First off: If you have the opportunity to see Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee child, on her walk across the country, do it. I had the chance to see her in Cambridge, Massachusetts, yesterday, and it was more impressive and moving than I expected — even our hungry 3-year-old didn’t want to leave. Solon Kelleher of WBUR has the background, and in the Boston Globe, Maeve Lawler and a pair of photographers paint a picture of Little Amal's first day in the area. 

Elsewhere, the Biden administration is considering limiting migrant families’ mobility and force them to stay near the Texas border as they wait for asylum screenings, reports Hamed Aleaziz of the Los Angeles Times. 

The idea would be to speed the deportation of families who fail initial asylum screenings and discourage other migrants who are considering crossing the border, Aleaziz notes. The idea, which recalls a Reagan administration measure in the late 1980s, "is likely to draw fierce opposition from immigrant rights groups and border-state officials."  

Separately, Eric Katz of Government Executive reports on how the Biden policies implemented after Title 42 have strained immigration agencies, showing the need for more resources for the border. 

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

BUOYS — The floating barrier in Rio Grande can remain in place at least temporarily after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency stay, report David Martin Davies and Dan Katz of Texas Public Radio. The announcement came a day after U.S District judge David Ezra ordered the removal of the buoys.  

RURAL REVITALIZATION — As the working-age population of many rural counties shrinks rapidly, immigration can help stem the tide, Marty Schladen of the Ohio Capital Journal reports. Reporting on a recent FWD.us analysis, Schladen notes that immigration already has helped revitalize rural counties in other states.  

ONGOING BATTLE — Addie Offereins of World magazine offers a recap of the legal challenges to the Biden administration's parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, and the potential consequences if it were to end. "The United States has also used parole to resettle large groups of people during times of conflict or other humanitarian emergencies, including after the U.S. withdrawals from Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan," Offereins notes. 

RESETTLED ALLIES — Afghan allies who resettled in the United States, such as former fighter pilot Ahmadullah Noori, are facing ongoing challenges more than two years after the fall of Kabul, writes Rafael Carranza of The Arizona Republic. "After serving alongside us as allies for two decades, they should not fear that they might be forced to return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan," said Jennie Murray, our president and CEO. 

Locally: 

ROOTS — The Arab American National Museum has created a rooftop heritage garden celebrating the nearby Arab American community, reports Frances Kai Hwa-Wang for PBS News. Built with donated plants and seeds, the exhibit includes oral histories from community members on what gardening means to them.  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan