>>TIME SENSITIVE:  The Task Force has received an invitation from the Town Manager to send two members to participate in a three session workshop (via Zoom) “Countering Hate & Fostering Inclusion in Needham”. If you would like to represent the Task Force, please let me know as soon as possible. I must submit our names by October 30th.  PLEASE ACCESS THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR DETAILS:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Yp1lzJ2ZY9S6wbLS-knQQgACtY9g5R4/view?usp=sharing

>> Our next Task Force monthly meeting will be held on November 9th at 7:00pm via Zoom.  Please email any item you wish to have included in the agenda.

>> If you have anyone that you think would be a good speaker about an interesting topic for the monthly Task Force meeting, please contact me.  Also include whether you have heard him/her speak, and what the topic would be.

LITIGATION:

>> CNN reported on October 19 that the Supreme Court will hear challenges to Trump’s border wall funding and asylum policies.  The border wall case concerns the Trump administration’s attempts to transfer Pentagon funds to build additional barriers along the US-Mexico border. Lower courts have ruled that the administration doesn’t have the authority to transfer $2.5 billion in funds. But in a previous order, the Supreme Court allowed the construction to continue while the appeals process plays out. Similarly, the Supreme Court allowed the controversial “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy that mandates that non-Mexican asylum seekers return to Mexico until their immigration proceedings in the US to stay in effect pending appeals. The policy has been struck down by lower courts. The cases would most likely argued in February, 2021.                    (FYI:  As of October 9, the administration has completed roughly 360 miles of border   barriers, of which about 15 miles have been constructed where no barriers previously     existed, according to figures from US Customs and Border Protection.)

GOVERNMENT REPORTS:

>>The Congressional Research Service has published a Report entitled, “Immigration Detainers: Background and Recent Legal Developments”, updated October 9, 2020. CRS updated its legal sidebar on immigration detainers following the Ninth Circuit’s reversal of the injunction in Gerardo Gonzalez v. ICE. ICE can now continue its detainer policy, but must provide “prompt probable cause determination” of removability to individuals subject to a detainer.
SEE: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/LSB10375.pdf

GOVERNMENT NEWS:

>>BuzzFeed News reports   (SEE: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/ice-fast-track-deportations ) that ICE officials have started to implement a policy that allows officers to arrest and rapidly deport undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for less than two years. The Trump administration’s expansion of expedited removal was originally announced in 2019, but was swiftly blocked by a federal court judge. In June 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted the preliminary injunction, opening the doors for ICE to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants without a hearing in front of an immigration judge. According to Bloomberg Government, ( SEE: https://about.bgov.com/news/undocumented-migrants-face-fast-removals-in-renewed-trump-push/?utm  )  in an October 2 email, all ICE personnel were told that the agency would now carry out the new, expanded authority for expedited removals

>> EOIR announced the investiture of 20 new immigration judges, including three assistant chief immigration judges. The notice includes biographical information and courts of appointment. SEE:  https://www.aila.org/File/Related/20101200a.pdf    (Take a look at the background of those appointed and ask yourself whether you  felt comfortable appearing before any of them if you were seeking asylum.) 

NATIONAL NEWS:

>>Bev has sent me an interesting article from the LA Times of Nov 9, “Trump immigration restrictions expected to impact economy long after he leaves the White House”.  SEE:
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-09/trump-immigration-restrictions-will-impact-economy-long-after-he-leaves-white-house-experts-say

>>Maybe the current administration should read an article I came across published in QUARTZ in 2017 entitled “Places in the US that took in more immigrants in the 19th century still benefit economically from it”.  It is well worth reading.  SEE:  https://qz.com/989099/the-places-in-america-that-took-in-more-immigrants-in-the-19th-century-are-richer-today-because-of-it/

>>Ms. Magazine features an op-ed by Lindsay Harris, Vice Chair of AILA’s Asylum & Refugee Committee, about the Trump administration’s attacks on women asylum seekers. She calls on American women to “vote like our lives depend on it because those of our immigrant sisters … most certainly do.” SEE: https://msmagazine.com/2020/10/08/trumps-war-of-attrition-on-women-asylum-seekers/?utm_source=Recent%20Postings%20Alert&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RP%20Daily

>>BuzzFeed News reports that a senior DHS official emailed all DHS employees yesterday to tell them to report colleagues they suspected of sharing sensitive internal information, along with those who requested information that fell out of their day-to-day duties. The email was sent after “sensitive but unclassified” information had been shared with “external entities.” While the official didn’t specify that the “external entities” were media outlets, the Trump administration has repeatedly criticized leaks of internal documents and attempted to crack down on such disclosures. SEE:  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/hamedaleaziz/dhs-memo-leaks?utm                  (This reminds me of the Cultural Revolution in China back in the 1960’s and 1970’s where neighbors were required to report neighbors and family  members to the     local communist cadre about anti-government or pro western leanings.)

>>FORBES Magazine has published a wonderful piece entitled, “Immigrants, Nobel Prizes and the American Dream.  It states in part, ”Immigrants have been awarded 37% of the 100 Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine and physics since 2000 …) SEE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/10/14/immigrants-nobel-prizes-and-the-american-dream/#3a28e976372e

>> The Washington Post reports that the parents of 545 children separated at the border still haven’t been found. The 545 children are among more than 1,500 who were separated from their parents as far back as July 1, 2017, and whose cases were not immediately disclosed to the U.S. district judge who ordered the families reunited in June 2018, said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt. Some of these cases were part of an earlier pilot immigration program.  This article gives a good deal of information local press reports have left out.  SEE:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/21/family-separation-parents-border-covid/

 LOCAL REQUESTS:

>> SAVE THE DATE:  Needham Diversity Virtual Summit will be held on Sunday, Nov 15 from Noon-5:00pm via ZOOM.  This year’s theme is “Hate Has No Home Here-Beyond the Yard Signs”.  Registration is free and open to all.  More information will be forthcoming shortly.  For questions email: needhamdiversity@gmail.com

>> MISN-CASA: Thousands of the local families whose bread winners are engaged in essential services in our communities, are unable to access the safety net of stimulus, unemployment insurance and sick leave.  With the real prospect of a crisis around massive number of evictions and the possibility of closing of the economy and the need to shelter in our homes, Casa and our allies are gearing up to provide culturally appropriate food for immigrant men and women to feed their families. Casa and our allies have provided basic food stuffs to hundreds of families in the region every other week since April.  We gave up the community provided spaces relied on for storage and packing in August and took the month of September off as we reorganized.  Distribution began again to one hundred families in Milford on Saturday 10/10/20 and we continue to try to find the space we need in Framingham. Produce provided to immigrant families are approximately 40 lbs of grains, root crops and fresh organic produce every two weeks:

•       •          Dry goods: Rice, pasta, Beans (black, pinto, lentils, lima)
•       •          onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, chiles, plantains, oranges and limes
•       •          coffee, Maseca and tortillas, Manioc flour cooking oil and eggs

The effort has been possible because of an outpouring of community support from faith communities, community groups and concerned individuals.  
If you would like to receive email directly from Metrowest Immigration Solidarity Network (MISN),you can sign up at: http://eepurl.com/giAZWT. 

Stay well and safe,
Gerry Rovner