MIDWEST MANUFACTURERS — In an op-ed for The Indianapolis Star, Cummins, Inc. chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger makes the case for why Congress needs to pass a law protecting Dreamers. In his company and community, Linebarger writes that immigration "has been a driver of economic growth, new talent and more vibrant communities." Noting that immigrant contributions have helped the U.S. grow a resilient economy that Americans have benefitted from for generations, Linebarger "strongly urge[s] the Biden administration and Congress to take one immediate and decisive step to unify our country. Start by passing legislation that ensures permanent protection for ‘Dreamers’ or codifies the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program." In related news, The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek reports on the new Texas Opportunity Coalition, launched with the support of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), to advocate for a permanent legislative solution for Dreamers.  

FRONTLINES — A December study from our friends at FWD.us found that one in 20 essential workers in agriculture, housing, food services, and health care are undocumented immigrants, and more than 70% of these workers have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade. Yet these essential workers face the fear of deportation at any moment, as Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) write in an op-ed for CNN. The lawmakers call on their colleagues to recognize the more than 5 million undocumented immigrant workers on the frontlines by "immediately [seizing] the opportunity to provide a fair path to citizenship for undocumented essential workers by including legalization in the next Covid-19 relief package to pass Congress." A new Center for American Progress study reaffirms this sentiment: "These workers and sectors are vitally important to both the U.S. response to the pandemic and its recovery from the resulting economic devastation, and they cannot be jeopardized." 

REUNIFICATION — Immigrant advocates hope the Biden administration plan for family reunification will go beyond addressing those impacted by Trump’s "zero-tolerance" policy, reports Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed News. Of the more than 5,500 families separated at the border since 2017, at least 1,000 children were separated from their families after zero-tolerance "for minor crimes, such as traffic violations. In extreme cases, parents were separated because they were HIV-positive or their children had dirty diapers and deemed unfit by a US border officer, according to court documents." Christie Turner-Herbas, director of special programs at Kids in Need of Defense, pointed out that Border Patrol agents have used their discretionary power to separate families for reasons that wouldn’t be allowed in the U.S. and have used "unreliable" records that accuse parents of crimes they didn’t commit. "I'm concerned Border Patrol agents will continue to use their discretion to separate," Turner-Herbas said. "There's nothing really stopping them from doing it now." 

EXPULSION — According to internal documents obtained by BuzzFeed News, under Trump’s direction, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immediately expelled unaccompanied children from the U.S. border more than 13,000 times between March 2020 and this past fall, Hamed Aleaziz reports. President Biden has announced he won't continue the practice, signing an order on Tuesday directing officials "to review whether termination of the entire policy, which has also led to thousands of adults being expelled, is necessary." Aleaziz points out that expulsions at the border "are legally different from deportations, which would mean an immigrant had actually undergone the immigration process and was found to not be legally allowed to stay in the US." For now, per a White House spokesperson, Border Patrol "will continue to transfer unaccompanied children to the [Department of Health and Human Services] Office of Refugee Resettlement so they may be properly cared for in appropriate shelters, consistent with their best interest."  

REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT — Evangelical Christians involved in refugee resettlement say that repairing Trump-era damage to the U.S. refugee program "will take time but will happen," reports Mark Wingfield of Baptist News Global. Citing comments from a late January panel convened by the Forum in anticipation of the Biden administration’s refugee ceiling increase, Wingfield notes that both national security officials and faith leaders agree that Trump’s historically low refugee admissions cap damaged U.S. global leadership. But while repairing that damage requires welcoming more refugees, they also pointed out that rebuilding the pipeline infrastructure will take time: "This requires more education in the churches on who refugees are, the economic contributions refugees make, that refugees are welcome to the United States as a legal process and, from a Christian perspective, framing all those concerns in the perspective of how to be faithful followers of Jesus," said Matt Soerens, U.S. director of church mobilization for World Relief.