Wishing a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrated!  

If your day included food, keep in mind the immigrant workers who are crucial to the food on American tables. Immigrants account for 2.1 million employees in the food supply chain, reports Caresse Jackman of Investigate TV. 

The impact goes beyond making food available: Local economies also rely on immigrants, as Sydney McCoy of Spectrum News 1 reports. In North Carolina, the agriculture sector reported an economic impact of $111 billion in 2024 alone, thanks in part to foreign-born workers. 

"They are so important to the economy of the United States and the safe food," Faylene Whitaker, a North Carolina farm owner, said. "We could not survive without them, 100%." 

Whitaker, like many other farmers across the country, relies on the H-2A visa program for temporary workers. But the program has limitations, even as more farmers depend on it to stabilize their workforce amid expanding deportation efforts, report Melissa Gomez and Rebecca Plevin of the Los Angeles Times. 

A bipartisan bill reintroduced last week would, among other things, reform the H-2A program to help address challenges, reports Tim Clouser of The Center Square. 

Meanwhile, amid the current immigration crackdown, 6 in 10 immigrants in the U.S. — regardless of status — feel anxious or afraid about their future in the country, according to a new survey on which Pedro Camacho of The Latin Times reports. Enforcement fears are leading some migrants to forgo medical care, Emily Baumgaertner Nunn, Nina Agrawal and Jessica Silver-Greenberg of The New York Times report. 

On a good note, Pope Leo XIV may advocate for better immigration policies in the U.S., according to Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, reports Isabel Danzis of ABC News. As NBC News’ Nicole Acevedo reports, Catholics in Chicago — the pontiff’s hometown — are seeing him as a symbol of hope for a more compassionate immigration approach. 

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

 Federal Policy 

 In the States 

Immigration Enforcement 

 Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

P.S. New this morning: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) has introduced a plan that would combine border security, asylum reform, legal immigration and ways for for some immigrants to earn citizenship, reports Rebecca Santana of the Associated Press. While we await details, we are encouraged by the effort.