Our NEXT MEETING is 7:15 PM, Monday, January 13th at the Congregational Church, 1180 Great Plain Ave ( across from the Post Office).  Plenty of free parking in the rear of the church.  We have a short agenda (copy attached)

LEGAL UPDATE:

The Second Circuit denied the government’s motion to stay the nationwide preliminary injunction issued by the Southern District Court of New York enjoining and restraining DHS and USCIS from “enforcing, applying, or treating as effective” the DHS public charge final rule. The court set an expedited briefing schedule with the last brief due by February 14, 2020, and with oral arguments to be scheduled “promptly after.”

IN THE COMMUNITY

CONTINUING WEDNESDAY WITNESS:    WHERE?:  First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Parlor Room (downstairs, past the double doors, the first room on the left), 23 Dedham Avenue, Needham, MA  02494. Plenty of parking spaces are available, behind the church, in the Great Plain Ave. CVS parking lot.]  WHEN?  Continuing on Wednesdays, continuing Jan. 15 through April, 29, 2020 (except Feb. 19 & April 22), we gather indoors for postcard writing to federal, state and local government officials and legislators.)
 
JANUARY 24, 2020 **Take Action**  Please attend…
New Hearing Date:  Friday, Jan. 24, 2020 @ 11:00 a.m.
Support the SAFE COMMUNITIES ACT   Please call your MA Representative and Senator(s)to support the Safe Communities Act.  Click here to send emails to your MA State Legislator(s).   The Safe Communities Act hearing is scheduled for Fri., Jan. 24, 2020, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Gardiner Auditorium at the MA State House, 24 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02133
JANUARY 26, 2020: “I Am Every Migrant Child: Reflections of a World War II Orphan” On Sunday, January 26, 2019 at 3:00 PM at Temple Beth Shalom, 670 Highland Avenue in Needham, author, survivor, and renowned speaker, Sylvia Gutmann will share her story as a migrant child and how that experience resonates today. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by Temple Beth Shalom Tzedek, the Needham League of Women Voters, the Needham Area Immigration Justice Task Force, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC).
JANUARY 30:The Trustees of the Needham Free Public Library, the Needham Diversity Initiative and the Needham Human Rights Committee are holding a Diversity and Discussion Book Club Meeting on January 30th at 7:30PM at the Library.  The discussion will be based upon the book We are Here to Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults by Susan Kuklin.  The book is available as an ebook or may be obtained thru an inter-library loan request.  For further information contact Anna Giraldo-Kerr, a Trustee of the Needham Free Public Library(Anna.giraldokerr@gmail.com)

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Asylum processing issues continue to multiply:  Reuters reports on DHS’s announcement that it is expanding the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) to the Nogales, Arizona, port of entry. According to CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remain-in-mexico-some-migrants-returned-to-mexico-will-have-to-travel-340-miles-for-us-court-hearings/?utm under the expansion, some asylum seekers returned to Mexico will have to travel more than 340 miles by car to attend hearings in an American immigration court..WNYC reports on the violence faced by asylum seekers subjected to the MPP (return to Mexico) program while they wait in Mexico, including cases of kidnapping, rape, murder, and torture.
On January 6, 2020, Forbes Magazine published a very interesting 5 page article entitled, The Outlook on Immigration in 2020, that is well worth reading.  SEE:https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/01/06/the-outlook-on-immigration-in-2020/#723eafe63abd 
On January 7th, CNN reported that the Trump administration will start collecting DNA samples from more migrants in custody as part of a pilot program co-signed by the departments of Homeland Security and Justice. Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement began testing migrants along the US-Mexico border to determine if they were telling the truth about alleged family relationships. Under the new program, anyone between the ages of 14 and 79 who is arrested and processed could be required to provide DNA samples. The program also requires such data be entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, also known as CODIS. This database compares DNA information from across the country to try to link crimes to known offenders. The new program is likely to get lots of criticism from immigration rights advocates.  SEE:  https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/politics/dna-samples-migrants-trump-administration/index.html?utm_source=CNN+Five+Things&utm_campaign=06ac226bdf-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_07_02_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da287d761-06ac226bdf-94610557. 
 
TRAC has reported that the number of asylum cases adjudicated by Immigration Judges has skyrocketed in Fiscal Year 2019.  At the same time 69% of those seeking asylum were denied.  The wait time for a hearing has also increased to almost 4 years.  Those without attorney represention were adjudicated faster that those represented, but those without  representation were approved in only 16% of cases; those with representation were approved in 33% of cases.  For the full article, SEE:  https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/588/?utm_source=Recent%20Postings%20Alert&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RP%20Daily  (TRAC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit data research center affiliated with the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Whitman School of Management both at Syracuse University.)  
 
The current leadership, as of January 8, 2020,  of senior Cabinet Officers is attached below.  Use this list to send comments about immigration issues that are of concern  to you.  The addresses were previously posted on our website, https://www.immigrationneedham.org
See you on Monday!
Gerry Rovner