Violence Erupts at Kabul Airport as Afghans Try to Flee Taliban

On Monday, five people died at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. US troops shot and killed two armed men, and three Afghans died as they held onto the outside of a departing jet. On Sunday, the Taliban took over Kabul, and Afghanistan’s President, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country. Afghan civilians – including many who worked with the US government – surrounded the airport on Monday, seeking to flee. CNN reports that evacuation flights for Afghans who worked with the US government are delayed due to chaos at the airport.

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‘No More Refugees’ Is Not The Answer To Afghanistan’s Displacement Crisis

Since NATO and the United States accelerated troop withdrawals from Afghanistan earlier this year, the Taliban have shocked the world with the pace at which they are regaining control of territory. Across the border in Pakistan, there is growing concern that the resurgence of the Taliban will push Afghans to flee. Pakistan, which already hosts about 1.4 million registered refugees and hundreds of thousands more who have fled their homes, does not intend to welcome Afghan refugees. The Prime Minister of Pakistan recently said no more Afghan refugees would be permitted to enter the country, and the Pakistan Interior Minister said any Afghan refugees who arrived would be confined to camps and not permitted in cities. The language used to describe Afghan refugees in Pakistan is “eerily similar” to the language used to describe Afghan refugees fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, writes Muhammad Hamid Zaman, co-founder of Boston University’s Initiative on Forced Displacement, in this article. Afghans “are vilified in private and in public. On television, in print, and on social media, the discussion is largely devoid of humanity,” he explains. He adds that Pakistan’s insistence on not allowing any Afghans to enter will only “create misery for innocent victims of conflict.” The author calls on Pakistan “to create a better model [to respond to Afghan refugees] that is inclusive, humane, and innovative.” The model includes recognizing refugee crises are different from disasters and are often protracted events that require not only short-term solutions but also mid-to-long-term strategies. Second, the author calls on Pakistan to “incentivise its research institutions and citizens to create innovative social, financial, and technological solutions to help meet healthcare needs.”

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NY’s Undocumented Saw Better Access to Healthcare, Education and Wealth in Last Decade, New Data Finds

Since 2013, CMS’s Democratizing Data Initiative has analyzed data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) to develop estimates on the size and characteristics of the undocumented and eligible-to-naturalize populations in the United States at the national, state, and sub-state levels. The initiative makes this information directly available to a wide cross-section of users at data.cmsny.org. The CMS analysis of ACS data found the country’s undocumented population in the United States has been shrinking over time, dropping 12 percent from 11.73 million in 2010 to 10.34 million in 2019, while New York saw relatively even larger drops. In New York State, the undocumented population fell 30 percent from 916,611 in 2010 to 641,683 in 2019, and similarly in New York City fell 34.2 percent from 685,734 to 450,864 in the same time period. Nationally, the percentage of undocumented immigrants living below the poverty level decreased from 28.5 percent in 2010 to 19.6 percent in 2019. The undocumented population in New York State and New York City fared slightly better than the national average, with 16.1 percent of undocumented immigrants in New York State and 17.1 percent of undocumented immigrants in New York City living below the poverty threshold. The undocumented community has a higher percentage living in poverty than the native-born, the naturalized, and the lawful permanent resident (LPR) populations.

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VISIT CMS’s DEMOCRATIZING DATA MAPPING TOOLS

READ | What You Should Know About the US Undocumented and Eligible-to-Naturalize Populations

Fading Beacon: The US May Never Regain Its Dominance as a Destination for International Students. Here’s Why That Matters.

American education has long been a brilliant beacon to foreign national students, but according to this article, “the pandemic, visa restrictions, rising tuition, and a perception of poor safety in America have driven new international student enrollment down by a jaw-dropping 72 percent” in 2020. However, the trend began before 2016 and accelerated under the Trump administration. In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic shut US borders and led to a historic low in new enrollments. Internationally, the United States is viewed as having a poor response to the pandemic. In addition, in some areas of the United States, there was a rise in anti-Asian racism and gun violence. As a result, the United States is ceding its leadership in international education, and degrees from US higher education institutions do not carry as much weight as they once did. International students are concerned about safety and are shifting their focus to colleges and universities around the globe – not just United States. Emily Dobson, a school counselor in Brazil, said of the United States, “We’re not seeing the future we used to see here. . . . The American Dream idea. . . is being questioned more.” International students often pay full tuition at US colleges and universities, and their absence leaves a gap in the budget of many higher education institutions.

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Catholic Agency Says Death of Migrant in English Channel ‘Tragic And Avoidable’

Sarah Teather, the director of Jesuit Refugee Service UK, called on the United Kingdom to improve its asylum system and prevent the deaths of asylum seekers attempting to enter the country. Her statement responded to the death of an unidentified asylum seeker and the rescue of 40 other people who were attempting to cross the English Channel from a sinking boat off the coast of France. The man died of cardiac arrest. The previous day, 100 asylum seekers were rescued from small boats attempting to cross the Channel from France. More than 8,000 asylum seekers crossed the Channel in 2020. In an effort to dissuade asylum-seekers, the United Kingdom proposed making it a crime to “knowingly” arrive in the United Kingdom without permission. Human rights advocates claim that such a law would prevent asylum seekers who arrive by boats from receiving a fair hearing for their asylum claims. Referring to the unidentified man’s death and to the proposed law to criminalize certain asylum seekers, Teather said, “This tragic and avoidable loss of life must never be allowed to happen again. We urgently need a human-centered approach to those seeking sanctuary, with safe and compassionate routes to safety.”

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The Law That Broke US Immigration

The 1996 immigration law signed by President Bill Clinton drastically changed US immigration policy in an unintended way. Through its increased funding for immigration enforcement, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) was supposed to stop undocumented immigration. “Instead, it did the opposite,” this article explains. It was easier to obtain legal status before the law was passed, because there were fewer deportable offenses, and undocumented immigrants could apply for status without leaving the country. Before IIRIRA, people would cross the border to perform agricultural work and then cross back over the border when they were finished. After IIRIRA, more immigrants started remaining in the United States. IIRIRA’s creation of the three- and ten-year bars for unlawful presence prohibited people from obtaining lawful status for either three years (if they spent more than 6-months undocumented in the United States) or ten years (if they spent more than 1-year undocumented in the United States). Having to wait outside the United States for the three- and ten-year bars encouraged undocumented people to remain in the United States and not apply for status. IIRIRA did not change the reasons why migrants come to the United States. Instead, it contributed to undocumented people remaining in the United States.

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Canada Vows to Resettle 20,000 Refugees from Afghanistan, as Taliban Sweep Country

In response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, Canada announced it will expand its refugee program to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees. Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said Canada will resettle “Women leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, persecuted minorities, LGBTQI members, and family of previously resettled interpreters.” The expanded category of refugees is in addition to Afghan nationals who worked for Canada during the war. Mendicino said, “Canada will do right by those who did right by us. . . As the Taliban continues to take over more of Afghanistan, many more Afghans are under increasing threat.”

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Venezuelan Migrants Flee Homeland, Find New Home in Central Florida

Jose Gamboa is a Venezuelan refugee who resettled in Central Florida. He is just one of the 5.6 million Venezuelans who have fled the political and socio-economic crisis in his home country since 2015. About 100,000 of those refugees resettled in Central Florida. Gamboa’s parents and siblings still live in Venezuela. “My mom had to get a surgery. If I wasn’t here to be able to send the money to be able to pay for that surgery who knows what would’ve happened to her,” Gamboa said. He adds that it has been difficult on his own in the United States, but he sends his family “food, non-perishable supplies; things that they need to get in communication.” He realizes that his family must live a different reality than he lives in the United States. Unlike him, they wait in line for food and have little to no access to medicine and medical treatment. When he realized that there would not be a future for him in Venezuela, Gamboa fled the country. Nevertheless, he has hope that one day he will be able to return to Venezuela. “I do have faith that better times will come. I can’t promise or tell that it will be tomorrow or next year or in the next ten years; we’ve seen places like Cuba that have been in a dictatorship for over 60 years but I do have faith that my people will endure just like we’ve done in the past and that our country will be better,” Gamboa said.

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