The Forum Daily | Friday, September 20, 2024 ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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**THE FORUM DAILY**

For those who live and work along the U.S.-Mexico border, the politics surrounding immigration have real, day-to-day impacts, reports Morgan Lee of the Associated Press [link removed].??

Lee shares the experiences of Robert Ardovino, who lives along the border, and opens a window into daily situations that are unique to the region.????

"It's very obvious to me, being on the border, that it's not an open border. It is a very, very, very difficult situation," Ardovino commented. The family owns a restaurant and pays for special fencing to keep migrants from crossing their land.??

About the bipartisan bill that fell through earlier this year, Ardovino said, "It's frustrating for people who need a border bill of any kind, any time, to start dealing with the big picture. I'd rather be running a restaurant than working on these fences."??

Some U.S. representatives from border districts are taking an approach many of their peers are not: working together. Reps. Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Arizona) have joined forces on "at least three bills to modernize temporary farmworker visas, spur local manufacturing and combat opioid trafficking," Lee reports.????

For many migrants, the border can come down to life or death, as a volunteer group called the Armadillos knows all too well, report Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Justo Robles and Suvro Banerji of CBS News [link removed]. The United Nations calls the U.S.-Mexico border "the deadliest land route for migrants worldwide."??

The Armadillos search for remains of missing migrants in the??Sonoran Desert. In 2024 alone, the Border Patrol has reported 506 migrant deaths along the border.????

Welcome to Friday'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] mailto:[email protected].??

**FROM A LOCAL** - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), a Springfield native, shares his important perspective in a New York Times [link removed] op-ed. "[Springfield] is a city made up of good, decent, welcoming people," he writes. "They are hard workers - both those who were born in this country and those who settled here because, back in their birthplace, Haiti, innocent people can be killed just for cheering on the wrong team in a soccer match." He also correctly counters Ohio senator and vice presidential nominee JD Vance's claim that that Haitians with legal protections are "illegal aliens" who have been "unlawfully protected from deportation," as Stephen Fowler of NPR [link removed] reports.??

**FAITH SUPPORT** - Southern Baptist leaders have met with diverse Springfield residents and talked about how they can serve Haitians living there, reports Diana Chandler of Baptist Press [link removed]. It has been "really encouraging to hear from Baptists all over the country really, just calling to see how they could help," said Senior Pastor Christopher Wilson of Northside Baptist Church in Springfield. Another Springfield pastor, Carl Ruby, has shared important words on the likes of FOX's LiveNOW [link removed], CNN [link removed] and MSNBC [link removed]. "I think we have a moral, Christian obligation to welcome [Haitians]," he said on??FOX.????

**ENCOURAGING MENTAL HEALTH** - A new program in Maine helps young resettled Afghans process the trauma they experienced, reports Rhitu Chatterjee of NPR [link removed]. Such residents have a higher risk of mental health challenges, and while parents want to help, they are often struggling themselves. The program is run by Boston College and Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services in the Lewiston-Auburn area.??

This week in local welcome:??

* Two Afghan cousins find welcome thanks to a local family in St. Louis. (Hussein Amuri, St. Louis Post-Dispatch [link removed])??

* After Dr. Benjamin Allen of Virginia performed necessary surgery on Yahya Noristani about a decade ago, the two families reunited this summer after the Noristanis resettled in the U.S. (Servet Gunerigok and Can Hasasu, Anadolu Agency [link removed])??

* Global Impact Initiative Austin hosted its fourth Refugee Arts & Crafts Bazaar, which brings together people from all over the world. (Riddhi Bora, The Daily Texan [link removed])??

**HOLDING** - New information is emerging regarding conditions for migrants intercepted at sea and held at Guant??namo Bay (separate from terror suspects), reports Hamed Aleaziz of The New York Times [link removed]. "I left Cuba hoping to find freedom," said Alberto Corzo, a Cuban who spent five months at a Guant??namo facility with his family.??

Thanks for reading,??

Dan??

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