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Conservatives need not panic about the pending Title 42 lift, writes Allegra Love, founder of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, for an op-ed in the Ohio Capital Journal. Title 42 was never about public health, she points out, but "was an opportunity for the Trump administration to close the southern border off to migrants after the big, beautiful wall failed to materialize … Through one emergency health order, Trump and Miller found a workaround to screening, to due process, and to legal protection that international and domestic law mandates when someone is arrested at a border." Given that the border was effectively closed off to asylum-seekers throughout the pandemic, an increase in migrants at the border makes logical sense, she adds. Maintaining Title 42 does not: "Keeping Title 42 in place is the exact wrong thing to do if our country wants to see manageable numbers at the southern border … We have to deal with the massive group of people created by the closure and create a humane plan to deal with normal migrant flows as that bottleneck clears." The Department of Homeland Security has developed a plan for the border. For more on how to really address the border, see our new list of 42 Border Solutions That Are Not Title 42. Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Joanna Taylor, Senior Communications Manager at the Forum. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. REFUGEE RESPONSE — Some key reads this morning: The Biden administration is planning to deny entry to several Afghans currently waiting at a U.S. Army base in Kosovo due to potential security concerns, Hans Nichols and Jonathan Swan report for Axios. (As a reminder, cases like these are an indication of our vetting procedure’s effectiveness.) For The Atlantic, Russell Berman speaks to the double standards facing Afghan refugees compared to Ukrainian refugees. And for The Wall Street Journal, Natalia Ojewska and Ian Lovett report on Ukrainian refugees returning home in "droves" amid a Russian retreat. And as our friends at World Relief remind us, welcoming all global refugees as our neighbors is the right thing to do. If you’re near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, tomorrow, register for their event. WIN-WIN — Kate Santich of The Orlando Sentinel tells the story of Mohebullah Zyarmal, a former translator for the U.S. Marine Corps, who fled Afghanistan with his family. Known as M.Z., he is now one of 90 Afghan refugees sponsored by — and working for — the faith-based nonprofit Westminster Communities of Florida. "By the end of the first year, they’ll have a job reference, a credit reference, a landlord reference and education," said Mary Klein, the company’s chief human resources officer. "It’s a win for us, because we were in need of [employees]. And it’s a win for the Afghans because they really get a jumpstart on rebuilding their lives in the United States." Passing the Afghan Adjustment Act would also help more allies like M.Z. find security, as Texas Chapter Coordinator Stacie Smith writes for Afghan Report. Today’s local stories:
CAM PROGRAM — When former President Donald Trump cancelled the Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Program (CAM) in 2017, it left families hoping to reunite with their loved ones in limbo, reports Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio of Documented. For the past five years, Ana Celina Funes has been trying to reunite with her son who is still in El Salvador. (His CAM application was incomplete when the program shut down.) Although the Biden administration reinstated the CAM program in mid-March of 2021, data "shows that the program is still struggling to stay afloat," due to lack of government funding and support. Only 229 applicants have been granted refugee status since the program restarted, compared to 1,334 in the entire 2016 calendar year. Meanwhile the Global Sisters Report’s Frontera series illustrates how border communities, non-profit staff, and volunteers are helping vulnerable migrants get back on their feet. ‘WE NEED SOME DIVERSITY HERE’ — For years, Greene County, Iowa, has been declining in population despite officials’ efforts to retain residents, reports Maria Sacchetti of The Washington Post. Now, the mostly white and Republican community is turning to Latinos — "the largest minority group in Iowa, and one of the fastest growing" — to stop the rapid decline. Business leaders and organizers have created a "diversity project," dubbed "Nueva Vida en Greene County," or New Life in Greene County, to help advertise Greene County to Latino workers. "I’m glad that it’s getting done," said Marilyn Schwartzkopf, 73, who has been practicing her Spanish to help newcomers at the county’s historical museum in Jefferson. "We need some diversity here. We’re all too old and White." Thanks for reading, Joanna P.S. Happy graduation season! Almost eight years after coming to the U.S., Fabiola Jenson and Fartun Hirsi, from Rwanda and Somalia respectively, have achieved their dreams of graduating from nursing school at the University of Southern Maine, reports Roger McCord of The Main Monitor. The Monitor previously profiled Jenson and Hirsi as part of its "Chasing Maine" series. |
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