Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has temporarily paused application processing in the humanitarian programs for nationals of Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba after an internal report indicated possible fraud, reports Maria Sacchetti of The Washington Post. 

The report, which has not been published, identified concerns "such as multiple applications from a single sponsor," officials said. DHS has not found problems among parolees themselves, who were admitted after passing background checks. 

"Out of an abundance of caution, DHS has temporarily paused the issuance of advanced travel authorizations for new beneficiaries while it undertakes a review of supporter applications," spokeswoman Erin Heeter said in a statement. "DHS will restart application processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards." 

Separately, the number of unauthorized border crossings in July fell to 56,000, the lowest since 2020, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News.  

This marks the fifth consecutive month with decreasing numbers. Michelle Hackman and Santiago Pérez of The Wall Street Journal analyze how recent U.S. policy changes and Mexico’s cooperation have affected the number of crossings.  

"The effort faces a big test. Thousands of migrants continue arriving in Mexico daily," Hackman and Pérez point out. Many are Venezuelans whom neither the U.S. nor Mexico can return because the Venezuelan regime refuses to accept deportation flights, they add. 

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

ECONOMIC STRENGTH — Trust the data: Immigrants strengthen the American economy, writes Walker Wright in a Deseret News opinion piece. "Immigrants are not threats. They are potential partners, lenders, investors, innovators, employers, employees, co-workers and customers," he writes. Meanwhile, Marcela García analyzes undocumented immigrants’ "tax power" in her Boston Globe column. More than a third of their tax dollars "went toward funding federal programs that they themselves are banned from accessing," García notes. 

PROTECTING FAMILIES — Programs meant to speed the deportation of asylum applicants who don’t qualify are putting families at risk, Alexandra Villarreal and Cindy Woods write in an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News. Ensuring that families remain together, guaranteeing access to legal representation and ending family detention are among adjustments that could help, write Villarreal, a policy expert here at the Forum, and Woods, policy counsel at Americans for Immigrant Justice. "Children need kindness and compassion, not time behind bars. We must do better," they write. 

EDUCATION — A new coalition called Education for All is working to fight anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies trying to limit the right to an education regardless of immigration status, reports Kalyn Belsha of Chalkbeat. Some are targeting the 1982 Supreme Court decision that provided that right, Belsha notes. "Part of what we can do is show that immigrant students can succeed when given the right supports," said Liza Schwartzwald of the New York Immigration Coalition, an Education for All member. 

REFUGEE BRONZE — Boxer Cindy Ngamba, a refugee from Cameroon living in the U.K., made history on Sunday: She’s the first Refugee Olympic Team medal winner, reports Issy Ronald of CNN. "I’m over the moon, I had my refugee team, the crowd, France and Paris team, and everyone in my family to come and support me. Most of all, I just want to thank the Lord," Ngamba said. 

Thanks for reading, 
Dan