The Biden administration is set to begin its Keeping Families Together program today, which aims to smooth the legalization process for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, report Jorge Garcia and Ted Hesson of Reuters.  

The program will be open to nearly 500,000 eligible immigrants, including stepchildren of U.S. citizens. Miguel Aleman, who was brought to the U.S. at the age of four, hopes to apply for the program. With a wife and two children, Aleman looks forward to continuing his life with the certainty that permanent immigration status brings. "I want to keep contributing to this country," he said. 

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to use facial recognition technology on children under the age of 14, reports Shandel Menezes of NBC San Diego. 

DHS already uses the technology with adults and teens, but now efforts are being made to improve upon facial recognition for a younger population. 

While DHS told Eileen Guo at MIT Technology Review that they "are committed to protecting the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of all individuals," some advocates are raising alarms. 

Finally, new government data show a significant drop in migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. 

July numbers present the lowest level of unauthorized crossings in four years. This drop is being credited in part to President Biden’s strict new asylum rules, Montoya-Galvez notes.  

Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Clara Villatoro, the Forum’s assistant VP of strategic communications, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Dan Gordon, Joanna Taylor and Ally Villarreal. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

SCHOLARS AT RISK —Russian Fulbright scholars with temporary U.S. J-1 visas –who cannot easily change their status or work in the U.S. – are pushing for more permanent immigration options, citing a risk of government persecution at home, per Andrew Kreighbaum at Bloomberg Law. The J-1 exchange visitor visa requires, as a general rule, that recipients spend at least two years in their home country after their program in the U.S. "It’s a waste when immigrants with high human capital are not being used to benefit their country of destination because of these bureaucratic and legal issues," said Irina Olimpieva, a research professor at George Washington University.  

FEASIBILITY — Reviewing some of former President Trump’s proposed policies for immigration and border security, Kinsey Crowley looks at the feasibility of such plans in her piece for USA Today. Many of the policies proposed are vulnerable "to litigation and to future administrations trying to roll back some of these policies," says Kathleen Bush-Joseph, policy analyst with the nonpartisan think tank Migration Policy Institute. 

TENSION AND MESSAGING — As the Democratic party prepares for their national convention in Chicago, tension in the city over migrants is still a palpable issue, report Kim Bellware and Molly Hennessy-Fiske of The Washington Post. Separately, Democrats are now airing political ads discussing challenges at the border, as Andrea Castillo reports for the Los Angeles Times.  

AT CAPACITY — Intensifying violence and instability at home are driving Haitians to seek a better life in Massachusetts despite the state’s attempt to discourage migration as its shelter system reaches capacity, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio reports for the Boston Globe. Karissa Hand, a spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey (D), tells migrants seeking housing alternatives: "It’s essential that we are honest with families that they need to have a plan for housing outside of our shelter system before they travel here."   

Thanks for reading,  

Clara 

P.S. NPR’s Elena Moore and Hiba Ahmad take a look at how growing up with family in the immigration system influences some young Americans’ voting habits.