Amid the current debate in Congress on immigration and large cities struggling to manage the increase of migrant arrivals, the city of Topeka, Kansas is trying to attract migrants who have work authorization, reports Alicia A. Caldwell of The Wall Street Journal. 

"We know that for our community to prosper we have to have a diverse community," said Topeka’s Mayor Michael Padilla.  

The city has struggled to fill nearly 6,600 open jobs. Since 2019, it has run a marketing campaign targeting Spanish-speaking immigrant groups given the increase in the Latino population in the recent years. Lately, nonprofit organizations working with refugees have also focused on finding local sponsors to resettle Ukrainians in Topeka.  

Elsewhere, more Americans across the country are open to supporting and sponsoring refugees. Don Rush of Delmarva Public Media talks about the impact of a new program, the Welcome Corps, with Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US, and Leslie Sperry of the Beacon Heights Welcoming Group. 

Separately, in an op-ed for The Tennessean, Lisa Sherman Luna of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition recognizes the need for improvements in our immigration system and urges Gov. Bill Lee (R) to honor the state’s tradition of hospitality and promote a more welcoming environment.   

Meanwhile, last week a bipartisan group of Ohio’s congressional delegation introduced legislation to provide additional protections for nationals of Mauritania, reports Sam Allard of Axios Cleveland. More than half of the Mauritanians living in the U.S. are settled in Ohio, and many arrived fleeing life-threatening conditions — including slavery, Allard notes. 

Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Clara Villatoro, the Forum’s senior strategic communications manager, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Isabella Miller, Jillian Clark and Ally Villarreal. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

A PROMISE – Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) said that the "full text" on border and immigration policies negotiated in the Senate will be released "no later than this Sunday," reports a team at NBC News. In an op-ed for Bloomberg, Mary Ellen Klas emphasizes the need for commitment by both sides of the aisle, as immigration affects all Americans. "Disagreement is healthy, but not if it leads to intransigence," she writes. Separately, Ben Werschkul of Yahoo! Finance analyzes how the current negotiations are missing some solutions for the business sector, including much-needed improvements in worker visa programs. 

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION – A group of large employers warned yesterday that eliminating the protections for those under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) would drain $460 billion from the gross domestic product, reports Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law. Over 100 of the nation’s top businesses are part of the Coalition for the American Dream, the group that filed an amicus brief Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recognizing the economic contribution of DACA recipients. 

CONCERNS — A group of Americans opposed to unauthorized immigration will rally near the U.S.-Mexico border on Saturday in what has been advertised as a peaceful protest, report Helen Coster, Ted Hesson and Mica Rosenberg of Reuters. Advocate groups and other critics worry "it could fuel anti-immigrant sentiment" amid the current immigration debate, Reuters notes. Separately, Latino rights groups expressed their concerns on the Texas leaders' rhetoric on immigration and the possibility of leading to violence against migrants, reports Craig Huber of Spectrum News1.