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A swift congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs. That was an entertaining game. A bipartisan amendment that would give resettled Afghans who were evacuated during the U.S. withdrawal a path to permanent residence was introduced Friday, reports Haley Britzky of CNN. The amendment from Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) is based on the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act. Amendment co-sponsors include GOP Sens. Roger Wicker (Mississippi), Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) and Thom Tillis (North Carolina), and Democrats Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Chris Coons (Delaware) and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire). "It’s an American obligation. And our allies are watching," said Shawn VanDiver, founder of #AfghanEvac. The American Legion is among veterans' organizations supporting such a measure, which had been included in the Senate compromise that failed to move forward last week. Speaking of which, C. Stewart Verdery Jr., a George W. Bush DHS veteran and CNSI leader, writes in The Hill about the missed opportunity for Republicans. And in Christianity Today, Harvest Prude profiles "Baptist Pastor Turned Senator" and lead Republican negotiator of the deal, James Lankford of Oklahoma. 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, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. BACKLOG DOWN — USCIS reported Friday that in fiscal year 2023, the department decreased its backlog for the first time in a decade. Although the agency still has large backlogs to address, this is real progress. Read the Forum’s related report from last year. TRUMP’S PLANS — Donald Trump has promised an even more drastic crackdown on immigration in a second term, as two essential pieces highlight — one from NPR’s Consider This and another from Stef W. Kight, Courtenay Brown and Russell Contreras of Axios. A not-so-sneak preview: mass deportations and a deeper military presence at the border. STILL HERE — The conspicuous absence of a solution for Dreamers in the Senate bill is a sign of how the immigration conversation has shifted politically, Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News reports. Editor’s note: To us and 40 or so of our partners in the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus, a solution for Dreamers remains an urgent priority — in addition to farmworker and border solutions. (Read more about one of our partners, The LIBRE Initiative, in Nicole Acevedo’s separate NBC News piece.) NORTHERN BORDER — Cold weather can pose great challenges to a relatively small but increasing number of migrants avoiding the southern border by flying to Canada and attempting to travel south into the United States, reports Luis Ferré-Sadurní of The New York Times. Last year, more than 12,200 people were apprehended while making the journey, and at least a dozen migrants have been found frozen in forests and rivers in areas near the border, Ferré-Sadurní notes. REASON NEEDED — Advocates caution that anti-immigrant frenzy, driven by Governor Greg Abbott’s (R) measures in Texas, poses significant risks, reports Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global. "We need true bipartisan support for immigration reform, a multipronged approach to reforming our immigration system. Our focus needs to target drug cartels, human smugglers and arms runners, not families, women and children," said Domingo Garcia of the League of United Latin American Citizens. ‘A BETTER LIFE’ — A good last word from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, as reported by the team at NBC 10 Boston: "The stories of these families are the same as the immigrant stories that my family has, that many of our communities have, of just wanting to give their kids a better life." Thanks for reading, Dan
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