The Forum Daily, formerly Noorani's Notes
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

THE FORUM DAILY

On Tuesday, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh called on Congress to pass
immigration reform to help address the U.S. labor shortage, reports
Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law
.  

"Republicans, Democrats on this committee, go talk to businesses in your
communities and ask them privately what they want," Walsh said at a
House Appropriations committee hearing on his agency's fiscal 2023
budget request. "Every single company is going to say we need
immigration reform." 

Walsh also noted the need for migrant workers to get access to expanded
permanent pathways to citizenship, not just temporary visas.  

One of our policy experts, Arturo Castellanos-Canales, further explains
how immigration can address labor shortages in a February policy paper
.
The recommendations echo many of Walsh's recent comments: expanding
the H-2A visa program, recapturing unused green cards, retaining and
attracting STEM workers
,
tackling USCIS's application backlog, and passing permanent
legislation for Dreamers in the workforce.  

Related: A new bipartisan bill, The Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act
,
would enable asylum-seekers faster (and easier) access to work
authorization while their claims are pending in immigration court. 

Welcome to Wednesday'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] .  

**BORDER NUMBERS** - New U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data

shows "agents stopped migrants entering the country unlawfully nearly
202,000 times along the southern border in April, a 4% drop from March,"
reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
.
But as the Forum's Danilo Zak pointed out for us, Title 42 has
continued to drive high rates of repeat crossing, with recidivism for
April at 28%. Therefore, the more accurate number of unique border
encounters for April was just 157,555 - a 2% decrease from March. "The
Title 42 policy has been counterproductive," Kennji Kizuka of Human
Rights First told KFOX14
's
Robert Holguin. "Even if you're viewing it as a migration management
[tool], which many members of Congress seem to be, even though it's
supposed to be a public-health measure."  

**TITLE 42 PLANS** - Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor is the
latest state-level GOP leader to push back against the pending Title 42
lift slated for May 23, per Lisa Bennatan and Jon Michael Raasch of Fox
News
.
Though the Biden administration does have a plan in place

to address an anticipated increase in migrants, critics maintain that
Title 42 is the only viable option. (It's not: procedure reforms, more
staffing, funding, and support are among our 42 Border Solutions That
Are Not Title 42
.) DHS
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited the Texas-Mexico border on Tuesday
to detail the government's response to the lift, per KENS 5
.
His visit comes as local organizations in El Paso are coordinating with
Border Patrol officials ahead of the policy lift, reports KTSM
's
Karla Draksler. El Calvario Methodist Church in Las Cruces, New Mexico,
is also preparing to welcome and receive migrants as needed, per
Stephanie Muñiz of KOAT
.
And in Matamoros, Mexico, Haitians seeking asylum are "lining up by
thousands," putting their "names on a long waiting list at Dulce Refugio
Migrant Shelter," John Salazar reports for Spectrum News1
.  

GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY - For The Washington Post
,
Philip Bump calls on some GOP members to own up to their amplification
of racist Great Replacement Theory

rhetoric, which they're using to "amplify fears of immigration, anger
at the left and a sense that those on the right are the real owners of
American power and culture." In another WaPo piece
,
Bump speaks to immigration attorney David Leopold, who pointed out
that "[t]he argument that immigration represents an 'invasion' is
as preposterous as it is evil ... Preposterous because the path to
citizenship in the U.S. takes years, even under the best of
circumstances. And that's not counting the years - in some cases
decades - many immigrants, particularly immigrants of color, must wait
for their green cards due to green card quotas." The Forum has several
resources

on combating Great Replacement Theory, and The Opportunity Agenda has
six messaging tips

to respond to white supremacist terrorism. 

**BACKLOGS**- No one should have to wait a lifetime for a green card,
but an estimated 200,000 documented Dreamers who age out of the legal
immigration system feel like they are, reports Rachael Myrow for KQED
.
After Indian-born twin sisters Eti and Eva Sinha turned 21, they no
longer qualified as dependents on their family's green card
application. "It's just the system that's just so messed up," said
Eva. "It's extremely difficult to process that and keep having more
and more obstacles in your way just to continue a life - in the only
place I call home." Still, a growing green card backlog has put them in
a never-ending line. Passing the American Children's Act

- one of the bills with broad bipartisan support mentioned in a new
sign-on letter

led by the Forum and the Niskanen Center - could help. 

**MAYORAL WELCOME** - This week, the newly-minted Mayors Migration
Council will be presenting a
report

to the United Nations that "highlights 70 city-based initiatives for
immigrants and refugees," Jennifer A. Kingson reports for Axios
. "Mayors
are doing this not only because it's the fair thing to do, but also
the smart thing to do," said Vittoria Zanuso, executive director of the
council. "They know that they need to welcome and protect migrants,
regardless." 

Today's local stories: 

* The nonprofit New Arrivals Institute in Greensboro, North Carolina, is
holding a fundraiser to continue providing Afghan refugees access to
childcare and educational resources. (Kayla Berenson, WXII 12
) 

* In South Florida, the Coral Gables Woman's Club's Gringo Bingo
fundraiser raised more than $1,600 to support the Refugee Alliance
Project (RAA), which is helping Afghan families acclimate to their new
homes. (Gloria Burns, Miami's Community Newspapers
) 

* Members of the Utah nonprofit Refugee Soccer will hand-deliver soccer
balls to Ukrainian children on a trip to Poland, hoping to bring them a
"small sense of normalcy." (Lindsay Aerts, KSL NewsRadio
) 

Thanks for reading,  

Joanna 

 

DONATE

 

**Follow Us**

 

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum

10 G Street NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002

www.immigrationforum.org

 

Unsubscribe from The Forum Daily

or opt-out from all Forum emails.

 
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum, 10 G St NE, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002, United States