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