It was a busy day on Capitol Hill yesterday.  

House Speaker Mike Johnson brought up a proposal similar to HR 2, a severe border-focused and asylum-restricting bill, as part of the conversation about moving foreign aid forward, Marianna Sotomayor and Leigh Ann Caldwell of The Washington Post report. 

But the GOP is divided on how to proceed, and three Republicans on the House Rules Committee refused to support the bill late in the day. 

On the Senate side yesterday, lawmakers voted to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after a three-hour trial, report Jacqueline Alemany and Liz Goodwin of The Washington Post. 

Senators found the first article, which claimed Mayorkas had a "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law," to be unconstitutional on a 51-48 vote. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted present. The vote against the second article, which accused Mayorkas of a "breach of public trust," was 51-49.  

Seems a good moment to re-up findings that Americans, including evangelical Christians, want cooperation on immigration and border solutions. Our immigration principles for 2024 offer a better conversation — and check out recently posted perspectives from Police Chief Ramon Batista of Santa Monica, California, and Pastor Eric Costanzo of South Tulsa Baptist Church in Oklahoma. 

Welcome to Thursday’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]. 

SUPPORT — Mexico Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena visited Texas yesterday with a message of support for people of Mexican descent who feel uneasy given the state's immigration enforcement efforts, reports Julian Resendiz of Border Report. "We want Mexican and immigrant communities here to know Mexico will support them whether or not SB 4 is enforced," she said. Bárcena reiterated that Mexico will not accept any migrants that Texas tries to return to Mexico.  

NURSING ASSISTANTS — Migrants and asylum seekers can now take classes and earn nursing assistant certificates at no cost at the San Diego College of Continuing Education, reports Salvador Rivera of Border Report. The program could be especially helpful for newcomers who were medical professionals in their home countries. The shortage of certified nursing assistants is severe, as the Urban Institute highlighted last year. 

CLASSROOMS — Public schools have welcomed immigrant children for decades, and increasing migration numbers mean new challenges and opportunities for some schools, report Sarah Matusek and Jackie Valley for The Christian Science Monitor. While some face funding and staffing restraints, educators see multilingual classrooms as a chance for growth: Arriving students can offer a "wonderful opportunity to learn a different culture, language, different perspectives," said Tania Hogan of the University of Colorado Boulder. 

OPPORTUNITIES — Arizona’s Proposition 308, passed in 2022, made a difference for college student and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient Maria Leon, as she writes in her op-ed for the Arizona Republic. The policy allows more students to access in-state tuition no matter their immigration status. "Empowering more students to enroll in college can translate into massive benefits to Arizona and our country," Leon concludes. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by 19 Republican-led states against a Biden administration policy to expedite asylum claim processing and deportations at the border, reports Nate Raymond of Reuters.