The Forum Daily | Monday, January 8, 2024
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THE FORUM DAILY

Senate negotiations on immigration could see some critical developments
this week as Congress returns, reports Mychael Schnell of The Hill
.
 

Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) said language for a border security
deal could be released this week. Such a breakthrough in the
negotiations still would leave many hurdles, including some House
Republicans' insistence on the inclusion of HR 2
. 

Also in The Hill
,
Rafael Bernal writes that Democrats face a difficult choice within these
negotiations, as keeping the government open and unlocking foreign aid
could mean "a draconian border reform package." And Camilo
Montoya-Galvez and Margaret Brennan of CBS News

report that the White House and senators still have sticking points,
including parole programs. 

Our take: Congress and the Biden administration must work together on
policies that actually make the border more secure and orderly without
losing sight of the humanity of people seeking protection. 

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

**ECONOMIC BOOST** - The retail industry needs better legal
immigration pathways - and so does the American economy, writes
Stephanie Martz, chief administrative officer and general counsel of
the National Retail Federation , in her op-ed for The
Messenger
.
Immigrants provide not just workers but about $1.8 trillion in spending
power, and they open new businesses at twice the rate of native-born
Americans. "Without an expansion of safe and legal migration channels,
our economy could fall short," Martz concludes. "Congress must address
the need to expand legal migration and increase employment-based
immigration."  

**DROP** - As Mexico increases migration enforcement actions, the U.S.
has seen a significant drop in unauthorized crossings at the southern
border, report Valerie Gonzalez and Elliot Spagat of the Associated
Press
.
During the last 10 days of December, Mexico's immigration agency sent
around 22 flights from the U.S. border to cities in Mexico's south. In
some of the U.S. Border Patrol's busiest areas, arrests dropped by 29%
within a two-week period. 

**SAFE MOBILITY** - Nearly 3,000 migrants have arrived in the U.S. and
9,000 have been approved through the "safe mobility offices" (see our
explainer here
)
in Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ecuador, report Gisela Salomon
and Colleen Long of the Associated Press
.
The program streamlines processes in an effort to avert travel to the
southern border. "It is certainly a step in the right direction in terms
of providing people mechanisms to seek asylum safely rather than relying
on coyotes and undertaking a dangerous trip," said Lee Williams, chief
programs officer at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. 

**GIVING BACK LOVE** - As the Lukeville Port of Entry reopens in
Arizona after a monthlong closure, the local community is preparing to
assist migrants who cross the border, reports Joe Dana of NBC12 News
.
Among those preparing is Pastor Angel Campos of Monte Vista Baptist
Church, who provides a pitstop of water, food, clothing and showers for
migrants legally entering the United States. In an interview with
Bridget Dowd of KJZZ
,
Campos said that as a former migrant himself, "it's very nice to be
able to give back a little bit of the love."  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

**P.S.** "[I]mmigrants are a lifesaving transfusion into the American
bloodstream," Marc A. Thiessen of The Washington Post

writes in a powerful column addressing Donald Trump's immigration
rhetoric. 

** **

** **

 

 

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