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. 

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. 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]. 

FROM A LOCAL — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), a Springfield native, shares his important perspective in a New York Times 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 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. 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, CNN and MSNBC. "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. 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: 

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

Thanks for reading, 

Dan