TASK FORCE INFORMATION:  Our next meeting will be held at 7:30pm on March 8th via Zoom.  An invitation will be sent a few days prior to the meeting.

 Please note there are several Executive Orders issued by Pres. Biden during his first week in office.  The full Orders may be found in the Federal Register.  You can access them by putting the citation “xxFRxxxx” in Google and then clicking on the cite.  Most of these Orders are less than 3 pages.

BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDERS 
>> MUSLIM BAN: Terminated on Jan 20 at  86 FR 7005    Proclamation #10141

>> REVOCATION OF CIVIL ENFORCEMENT POLICIES, Jan 20 at 86 FR 7052, Executive Order #13993.  Reinstitutes priorities in enforcement of those who pose a risk to national security, public safety and illegal entrants on and after Nov 1, 2020.  No longer will those who may be undocumented be automatically removed, but allows for discretion by ICE

>> DACA: DACA will be preserved and fortified.  No longer will DACA applicants be a priority for removal,  86 FR 7053    Jan 20.
>> TERMINATION OF EMERGENCY AT SOUTHERN BORDER, REDIRECTION OF FUNDS PREVIOUSLY DIVERTED TO BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION:  86 FR 7225  Jan 20 Doc #10142

>> ORDERS COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAW AND CAUSES FOR MIGRATION 86 FR 8267 Feb 2, Doc # 14010

>> CREATES TASK FORCE ON THE REUNIFICATION OF FAMILIES:  86 FR 8273  ORDER # 14011 FEB 2

>> REFUGEES:  On 2/4/21, President Biden issued Executive Order 14013 revoking certain past presidential actions on refugee admissions and resettlement, and directing government agencies to take steps to improve the “efficacy, integrity, security, and transparency” of the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP); to create a plan to address USRAP processing backlogs; to complete a review of the Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa programs; and to submit a report on climate change and its impact on migration, including forced migration, internal displacement, and planned relocation. SEE:  86 FR 8839   2/9/21 ”Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration”  The White House stated in a separate fact sheet that this Executive Order “will launch administrative reforms” to reach the “goal of increasing refugee admissions to 125,000 in the first full fiscal year of the Biden-Harris Administration. (commencing Oct 1, 2021)”. Where once the U.S. was a humanitarian leader in offering safe refuge globally, these processes have been badly damaged and will take time to rebuild to full and expanded strength.  
[To put this into perspective, President Obama had set the ceiling at 100,000.  President   Trump reduced that to 30,000 then to18,000 and then to 15,000 starting Oct, 2020, but  included in that number are 6,000 unused numbers from Oct, 2019]

 >>  ASYLUM:  The United States has suspended and initiated the process to terminate the Asylum Cooperative Agreements with the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In the February 2 Executive Order the President took the first step aimed at creating a comprehensive regional framework to address the causes of migration, manage migration throughout North and Central America, and provide safe and orderly processing of asylum seekers at the U.S. border, The so-called “safe third country” agreements, inked in 2019 by the Trump administration and the Central American nations, forced asylum seekers from the region to first seek refuge in those countries before applying in the United States. 
 [You may recall that the US Dept of State cautioned US citizens to refrain from traveling to those countries due to the high crime rate and kidnapping, which local police were unable to control.]

LOCAL NEWS:>> MIRA along with its partners has re-filed the Safe Communities Bill.  See:   bulletin@miracoalition.org

 >>Will calls our attention to a Podcast from the New Yorker featuring recordings of an un-represented Honduran Mom and daughter immigration court hearing on their asylum claim. He states that he  found it a clear, comprehensive depiction of how absurd and Orwellian the current system has become.  Go to https://radiopublic.com/TheNewYorkerRadioHour/s1!ff3bb
 >> Diego and Attorney Susan Church are prominently featured in a Feb 7 article in the Boston Globe, GO TO:  https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/06/nation/one-mothers-quest-captures-challenges-biden-seeks-reunite-separated-migrant-families/   If you are unable to access the story let me know and I’ll send a separate email to you.
There is a lot to digest here, so I’ll stop here.

 Stay safe,
Gerry Rovner