For at least seven years, administrations have used "queue management" or "metering" to limit the number of asylum-seekers per day at the U.S.-Mexico border. Today an appeals court will hear a challenge to the policy, reports Lauren Villagran of USA Today.  

Attorneys representing a group of asylum seekers who filed the lawsuit in 2017 say the practice violates federal law. Baher Azmy, director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, says a ruling in the federal government’s favor "would give them a potentially dangerous first step to dilute the protections of asylum and deny people access to the asylum process." 

Meanwhile, the negotiations in Congress around asylum, parole and border policies is encountering obstacles, Lindsay Wise and Michelle Hackman report in The Wall Street Journal. And immigration advocates are warning that harsh asylum policies will not deter migrants, as Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global reports. (Brumley’s recent piece on responses to Texas’ border bill also is worth reading.)  

The editorial board at The Washington Post offers an excellent analysis on the need for alternative legal pathways, not just draconian measures. "A bipartisan agreement — more border resources and procedural reforms, in return for more avenues in — has the best shot of fixing the border," the board writes. 

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, Isabella Miller and Darika Verdugo. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].  

CLIMATE DISPLACEMENT — A new report from Mexico's University of the Americas Puebla says that climate disasters displaced more than 1 million people from the Caribbean and Latin America in 2021 alone, reports Russell Contreras of Axios. The report suggests that the World Bank might be low in its estimate that climate change could displace more than 216 million people worldwide by 2050, including 17 million from Latin American countries. Environment-related migration is on the docket at COP28, which starts tomorrow, as the International Organization for Migration notes. 

EFFICIENCY — The State Department will pilot visa renewal changes in January in an effort to increase efficiency, reports Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law. The pilot will allow H-1B holders to renew their visas from within the U.S. instead of having to leave the country. As Jennie told Andrew, "We applaud the State Department for taking these commonsense steps to make visa processing more efficient. Doing so will help American businesses as well as visa holders and applicants."  

COMMUNITY SPEAKS UP — An anti-immigration resolution in a Missouri county failed after strong community pushback and organizing efforts, reports Lacretia Wimbley for St. Louis Public Radio. The resolution would have recommended not allowing any migrants to settle in the region until a lawsuit challenging a Biden administration program is settled. "We’re feeling really good that there was such a strong show of community opposition to this resolution," said Gabby Eissner of the St. Louis Interfaith Committee on Latin America. 

EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT — An Ohio program is boosting educational opportunities for female immigrants, reports Sheena Elzie of Spectrum News 1. George Sehi, a retired college educator who immigrated to the U.S. from Iran almost 50 years ago, started Women Walking West to support immigrant women and set them up for success in a new country. "I finally regained that purpose and belief and that can-do attitude," said program participant Olga Klochkov.  

Thanks for reading,  

Dan