The Forum Daily | Thursday, March 14, 2024
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**THE FORUM DAILY** 

The House Committee on Agriculture recently released its final report

on how to address worker shortages in farming by improving the H-2A
guest worker program, reports Alexander Fabino for Newsweek
. 

The report was presented by the bipartisan Agriculture Labor Working
Group (ALWG) and includes among other recommendations: simplifying the
hiring process for H-2A workers, adjusting employee pay based on duties,
creating a standard wage calculation, and granting year-round industries
access to H-2A, Fabino notes. 

"We are losing farms in America at a rapid pace and there is no question
that our broken workforce system is partly to blame," said Zippy Duvall,
President of the American Farm Bureau Federation in a statement last
week. "[A]merica's farmers and ranchers are counting on Congress to
address this issue before more farms go under," he said. 

Separately, not only rural areas could see benefits from immigration.
Urban growth also has immigration to thank for its rebound, report Paul
Overberg and Michelle Hackman for The Wall Street Journal
.
 

An analysis conducted by the Journal shows that immigration helped
reverse some of the population losses reported in urban areas in the
Midwest and Northeast during the pandemic. 

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

**WARNING** - Senators in both parties are warning that a fight over
funding for the Department of Homeland Security could cause a shutdown
at midnight on March 22, reports Alexander Bolton of The Hill
.
Although a shutdown was avoided last week, lawmakers recognize that the
lift to pass this next package will be difficult as the Department of
Homeland Security funding needs to be extended and there is division
over immigration policy.  

**UNCERTAIN** - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced yesterday
that hundreds of law enforcement officers and soldiers will be sent to
patrol the southern coast of Florida as violence in Haiti escalates and
more people could flee their homeland, report Syra Ortiz Blanes, Ana
Ceballos and David Goodhue of the Miami Herald
.
On Tuesday, Rebecca Zimmerman, Assistant Secretary of defense for
Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, said the federal government
has not seen an increase in migrants on the coast, but recognized that
they "are alert to that possibility." Despite no current increase of
arrivals, DeSantis said that the deployment of law enforcement groups
will include helicopters, aircraft, drones and boats. 

**NEW EQUIPMENT** - U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents in
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Buffalo and Detroit will
start wearing body-worn cameras when interacting with the public,
reports Rebecca Santana of the Associated Press
.
The new equipment is part of a new policy that seeks to increase
transparency and trust in law enforcement. Acting ICE Director Patrick
J. Lechleitner said the policy is "an important step to further build
public trust and confidence in our dedicated and professional law
enforcement officials." 

**DOCTORS NEEDED** - As many areas of the country are facing medical
doctor shortages, there is a new bill in Virginia which would tackle the
issue by providing a licensing path for foreign-born doctors, reports
Valerie Plesch of The World
.
At least five other states have already passed similar bills with little
to no pushback, Plesch notes. "We have to find a way to solve this
problem and what better way to do it than with immigrant help? They're
already experienced, they're already knowledgeable," said Rocky
Fowler, a doctor who runs a family practice in Harrisonburg,
Virginia.  

 Thanks for reading,  

Clara 

** **

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