Advocates worry that children will be most affected by the shift in immigration policies under the incoming Trump administration, reports Rick Jervis of USA Today.
Whether these changes involve the rolling back of current protections, mass deportation and/or family separations, worry is growing about potential long-term harm — including on kids born in the U.S.
"This is a group of individuals who are incredibly vulnerable and have no power politically," said Austin-based immigration attorney Walter Gates. "We’re concerned."
Separately, companies with large immigrant workforces are preparing for workplace enforcement actions, reports Julia Love of Bloomberg.
Many workers are seeking to gain or extend protections now. That includes the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement program, which protects undocumented people who work for companies under investigation for workplace violations, reports Suhauna Hussain of the Los Angeles Times.
One caveat: Even though reports are confidential, the process could put undocumented workers on the government’s radar. "[T]his program does not have a humanitarian purpose," said Jessie Hahn of the National Immigration Law Center. "It has a law enforcement purpose. The government is trying to facilitate investigations."
Welcome to Wednesday’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, Soledad Gassó Parker, Camilla Luong, Clara Villatoro and Becka Wall. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
POTENTIAL EFFECTS — "Immigrant labor is really important for our ability to continue to build homes affordably," Jim Tobin, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, tells Samantha Delouya and Julia Vargas Jones of CNN. In the dairy industry, losing foreign-born workers could double milk prices, Karen Bohnert of Dairy Herd Management reports. "The values of rural America and agriculture are a commitment to fairness and opportunity to immigrants who ... should have a pathway to stability, allowing them to continue supporting our businesses and communities,"
Jennifer Tilton Flood, a Maine dairy farmer, told Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global.
HISTORY — Exclusionary immigration politics from the past offer insight into potential economic and social consequences today, reports Greg Rosalsky of NPR. In the first part of a Planet Money series on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Rosalsky recounts the story of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 and the ensuing recruitment of Chinese immigrants for labor — and eventually racial violence and other negative consequences for Chinese immigrants.
LAND OFFER — Texas is offering 1,402 acres of land to the Trump administration to be used for mass deportation efforts, reports Alejandro Serrano of The Texas Tribune. In a letter sent Tuesday, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said her office is ready to enter into an agreement "to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history."
LAW ENFORCEMENT — In a Houston Chronicle letter to the editor, former Arlington, Texas, Police Chief Theron L. Bowman writes that mass deportations would put undue burdens on local police forces. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, protesters gathered outside the General Assembly to oppose House Bill 10, which would require sheriffs to detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally, writes Julian Grace of WRAL News. Many in opposition say that the bill would foster distrust and fear between the migrant community and local law enforcement, Grace reports.
P.S. The Columbus, Ohio, City Council unanimously voted "to embrace immigrants by establishing the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs," Jordan Laird of the Columbus Dispatch reports. And Ohio will accept additional migrant assistance from the federal government, albeit barely, per Jake Zuckerman of Cleveland.com.
