The Forum Daily | Monday, Dec. 4, 2023
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THE FORUM DAILY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will suspend operations temporarily
at the border crossing in Lukeville, Arizona, to free up resources
needed to handle an increase in migrant crossings between ports of
entry, reports Armando Garcia of ABC News
.  

High migrant crossings are being "fueled by smugglers peddling
disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals," the agency said.
Acting commissioner Troy A. Miller said CBP is targeting these smuggling
operations. 

In The New York Times
,
Li Yuan reports on why a growing number of Chinese migrants are trying
to reach the U.S.: a fear of poverty and persecution. "I think we will
only be safe by coming to the U.S.," said migrant Gao Zhibin, who is now
in San Francisco. "It's a rare opportunity to protect me and my
family." 

CBP says more than 24,000 Chinese migrants were detained on the U.S.
southern border in fiscal year 2023. This is an incredible reversal of
previous patterns seen by the Chinese populations coming to the U.S. 

Meanwhile, El Paso Bishop (and Forum board member) Mark Seitz's words
about his work with migrants, as reported by Aleja Hertzler-McCain of
the National Catholic Review
,
are powerful. "We've made [immigration] simply a matter of numbers and
ideas rather than dealing with human beings who we believe as Christians
are our brothers and sisters," Seitz said. But he also finds hope: "It's
the immigrants themselves who are people who teach me how much we need
to really trust God and trust his goodness to work among those for whom
he has a special love." 

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

**CONGRESS** - Bipartisan negotiations in the Senate over adding
border security to President Biden's funding request for Ukraine,
Israel and Taiwan appear to be derailed, as Punchbowl News
summarizes
this morning. The holdup: "Republicans' continued insistence on
including elements of H.R. 2, the House GOP border-security bill
that's a nonstarter for Democrats." (Here's the Forum's summary of
the bill
.)
Meanwhile, immigration attorney Ava Benach breaks down the potential
asylum changes with Myah Ward, Lauren Egan and Benjamin Jogansen of
Politico
. 

**BUOY RULING** - A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Texas must
dismantle the buoy barrier installed near Eagle Pass to block migrants,
Todd J. Gillman and Aarón Torres of The Dallas Morning News

report. A 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a lower court's
finding that Texas violated an 1899 federal law prohibiting construction
in navigable rivers without permission. Gov. Greg Abbott said the state
will request a hearing before the full 5th Circuit. 

**DEMOGRAPHICS** - U.S. demographics are moving in the direction of
countries that are having age-related economic challenges, Andre
Mouchard reports in The Orange County Register
.
"If it weren't for our high level of immigration, we would already
look like some of the older populations in Asia and Europe," said Julia
Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute. "The thing that most
immigration scholars agree on - even the ones who aren't necessarily
pro-immigration - is that while it's not a silver bullet,
immigration can help." 

**CLINIC** - A work authorization clinic in Massachusetts helped more
than 1,700 migrants take steps to find work and potentially move out of
the state shelter system, reports Katie Lannan of GBH News
.
At the clinic, held at a National Guard facility, 500-plus volunteers
assisted migrants. State officials are considering another such event. 
 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan  

**P.S.** First Presbyterian Church of Chicago recently hosted a dinner
to bring together migrants and community residents, Vi Nguyen of NBC
Chicago

reports. "[I]t's just really important for us to all realize we're
all human," said church elder and volunteer coordinator Dionne Jones.

 

 

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