A large water rescue of 54 migrants took place in the Rio Grande Tuesday, an incident that officials say highlights the dangers of migration, reports Daniel Borunda of the El Paso Times.
U.S. Border Patrol agents saw a large group go into the Rio Grande and called in water-rescue crews. Thirty divers from several fire departments in the area assisted.
"This incident demonstrates how transnational criminal organizations will often force migrants into dangerous situations without any regard for their safety or lives," the Border Patrol said.
In this context, advocates are shining a bright light on policies at all levels that center on deterrence, report Julian Resendiz and Tirza Ortiz of Border Report. "The deterrence policies we have at the border right now continue to push migrants to take very dangerous routes," said Alan Lizarraga of the Border Network for Human Rights.
And, as the U.S. and Panama join forces to deter migrants from crossing the Darién Gap, Catholic groups are among those warning of danger, reports David Agren of OSV News. Rather than deport people passing through the jungle between Colombia and Panama, Agren reports, "[t]he groups called for governments to attend to the needs of migrants instead and deal with issues such as organized crime ... [and] argue that migrants are not easily deterred, making it likely they would seek out new but risky routes instead."
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, Samantha Siedow, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
SEEKING PATHS — As the general election approaches, some DACA recipients are rushing to secure as much certainty as they can, reports Halle Zander of NPR. For Luz Galaviz, that meant obtaining special permission called advance parole to travel abroad and re-enter the United States legally. That legal return can help DACA recipients with future green card or visa applications, Zander notes. The opportunity may not continue under a new administration.
DISPLACEMENT — In Burlington, Vermont, former refugees from Sudan are underscoring their native country’s internal-displacement crisis as they try to assist their families and friends, reports Auditi Guha of VTdigger. Sudan has more displaced people within its borders than any other country — more than 11 million, according to U.N. data. On the U.S. refugee resettlement front, the June number of 5,754 was down from 7,477 in May. Resettlement figures last month were the lowest so far this fiscal
year, our policy expert Dan Kosten points out.
CHILDREN — In a piece for the Austin American-Statesman, business leader Jorge Bermudez writes that the immigration court process "is made worse by laws and procedures that don't take children's unique needs into account." Bermudez, a member of the Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) Leadership Council, advocates for a bill intended to help children and lessen the backlog of immigration court cases.
MISCONCEPTIONS — Jason De León, an anthropology professor at UCLA and executive director of the Undocumented Migration Project, spent nearly seven years with a group of smugglers moving migrants across Mexico. In an interview with Meghna Chakrabarti of WBUR, produced by Jonathan Chang, De León shares his insights—including why "once you get locked into that world, it's really difficult to get away."
P.S. A new documentary airing on PBS this week focuses on Luis Cortes Romero, a DACA recipient and "the first undocumented lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court," Raul A. Reyes of NBC News reports.
