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RECONCILIATION — More than 40 House Democrats "called on Senate leaders to disregard Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s findings that broad immigration relief does not belong in a reconciliation package," reports Suzanne Monyak of Roll Call. MacDonough already has rejected two attempts by Senate Democrats to establish a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants via the reconciliation bill, citing that it doesn't comply with the budgetary parameters, Monyak notes. A team at The Washington Post summarizes the current status of immigration in the reconciliation package: "[C]urrent negotiations are focused on reforming the green card visa system to make it more accessible to certain undocumented groups." CLIMATE MIGRATION — The Biden administration recently released a series of reports warning that the "effects of climate change will be wide-reaching
and will pose problems for every government," per Nikki Carvajal for CNN. One focuses specifically on the impact climate change has on migration. "Extreme weather events and conflict are the top two drivers of forced displacement globally, together responsible for the annual movement of nearly 30 million people from their homes," the report's authors write. The newly published migration narratives report we mentioned yesterday also points to climate change as an increasingly likely driver of migration. U.S. FARMWORKERS — The farmworker shortage in the U.S. has more and more farmers relying on seasonal foreign workers — and advocating on their behalf, reports Daisy Contreras for PRI’s The World. "I don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have the H-2A program. There’s just no one out there that wants to do that kind of work, regardless of the wage," said Armand Eckert, 71, who has been in his family’s southern Idaho farming business for more than six decades. With many roles going unfilled, "[m]any farm groups are asking lawmakers to expand the guest worker program so that it now includes non seasonal [year-round] work," such as on dairy and mushroom farms, Contreras explains.
RESETTLEMENT EFFORTS — The U.S. has begun discharging thousands of Afghan evacuees from military bases and resettling them across the country, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. Government data shows that in the past few weeks, 6,000 Afghan evacuees have left temporary housing sites at U.S. military installations with support from nonprofit refugee resettlement agencies. Also, take a moment to listen to San Vo’s open letter to refugees and Afghan veterans in The Los Angeles Times. It’s very touching. Meanwhile, the local support continues:
BORDER REFLECTIONS — At the end of September, some of my colleagues at The Forum visited the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. In a Des Moines Register op-ed, Bibles, Badges, and Business mobilizer Jason Lief writes that his conversations at the border reflect challenges "more complex than building a wall." And in a post for the Evangelical Immigration Table, Hannah Daniel reflects on what two pastors at the border taught her about faith and serving the vulnerable — despite the challenges of our immigration system. Thanks for reading, Ali |
