STEP OUT Migration

Samantha Power on Iraq

The always passionate Samantha Power, author of A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, weighs in on the Iraqi refugee crisis with this piece in Time.  Read it and weep.

NYT on the Iraqi Refugee Crisis

Here's a strong editorial on the Iraqi refugee crisis and the inadequacy of the U.S. response.  By the way, Villanova University's law school will be holding a forum on this issue in April 2008 in Washington, D.C.  More details to come soon.   

Skilled Workers on the March

Here's an interesting story about how skilled migrants are increasingly becoming politically engaged.  The article highlights a march in Washington taking place today and the formation and increasing activity of several skilled immigrant lobbying groups.  It's a sad and economically self-defeating truth that the immigration system is unnecessarily difficult to navigate even for skilled workers and the companies who employ them.  But the fact that the immigrants themselves have formed groups to address the issue illustrates a point we make in our book -- that the development of the internet has made the organization of diasporas much much easier than it was previously.  This has implications for U.S. policy, but perhaps the bigger impact occurs when organized diasporas turn their attention towards home.

Emmy Nomination for Lynn Doyle for Show on Human Trafficking

I've been meaning to mention for a few weeks now that the episode of It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle on which I appeared was recently nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy award.  See here.  Congrats to Lynn Doyle and her team for a great show and a well-deserved nomination.  The show tackled the tough topic of human trafficking.  It's an honor just to be nominated, I know, but I hope you all win.  Good luck to all.

Lost Worlds

The growing Iraqi refugee crisis not only is displacing hundreds of thousands of individuals, it also seems increasingly likely to destroy many minority cultures in Iraq.  Nina Shea tells the terrible truth in this Washington Post article. 

Surge in Iraqi Refugees

It seems a bit of a paradox, but as the military "surge" in U.S. troops in Iraq is increasingly reported as achieving successful results, the number of Iraqi refugees is also surging.  See here for a story on the situation.  

Dismal to Minimal

That's Michael Gerson's measure of recent improvements in U.S. efforts on behalf of Iraqi refugees. including those who are endangered because they helped U.S. forces.  Read it all here.

Helping those who help us

The British government recently announced, here, that it would not do anything special for the Iraqis who helped its military efforts there.  Rather, the Iraqis must follow the regular refugee processes that all asylum seekers follow to gain asylum protection in the U.K.  In practice, the U.S. Government is little better.  Earlier this year, it announced that it would admit 7,000 Iraqis as refugees before October.  But they have only admitted about 200 so far.

We all know that to be effective, an on-the-ground military effort needs people from the local community.  The locals act as interpreters and cultural brokers, helping the troops communicate with the community.  They deliver supplies to military bases.  They are contractors, cleaners and accountants.  Now they are referred to as "collaborators."  The "collaborators" are targeted by insurgents in record numbers.  They are tortured, raped and murdered.  Others are kidnapped and held for ransom, only to be murdered after the ransoms are paid.

If we want democracy to thrive in Iraq, these are exactly the people who will help make that happen -- those who have alrady risked their lives in the name of democracy.  If we do not act to save their lives today, who will risk helping us tomorrow?

Back to the Future?

Immigration law in the United States has run through three stages.  In the first stage, the absence of law was the dominant reality.  In the second stage, states began to restrict immigration by passing health and safety laws.  In the third stage -- which has now lasted a century or more -- the federal government took on the dominant role.  Are we beginning to move toward a fourth stage?  This article suggests the possibility.

First of Thousands of Refugees Arrive in Detroit

Yesterday, fourteen Iraqi refugees landed in Detriot Metro Airport to begin their lives in the United States.  The joy of their arrival was covered here by the Detriot Free Press and here by the Detroit News.  Hopefully, there will be more such stories across the county as more Iraqi refugees finally find a safe haven here.