Fatima Jaghoori, a former U.S. Army medical sergeant and current university student, has been working to bring her family and other Afghans to the U.S. since 2021. Jaghoori and fellow Afghanistan veteran and Manhattan Housing Authority Executive Director Aaron Estabrook began reaching out to local agencies about resettlement and were overwhelmed at the response.  

MART has since built a network of support: English classes at the local Islamic Center. Real estate agents and university officials securing long-term housing. Cooking supplies provided by local Farm and Food Council. Any community member can donate or access volunteer opportunities at the group’s website.  

"I genuinely thought "It’s a good definition of the Midwest, and a good definition of how welcoming Kansas is and Kansans are," said Jaghoori. "When it comes to conflict, they’re gung-freaking-ho about helping others." 

Meanwhile, this past week in local welcome:  

And finally, "The Covenant" opens in theaters today. A "love letter to Afghan interpreters," the film depicts the difficulties and dangers they faced as they aided U.S. troops, Blake Stilwell writes for Military.com. 

Eid Mubarak to those celebrating, and welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and today’s great Forum Daily team also includes Joanna Taylor, Clara Villatoro and Thea Holcomb. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].     

A special thank-you today to Joanna for coming back and helping over the past couple of weeks. Joanna, we wish you all the best at your new permanent gig!

PREPARATIONS — Next week, the Biden administration will announce plans tied to the expected May 11 end of Title 42 and a likely increase in migrant encounters, Nick Miroff of The Washington Post reports. A couple of reminders: Title 42 was not utilized at the border until the pandemic, and there are myriad solutions that don’t go all-in on enforcement and deterrence at the expense of migrants’ human dignity and, in some cases, legitimate asylum claims. 

GOP BILL ADVANCES — A proposed bill that would severely restrict asylum and infringe on other legal immigration pathways has cleared the House Judiciary Committee, Anna Giaritelli reports in the Washington Examiner. The Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023 now moves to the House floor, where it faces opposition among some Republicans as well as from Democrats.  

LOOKING AHEAD — As 2024 presidential hopefuls begin announcing their candidacies, they should go beyond reactive immigration plans and champion big-picture strategies, immigration expert Chris Richardson writes in an op-ed for The Hill. "[W]e are effectively shoehorning a 1990 immigration system onto 2023 America," Richardson writes. "Democrats and Republicans may take different stances on immigration policies, but one thing they agree on is that reform is long overdue." 

‘HUGS NOT WALLS’ — Families will hold the 10th annual "Hugs Not Walls" event along the Rio Grande with a Mother’s Day theme just days before Title 42 ends, writes Julian Resendiz of Border Report. "We try to bring light to this dramatic situation in which children grow up here while their parents are not able to come over from Juarez. This is a consequence of an often-irrational immigration system," said Border Network of Human Rights’ Fernando Garcia.  

Thanks for reading,  

Dan