The challenges Jose Peña, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and Goldman Sachs analyst, is facing illustrate the uncertainty many people endure in the U.S. immigration system. 

Besides the legal limbo of DACA itself, Peña has been walking in darkness since December because of a government delay in his DACA renewal, Arcelia Martin reports in The Dallas Morning News. Peña submitted his application on time and hasn’t received a clear reason for the delay. But the situation is jeopardizing his present and future: He had to take unpaid leave from his job, and he doesn’t know if he can even stay in the U.S. 

"The worst part is I’ve done everything I can, there’s nothing more I can do," Peña said. "It’s just in the hands of somebody that God knows when they’re going to get to my case."  

In happier DACA-related news, Ernesto Antonio Moron Uribe is the first recipient to become an officer in the police department at the University of California, Davis, reports Maricela De La Cruz of KCRA 3 News.  

Moron Uribe testified before California senators in 2022, when the state legislature was discussing the bill that now allows DACA recipients to become police officers. "This bill will allow me and countless others the opportunity to fulfill my dream of serving the communities where I was raised," he said. 

Virginia lawmakers are evaluating a similar bill, reports Julie Carey of NBC Washington. A Senate committee has voted to move the bill forward. 

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

‘DO IT TOGETHER’ — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) has affirmed in private conversations that the potential bipartisan immigration deal in the Senate has "no way forward," reports a team at CNN. And just after midnight today, the House Homeland Security Committee voted along party lines to advance the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Wall Street Journal’s latest editorial on these developments is worth reading, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on MSNBC is worth watching. "Republicans and Democrats have to do it together: Border security [and] legal immigration," Kasich said. 

COURAGE — Rep. Tony Gonzales (R- Texas) reflects on the reality at the border and emphasizes Congress’s responsibility to offer solutions in an op-ed for The Dallas Morning News. "With political courage, we can safeguard our nation while preserving the fairness of our legal immigration system," he writes. Polling throughout 2023 indicates that Americans across the political spectrum want this combination, not to mention preserving protections for people genuinely fleeing persecution and reforms that address labor shortages and inflation.  

PLEA FOR COMPASSION — "America can both secure our borders and respect human dignity," Jamie Ivey and Briana Stensrud write in a Religion News Service op-ed. Ivey, a Christian podcaster and author, and Stensrud, director of Women of Welcome, relate the story of an Iranian Christian woman who was granted asylum and whom they met during a visit to the San Diego-Tijuana border. "With Congress on the cusp of a border solution, we urge our country not to turn its back on individuals like our Iranian Christian sister and other immigrants fleeing religious persecution," they write. 

FINAL RULE — Yesterday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services solidified fee increases for employment-based visas and a revamped lottery process for H-1B specialty occupation visas, reports Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law. Fragomen immigration lawyer Kevin Miner says the changes balance ensuring fairness and providing flexibility for people with multiple job offers. But businesses will continue to struggle to retain foreign talent if Congress doesn’t raise the H-1B quota, Stuart Anderson writes in Forbes. 

Thanks for reading,