A promising sign of progress to end your week.  

In the first of what Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) called a "series of ongoing meetings," a bipartisan group of senators on Thursday "discussed several topics, such as changes for migrant farmworkers critical to the U.S. economy and changes for foreign workers stuck in a yearslong green card backlog, as well as for their children who grew up on legal visas but ‘aged out’ before their parents’ green cards became available," per Roll Call’s Suzanne Monyak. 

In addition to Tillis, the meeting included Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Alex Padilla (D-California). The consensus among the attendees seems to be that the meeting was a promising start to more constructive talks about immigration solutions.  

Padilla said the group made a "commitment to just resume these conversations in earnest," and Cornyn called it a "very candid and useful discussion." 

Anthony Hill with WFTS in Tampa breaks down how badly our antiquated immigration system is treating young people who have been here most of their lives and why the reforms senators are discussing are so important.  

And, a little wrap-up reporting by Crux’s John Lavenburg after 400 Hispanic Catholics gathered earlier this week. He writes, "Representatives Daniel Newhouse (R-WA), and Salud Carbajal (D-CA) told [Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario] Dorsonville, and many Hispanic Catholic leaders at a midday press conference, that they "found common ground" on immigration legislation for farmers and dreamers." 

From Northwest Iowa, welcome to Friday’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. 

TITLE 42 — There’s been plenty of pushback from both sides of the aisle (Team Politico breaks down the Democrats’ anxiety here) on the Biden administration’s plans to end the pandemic-era Title 42 policy of immediately expelling migrants at the U.S. border. But, as the Forum’s Danilo Zak points out to KJZZ’s Mark Brodie, Title 42 has never been an effective way to manage the border and is symptomatic of a larger lack of border strategy. "The reality is that Title 42 is part of the problem here," Zak concludes, "and lifting it, at the end of the day, is going to make our border management more effective, more secure and more orderly." (Speaking of ineffective border policies, Jasper Scherer at the Houston Chronicle reports that 15 migrants arrested under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) Operation Lone Star are challenging the policy in federal court, arguing it "is racially discriminatory and infringes on the federal government's immigration authority.") 

FARM LABOR — In an op-ed for The Hill, AgAmerica’s Curt Covington explains how immigration can ease ongoing labor shortages at American farms. With immigrants making up 73% of the 2.4 million-strong hired farm workforce, reforms like those included in the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would allow Congress to meet the needs of farm communities, Covington writes. "Farmers have enough challenges on their plate," he writes, underscoring the costly, inefficient process of the current H-2A visa program. "Legislation should aim to take some of that responsibility off their shoulders, not add more to it." 

WELCOME WAGON — The resettlement of Afghan evacuees has shown us the U.S. needs to do better when it comes to welcoming refugees, Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (R) writes in an op-ed for Fortune. (Camilo Montoya-Galvez at CBS News has more on the system’s challenges.) Drawing on Utah’s — and America’s — legacy as a refuge for those fleeing persecution or violence, Cox lays out ways states can lead, from establishing Refugee Services Offices to engaging local businesses to facilitating community support. "If we can muster the right blend of governmental will and American altruism, we’ll ensure better outcomes for all newcomers, those who are here now and those who will soon follow," Cox writes. "… Let’s build on the lessons we’ve learned and the new solutions we’ve created to roll out the welcome wagon nationwide."