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.