AMELIA AND ROSA — Sixteen-year-old Amelia Domingo is working at a chicken plant in Enterprise, Alabama, after fleeing her hometown in western Guatemala. She crossed into the U.S. and turned herself over to immigration authorities last February, Reuters reports. And after spending about a month in a crowded shelter for unaccompanied minors, she was released to her sponsor and older sister, Rosa, who has lived in Alabama for more than a decade. "Enterprise welcomes us," said Rosa. "The jobs are just waiting for us." Authorities have struggled to shield migrant children from labor contractors who "have steered kids into jobs that are illegal, grueling and meant for adults" — but many, like Amelia, feel they have no choice but to earn enough to repay the smugglers who got her to the U.S. in the first place.  

‘IT’S NOT RIGHT’ — Unaccompanied migrant children in Florida shelters are still "caught up in state-federal squabble" due to Gov. Ron Desantis’ (R) order to stop issuing or renewing shelter licenses, reports Juan Carlos Chavez of the Tampa Bay Times. "Adding political conditions on the care of migrant children and youth is a very selfish position," said Aztrith Oliva, who left Honduras at 14 and spent a month in a shelter. "It’s not right." In an effort to buck up his base, DeSantis traveled to Miami yesterday to surround himself with supporters — many of whom came to the U.S. as children themselves through Operation Pedro Pan, Syra Ortiz-Blanes and Bianca Padró Ocasio report for the Miami Herald. While the shelter rule has divided Pedro Pan migrants, they write, Florida faith leaders are likening the policy to "religious persecution and restriction on our freedom to worship." 

2022 REFORMS — Smaller-scale reform may be the only way to get immigration measures passed amid the 2022 midterms, writes C. Stewart Verdery, Jr., former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security and one of our CNSI leaders, in an op-ed for The Hill. While comprehensive reform may be a long shot, Verdery writes, "let’s imagine a smaller deal that attempts to at least reform where there is some consensus, albeit politically tenuous:" Improving the U.S.-Mexico border management system, legalizing Dreamers and agricultural workers, and retaining high-skilled students and temporary workers. Jeff Schultz, Pastor of Preaching & Community at Faith Church in Indianapolis, echoes Verdery’s sentiment in an op-ed for The Indianapolis Star with a call to Indiana’s congressional delegation: "I’m praying God would guide them to finally make these reforms happen – for the good of the immigrants in my congregation and community, for the health of our economy, and, ultimately, to allow us to live up to the best of our national values."    

AFGHAN ADJUSTMENT ACT — HIAS, one of nine faith-based refugee resettlement agencies contracted with the federal government, is urging congregations and individuals to push for the Afghan Adjustment Act via its National Call-In Day for Afghans today, Yonat Shimron reports for Religion News Service. Meanwhile, check out local coverage in Siouxland News and KCAU of yesterday’s "Loving our Immigrant Neighbor" event in Sioux City, Iowa. Stories from these speakers amplify the need for Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act.  

For more on local welcome efforts:  

• Volunteers from Indiana and Ohio transformed an unused building "into Catholic Charities’ new Cabrini Center, which will offer temporary housing and resettlement services to Afghan refugees starting a new life in Fort Wayne." (Kevin Kilbane, Crux) 
• In collaboration with CIOGC's Afghan Refugee Task Force, the Masjid Rahmah Great America Islamic Center in Lake Villa, Illinois, is one of several suburban mosques in the area preparing to welcome Afghan families and serve as temporary shelter. (Madhu Krishnamurthy, Daily Herald) 
• After some Afghan evacuees requested sewing machines, Adrian Brown, a volunteer with New Haven-based Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, posted the request in a Facebook Group and "ended up with 25 sewing machines that were in good enough working condition to make their way to the refugees they were looking to support." (Cinnamon Janzer, Next City, The Oregonian) 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali