Feeling a bit of whiplash this morning: The U.S. Supreme Court, having extended its stay on Texas’ SB 4 on Monday, ruled yesterday on procedural grounds that it could go into effect — and then last night, a lower appeals court ruled that a halt on the law’s implementation can stand, report Alejandro Serrano and Uriel J. García of The Texas Tribune.
The block is in place while court proceedings on the substance of SB 4 continue. Oral arguments are expected today.
Here’s a reminder of the concerns Texas faith and national security leaders, and Jennie, raised when the bill was proceeding through the Texas Legislature in the fall. Every day that SB 4 is not in effect is a good day.
Separately, a group of South Texas mayors is trying to dispel harmful myths about border communities and work together to strengthen their cities’ economies, reports Sandra Sanchez of Border Report.
Mayors met Monday to discuss some strategies to work as "collaborative communities." City leaders also urged Congress to take action on border solutions.
"We are looking for bipartisan solutions to the issues that we face, and the bipartisan border bill is one of those solutions that Congress can take to improve the situation on the border," said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg (I).
Thanks to the alert reader who caught my error yesterday — the Dallas Chief of Police is Eddie García. And welcome to Wednesday’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, Darika Verdugo and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
AFGHAN ALLIES — A compromise between the Biden administration and House Republicans would increase resettlement visas for our Afghan allies by 12,000, report Phil Stewart and Jonathan Landay of Reuters. "This is good but it’s not enough," Joseph Azam of the Afghan American Foundation told Pablo Manríquez and Arturo Dominguez’s Capitol Press. "[A]t some point, our government has to hunker down and do its part to make sure every Afghan ally in harm’s way is able to make it ... to safety."
LOCAL RESPONSES — Lancaster, Pennsylvania, recently codified a new policy protecting migrants from inquiries into their legal status, report Madison Lambert and Nicole Acevedo of NBC News. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams called for a national "decompression strategy" for asylum seeker placement, reports Kiara Alfonseca of ABC News. Marlene Galaz, director of immigrant rights policy at the New York Immigration Council, says current challenges stem from long-running federal inaction. "Redistributing" migrants would downplay their humanity and "the community ties that they might [build] or might already be building," Galaz said.
HAITI — Officials say that the current turmoil and violence in Haiti has not yet led to an increase in migrants traveling to the U.S., report Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Nicole Sganga of CBS News. Should one occur, contingency plans include housing migrants at Guantanamo Bay. "The fact that we are always considering options does not mean we will take action immediately, or at all," said a National Security Council spokesperson.
DETERRENTS — In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed additional legislation meant to deter unauthorized immigrants from living in the state, report Michael Moline and Jackie Llanos of the Florida Phoenix. The measures include a prohibition on "state and local governments from recognizing non-official ID cards sometimes issued by community groups to provide people lacking official ID with at least
one way to establish their identities."
P.S. Also on the local-welcome front, Polk County, Iowa, plans to open an immigrant and refugee welcome center as its foreign-born population grows, Jason Clayworth of Axios reports.
