Florida’s new immigration law is creating an environment "governed entirely by fear" for immigrant communities in the state, Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press reports. Since Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in May, immigrants are more anxious about everyday tasks such as driving their children to the store or getting a medical checkup. Some families are simply leaving the state.  

The law is exacerbating labor shortages, with all Floridians seeing the effects: at the car repair shop, at hotels or even at church, writes Pastor Joel Tooley, the Forum’s Florida mobilizer, in an op-ed for The Miami Herald. "What happens to our neighbor impacts all of us," Tooley writes.  

Labor shortages across the country are occurring in parallel with the arrival of would-be workers: migrants who don’t yet have permission to work. Democratic leaders continue to pressure the Biden administration to expedite the permit process so they can contribute, reports Anthony Izaguirre of the Associated Press.  

A quick note to reporters and others: Our friends at World Relief, together with Open Door U.S., are hosting a discussion on Capitol Hill this afternoon, "Persecuted Christians and the U.S. Refugee Resettlement and Asylum Processes." More info here, and interested media can contact [email protected]. World Relief also will livestream the event on its Facebook page.  

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 Jillian Clark, Clara Villatoro and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

PUSHED BACK — Members of the Texas National Guard ordered hundreds of asylum seekers back into Mexico, which would be in violation of U.S. law, reports Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times. "These are people who may face a danger to their lives on the other side of the border," Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight for the Washington Office on Latin America, said in a statement. "Forcing them back, especially if they have set foot on U.S. soil, goes against the Refugee Act of 1980."  

BORDER CHALLENGES – Apprehensions at the border appear to be increasing in September, Julia Ainsley of NBC News reports. More than 7,500 migrants were arrested on Sunday alone, according to DHS officials. Separately, in a visual piece for Reuters, photographers relate migrants’ harsh journey at the border, the world's deadliest land migration route. 

INFRASTRUCTURE — Los Angeles is not experiencing the same migrant related pressures as some East Coast cities, report Jill Cowan and Miriam Jordan for The New York Times. With the high cost of living and changes in migrant patterns, fewer are coming to Los Angeles than in decades past. For those that do come, City Council member Hugo Soto-Martinez says that due to the city’s proximity to the border and history of welcoming migrants, "Luckily, we have the infrastructure." As for one of those East Coast cities, read Issac Chotiner’s interview with Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute in the New Yorker. 

STOPPING SERVICE — The largest freight train company in Mexico, Ferromex, has said that for the first time it will pause service on 60 of its trains traveling into the United States, reports Didi Martinez for NBC News. This decision comes after an unprecedented number of migrant hitchhikers, all attempting to make their way to the United States via freight train. In a statement explaining their decision, Ferromex said that the closure of certain routes is meant to "avoid accidents or loss of life."  

Thanks for reading,  

Dan