In a statement released Friday, President Biden endorsed a potential bipartisan deal on immigration policy and said he would use newly created authority to "shut down the border," reports Karoun Demirjian of The New York Times.  

The statement followed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s warning in a letter to his House GOP colleagues: "If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway." 

Former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump has been attempting to undermine the deal, as Isaac Arnsdorf of The Washington Post reports. Rafael Bernal and Rebecca Beitsch of The Hill have more on the politics, including this from Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah): "[T]he fact that [Trump] would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling." 

But the potential deal itself is still alive, as Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Margaret Brennan and Richard Escobedo report for CBS News. The executive branch likely would gain authority "to effectively suspend asylum in between official ports of entry when migrant crossings surpass certain thresholds" while continuing to allow processing at ports of entry, they write.  

The piece lays out other potential provisions as well — including a path forward for our Afghan allies. On that score, "Granting Afghan refugees stability, the legal ability to work and a path to permanent residency sends a message to U.S. partners and allies around the world that we honor our word," Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) writes in The Wall Street Journal. 

Should a bill survive the gantlet, "What’s next?" is a key question. For example, DACA recipients and other Dreamers don’t appear to be included in this round, an absence The Washington Post’s editorial board analyzes. Separately, Nell Salzman of the Chicago Tribune reports on the elements that the potential deal is missing when it comes to supporting cities that have experienced increasing migrant arrivals. 

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]. 

IMPEACHMENT EFFORT — House Republicans released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, though they haven’t laid out clear supporting evidence, reports Jacqueline Alemany of The Washington Post. And don’t miss former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff’s op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. "Impeachment is a diversion from fixing our broken immigration laws and giving DHS the resources needed to secure the border," he writes — a message that 26 other national security leaders recently shared as well. 

TEXAS VS. U.S. — At least 25 Republican governors and former President Trump have backed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s defiance of the administration and the Supreme Court, Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling of The New Republic reports. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone so far as to express willingness to send his state’s National Guard and State Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, reports Jackie Llanos of the Florida Phoenix. And in Arizona, some Republican lawmakers are looking to follow Texas’ example, reports Gloria Rebecca Gomez of the Arizona Mirror.  

AND ... — Leaders’ "invasion" and "war" rhetoric increases the risk of vigilantism, reports Christopher Mathias of HuffPost. "This is not an ‘invasion’; it’s desperate people fleeing organized crime or poverty or war or violence," said author and journalist Patrick Strickland. "It’s not the same as the organized regiments of a formal army." As we’ve noted, such rhetoric already has had consequences. 

CHANGING ATTITUDES — In a recent episode of River to River on Iowa Public Radio, Professors Cristina Ortiz and Peter Orazem and newly elected Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen talk with host Ben Kieffer about strategies for building stronger communities, supporting immigrants and dispelling harmful rhetoric — and about the economy and shifting demographics. It’s worth a listen. 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

P.S. Our friends with the State Business Executives are hosting a webinar tomorrow morning with Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Maria Salazar (R-Florida) on topics that include immigration reforms. Register here.