Immigrants are essential to population growth in the U.S., and larger counties are among those reaping the benefits, a team at The New York Times reports. 

Immigration nearly tripled in the U.S.’s 20 most populous counties from 2021 to 2022, returning to pre-pandemic levels nationally, according to the latest Census Bureau data.  

San Diego, Miami-Dade County and King County in Washington (home to Seattle) are large counties in which immigration was the reason the population increased. In other large counties, immigration helped stem declines. 

Another key finding: Deaths outnumbered births in 75% of U.S. counties last year. In the words of University of New Hampshire demographer Kenneth Johnson, "If places are going to grow, it’s immigration that helps."  

The Forum has written before on why immigration is so important as America’s population grows older on average and fertility rates remain generally low. 

Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez, Clara Villatoro and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].  

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REDUX — Charles R. Davis of Insider has more on Florida evangelical pastors’ concerns regarding state legislation supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R). "As followers of Christ, we are living out our faith most clearly when we answer the call to care for those in need: widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor," Jody Ray, a pastor at Chets Creek Church in Jacksonville. "Any law that would hinder our ability to carry out our calling to care for anyone in need would be a violation of our religious freedom." For more, read WLRN editor Tim Padgett’s op-ed for the Miami Herald.  

NORTHERN BORDER DEATHS — The bodies of eight migrants, including a child, were found in the St. Lawrence River along the U.S.-Canada border on Thursday, reports Dan Bilefsky of The New York Times. The migrants were Romanian and Indian nationals, authorities say. "This shows that people are desperate and that Canada and the United States need to do more to review the immigration processes in place," said Abram Benedict, the Grand Chief for the Indigenous territory in Quebec where the tragedy occurred. 

VIRTUAL WALL, REAL SURVEILLANCE — A new map published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights the location of hundreds of surveillance towers along the southern border, Hilary Beaumont of The Guardian reports. CBP will focus most of its surveillance tower expansion on the border near the El Paso port of entry, per the EFF. Fernando García, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, said funds should be allocated for additional welcome centers and resources for processing asylum claims rather than more border surveillance. 

UKRAINIANS — More than 280,000 Ukrainians have fled their war-torn country and entered the U.S. via the Uniting for Ukraine program, with many private sponsorships working well. But some Ukrainians have become homeless after sponsors disappeared or otherwise didn’t work out, Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura reports in The New York Times. Separately, as Women’s History Month concluded, our president and CEO, Jennie, reflected on key lessons she learned last year while serving displaced Ukrainian women.

Thanks for reading,

Dan