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THE FORUM DAILY
Yesterday Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reiterated his call for the United States to combat migration from Latin America by, among other things, investing $20 billion a year in poor countries in the region, during CBS’ 60 Minutes with Sharyn Alfonsi.
In December, amid an increase in the number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken went to Mexico to discuss collaboration. To tackle the increase of migration, López Obrador also had proposed that the U.S. lift sanctions on Venezuela, lift the Cuban embargo and legalize Mexicans living undocumented in the U.S.
In the interview, López Obrador said that in the past month Mexico has been "more careful" about its own southern border. And he has asked the presidents of Venezuela, Cuba and Central American countries to help curb migrant flow. But, he said, "That is a short-term solution, not a long-term one."
Separately, Vice President Kamala Harris plans to meet with President Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala today to discuss migration-related issues, reports Colleen Long of the Associated Press.
The pair plans to discuss the progress of safe mobility offices, among other issues. The vice president also is expected to announce investments in Central America.
Welcome to Monday’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].
WORK PERMITS — The Biden administration could prevent problems for American industries by giving asylum seekers more time to renew expiring work authorizations, The Wall Street Journal's editorial board writes. "Jobs are a draw for the hundreds of thousands of border crossers, but voters strongly prefer that migrants work once they’re here," the board writes. We’d add that Congress could act on a bipartisan bill that would make work permits valid as long as asylum claims are being processed, rather than renewable every two years.
ENFORCEMENT — Should Texas’ SB 4 go into effect after court challenges, the state’s Department of Public Safety plans to limit enforcement to border counties, reports Aarón Torres of The Dallas Morning News. But advocates remain wary. Meanwhile, the law is eliciting pushback from local officials — and the Mexican government, Marty Schladen of the Ohio Capital Journal reports. "SB 4 is rudely disrupting the incredible collaboration between local law enforcement, (non-governmental organizations) and
local government," El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said Tuesday, while the law was in effect briefly.
MIXED — A controversial 2010 law passed in Fremont, Nebraska, was meant to make it difficult for undocumented migrants to live within city lines. Now residents’ sentiment is mixed as migrants have proved important to the local workforce, report Didi Martinez, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler of NBC News. While some are still skeptical, others see new arrivals as a blessing. "We need these
people, we need this work done. This is what feeds the nation and the world," City Council President Mark Jensen said.
INTERFAITH SUPPORT — A group of Mauritanian asylum seekers has found a home at a Latino Lutheran church in Bell, California, despite religious differences, reports Leslie Berestein Rojas of LAist. Grace Lutheran Church has been working with advocates to offer resources to the Mauritanian group and connected them with a local mosque. The church is now also a shelter for about two dozen Latin American migrants. "We help one another," said Zacarias, a Guatemalan
immigrant.
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