"Abbott announced that he was not ‘asking for permission’ for Operation Lone Star, … [but] permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation’s navigable waters," Federal District Judge David A. Ezra wrote. 

Ezra’s injunction, which sets a Sept. 15 deadline for the buoys’ removal, also prohibits the state from installing new, similar structures, Aarón Torres and Todd J. Gillman report in The Dallas Morning News. The judge also firmly rejected the state’s claims of an "invasion" — which, we’ve noted, sounds an awful lot like dangerous "replacement" ideology.  

Mexico’s top foreign ministry official for U.S.-Mexico relations, Roberto Velasco, said the ruling is "an important landmark to reestablish legality and respect for human rights for migrants and sovereignty for Mexico." 

Abbott’s office already has appealed the ruling.  

Separately, take a minute to read Council on National Security and Immigration leader Elaine Dezenski’s new blog post on how to address authoritarian and outside influences in Latin America — including China. "A prosperous, democratic Latin America reduces the need for humanitarian migration to the United States, offers critical supply chain advantages, and provides additional resources and human talent to catalyze 21st century technologies," she writes. 

Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Clara Villatoro, Ashling Lee and Darika Verdugo. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

TO OUR HEALTH —Americans’ ability to age with dignity requires more immigrants, Kristie De Peña and Robert Leonard write in a Time Magazine op-ed. Nationally, immigrants make up about 25% of workers in the home care industry and 19% of workers in nursing home care. "The healthcare system desperately needs these immigrants with the proper training and expertise to carry out our mission," said Kevin Kincaid, CEO of Knoxville Hospital and Clinics in rural Iowa. "The immigration system makes it very difficult for them, unnecessarily so." 

CONTRADICTION — The U.S. government is facing criticism for its conflicting stances on Haiti, write Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt of CNN. As the American Embassy has warned that Haiti is too unsafe for U.S. citizens, ICE is deporting Haitians back to the country despite a surge in violence there. Experts believe that puts deportees at risk, given the control of violent gangs in Haiti's capital.  

AFGHAN ALLIES — Illuminating coverage has continued as we mark two years since the conclusion of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Veterans, religious groups and diplomats are continuing efforts to evacuate Afghan allies, reports Quil Lawrence of NPR. In The Roanoke Times, a resettled Afghan talks about the challenges posed by the delays in the Special Immigrant Visa process and calls on the Biden administration to expedite it.  

IMPROVING CONDITIONS — Migrant crawfish workers in Louisiana helped drive reforms in U.S. labor and immigration policy after a four-year legal battle, reports James Finn of NOLA.com. The workers' efforts led to unpaid wages being recovered and ultimately the introduction of two years of deferred-action protection for workers who report workplace abuses, a shift in immigration policy under the Biden administration to root out workplace exploitation. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan