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