Large groups of migrants were left seeking shelter on the streets of Midtown Manhattan on Sunday after the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been housing asylum seekers in recent months, reportedly reached capacity over the weekend, reports Dean Moses of The Villager.  

Several small buses acted as both a place to sleep and a cooling center. With the help of a translator, migrants said they were left feeling worried and confused as they had yet to be allowed into the hotel. They also said that the city had provided them with water but not food.  

"This is the heartbreaking reality and something our teams have worked tirelessly to avoid, but while our compassion is limitless, our resources are not. We still desperately need help from our state and federal partners," said Fabien Levy, Mayor Eric Adams’ press secretary.  

Jasmine Garsd of NPR adds context, reporting on the limitations of an "emergency respite center" in Brooklyn and zooms in on asylum seekers’ experiences. She also notes that New York City recently started distributing fliers at the southern border to discourage asylum-seekers from traveling to the city. 

For some reason the poem on the Statue of Liberty comes to mind this morning. 

Welcome to Monday’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 and Ashling Lee. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

MIGRANTS IN MEXICO — The Biden administration is creating legal avenues for certain migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, who are now in Mexico, to apply for refugee status, reports Ted Hesson of Reuters. In tandem, Mexico is discussing a program offering humanitarian protection and employment assistance for migrants from those countries stuck in southern Mexico. Separately, Maria Verza of the Associated Press covers eight survivors of an immigration detention center fire who are facing further hardships in Mexico, as their injuries leave them unable to work. 

CALL TO ACTION — Equipment manufacturers across the country need workers, Kip Eideberg of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers writes in an op-ed in The Hill. He notes that "immigration and refugees help sustain rural areas, while domestic migration has drawn people away," and suggests solutions. "The future success of our industry and the health of the U.S. economy demands that Congress take action on immigration reform," Eideberg concludes.  

FLORIDA’S CHALLENGES — Immigration advocates in Tampa are working to fight misinformation about the state’s new immigration law and offer health services to immigrants, writes Juan Carlos Chavez of the Tampa Bay Times. The law, SB 1718, has caused emotional and financial hardships for many families. Wilkine Brutus of WLRN reports on Sarai Umansor Morales, a high-achieving American-born student who has remained in Palm Beach County even as the rest of her family has left the state because of the law.  

FARMWORKERS — Farmers in America are facing a labor shortage as younger generations of migrant workers seek better opportunities and education beyond agriculture, report Andrea Hsu and Ximena Bustillo of NPR. (Ignore the questionable headline.) "I'm tired of the cycle. I want to break it," said Delores Gonzalez, a third-generation farmworker. Tightened border enforcement and an aging workforce are contributing to the challenges. As we’ve noted before, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would help. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. In the Boston Globe, columnist Yvonne Abraham highlights the generosity of people giving uprooted Haitians in the Boston area a taste of home.