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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has identified the U.S.-Mexico border as the deadliest land route for migrants in the world, Al Jazeera reports. Last year the IOM recorded nearly 700 deaths and disappearances there, accounting for almost half of the 1,457 migrant deaths and disappearances across the Americas in 2022. A scarcity of official data means real numbers likely are higher. "These alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action by [countries] … to ensure safe, regular migration routes are accessible," said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM regional director for Central and North America and the Caribbean. Once across the border, some migrants are facing stark conditions while awaiting CBP processing. In San Ysidro, California, people are spending 24 to 36 hours in an improvised camp with no real shelter or bathrooms, Gustavo Solis of KPBS reports. The situation is raising concerns among advocates who denounced a similar situation in May. Migrants say that CBP is providing bottled water and cheese and crackers, while volunteers in San Diego and Tijuana offer more food, health supplies and generators to charge phones. Welcome to the Wednesday 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, Ashling Lee, Clara Villatoro and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. POSITIVE IMPACT — Foreign-born residents are crucial to the economy of Kent County, Michigan, reports Brian McVicar of MLive. "It’s going to continue to be important to embrace, to welcome, engage the new Americans into our economy for us to be successful as a community," said Rick Baker, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Chamber. A new report from the chamber and the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants contributed $5 billion to the county’s GDP in 2019. POTENTIAL RISKS — Among 36 migrants flown to Sacramento, California, after arriving at the Texas-Mexico border earlier this year, fear is deterring many from applying for asylum, reports Matthew Miranda of the Sacramento Bee. "Applying for asylum jump starts the process for receiving work authorization, but can pose potential risks like deportation if the case fails," Miranda notes. CUBAN MIGRANTS — Cubans who entered the U.S. from Mexico will not be considered under the Cuban Adjustment Act if they were released with a specific document called an I-220, Syra Ortiz Blanes and Nora Gamez Torres report in the Miami Herald. In its Monday ruling, the Board of Immigration Appeals found that people with I-220A's "are technically not admitted or paroled into the U.S. under the requirements of the Cuban Adjustment Act," the path to legal residency for most Cubans. Attorney Mark Prada says the government is not following the law when it releases Cubans with only an I-220A. PROTECTING WORKERS — A new proposed rule from the Biden administration would help protect H-2A visa holders who fill seasonal jobs in the U.S. agriculture industry, reports Christopher Rugaber of the Associated Press. The new protections would include access to labor unions and safety measures to reduce work accidents. Meanwhile, Indiana farmers battling labor shortages are calling for lawmakers to make the H-2A program easier for farmers to use, per 95.3 MNC. Thanks for reading, Dan P.S. Art knows no borders, and yesterday the Pulitzer Prize Board announced that it will consider books, drama and music entries from "permanent residents and those who have made the U.S. their longtime primary home," as the Associated Press reports.
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