The Forum Daily | Monday, January 22, 2024
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THE FORUM DAILY

****As migrants arrive at cities across the country, Sarah Matusek of
The Christian Science Monitor
 offers
a helpful explanation of the conversation around work permits. 

People here under Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole are
eligible for permits, as are asylum applicants who fear persecution in
their home country, Matusek points out. The latter group must wait 6
months for a permit under current law.   

Some are concerned that easing the process would encourage more migrants
to make their way to the country (to which we say: Let's find
alternate legal paths that meet America's needs). But the wait can
push people to work without permission, and as Jennie points out in the
piece, easing the path to work permits could help address labor
shortages. 

Massachusetts offers an interesting practical example, as Katie Johnston
of the Boston Globe

reports. The state has launched a job skills training program -
including a stipend - for new arrivals while they wait for work
authorization. Johnston points out that the state's 222,000 or so
open jobs are more than double the number of unemployed people. 

Salem Hospital is just one employer excited about the opportunity,
having offered six housekeeping jobs to Haitian migrants currently
living at a nearby shelter. "If we place these six people, it will be
the first time in years that the department is fully staffed," said Joy
Livramento-Bryant, a hospital workforce development specialist. 

Maine officials also are hoping to tap into the immigrant population for
new workers, reports Patrick Whittle of the Associated Press
.
A new bill introduced by state Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D), a Somali immigrant,
proposes an Office of New Americans, which would help newcomers find
jobs and obtain professional accreditation and licenses.  

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

**FACTIONS** - As John Bresnahan of Punchbowl News

takes a look at the Senate's week ahead, the negotiations could be at
the mercy of a divided Republican party, report Annie
Karni and Karoun Demirjian of The New York Times
.
While many mainstream Republicans are hoping for a deal, factions of the
party say they won't compromise, they report. Michelle Hackman outlines
one of the sticking points, humanitarian parole, in The Wall Street
Journal
. 

**TEXAS** - Texas' blocking federal access to a park along the Rio
Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, is "essentially an armed standoff between
the state's National Guard and federal agents
,"
reports Jamiles Lartey of The Marshall Project
.
It's among several Texas efforts that "likely violate federal law, the
Constitution, and Supreme Court precedent," he reports. Valerie
Gonzalez and Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

offer additional background. 

**LANGUAGE BARRIERS** - The U.S. has reverted to a pre-pandemic rule
requiring non-English-speaking asylum seekers to acquire their own
interpreters for immigration interviews, reports Adriana Gonzalez-Chavez
of Cronkite News
.
Failure to provide an interpreter can hurt migrants' cases. Language
obstacles are constant in immigration processes: In her op-ed for
Newsweek
,
former Ukrainian refugee Masha Rumer describes her experience helping
others with the language barriers of the immigration system. 

**FOR GLOBAL PROSPERITY** - The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) is seeking $7.9 billion to better manage migration
worldwide, reports the Associated Press
.
"The evidence is overwhelming that migration, when well-managed, is a
major contributor to global prosperity and progress," said new IOM
Director General Amy Pope. 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

****

 

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