The Forum Daily | Friday, April 5, 2024
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**THE FORUM DAILY** 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an
extension of work permits for qualifying categories of immigrants while
renewals are being processed, reports Rafael Bernal of The Hill
. 

Nearly 800,000 people were at risk of losing jobs - and their
employers were at risk of losing workers - because of backlogs that
could have caused a gap while their Employment Authorization Document
renewals were pending. Now, the grace period will be extended from 180
to 540 days. 

The business community welcomed the announcement. "It's a benefit to
companies but it's a relief for them too, because they know that they
were going to go through those headaches again," said Jon Baselice of
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  

Our Vice President and Chief of Public Affairs, Emily Foster, sounded a
similar tone in a statement
:
"This action will greatly improve certainty and stability for newcomers
and their employers. It will allow thousands of authorized workers to
keep working, and that's a relief to employers."  

All of this is good given this morning's breaking news, per Justin
Lahart of The Wall Street Journal
:
The U.S. added 303,000 jobs last month, unemployment dropped slightly,
and "wage growth remained contained, underscoring the growing belief
among economists and policymakers that the country can keep adding jobs
without fanning inflation." 

Welcome to Friday'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, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro. If you
have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected] . 

**RULING** - A federal district court judge ruled Wednesday that the
federal government must provide safe shelter to children who enter the
U.S. without authorization, of whom some in California have been staying
at open-air sites, reports Emily Baumgaertner of The New York Times
.
The ruling will affect thousands of children and require U.S. Customs
and Border Protection to provide more resources.  

**SERVICE** - Leaders should support organizations that help people in
vulnerable circumstances, not attack them, We Welcome
Director Tess Clarke writes in The
Dallas Morning News
.
Referencing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit against
Annunciation House in El Paso, Clarke writes, "Serving the vulnerable
should never be illegal, and organizations seeking to do so should
not have to wonder
 if
they will be prosecuted." A We Welcome letter
in
support of Annunciation House has more than 300 signatures. 

**NARRATIVES** - Former President Donald Trump's rhetoric yesterday
on migration and the border was "unusually alarmist (if not unusually
exaggerated) - even by his standards," Washington Post

columnist Philip Bump writes. A team at NBC News

offers a look at what Trump's rhetoric and policy plans could mean in
a second term. And Michigan business leaders are pushing back on
Trump's message during an appearance in Grand Rapids this week, Kate
Carlson of Crain's Grand Rapids Business

reports. "[I]mmigration is a win for our communities," said Rick Baker,
president of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. 

**AFGHAN ALLIES** - The U.S. must do more to fulfill its promise to
Afghan allies, the Bloomberg

editorial board writes. Turning our back would "not only endanger
Afghans but also tarnish America's global standing," the board writes,
an argument national security leaders

also have made
.
Separately, the Urban Institute recently released a report

regarding evacuees' mental health, including challenges and best
practices from community stakeholders and Afghan community leaders.   

This week in local welcome: 

* A Welcome Corps group at James Madison University in Virginia will
welcome two refugee students in the fall; they'll be among 33 such
students nationwide. (Robin Guess, Voice of America
) 

* A Ramadan celebration hosted by the Islamic Society of Greater
Charlotte in North Carolina helped raise money for arriving refugees.
(Elvis Menayese, WFAE
) 

* Two groups in Chicago are teaming up to provide newcomers with mental
health support. (Stephanie Wade, ABC 7
) 

Anticipating basketball's Final Four - even the men's games, 

Dan 

**P.S.** Speaking of narratives, newly posted videos

from faith and law enforcement leaders continue to highlight

a more principled conversation. 

 

** **

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