Businesses and, in the end, consumers are feeling the effects of limited legal immigration and complicated guest-worker programs, as Arcelia Martin and Alfredo Corchado report in The Dallas Morning News. 

"Limitations on guest worker programs only further maintain a stubborn workforce shortage, several business owners across North Texas say, damaging consumers’ experiences, leaving open jobs unfilled and driving up labor costs and inflation," they write. And with the U.S. continuing to add jobs, labor shortages could worsen, barring reforms that enable additional foreign-born workers. 

"Companies are losing money because they are not growing. And we’re seeing higher costs for consumers," said Manuel Lievano, CEO of MCC USA Global Workforce Solutions. 

Meanwhile, a bipartisan working group in the House Agriculture Committee has formed to study the H-2A visa program’s flaws and recommend improvements, per Alex Thomas of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.  

"We’re going to have the opportunity to work on something collaboratively and arrive at some suggestions," said Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas). Jarrod Yates, executive vice president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said, "We’re hopeful the group’s work will result in a streamlined and simplified process to leverage the labor force necessary to provide for American families and beyond." 

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

HIGH DEMAND — A new law in Massachusetts allows all state residents to get a driver’s license regardless of immigration status. Since the Work and Family Mobility Act took effect July 1, the state has issued 2,800 learner’s permits, double the number issued in the same period last year, reports Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez of WBUR. "The telephones ring all the time, people are there all the time," said Liliane Costa, executive director of the Brazilian-American Center in Framingham. 

DENIED COUNSEL — Advocates claim that migrants detained at a temporary holding facility in San Diego are being denied access to legal counsel, reports Sofía Mejías-Pascoe of inewsource. Some migrants have shared that they are being forced to choose between contacting family, sponsors or legal counsel during their limited phone call allowance. Advocates note that having legal representation significantly increases the chances of success in immigration court proceedings. 

SISTERS’ RESPONSE — Catholic sisters are adapting their work to the changes in immigration policies at the border, writes Rhina Guidos of the National Catholic Reporter. "It gives you new life to keep on giving and keep on being with [migrants]," Sr. Joannes Klas, of the School Sisters of St. Francis, said recently. Sisters "have been so well-attuned to the need, so loving to those who are suffering, and they are willing to give of themselves so generously that they have been irreplaceable in terms of our response," added Bishop Mark Seitz of the El Paso Diocese (and a Forum Board member). 

THRIVING — In Collinsville, Alabama, the reception of Latin American immigrants has improved with time, with many families now thriving, Payton Davis reports for the Montgomery Advertiser. "[I] think right now everything is fine. Things have already changed. I hope everyone will just be nice to every traveler," said Beatriz Chavez, owner of a Mexican grocery store and restaurant. "I love the place where I live." 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan