work relief to combat the Depression, this law permanently changed the nature of the American government.

The Social Security Act is known for its payments to older Americans, but it did far more than that. It established unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship between the government and its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net.

The driving force behind the law was FDR’s Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins. She was the first woman to hold a position in the U.S. Cabinet and still holds the record for having the longest tenure in that job: she lasted from 1933 to 1945.

She brought to the position a vision of government very different from that of the Republicans who had run it in the 1920s. While men like President Herbert Hoover had harped on the idea of a “rugged individualism” in which men worked their way up, providing for their families on their own, Perkins recognized that people in communities had always supported each other. The vision of a hardworking man supporting his wife and children was more myth than reality: her own husband suffered from bipolar disorder, making her the family’s primary support.

As a child, Perkins spent summers with her grandmother, with whom she was very close, in the small town of Newcastle, Maine, where the old-fashioned, close-knit community supported those in need. In college, at Mount Holyoke, she majored in chemistry and physics, but after a professor required students to tour a factory to observe working conditions, Perkins became committed to improving the lives of those trapped in industrial jobs. After college, Perkins became a social worker and, in 1910, earned a masters degree in economics and sociology from Columbia University. She became the head of the New York office of the National Consumers League, urging consumers to use their buying power to demand better conditions and wages for the workers who made the products they were buying.

The next year, in 1911, she witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in which 146 workers, mostly women and girls, died. They were trapped in the building when the fire broke out because the factory owner had ordered the doors to the stairwells and exits locked to make sure no one slipped outside for a break. Unable to escape the smoke and fire in the factory, the workers—some of them on fire—leaped from the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the building, dying on the pavement.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire turned Perkins away from voluntary organizations to improve workers’ lives and toward using the government to adjust the harsh conditions of industrialization. She began to work with the Democratic politicians at Tammany Hall, who presided over communities in the city that mirrored rural towns and who exercised a form of social welfare for their voters, making sure they had jobs, food, and shelter and that wives and children had a support network if a husband and father died. In that system, the voices of women like Perkins were valuable, for their work in the immigrant wards of the city meant that they were the ones who knew what working families needed to survive.

The overwhelming unemployment, hunger, and suffering caused by the Great Depression made Perkins realize that state governments alone could not adjust the conditions of the modern world to create a safe, supportive community for ordinary people. She came to believe, as she said: “The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.”

Through her Tammany connections, Perkins met FDR, and when he asked her to be his Secretary of Labor, she told him that she wanted the federal government to provide unemployment insurance, health insurance, and old-age insurance. She later recalled: “I remember he looked so startled, and he said, ‘Well, do you think it can be done?’”

Creating federal unemployment insurance became her primary concern. Congressmen had little interest in passing such legislation. They said they worried that unemployment insurance and federal aid to dependent families would undermine a man’s willingness to work. But Perkins recognized that those displaced by the Depression had added new pressure to the idea of old-age insurance.

In Long Beach, California, Dr. Francis Townsend had looked out of his window one day to see elderly women rooting through garbage cans for food. Appalled, he came up with a plan to help the elderly and stimulate the economy at the same time. Townsend proposed that the government provide every retired person over 60 years old with $200 a month, on the condition that they spend it within 30 days, a condition designed to stimulate the economy.

Townsend’s plan was wildly popular. More than that, though, it sparked people across the country to start coming up with their own plans for protecting the elderly and the nation’s social fabric, and together, they began to change the public conversation about social welfare policies.

They spurred Congress to action. Perkins recalled that Townsend “startled the Congress of the United States because the aged have votes. The wandering boys didn’t have any votes; the evicted women and their children had very few votes. If the unemployed didn’t stay long enough in any one place, they didn’t have a vote. But the aged people lived in one place and they had votes, so every Congressman had heard from the Townsend Plan people.”

FDR put together a committee to come up with a plan to create a basic social safety net, but committee members could not make up their minds how to move forward. Perkins continued to hammer on the idea they must come up with a final plan, and finally locked the members of the committee in a room. As she recalled: “Well, we locked the door and we had a lot of talk. I laid out a couple of bottles of something or other to cheer their lagging spirits. Anyhow, we stayed in session until about 2 a.m. We then voted finally, having taken our solemn oath that this was the end; we were never going to review it again.”

By the time the bill came to a vote in Congress, it was hugely popular. The vote was 371 to 33 in the House and 77 to 6 in the Senate.

When asked to describe the origins of the Social Security Act, Perkins mused that its roots came from the very beginnings of the nation. When Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in 1835, she noted, he thought Americans were uniquely “so generous, so kind, so charitably disposed.” “Well, I don’t know anything about the times in which De Tocqueville visited America,” she said, but “I do know that at the time I came into the field of social work, these feelings were real.”

With the Social Security Act, Perkins helped to write into our laws a longstanding political impulse in America that stood in dramatic contrast to the 1920s philosophy of rugged individualism. She recognized that the ideas of community values and pooling resources to keep the economic playing field level and take care of everyone are at least as deeply seated in our political philosophy as the idea of every man for himself.

When she recalled the origins of the Social Security Act, Perkins recalled: “Of course, the Act had to be amended, and has been amended, and amended, and amended, and amended, until it has now grown into a large and important project, for which, by the way, I think the people of the United States are deeply thankful. One thing I know: Social Security is so firmly embedded in the American psychology today that no politician, no political party, no political group could possibly destroy this Act and still maintain our democratic system. It is safe. It is safe forever, and for the everlasting benefit of the people of the United States.”

—

Notes:

https://www.ssa.gov/history/35actinx.html

https://www.ssa.gov/history/perkins5.html

https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/

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***************************

Perkins was an original “good government person,” unfortunately, an increasingly rare breed. She recognized that a strong, reliable government safety net promotes personal independence and achieving full individual potential.

Perkins Homestead
Frances Perkins Homestead
Damariscotta, ME
PHOTO: Francis Perkins Center

Perkins had strong Maine ties to her ancestral homestead in Newcastle, ME. It’s near our summer home in Boothbay Harbor, ME. A few years ago, Cathy and I had a chance to tour the homestead, now owned and maintained by the Frances Perkins Center in Damariscotta, ME.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-14-22

Related posts:

  1. 🇺🇸👍🏼😇HISTORY: LABOR DAY TRIBUTE: FRANCES PERKINS, GODMOTHER OF AMERICA’S SAFETY NET! 🥇❤️ — By Professor Heather Cox Richardson
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😎👍🏼🖼🌅THE VIEW FROM MAINE: Boothbay Harbor Welcomes Foreign Workers!

 

Welcoming Workers @ Boothbay Congo
Scene from the Workers from Away gathering at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor on June 27. Courtesy photo from Boothbay Register

 

From the Boothbay Register:

https://www.boothbayregister.com/article/welcoming-workers-away/162480

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BOOTHBAY HARBOR

Welcoming workers from away

Alice Mutch

Sat, 07/02/2022 – 8:45am

Where else on the peninsula would you see in a church five young foreigners laughing and speaking in Turkish with a 96-year-old parishioner, exchanging contacts and making plans to visit again?

With love, the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor welcomed over 186 workers from away who traveled from other countries and around the USA to work in our community on June 27. This long tradition continues to “welcome strangers” and give them community support information to make their stay safer and more enjoyable.

Thirty-seven (37) of those 186 were able to get to the church to enjoy a “lunch and learn.” The remaining received gift bags from the church which were hand delivered to 149 workers by the Mission Committee.

At the “lunch meet” this shy and reticent group of 37 soon turned into an upbeat and hopeful number of workers who got to know each other and make plans to socialize together. We, the Mission Committee, learned a lot, too, about each of their homes of origin, their aspirations and fears.

There were workers from Russia, Serbia, Romania, India, Moldova, Albania, Croatia, Turkey and Montenegro as well as Texas, Maine, Washington, D.C., Silver Spring, Maryland and Kansas.

With a delicious takeaway lunch on site, they heard from our pastor, police department; Rotary and our town’s resources. They appreciated learning how to feel safe here and how to utilize our local services. Included in this event were Rotary bikes for loan with a $100 deposit.

For those who could not attend, we distributed gifts to the participating businesses’ 145 workers with gifts of information and fun food. Nearly every business that hires these folks participated and voiced their appreciation of the event.

The workers were interested in fun together in their free time and agreed to share their contact information with each other. They asked for us to arrange for a second event in September so that they might learn from each others’ experiences. One medical student asked to participate in a local community project and will be a guest at our upcoming Mission Committee meeting.

We offer a special thanks to all of the businesses which chose to participate and especially to Hannaford which donated a great deal of food.

**********************

Workers from abroad have been an essential part of the summer economy here in Boothbay Harbor for the decades we have been coming here. They enrich everyone’s experience while learning and experiencing some “real Americana!”

And, there can be little doubt why the Boothbay Region is an international,drawing card!

S/V Believe
S/V Believe
Home Port, Bradenton FL
Anchored in Linekin Bay
Captains Rick & Julie Peterson
Lewis Cove
Lewis Cove
Go Pack — Go Badgers
Go Pack! — Go Badgers!
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The Isaac H. Evans
Linekin Bay
Linekin Bay
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Boothbay Harbor from East Side — Whales Tale Pub
“Funky Dog”
“Dunky Dog”

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

97-15-22

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Opinion | Why So Many Children of Immigrants Rise to the Top – The New York Times

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/07/11/opinion/immigrants-success-america.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20220711&instance_id=66331&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=79213886&segment_id=98188&te=1&user_id=8a1f473740b253d8fa4c23b066722737

Why So Many Children of Immigrants Rise to the Top

July 11, 2022

pastedGraphic.png

By Peter Coy

Peter Coy writes about economics for Opinion.

The lack of a shared set of facts about immigration makes it easy for accusatory and often false messages to echo loudly in the run-up to the midterm elections. J.D. Vance, a leading Republican candidate for Ohio’s open Senate seat, claimed in a recent advertisement that “Joe Biden’s open border is killing Ohioans, with more illegal drugs and more Democrat voters pouring into this country.” Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona has described immigration as “full scale invasion.” Tucker Carlson of Fox News told a guest on his show in 2017: “Go to Lowell, Mass., or Lewiston, Maine, or any place where large numbers of immigrants have been moved into a poor community, and it hasn’t become richer. It’s become poorer. That’s real.”

A new book, “Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success,” by two economists, Ran Abramitzky of Stanford and Leah Boustan of Princeton, should undercut some of the fearmongering. They linked census records to pull together what they call “the first set of truly big data about immigration.”

Using the data set, Mr. Abramitzky and Ms. Boustan were able to compare the income trajectories of immigrants’ children with those of people whose parents were born in the United States. The economists found that on average, the children of immigrants were exceptionally good at moving up the economic ladder.

Immigrants and their children are assimilating into the United States as quickly now as in the past, the economists found. That’s in line with recent research into the effects of immigration. While “first-generation immigrants are more costly to governments than are the native-born,” according to a 2017 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the “second generation are among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S.”

Second-generation-immigrant success stories have long been a part of America’s history. Looking at census records from 1880, the researchers found that men whose fathers were low-income immigrants made more money as adults than the sons of low-income men born in the United States. (They focused on sons because it was harder to track women from one census to the next, since so many adopted their husbands’ names at marriage.) Because of privacy restrictions, they had access to individual data only through the 1940 census. They used other sources for subsequent years.

Mr. Abramitzky and Ms. Boustan observed the same pattern a century later. Children born around 1980 to men from Mexico, India, Brazil and almost every other country outearned the children of U.S.-born men.

“America really does have golden streets that allow immigrants to quickly make more than they could have earned at home,” they write. But, they add, “moving up the economic ladder in America — and catching up to the U.S.-born — takes time.”

Once Mr. Abramitzky and Ms. Boustan found abundant evidence of second-generation immigrants’ upward mobility, they tried to figure out why those children did so well.

They arrived at two answers. First, the children had an easy time outdoing parents whose careers were inhibited by poor language skills or a lack of professional credentials. The classic example is an immigrant doctor who winds up driving a cab in the United States.

Second, immigrants tended to settle in parts of the country experiencing strong job growth. That gave them an edge over native-born Americans who were firmly rooted in places with faltering economies. Immigrants are good at doing something difficult: leaving behind relatives, friends and the familiarity of home in search of prosperity. The economists found that native-born Americans who do what immigrants do — move toward opportunity — have children who are just as upwardly mobile as the children of immigrants.

The changing geography of immigration

European immigrants

flocked to factory jobs in

the Midwest …

Germans, Italians

and Irish people

followed millions of

U.S.-born Americans

to the West Coast.

Each dot represents

10 people

… and largely avoided the faltering economy of the rural South during the Jim Crow era.

Many Asian

immigrants joined

family members who

were already in the

United States in the

1970s and 80s.

Recent immigrants

followed job opportunities

to urban areas.

Latino immigrants

drove population growth

in the Southwest.

About 125,000 Cubans

landed in Florida during the Mariel boatlift.

Sources: Ran Abramitzky, Leah Boustan

Looking at maps of where immigrants have settled at different points in time, it’s clear that those regions were also areas of productivity and economic growth. In 1910, European immigrants went to work in the factories of the Midwest and New England. In 1980, immigrants from elsewhere in the Americas filled jobs in rapidly growing parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Florida.

If immigrants are so upwardly mobile, why doesn’t it seem that way? One reason is that there are more newcomers than there have been in decades and most haven’t had time yet to get ahead. The share of foreign-born people in the United States is back to the levels of the first two decades of the 20th century.

Share of the U.S. population that was born abroad

1850

1870

1890

1910

1930

1950

1970

1990

2010

0

5

10

15%

Ireland

Mexico

Germany

Canada

Africa

Middle East

Americas

Europe

Asia

Other

1921 Congress creates country-based immigration quotas.

1965 Congress rolls back quotas.

Sources: Ran Abramitzky, Leah Boustan

Another reason is that most immigrants are arriving well below native-born Americans socioeconomically. They are more likely, Mr. Abramitzky and Ms. Boustan found, than immigrants of the past to come from countries that are significantly poorer than the United States, including El Salvador, India and Vietnam. But it’s those immigrants who start at the bottom who ascend the most. In contrast, affluent, educated immigrants tend to be the least upwardly mobile, simply because they’re already at or near the top.

Mr. Abramitzky and Ms. Boustan dispute the argument that immigrants frequently take jobs from native-born Americans. Less skilled immigrants gravitate toward jobs for which there is relatively little competition from native-born Americans, such as picking crops, while highly skilled immigrants often create more jobs for native-born Americans by starting businesses and inventing things, they write.

The research of Mr. Abramitzky and Ms. Boustan has made headlines before, but in their new book they broaden and deepen the narrative with excerpts from diaries and oral histories of immigrants. Signe Tornbloom, 18, a daughter of hardscrabble Swedish farmers, immigrated alone in 1916 after receiving a letter that said, more or less: “Well, you’d better come over here. Everything is much better than it is at home.”

The notion that immigrants have become a permanent underclass, isolated from the American mainstream, is popular among immigration restrictionists — as well as among some pro-immigration groups that say immigrants need more help to break out of poverty. The truth is that today’s immigrants are advancing just as swiftly as those of the past. “The American dream,” Mr. Abramitzky said in an interview, “is just as alive now as it was a century ago.”

**************

Check out the full article and some really nifty graphics at the link.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

07-11-22

Related posts:

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