The preliminary talks to delay lifting Title 42 come as several Democrats like Sen. Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire) continue to voice concerns, especially with midterm elections around the corner, reports Paul Steinhauser of Fox News.  

"My trip to the southern border reinforced my concerns about the administration preemptively ending Title 42," said Hassan after touring the border earlier this month. "Border agents were very clear with me that the end of Title 42 will lead to a steep increase of attempted crossings that they will not be able to effectively handle because they don’t have enough resources." 

As Axios reported, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) pointed to the bigger picture: "Let’s work together on addressing this as lawmakers. Title 42 shouldn’t be used as a substitute for real immigration policy."  

My take in The Daily Beast: "The president needs to stop hoping the issue of immigration will disappear. He should take credit for the solutions that are in place, and not let Congress off the hook for advancing the solutions we desperately need."  

In related news, the Boston Globe’s Marcela García gets into the economic impacts of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) pushback on Title 42 and Democrats’ general lack of a "meaningful, coherent response on immigration."  

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. 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. 

ASYLUM TREATMENT — The U.N.’s refugee agency announced today that over 5 million people have now fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian war, per Monika Scislowska and Rafal Niedzielski of the Associated Press. On March 3, 22-year-old Ukrainian ballroom dancer Kateryna was in Mexico performing with her dance partner and boyfriend Nikolas Constantine, a U.S. citizen, when Russia attacked her home country. Kateryna decided to request asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, but was instead detained in a holding cell for two weeks before being sent to a Louisiana ICE detention facility, per Kate Morrissey of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Following outreach efforts to Rep. Julia Brownley (D-California) and the San Diego Union-Tribune, Kateryna was released. Meanwhile, The New York Times’ Miriam Jordan reports that Ukrainian children and their caregivers are being separated at the border — despite legal documentation confirming their relationship. 

CUBAN ARRIVALS — President Biden will meet with Cuban officials tomorrow in D.C. to discuss managing an increase of Cubans seeking asylum in the U.S. via land and sea, reports Matt Spetalnick for Reuters. According to a DHS spokesperson, the Cuban government has not been accepting deportation flights carrying Cubans from the U.S. for more than six months. As of March 26, there were an estimated 40,000 Cubans in the U.S. with a final deportation order. Cuba "blames the United States for the uptick in irregular migration, saying Cold War-era sanctions and a decision to close the American consular section in Havana encourage Cubans to seek riskier routes off the island." 

COMFORT FOOD — Formerly Afghan refugees themselves, established restaurant owners in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., are banding together to support Afghans resettling in the area, reports Brett Anderson of The New York Times. "One by one, the restaurants have taken it on themselves to cook for the new arrivals, raise money to help them resettle and provide them jobs," writes Anderson. The Mantu, Lapis, and The Helmand — just to name a few — "represent generations who have fled wars since the 1970s, and the cuisine of a region that has been interconnected with the rest of the world for centuries." 

Locally: 

• The Charlottesville, Virginia-based nonprofit International Neighbors recently collected 33 car seats for local Afghan refugees. (Anne-Parker Coleman, CBS 19 News)  
• Brayton Elementary School students and teachers have been writing letters to a new Afghan family who recently resettled in Williamstown, Massachusetts. A benefit concert for new Afghan arrivals is also scheduled for Friday at the First Church of Christ in Pittsfield. (Hannah Van Sickle, The Berkshire Edge) 
• Spearheaded by sophomore Lamia Ayaz, a group of high schoolers in Howard County, Maryland, have raised more than $1,200 for Afghans temporarily living in nearby hotels. (Héctor Alejandro Arzate, DCist) 

DOCUMENTED DREAMERS — "Documented Dreamers" like University of Iowa students Kartik Sivakumar and Pareen Mhatre have faced several challenges trying to keep their legal status, Hannah Pinski reports for The Daily Iowan. For Dreamers like them, turning 21 means no longer being eligible for protection under their parents’ visas. For Sivakumar, that meant self-deporting to India before being able to come back to the U.S. on a student visa. Mhatre also aged out of the system last April, but after an opportunity to testify in front of U.S. Congress with Improve the Dream, she was granted a student visa. "[I]nstead of playing with politics — because that affects people’s lives — see what can happen if we try to compromise and pass something that will even help, you know, a smaller portion of people," Mhatre said. For more on the current state litigation around DACA and Dreamers, see our latest explainer by the Forum’s Samantha Howland Zelaya. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali