On World Radio, Bonnie Pritchett gets at the need for solutions that go beyond deterrence and enforcement. "We [also] need visas based on supply and demand, we need a guest worker program that actually works," said Monica Weisberg-Stewart of the Texas Border Coalition. "We need farm workers, we need construction workers, we need individuals to be able to, to actually come in here legitimately, we need a process that works." (Don’t miss our own Jennie Murray’s comments in the piece along the same lines.) 

Meanwhile, Addie Offereins of World magazine reports on the limbo in which migrants remain. "There’s broad confusion. People just aren’t sure what they’re supposed to be doing," said Sami DiPasquale of Abara, which works along the border in El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico. 

Meanwhile, Ashley Lopez of NPR visits the border city of Brownsville, Texas, and learns that people there are focused on more than the migration conversation. And Hamed Aleaziz and Patrick J. Mcdonnell of the Los Angeles Times speak with migrants and others to try to tease out why border crossings have dropped in the week since Title 42 ended. 

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

ECONOMIC SUSTENANCE — As Michigan faces damaging population decline, "immigrants are helping to sustain Michigan’s economic future," Steve Tobocman and Alaina Jackson write in a Bridge Michigan op-ed. "Scores of Midwest communities like ours have come to the realization that immigration is ... a community issue that is inextricably linked to our economic well-being and future," they write. On a national scale, the Bloomberg editorial board weighs in on immigration as one solution to our nursing shortage.  

FEARS — Hardline state immigration policies in Texas and Florida are giving Hispanic residents of those states pause, reports Rafael Bernal of The Hill. Florida’s farmers, as well as farmworkers, are concerned about the state’s forthcoming E-Verify requirement, Carmen Sesin and Edwin Flores report for NBC News. That same provision is causing angst in the construction industry, as Zachary Phillips writes in Construction Dive. And Brad Polumbo of BASED Politics parses E-Verify's problems in a Newsweek op-ed.  

A TOWN SHAKEN — The shootings last September of two migrants in Sierra Blanca, Texas, looms over the town, Alfredo Corchado and Angela Kocherga report in the Dallas Morning News. Legislation pending in the Texas legislature "would make it a state felony to enter the country from Mexico without documents and would deputize private citizens to create a new border police force," they note. Said resident Sara Villatoro, "We thought this was a tranquil place. But everyone lives with a prayer on their lips." 

HELPLINE — A new, free 24/7 helpline is available for resettled Afghans in the U.S., Jen Rice reports for the Houston Chronicle. Refugees experiencing "sadness, anger, anxiety, fear, depression and difficulty sleeping" can call and receive professional assistance in Dari, Pashto, Uzbek and English. 

Meanwhile, this week in local welcome: 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. We love to leave you hungry. Read the story of Peter Bian and Linda Cao’s dumpling success in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, as reported by Nicole Norfleet in the Star Tribune. Can't help but wonder if they might ship nationwide someday.