In recent years, both Democratic and Republican administrations have increased the number of available H-2B visas to tackle labor shortages in the non-agricultural industries. But Kreighbaum notes that the Biden administration has gone further and "is aiming to use the program to stem the surge of asylum seekers at the southern border" — to the limited extent it can.  

The U.S. reserved as many as 20,000 visas this year for seasonal workers from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti. But these jobs are not a path to permanent residency or long-term work permits.  

Bigger policy changes are necessary to fulfill employers’ needs and meet migration challenges. Ronald Brownstein analyzes for CNN how legal migration could be a solution for both.  

And as Emily Peck of Axios highlighted late last week, the percentage of foreign-born workers in the labor force reached a new high last year — helping stem labor shortages. As Moody's Investors Service noted a few weeks ago, whether we encourage immigration will be directly related to "the extent and persistence of labor supply challenges," Peck reports. 

For more on the solutions Republicans and Democrats need to address — and that Americans want — listen to our President and CEO, Jennie Murray, on Texas business leader Eddie Aldrete’s podcast. 

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

PASTOR’S APPEAL — In the Union Leader, New Hampshire pastor Kevin McBride has an appeal to candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as a new political season gets under way: "Please take the Bible into account when you talk about migrants and immigration." Meanwhile, DeSantis faces backlash from Florida businesses and workers after he signed a restrictive immigration law earlier this month, Vanessa Romo reports for NPR. Immigrant workers are calling for a strike tomorrow, and many businesses have announced they will close for the day.  

UNCERTAINTY, ANGUISH — The Biden administration’s new rules are leaving many unsure of what to do at the border, and the CBP One can slow the process and leave migrants in danger, write Julie Watson and Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press. "That is harrowing to realize that you’re just going to have to put up with the abuses in Mexico and just kind of continue to take it because if you don’t, then you could forever hurt yourself in the long term," said immigration lawyer Priscilla Orta. 

IN NYC — As New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has pushed to suspend the city’s right-to-shelter laws, more than 1,000 shelter beds sat empty last week, Bahar Ostadan writes for Gothamist. The city is quietly opening temporary shelters in former churches, schools and gyms to support migrants, Clodagh McGowan reports in Spectrum News. 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN — A group of Evangelical women want to change the conversation on immigration, reports Emily McFarlan Miller of Religion News Service. "You start to see what God is doing in stirring the hearts and minds of his people towards vulnerable people, and I do think change is possible," said Bri Stensrud of Women of Welcome, a collaborative partnership between the National Immigration Forum and World Relief.  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan