Efforts among the United States and Latin American authorities have resulted in the apprehension of dozens of people allegedly involved in smuggling networks in the Western Hemisphere.  

In Panama, 15 people accused of smuggling Chinese migrants through the Darién Gap were arrested on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. And in Costa Rica, 21 people allegedly tied to a smuggling group operating between Ecuador and the U.S. were arrested in a large police operation, Álvaro Murillo and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez of Reuters report. 

The group in Costa Rica is accused of charging $14,000 per person to more than a hundred migrants from Ecuador, Asia and Africa, Murillo and Pelaez-Fernandez note. 

Laura Richardson, head of the U.S. Southern Command, Panama President José Raúl Mulino signed an agreement yesterday that aims to decrease Darién Gap crossings, reports Alejandro Baños of Voz. 

Through the agreement, the U.S. and Panama will be able "to share air, maritime, and land tracks" for migrants' routes from Venezuela to Panama, Baños notes. 

Our take: The Darién is extremely dangerous, but the key to reducing crossings is to provide safer, more orderly alternatives. 

A reminder that we’re off on Fridays this month, so we’ll be back Monday. 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, Joanna Taylor, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

DNA STORAGE — Before being deported, the DNA of asylum seekers is collected and added to the FBI’s criminal database, which is causing alarm among advocates, reports Melissa del Bosque of The Border Chronicle. "People who were detained then expelled from the United States might never step foot in this country again," said Stevie Glaberson of the Center on Privacy and Technology. "But their DNA will still be here. And right now, there’s nothing they can do about it. That’s really troubling." 

AFGHAN OLYMPIANS — Three Afghan women, in addition to three men, are competing at the Olympics under the former Afghanistan flag, and another five are competing for the Refugee Olympic Team. In Rolling Stone, Abigail Pesta interviews Samira Asghari, the first Afghan on the International Olympic Committee. Asghari talks about how the team came together and the importance of human rights, education and sports for Afghanistan’s women and girls. 

This past week in local welcome: 

REFUGEE NUMBERS — The U.S. resettled 6,451 refugees in July, bringing this fiscal year’s resettlement numbers so far to 74,742, with two months left. The U.S. is on pace to settle close to 90,000 refugees — fewer than the Biden administration’s "ceiling" of 125,000, but the most since 1995. For a look at the lengthy resettlement process, don’t miss Lily Kincaid’s piece for The Roanoke Times on Sudanese refugee Babikir Harane, who was finally reunited with his wife and children after eight years apart. 

INTERFAITH WELCOME — In a moving piece for Anabaptist World, Andrew Mashas shares stories of religious communities in Pennsylvania that have built deep connections with recently arrived refugees, bonding over commitment to their families and their faith. Through "dialogue and hospitality," Mashas writes, refugee resettlement has helped "Anabaptists in Lancaster County — Mennonites, Brethren, Amish — embrace Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and animistic neighbors with love and hospitality."  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. In response to violence driven by misinformation, some Brits’ message of welcome has been heartening. Anahita Hossein-Pour covers it in The Standard.