Today the Biden administration plans to announce its response to an anticipated uptick in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border given the pending expiration of the Title 42 public health order on May 11.  

In part, the administration is planning to stand up brick-and-mortar regional immigration processing centers in Latin America where consular officers will screen migrants for legal pathways to the U.S., Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Margaret Brennan report for CBS News.  

If done right, these regional processing centers could prove a significant resource to help relieve pressure at the U.S.’s southern border and protect migrants from an unnecessarily dangerous trek north, while also preserving meaningful access to the U.S.’s legal immigration programs.  

Meanwhile, House Republicans are set to unveil their own immigration and border package, Jordain Carney reports for Politico. The proposal reportedly will combine bill language recently marked up in the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. Democrats flagged Wednesday that the latter proposal would hinder humanitarian efforts, Nicole Acevedo reports for NBC News.  

The challenges at the border are real. An enforcement-only approach that deprioritizes human dignity won't sustainably address them. And American voters want border security paired with targeted immigration reforms that ensure a legal workforce for the agricultural sector plus a pathway to citizenship for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.  

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

RELIEF FROM IMMIGRANTS — "Immigrants are powering growth in the U.S. labor force, helping ease longstanding worker shortages and a historic inflation spike," Paul Davidson begins his story in USA Today. Researchers at the state of Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) would agree, per Dee DePass of the Star Tribune: Their new study shows that regaining past immigration levels would remedy the state’s shrunken labor force. The state’s 212,000 job openings in January were more than twice the number of unemployed people.  

DECADE-LONG BACKLOGS — Some asylum seekers are now facing a decade-long wait just to receive court dates amid record levels of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, writes Elliot Spagat of the Associated Press. Immigration officials say they've been "stretched to the limit," with popular destination cities for migrants such as New York and Miami facing particularly long backlogs. "The asylum system is in dire need of reform from top to bottom," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.  

EXPEDITED RELEASE — Amid reported incidents of harm for women in detention, nearly 180 organizations signed a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection demanding expedited release for pregnant migrants, new mothers and those nursing babies, reports Salvador Rivera of Border Report. "All people deserve safe and adequate reproductive health care, including those seeking their legal right to asylum in the U.S.," said Kate Clark of Jewish Family Service of San Diego. 

ENDANGERING DREAMS — A sweeping bill that looks primed to pass the Florida Legislature would bar undocumented people from becoming lawyers in the state, reports Danielle Prieur of WMFE. "I want to represent the immigrant community how it is: hardworking, smart, able to do everything everybody can," said Karla Luzardo, a junior at the University of Central Florida who would be affected. "Even if there’s struggles and there’s walls built in front of us, I still will be able to climb them."