Refugee Voices

LOCAL ARAB GROUP CALLS ON SUPERVISOR ANDERSON TO APOLOGIZE FOR REMARKS LINKING CAIR TO TERRORISM

By Miriam Raftery

October 22, 2021 (San Diego) – The American Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) Committee’s San Diego Chapter has issued a press release denouncing Supervisor Joel Anderson for his statement linking the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to terrorism.

During an Oct. 7 hearing on his proposal to fund Afghan refugee resettlement costs from frozen Taliban assets and to develop a comprehensive county response plan to assist the refugees, Anderson sought to block CAIR from receiving any county funds.  “Any organization that has any affiliation with terrorism in the Middle East could have to be excluded and CAIR would be part of that group,” he said. View video


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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ENDS CASE QUOTAS FOR IMMIGRATION JUDGES IMPOSED BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: immigration court, Creative Commons image by NC-ND

October 21, 2021 (San Diego) – The U.S. Justice Department, under the Biden administration, has ended case quotas for immigration judges imposed during the Trump administration, CNN reports. 

The Trump-era performance metrics had required judges to complete 700 cases a year to receive a satisfactory rating, among other benchmarks. But that policy led to complaints from judges who argued that the quotas valued haste over due process.  


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SUPERVISORS ADOPT PLANS TO HELP AFGHAN REFUGEES

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of the Pentagon: U.S. troops help evacuate Afghan refugees

October 8, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego Supervisors voted unanimously this week to adopt a proposal by East County Supervisor Joel Anderson to have the County Office of immigrant and Refugee Affairs work with refugee resettlement agencies to assist with a wave of Afghan refugees arriving in our region. The board also approved Anderson’s plan to ask the federal government to spend part of $9.5 billion in frozen Taliban assets to pay for refugee resettlements.

In addition, Supervisors approved a proposal by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer to create an Afghan Resettlement Task Force.

With the Taliban takeover of the country, those who helped American troops as translators or in other capacities faced risk of death if they remained, as did women’s rights and human rights advocates. Many fled Afghanistan with few personal possessions.

Anderson stated, “I am thankful that my colleagues recognize the importance of this measure that will ensure San Diego County is ready to welcome these refugees into our communities.” He added that his East County district has a large population of Afghans and others with Middle Eastern heritage.”


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MORE AMERICANS FREED FROM AFGHANISTAN, ISSA’S OFFICE CONFIRMS

San Diego couple, both in their 80s, repeatedly blocked by the Taliban

East County News Service

September 15, 2021 (San Diego) - Congressman Darrell Issa (R-San Diego) announced today that his office has facilitated the release of two more American citizens from Afghanistan. The Congressman’s constituents, a couple in their 80s, are on their way home and have officially left Kabul.


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PUBLIC WEBINAR ON CALLING 9-1-1 SEPT. 9: IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES WELCOME

Source: San Diego Sheriff

September 8, 2021 (San Diego) – “We want our immigrant and refugee neighbors to know the San Diego County Sheriff's Department embraces people of all backgrounds, faiths, cultures and nationalities. We welcome you to the county. You are a valuable part of our communities,” a press release from the San Diego Sheriff states. “We understand it can be challenging to adapt to a new environment and navigate public safety services.”


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SEVERAL CAJON VALLEY STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ESCAPE AFGHANISTAN, FATE OF OTHERS UNKNOWN AFTER DEADLY ISIS ATTACKS NEAR AIRPORT

Update August 31, 2021:  One local family with three Children in the Cajon Valley district has been left behind after the U.S. troop withdrawal,  10 News supports. A district spokesperson said they are exploring ways to bring them home.  The other Cajon Valley familes have been safely evacuated and some students are now back in school. 

 

Over 104,000 civilians have been evacuated by U.S. in past 10 days; airlifts continue despite bombings as Biden vows retaliations against ISIS

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of the Pentagon: U.s. Air Force personnel help evacuate Afghan civilians at the Kabul airport on Aug. 24

August 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – After today’s deadly terrorist attacks near the Kabul airport, concerns are heightened over the fate of some Cajon Valley Union School District students and their families. Around two dozen students and their families who traveled to visit relatives became trapped in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, the district announced earlier this week.

Today, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that four of the local families have escaped and two have arrived safely in Southern California. But the whereabouts of five other local families, including 14 children, remains unknown.


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CAJON VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORTS 24 STUDENTS STRANDED IN AFGHANISTAN

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association 

Photo:  District offices in El Cajon. Photo courtesy of the district

Update August 31, 2021 - At least 6 of the familes have escaped Afghanistan and three students are back in classes, district spokesman Howard Shen told the San Diego Union-Tribune yesterday. Two other families were still awaiting evacuation at the time.

August 25, 2021 (El Cajon) - The Cajon Valley Union School District said Tuesday that as many as 24 of its students are stranded in Afghanistan and haven’t been able to make it back to the Untied States.


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FOUR WAYS TO HELP OUR AFGHAN NEIGHBORS IN SAN DIEGO

Story and photo via International Rescue Committee, San Diego

August 25, 2021 (San Diego) -- The United States has begun a humanitarian evacuation and is relocating a group of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants to San Diego. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in San Diego is working alongside communities and partners to support Afghans living in San Diego. 


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SHANE HARRIS AND LOCAL AFGHAN LEADERS AS SUPERVISORS TO ADOPT AFGHAN REFUGEE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION PLAN

East County News Service

August 25, 2021 (San Diego) – Shane Harris, a national civil rights leader and president of the People’s Association of Justice Advocates, has proposed a plan for welcoming Afghan refugees to our region. Harris was joined by local Afghan leaders yesterday at a press conference urging San Diego County Supervisors to adopt the Afghan Refugee Housing Accommodation Plan for San Diego County. The proposal comes as the U.S. has evacuated some 70,000 people thus far amid the U.S. troop pullout and Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.


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LAWYERS CLUB URGES U.S. ASSISTANCE FOR AFGHAN WOMEN

Source: Lawyer’s Club

Photo: Creative Commons image-SA via Bing

August 24, 2021 (San Diego) – Lawyers Club of San Diego is calling on Congress to provide immediate support for Afghan women and others who have worked to advance democracy and human rights and who are in grave danger as the United States withdraws its military operations from Afghanistan and the Taliban takes control.


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BIDEN ASKS SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK ORDER TO REINSTATE `REMAIN IN MEXICO’ POLICY FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

By Miriam Raftery

August 20, 2021 (San Diego) – The Biden administration today filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting the high court to block a Texas judge’s order to reinstate the controversial Migrant Protection Program (MPP). Reuters reports.  The program was ordered via an executive ordered issued by former President Donald Trump in early 2019 and required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting the outcome of their asylum cases in U.S. courts.

The Biden administration discontinued the policy, but U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, last week found that the Biden administration violated procedural laws and acted “arbitrarily” by failing to consider some benefits of the program.  However, Kacsmaryk stayed his decision for a week to allow the Biden administration to appeal.


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AS TALIBAN SEIZES CONTROL IN AFGHANISTAN AMID U.S. PULLOUT, CONCERNS GROW FOR EVACUATING AFGHAN ALLIES AND U.S. CITIZENS

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Boeing C-17 carrying 640 passengers out of Afghanistan, via Air Mobility Command 

August 20, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego Congressional members and residents with ties to Afghanistan are voicing concerns over the Biden administration’s actions in the wake of a rapid Taliban takeover in Afghanistan following pullout of most U.S. troops.  Chief among the concerns is how to provide safe evacuation of thousands of Afghans who aided American troops, as well as their families, in addition to U.S. citizens, nonprofit workers, journalists and others still in Afghanistan and at risk of losing their lives to vengeful Taliban forces.


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SURGE IN BRAZILIAN MIGRANTS AT SAN DIEGO BORDER

By Miriam Raftery

August 6, 2021 (San Diego) – The U.S. Border Patrol reports an unprecedented wave of Brazilian nationals apprehended along the San Diego-Mexico border. Since Oct. 1, 2020, agents have apprehended over 7,300 Brazilian migrants – up from 330 for the entire fiscal year 2020.  Every month since April of 2021, over 1,000 Brazilian nationals entered the U.S. across the Mexican border in the San Diego area – a staggering increase of more than 114,000%  from the same timeframe in FY20, where SDC had just six total apprehensions of Brazilian nationals. 


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SAN DIEGO IRAQIS HOLD PROTEST TO END IMPUNITY IN IRAQ: WILL IT GET BIDEN’S ATTENTION BEFORE VISIT WITH AL-KADHIMI?

By Briana Gomez

Photo:  Othman Al-Kusairy (far left) and Sally Bachori (middle left), Ahmed (to the right of Sally) and Sam (far right) stand with other Iraqi organizers and signs in memory of lives lost

July 23, 2021 (San Diego) -- A group of Iraqi organizers held a protest in Balboa Park last Sunday. The group calls itself “End Impunity in Iraq” and is calling for accountability.


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U.S. TO STOP DETAINING PREGNANT OR NURSNG IMMIGRANTS, EXCEPT IN EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES

By Miriam Raftery

July 10, 2021 (San Diego) – A Trump-era executive order that required detention of pregnant undocumented immigrants has been blamed for putting lives of women and babies at risk, with many women suffering miscarriages in detention centers. On July 1, Tae Johnson, acting director of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a statement reversing that policy in nearly all situations.

The rule goes farther than the Obama administration policy that limited detention of pregnant migrants.  The Biden administration directive also bans most detentions of nursing mothers and mothers with infants under one year of age, to allow bonding with newborns. Now, most women awaiting outcomes of immigration or asylum cases will be released.

An exception is provided, however, for anyone required under U.S. laws to be detained, such as foreign nationals convicted of terrorist acts or certain other serious crimes. In such cases, a pregnant or nursing woman detained would be required to receive adequate medical care.  The new directive also prohibits restrains in most cases, including banning the shackling of pregnant women while in labor, an action that has drawn international outcry.


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DEPORTED VETERANS TO GET A PATHWAY HOME: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PLAN TO BRING MILITARY VETS BACK TO U.S.

East County News Service

July 2, 2021 (San Diego) -- The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs today jointly announced an interagency initiative to bring home the untold numbers of veterans who, over the past 25 years, were unjustly deported and banished from the United States despite being promised citizenship opportunities in exchange for military service as noncitizens. The Biden administration further pledged to ensure that soldiers serving our nation can obtain their promised naturalization. 

Since 2015, the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties have partnered with the Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana to urge the return to the U.S. of deported veterans, an end to the deportation of veterans, and improved access to military naturalization.  


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HARRIS VISITS GUATEMALA, MEXICO IN FIRST FOREIGN TRIP AS U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Source:  Voice of America

Photo:  Photo: Vice President Kamala Harris in Guatemala City, via her Twitter feed

June 28, 2021 (Guatemala/Mexico) - The United States is set to announce Monday new measures to fight drug smuggling and trafficking as Vice President Kamala Harris meets with leaders in Guatemala to discuss migration and security issues. 


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WORLD REFUGEE DAY JUNE 20 ASPIRES TO HONOR AND HELP REFUGEES

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons by SA-NC via Bing

June 13, 2021 (San Diego) – June 20th is World Refugee Day, celebrating the strength and courage of refugees. The event honors refugees around the globe and commemorates the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Refugees are people who are forced to flee their homelands to escape dangerous conditions such as war, persecution or natural disasters. 


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BIDEN RAISES CAPS ON REFUGEE ADMISSIONS; SAN DIEGO REFUGEE ADVOCATES VOICE RELIEF AT DECISION

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons image of refugee children via Bing

May 9, 2021 (San Diego) – President Joe Biden announced Monday that the U.S. will raise the cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 for this fiscal year – up from a historic low of 15,000 under the Trump administration “which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” President Biden said. 


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BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ON TRACK TO ADMIT LOWEST NUMBER OF REFUGEES IN U.S. HISTORY, DRAWS CRITICISMS OVER LAG IN REPEALING TRUMP RESTRICTIONS

By Miriam Raftery
 
April 12, 2021 (Washington D.C.) – President Joe Biden announced plans on his first day in office to expand the number of refugees eligible for resettlement in the U.S. and rebuild refugee programs decimated under the Trump administration. He announced plans to raise the annual refugee cap from Trump’s 15,000, the lowest on record. But so far, Biden has not signed a presidential determination for that order to take effect.  

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SAN DIEGO SHELTERING NEW MIGRANTS AT CONVENTION CENTER, LOCAL HOTELS AMID BORDER SURGE

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  CC via Bing

March 23, 2021 (San Diego) - City and county officials announced Monday that the San Diego Convention Center will be used for three months to temporarily house unaccompanied immigrant minors amid a surge along the border.


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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN

 

UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN, by Emmanuel Acho (Flatiron Books, New York, NY, 2020, 244 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 28, 2021 (San Diego) - Emmanuel Acho believes the only way to cure our nation’s oldest disease – racism – starts with a profound, revolutionary idea: actually talking to one another. No, seriously. Until it gets uncomfortable … and then some!

In Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, “An Oprah Book”, Acho connects his own experience with race and racism – including his majority – white prep school education juxtaposed with his time in majority – black NFL locker rooms – with the lessons of history, culture, and the wisdom of other voices. The result is an essential guide to the conversations we should all be having to increase our understanding and join the anti-racist fight.


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BIDEN ALLOWS ASYLUM SEEKERS IN MEXICO TO ENTER U.S. PENDING HEARINGS, BUT MOST WILL STILL FACE WAITS BEFORE ADMISSION

By Miriam Raftery
 
Photo: Asylum seekers encampment; CC by NC
 
February 14, 2021 (Washington D.C.) – President Joe Biden has issued an executive order to reverse former President Donald Trump’s “wait in Mexico”  policy, an action that endangered the safety of migrants encamped in unsanitary conditions and in some cases, preyed upon by thieves, traffickers and other criminals. The policy also made it hard for asylum-seekers to find lawyers or even to learn when their asylum hearings in U.S. courts were scheduled. 

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PRIVATE IMMIGRATION PRISONS NOT INCLUDED IN BIDEN BAN

By Eric Tegethoff, Public News Service

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Otay Mesa Detention Center, where immigrants and refugees are housed

January 28, 2021 (Tacoma, Wash.) -- President Joe Biden signed an executive order this week ending the federal use of private prisons, but the order does not include privately run immigration facilities, like the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and the Otay Mesa Detention Center San Diego County.


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ART PROTEST AGAINST ICE: MOVING IMAGES OF CHILDREN AND OTHER MIGRANTS WHO DIED IN U.S. CUSTODY

Writer/Photographer Briana Gomez
 
“I think that we’ve experienced here locally deaths of children– father, daughter; we’ve had similar issues,” said Martha Sullivan, organizer.
 
November 1, 2020 (San Diego) -- An art protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol took place Wednesday in downtown San Diego. The protest, held on Mexico’s Day of the Day, aimed to draw attention to deaths of immigrants in U.S. custody. Tensions have risen locally after the death of a Mexican citizen at the San Ysidro Border last week.
 
At least 21 people died in ICE custody in the fiscal year ending July 30, nearly double the deaths in fiscal 2019, CNN reported last month.

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SAN DIEGO ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITY COALITION HELD COMMUNITY FORUM; DISCUSSED COVID-19, BLACK LIVES, AND MISSING CENSUS CATEGORY

By Briana Gomez

October 31, 2020 (San Diego) -- The San Diego Arab and Muslim Community Coalition recently held its fourth biennial Community Forum last week. This year’s forum took place in the unprecedented zoom fashion due to COVID-19 and public health concerns.

The Coalition is comprised of 16 local organizations that deal directly with the Arab and Muslim communities (which sometimes overlap). Many of these organizations also deal with other social justice issues and are inclusive of other non-Arab, Middle Eastern minorities such as Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Kurds who have large populations in the East County suburbs.

The forum was attended by various prominent community members, including representatives of elected officials and local figures.


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SAN DIEGO NONPROFIT LEADS SUIT CHALLENGING TRUMP'S 'REMAIN IN MEXICO' REFUGEE POLICY

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Asylum seekers gather in Tijuana in 2018. Photo by Chris Stone

October 28, 2020 (San Diego) - Jewish Family Service of San Diego is leading a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s controversial “remain in Mexico” policy to keep asylum seekers out of the United States.


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JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO FULLY EXTEND CENSUS COUNTING TIME

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  a sign encouraging residents to participate in the 2020 census hangs from the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

September 6, 2020 (San Diego) - Los Angeles and a coalition of other local governments and civil rights organizations have secured a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its decision to cut the timeline for the 2020 U.S. Census.


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ARAB AMERICANS ARE AN INVISIBLE ETHNIC GROUP WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTH CARE DISPARITIES

By Raed Al-Naser, MD

Dr. Al-Naser is President, San Diego Chapter, National Arab American Medical Association. He is also a pulmonary and critical care physician practicing in San Diego’s East County.

July 31, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) -- Race and ethnicity are becoming forefront conversations in our media, academic debates, and daily life discussions here in the United States. Each of us has an identity that defines how we see ourselves and others. Arab Americans are a historically understudied minority group in the U.S. and their health needs and risks have been poorly documented. As a physician and healthcare provider who belongs to this group, I see that Arab American identity is largely absent from national and academic conversations about race and ethnicity especially when it comes to health care disparities. The emergence of COVID-19 as a pandemic and public health crisis has exposed this reality and made it more visible and undeniable. 


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SYRIAN FAMILY STRUGGLES TO COPE WITH COVID-19

By Kendra Sitton

Photo by Henri Migala:  Asim Al-Abdullah worries about his family’s future
 
July 30, 2020 (El Cajon) - Everyone faces different struggles during the pandemic, such as health, financial or isolation. For a Syrian family of seven living in El Cajon, their primary struggle is psychological. 

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