The United States and Mexico have made an agreement that the latter will deport migrants from its border cities as part of a package of 15 actions to deter migrants, reports Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt, Emma Tucker and Macie Goldfarb for CNN.

After a meeting on Friday, U.S. Customs released a statement after the meeting, in which Customs and Border Protection’s Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, "urged coordination of efforts to diminish surging irregular migration." The agreement included recommendations from Customs and Border Patrol and Ferromex, the Mexican railway company that already suspended operations on 60 of its northbound trains due to migrant hitchhikers. In addition, Mexico should negotiate with the governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Cuba to confirm receipt of their deportees.

Many of the actions agreed to by Mexico aim to prevent more of the loss of life at the border. Recent statistics show that more families continue to make the journey from their home countries and cross the border. The dire conditions of the journey as well as the many deterrents different U.S. administrations have put in place haven’t stopped the flow of migrants long-term, reports Joel Rose for NPR.

According to Theresa Cardinal Brown, senior adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center [and a Council on National Security and Immigration leader], "It’s very hard to deter somebody who has that level of desperation through harsh penalties, especially migrants who believe that if they do not come to America their family will die or their kids will be killed."

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

THE BILL WOULD ... — As we look at a potential shutdown this week, here’s an interesting tidbit in last week’s World Relief and Open Doors U.S. report on resettlement of persecuted Christians: It explicitly warns that the House bill some are insisting on, H.R. 2, "would severely restrict asylum eligibility … and would add a new fee that could be a barrier to some fleeing persecution, among other changes." Diana Chandler of Baptist Press is among the latest with good coverage of the report.

NEW NEIGHBORS — More than 32,000 naturalizations occurred in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2022, according to the latest data, reports María Ramos Pacheco and José Luis Adriano for The Dallas Morning News. Most new citizens were from Mexico, with people from India and Vietnam also making up a large number of naturalized citizens. The Dallas area has now ranked seventh in the nation for metro area naturalizations.

OPTIMISM — Immigrants and young Americans could be key to change the trend of Americans’ discontent with the political system, analyses David Lauter for the Los Angeles Times. According to a major new study conducted by the Pew Research Center, only 4% of American adults say the political system works very well or somewhat well. But experts believe that with immigrants and young Americans’ voting powers expected to grow in the next several years, their optimism and action could change the system.

RESPECT HUMAN DIGNITY — During a visit to Marseille, Pope Francis condemned Europe’s strict anti-migrant policies and called for solidarity that respects human dignity, writes Elise Ann Allen of Crux. Pope Francis called European countries for more action and remember the "duty of humanity." "[S]o many brothers and sisters drowned in fear, along with the hopes they carried in their hearts," the Pope said. "Faced with such a drama, we need deeds, not words."

Thanks for reading,

Clara