Daily apprehensions at the border already have increased dramatically, surpassing 10,000 on both Monday and Tuesday, Michael Roy Blake and Ted Hesson report for Reuters. Yet in El Paso, one of the cities with heightened arrivals, some promising developments have emerged, Daniel Borunda and Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times report for the USA Today Network.  

Earlier this week, Border Patrol agents successfully urged migrants to turn themselves in proactively for processing instead of hiding from authorities. Thousands of people had been sleeping in alleys and on sidewalks Monday. But by Wednesday, that number had dropped precipitously to around 135.  

In a new resource, we address why asylum seekers can’t just apply in countries along the way, as the rule the Biden administration finalized yesterday would require. Meanwhile, in Congress, a growing list of lawmakers — including a few Democrats — are supporting a bill that resembles Title 42 (but is more extreme), Al Weaver and Rafael Bernal report in The Hill. And the House is expected to vote on a restrictive border security bill later today.

None of these are the solutions we need. Challenges at our border are in part a result of deter-and-enforce-only policies. More deterrence and enforcement will not keep people in desperate situations from trying to reach the U.S., nor will it stop smugglers and cartels from selling misinformation. And, as Jennie said yesterday, "Americans still want border and immigration solutions and to welcome people seeking refuge."  

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, Sam Benson, Keylla Ortega and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

MEXICO’S KEY ROLE — Mexican law enforcement will be sent to migration routes into Mexico, adding to existing efforts to reduce illegal immigration into the U.S, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. "Mexico's crackdown on migrants illustrates that country's increasingly crucial role in the Biden administration's border management strategy," Montoya-Galvez writes. In the Christian Science Monitor, Whitney Eulich writes that in the wake of Title 42, communities in northern Mexico "have leaned into flexibility to face the changing populations in their towns and cities and had to rethink the rights of migrants — and their role towards and obligations to them." 

MORE SUPPORT — New York City is suspending key protections for families as its promise of shelter for all clashes with heightened demand from migrant newcomers, Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Andy Newman report for The New York Times. Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams, appealed for more support from the federal and state governments. Similar reports are emerging from other cities. It will take a village — and active collaboration across the country — to respond to migrants and asylum seekers humanely. 

FLORIDA — Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the state's sweeping immigration bill into law Wednesday, and Brandon Girod breaks it down in the Pensacola News Journal. "I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people asking me if they should leave the state," said Jacksonville immigration lawyer Susan Pai. "The undocumented community is very scared to even show up for work." 

THE GIFT OF SOUND — Zlata Kuzmina’s family fled Odessa, Ukraine, last year. In South Carolina they found welcome — and life-altering surgery to restore 2-year-old Zlata’s hearing, David Begnaud and T. Sean Herbert write for CBS News. Coincidentally, the great-grandparents of surgeon Teddy McRackan had fled persecution in Odessa a century earlier. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan