Today, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), along with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, are introducing a new bill to block the Biden administration from repealing Title 42 "without a detailed plan in place," reports Alayna Treene of Axios. 

"[Title 42] shouldn’t be in place forever," Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, told NPR’s Susan Davis. "But at the same time we know that the number of migrants will dramatically increase and there’s no plan on how to deal with that." 

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wasted no time preparing for a border enforcement response to the forthcoming Title 42 lift.  

Just yesterday, he ordered the state’s National Guard — armed with riot gear — to inspect any vehicles coming from Mexico and use charter buses to voluntarily bring undocumented immigrants "to the steps of the U.S. Capitol," Robert T. Garrett and Allie Morris report for The Dallas Morning News. "Details of the plan, such as the cost and the logistics, are thin." 

Abbott’s order "treats [migrants] as inanimate objects to be moved around and used for political points," said Denise Gilman, co-director of the immigration clinic at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. 

Remember, the use of Title 42 has resulted in over 1.7 million expulsions in the past two years — mainly under the Biden administration. Apprehensions increased, cartels made billions of dollars, and migrants were placed in harm’s way.  

Congress should do the hard work of crafting solutions that weaken the cartels by creating legal immigration pathways to meet our labor needs (see below); protect Dreamers, farm workers and others contributing to our economy; and strengthen our border through smarter management of resources.  

Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Forum Daily, formerly Noorani’s Notes. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. And if you know others who’d like to receive this newsletter, please spread the word. They can subscribe here. 

UKRAINIAN REFUGEES — More than 2,000 Ukrainians have reached the U.S.-Mexico border in the past 10 days, reports Miriam Jordan of The New York Times, with photographs by Mark Abramson. "There is only so much we can do — and we have done a lot working 24/7," said Olya Krasnykh, who helped organize a volunteer response team. "The system at the border is incredibly inefficient," she added. "I don’t know how long we can sustain the volunteer-run effort." Meanwhile, some Ukrainian refugees have decided that despite the risks, going back home is better than "life as a refugee," per Jane Arraf of The New York Times. And The Washington Post’s Maria Sacchetti is out with an early morning scoop that 65 members of Congress, mostly Democrats and a handful of Republicans, have urged the president to expedite the processing of Ukrainians seeking protection in the U.S. 

GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY — J.D. Vance, who is running for the U.S. Senate, "goes full ‘great replacement theory’" as he explains what he presumes to be our biggest challenge: the U.S.-Mexico border, Greg Sargent writes in column for The Washington Post. Vance’s recent ad goes as far to claim that all migrants represent "Democrat voters" — a form of "great replacement theory" rhetoric. In my new book, Crossing Borders, I wrote about how Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and Viktor Orbán modernized the political weaponization of migration, creating the path Vance now follows. For more on Great Replacement Theory in the context of immigration, see our full paper here. 

DECLINE — A decline in immigration is the main reason for an increase in U.S. labor shortages, reports Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal. In the health care and social assistance sector, "17.2% of workers are foreign born, and 9% of jobs are vacant," per WSJ’s infographic based on 2019 data. Trump-era immigration restrictions and pandemic-related immigration delays have also contributed to the slowdown. Additionally, "[a] September survey by the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, sister trade groups, found 99% of nursing homes and 96% of assisted-living facilities reporting staffing shortages." And as we noted in our home health care paper, immigrants are crucial to this industry.  

‘I PRAY FOR THEM, THEY PRAY FOR ME’ — This month, many Afghan families who fled Afghanistan are celebrating Ramadan in the U.S. for the first time "with gratitude for their safety," report Giovanna Dell’orto and Mariam Fam for the Associated Press. "I pray for them, and they pray for me, they miss me," said former Afghan soldier Wolayat Khan Samadzoi of his relatives back home. Local Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities across the U.S. have been key to Afghan welcome and resettlement, including "helping Afghans find housing, jobs, English-language classes, and schools for their children." 

Local news: 

• In a first-of-its-kind partnership with the International Rescue Committee, the University of Maryland will temporarily house Afghan evacuees, including families, on campus for up to a year. (Maryland Today) 
• Cub Scout Pack 580 recently helped sort through donations of food, toys, and supplies for Afghan refugees resettling in Santa Clarita, California. (Trevor Morgan, The Signal) 
• The Fellowship at Western Oaks in Oklahoma City is hosting an event today about Afghan welcome and resettlement efforts. If you’re around, stop by and tell them I sent you. (Eventbrite) 

LOCAL, GLOBAL SUPPORT — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ efforts to support Ukrainians should serve as a model for members "to minister to others on both broad and individual levels," reports Tad Walch of Deseret News. "The culture of the church is intended to be inclusive rather than exclusive — to look outward rather than inward," said Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé at the 2022 International Society Conference on Monday. As we look outward to help refugees and those in need, "we must let our lights shine beyond just the doors of our homes and meetinghouses." In Europe, Latter-day Saint Charities is currently partnering with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and others to provide food for Ukrainian refugees, while local congregations are providing medicine, transportation, and other critical services on the ground.  

Thanks for reading, 

Ali