The Forum Daily | Friday, March 8, 2024
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**THE FORUM DAILY** 

In last night's State of the Union address, President Biden revisited
a recently proposed bipartisan border bill and claimed to be "ready to
fix" the immigration system, reports Rebecca Beitsch of The Hill
. 

Biden touted the legislation as "the toughest set of border security
reforms." He also emphasized the resources that the bill could provide
to face current border challenges including by hiring more border
agents, immigration judges and asylum officers. 

In closing, the president made one last plea to lawmakers, "we can fight
about the border, or we can fix it. I'm ready to fix it. Send me the
border bill now!" 

In response to President Biden's remarks, Jennie said in a Forum
statement
:
"Now more than ever, our country needs the president and Congress to
address immigration reforms and pave the way for practical solutions
that make America safe, strong and welcoming. We need Congress to take
the president up on his offer, when he said, 'let's fix it.'"   

In a piece for The Conversation
,
Jean Lantz Reisz, professor of Law at the University of Southern
California, analyzes some of the main border challenges and what
President Biden and Congress could do to improve the situation.  

Welcome to Friday's edition of The Forum Daily. A special shoutout to
our amazing intern Isabella, who's finishing her time at the Forum
today. She has done a fantastic job. Thank you, Isabella! I'm Clara
Villatoro, the Forum's strategic communications senior manager, and
the great Forum Daily team also includes Dan Gordon, Jillian Clark,
Isabella Miller and Ally Villarreal. If you have a story to share from
your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected]. 

**BENEFITS** - A new research
shows that
immigrant professional workers under the H-1B program "can improve a
company's existing products in foreign countries and lead to new
products in export markets," writes Stuart Anderson for Forbes
. The
new findings indicate an additional advantage for companies with
foreign workers in their headquarters, especially multinationals,
Anderson notes. Separately, Alicia Adamczyk of Fortune

reports on how the limitations of the annual H-1B quota could represent
a threat for tech innovation. 

**DROWNING RISK** - The number of migrants who drowned in the Pacific
Ocean rose significantly as the former administration added 30-foot
barriers in the San Diego area, reports Nick Miroff for The Washington
Post
.
New research published
in the
American Medical Association's journal this week shows that between
2020 and 2023, at least 33 migrants drowned in the Pacific. In contrast,
during the four-year period prior to the border wall's expansion, only
one migrant drowning was reported.  

**POSITIVE TREND** - The U.S. resettled 10,252 refugees in February
2024, per the refugee resettlement report
released this week.
This is the highest monthly arrival statistic since 2016. Dan Kosten,
one of the Forum's policy expert, highlights that the continuity of
this trend could lead to especially strong resettlement numbers this
fiscal year.

This week in local welcome:  

* A St. Louis nonprofit, Welcome Neighbor STL, supports refugees through
their supper club program. (Charlotte Renner, Feast Magazine
) 

* Jill Goldstein works on encouraging her neighbors in Philadelphia to
join her in sponsoring refugees through the Welcome Corps program.
(Rachel Wisniewski, The Philadelphia Citizen
) 

* Former members of the Afghan Female Tactical Platoon are finding
community and home with the help of Blacksburg Refugee Partnership.
(Heather Rousseau, The Roanoke Times
) 

**A HELPING HAND** - The paperwork for permanent residency is long and
arduous, but some Chicago lawyers are making their best attempt to help
Afghan neighbors get over the legal hurdles required to apply for it,
writes Neil Steinberg for the Chicago Sun-Times
.
"Being able to offer a helping hand in that situation is really
meaningful to me," said Laura Bernescu, an attorney who has experience
with immigration herself. New generations are being inspired -
Shiringul, a young Afghani woman and student, wants to become a lawyer
to help others.  

Thanks for reading,  

Clara 

** **

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