The Forum Daily | Wednesday, October 11, 2023
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

THE FORUM DAILY

 

Some economists are calling Florida's continuing labor-shortage crisis
the new normal, report Mary Ellen Klass and Syra Ortiz Blanes of the
Miami Herald
. And
the new state law cracking down on migrant workers is exacerbating it,
with construction, restaurants, hotels, roofing, landscaping and
agriculture the hardest-hit industries.

"People aren't fully aware of just how dependent our labor force
growth is on immigration," said labor economist Ron Hetrick, who lives
south of Jacksonville. "A lot of our homes, a lot of our foods that
we're eating are because of immigration right now."

In the words of the Tampa Bay Times

editorial board, "The state must address this economic threat by
promoting legal pathways to immigration to provide Florida the workforce
it needs."

Other places, too, are feeling the pinch of too few workers. In Texas,
speakers at a panel discussion on labor shortages discussed immigrant
visas as a solution, reports Jennifer Scott of the Tyler Morning
Telegraph
.

Experts at the event, held by the University of Texas and Rice
University, highlighted that having more jobs than workers is
contributing to inflation, and that more legal paths for immigrant
workers could benefit the American economy.

"Immigrants and their children contributed more than one-half of
workforce growth in the past two decades," said Jose Ivan
Rodriguez-Sanchez, a labor economist with the Center for the U.S. and
Mexico at Rice University.

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]. 

**TRAFFIC JAM** - Operation Lone Star security crackdowns at the
U.S-Mexico border are holding up at least 19,000 commercial trucks with
$1.9 billion worth of goods, reports Andrea Navarro of Bloomberg
.
That has caused an outcry on both sides of the border. The crackdown
"doesn't help the region's development and puts at risk tens of
thousands of jobs in Mexico and in the U.S.," the Mexican trucking
association said in a statement
.

**'STARK CONTRAST'** - Videos tell the story of Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott's "increasing militarization" at the border in David Peinado,
Brent McDonald and Meg Felling's piece in The New York Times
.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration's plan to carry out the building
of a new stretch of the Texas-Mexico border wall "stands in stark
contrast to the solutions the U.S. immigration system needs right now,"
our Policy and Advocacy Associate Alexandra Villarreal writes in an
analysis for The Guardian
.
" ... The best, most proactive way to keep many people from showing up
at the US-Mexico border is to offer them a safer, more orderly pathway
here."

**REFUSAL** - Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has
refused U.S. requests to place migrant transit centers in Mexico,
reports the Associated Press
.
These transit centers are meant to be a place for migrants to apply for
U.S. work and refugee visas. López Obrador plans to discuss the transit
centers in a meeting of Latin American leaders he will host later this
month to develop a common plan.

**DRIVERS OF MIGRATION** - Political tension in Guatemala could
influence migration trends from the region and pose challenges for
migrants in transit in that country, reports Lauren Villagran of the El
Paso Times
.
Farmers and indigenous people are leading protests against election
interference.

Thanks for reading, 

Dan  

**P.S.**Meet some of America's newest citizens in pictures and words
thanks to Lynn Hulsey and Bill Lackey of the Dayton Daily News
.
They attended a naturalization ceremony at the University of Dayton
School of Law last month.

** **

  

 

DONATE

 

**Follow Us**

 

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum

10 G Street NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002

www.immigrationforum.org

 

Unsubscribe from The Forum Daily

or opt-out from all Forum emails.

 

 
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum, 10 G St NE, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002, United States