How do we counter growing unease amid a period of record migration worldwide? 

It’s a pressing question given the political trends that are resulting from voters’ anxieties. As Tom Fairless reports in The Wall Street Journal, disagreements on migration policy caused the Dutch government to collapse on Friday. Anti-immigrant parties have come to power in Italy and Finland and are making gains in Sweden, Austria and France. And anxiety extends to many other countries. 

"Countries are struggling to grapple with these new types of movement, these new forms of displacement," Alexander Betts, Director of the University of Oxford Refugee Studies Centre, said yesterday on CNN. But when governments "fail to provide safe routes and safe passages to vulnerable people, the consequence is people will revert to human smuggling networks, gangs, and they lose their lives in very tragic circumstances." 

Around the world, Betts says, leaders need to address the new drivers of migration and not "[bury] their heads in the sand." And, in light of recent tragedies in which hundreds of migrants have perished, we must remember that "regardless of why people leave, all migrants have a right to life." 

Amen. 

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 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]. 

ANOTHER DEATH — A 15-year-old girl from Guatemala died in U.S. custody earlier this week, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. She was an unaccompanied migrant, had a pre-existing medical condition and was hospitalized throughout her time in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This is the fourth death of an unaccompanied migrant minor in HHS custody this year, Montoya-Galvez notes. 

FIRST LAWSUIT — Immigrant advocates are filing a lawsuit that seeks an injunction to stop the implementation of Section 10 of the recently approved Florida law SB 1718, reports Ivan Taylor of CBS News Miami. The lawsuit is focused on the transportation of undocumented individuals into the state. "We are arguing that section is unconstitutional on its base," said Paul Chavez, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

STEM OPT — The U.S. is adding eight new fields of studies to STEM Optional Practical Training, a program allowing international students to gain practical work experience in America, Stuart Anderson writes in Forbes. Additions include specific areas of study in the tech, psychology and architecture fields. The change comes as Canada and other nations are luring high-skilled foreign workers away, and it provides more students an opportunity to work in the U.S. after their studies. 

BISHOPS’ PRAISE — U.S. bishops are praising the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recent announcement to expand family reunification processes for certain migrants, writes Kate Scanlon of OSV News. "Unfortunately, what the need for such programs demonstrates […] is that backlogs continue to pose untenable challenges for aspiring immigrants who seek to avail themselves of the limited legal pathways currently available," said Bishop Mark Seitz of the El Paso Diocese, who pointed to immigration reform as "the only true and sustainable solution to these challenges." (Congratulations to Bishop Seitz — who’s also a Forum board member — who is marking 10 years with his diocese, as Julian Resendiz writes in Border Report.) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan