According to data released today, the percentage of the U.S. population that is foreign-born is the highest it has been in more than 100 years, report Mike Schneider and Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press.
The foreign-born population grew from 13.9% in 2022 to 14.3% in 2023, according to estimates in the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey. This is the highest percentage since 1910, when it was at 14.7%.
It’s playing out in cities such as Springfield, Ohio, which continues to receive attention this week. Haitian migrants have revitalized the community’s economy, despite growing pains, reports Howard Schneider of Reuters.
Separately in Reuters, Ted Hesson, Andy Sullivan and Gabriella Borter report that Haitian migrants in Springfield and nationwide are fearing for their own safety as politicians continue to spread dangerous falsehoods.
And, at a Springfield City Commission meeting yesterday, the father of an 11-year-old killed in a tragic crash made a plea against hate. "In order to live like Aiden, you need to accept everyone, choose to shine, make the difference, lead the way and be the inspiration," Nathan Clark said.
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].
PROBLEMATIC — Federal and state bills meant to stop noncitizens from voting are a cynical "solution" to a nonexistent problem, reports Nick Evans of The Ohio Capital Journal. As we’ve noted, noncitizen voting in federal and statewide elections already is illegal. Such bills could ensnare millions of American citizens, Evans notes: "A University of Maryland study estimates more than 21 million Americans don’t have ready access to the documents they’d need."
PROFITEERS — The U.S. is restricting visas for officials at a European charter plane company after they were found to be "facilitating irregular migration," reports Susan Heavey of Reuters. The unnamed company and executives are profiting from unauthorized immigration by chartering flights through Nicaragua, she reports. "No one should profit from vulnerable migrants — not smugglers, private companies, or public officials," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. Meanwhile, in a new report, Human Rights Watch urges Latin American governments to improve protections for Haitian and Venezuelan arrivals who lack necessities to survive, reports Manuel Rueda of the Associated Press.
FAITH AND WORK — Catholics in Raleigh, North Carolina, are standing with the many migrant farmworkers in the area, reports Maria-Pia Chin of OSV News. National organizations, Raleigh parishioners and local labor advocates took part in a recent pastoral visit that allowed them to see not only the ministry and church at work helping migrant workers, but also the workers’ faith. Separately, a recent series by Sam Tabachnik of The Denver Post homed in on unsafe conditions for migrant farmworkers in Colorado.
‘TRANSFORMATIVE’ — Related: U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su met with immigrant rights groups Monday in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to discuss a program that temporarily protects migrants from deportation after they report labor law violations, reports Joe Schulz of Wisconsin Public Radio. Su called the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement program "transformative" for immigrant populations in Wisconsin. Hot off the press: our new explainer on migrants who work in construction, one industry where this program could help.
P.S. In a humanizing and hopeful episode of CodeSwitch, NPR’s Jasmine Garsd and Xavier Lopez take a walk through a park in Queens, New York, and speak with immigrants who make up much of the borough’s population.
