TASK FORCE INFORMATION:

 >>ABBREVIATIONS:  From time to time I receive requests to explain an abbreviation that appears in From the Chair. I am currently working on the list which you will be able to find on our website, info@immigrationneedham.org   If you have a question about any other abbreviation let me know.

 >>Our next meeting will be held on January 11, 2021 at 7:30pm.  Please email me any item you wish to have an item added to the agenda.
The Zoom Link for the meeting is:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89089148069?pwd=dUZLY2tjRHRHNUdySW5BWnd5T1FjQT09

LEGISLATION:  
>>CARES ACT UPDATE: A MUST READ  VOX reports that US citizen spouses and children of undocumented immigrants will finally get stimulus checks under the CARES ACT signed into law by the president on Sunday night, Dec 27 . US Citizens and green card holders who filed a joint federal tax return with an undocumented spouse will now be eligible to receive a $600 check as well as $600 for each dependent child.  DACA recipients are also covered.  Third,  households with at least one family member who has a social security number will retroactively receive checks up to $1,200.00 under the previous round of stimulus relief.  SEE: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/12/28/22202728/mixed-status-immigrant-eligible-stimulus-checks-covid-19-relief

>>For another version of the benefits see: https://mailchi.mp/miracoalition/supporting-daca-applicants-3239838?e=f201471685 provided by MIRA.

LITIGATION:  Not good news:  Courthouse News reports that the 9th Circuit ruled Trump can ban immigrants without health insurance.  SEE: https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-rules-trump-can-ban-immigrants-without-health-insurance/?utm

NATIONAL NEWS:
>> Virginia becomes the 15th state to allow undocumented foreign nationals to apply for drivers licenses, reports the Washington Post.  SEE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/driver-licenses-undocumented-immigrants-virginia/2020/12/28/b55a075a-43c2-11eb-975c-d17b8815a66d_story.html

>>On Dec 29,m 2020, The Tucson (AZ) Sentinel   recently published an informative article entitled, “As asylum seekers push Biden for help, fresh DHS regulations complicate system”.  SEE:  http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/122920_asylum_changes/as-asylum-seekers-push-biden-help-fresh-dhs-regulations-complicate-system/?utm_

>>Bloomberg Law reports that President-Elect Biden’s pick to lead DHS faces a delicate balancing act between immigration advocates calling for an overhaul of deportation policy and law enforcement groups that favor strong borders. Biden’s planned nominee, Alejandro Mayorkas, is a former prosecutor backed by the country’s largest police union. As deputy DHS secretary under President Obama, he helped conceive and carry out the DACA program. Jorge Lowree, Policy Director of the American Immigration Council, said, “[DHS is] going to have to balance repairing as much of the damage that has been caused to the system as possible over the last four years, while also working to achieve progress on the other side.” In a recent op-ed, AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson wrote that Mayorkas “understands the transformative power of America’s immigration system.” 

LOCAL NEWS:  Needham’s Celebration and Observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
 Monday, January 18, 2021 On Zoom   10:00 AM– 11:30 AM. Zoom Link will open at 9:45 AM
 Free Registration At:   https://www.eventbrite.com/e/needham-2021-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-day-celebration-tickets-133610840621
 For more information visit www.NeedhamDiversity.org

Stay safe

Gerry Rovner