Starting Monday, the U.S. will host the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, our first time hosting since 1994.

The gathering, which presidents and prime ministers from most of the 35 nations of the Americas will attend, "represents a significant opportunity for the Biden administration to cooperatively address the increasing regional migration on a hemispheric basis," Arturo Castellanos-Canales, the Forum’s Policy & Advocacy Associate, writes in a blog post.

The administration should not only home in on the contributions and values of immigrants in the U.S., but also take the summit as an opportunity to highlight the nation's "longstanding commitment to humanitarian protections while forging bonds within the hemisphere to tackle the root causes of migration."

Leadership, empathy, and collaboration with leaders from across the hemisphere are key, notes Castellanos-Canales.

And as Douglas Schoen, a longtime Democratic political consultant, writes in The Orange County Register: "Ultimately, this Summit should be a wake-up-call for the Biden Administration — one that will hopefully produce lasting changes in both domestic and foreign policy that strengthen our ties with the Americas and help spread democracy in the region, and around the world."

Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Becka Wall, the Forum’s Vice President of Digital Communications, hoping you all have time to relax and have a potato day this weekend if you need one. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].

REUNITED — Hanzala Hadi, age 2, and his parents have reunited in the U.S. after his parents had to leave him behind as they escaped Afghanistan, Dan De Luce reports for NBC News. The boy’s lack of an Afghan passport, and then the Taliban’s long pause on refugee flights, delayed the reunion. "He is home now," said his father, N. Hadi, who has a special immigrant visa after working with a private security company that helped train Afghan national police. "I can’t believe it."

On the local-welcome front:

A long but worthwhile read: In New York City, groups are trying to fill in where federal support for Ukrainian and Afghan arrivals is falling short. (Lauren Hilgers and Joshua Rashaad McFadden, The New York Times Magazine)
Afghan refugees who work at a Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Nebraska are often far from their caseworkers in Iowa, which can pose a challenge - but Tyson’s is working to help them find housing and additional support. (Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)
Bob Brunson in Marina, California, spearheaded efforts to create a sponsor circle of 11 neighbors to help Monir, who offered tech support to navy seals, bring his family to the U.S. to resettle. (Sara Rubin, Monterey County Weekly)

‘YOU HAVE FAILED US’ — For the San Francisco Chronicle, Heather Kight tells the heart-wrenching story of Raghad Saleh, a 12-year-old girl who had been separated from her family in war-torn Yemen over a visa issue — only to be further traumatized in her San Francisco neighborhood after being attacked in a hate crime. Last November, her story was highlighted in a letter to Mayor London Breed, written by the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, pleading for help. "We are immigrants and refugees. We are children and mothers and fathers," the letter, signed by 400 neighbors, reads. "We are the Tenderloin, and you have failed us." Since the story was published, the Tenderloin Community Benefit District has established a fund to raise money to help the family find a bigger, more affordable home in a safer neighborhood.

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES — A May 16 Supreme Court ruling in an immigration case could have serious economic consequences, Hiba M. Anver opines in Bloomberg Law. The court held that federal courts cannot review cases in which an immigrant thinks an error was made in the denial of their application. "If this decision dissuades highly skilled workers from accepting offers of permanent employment in the U.S., and immigration levels drop even further as a result, the current economic situation may worsen," Anver, a partner with Erickson Immigration Group, writes.

PRIVATE SPONSORSHIP — Over 45,000 Americans have applied to privately sponsor and resettle Ukrainian refugees, according to new Department of Homeland Security data, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. "Because many Ukrainian refugees have family and loved ones in the United States, they may want to extend their stay here or become permanent residents," said Meredith Owen, policy director at Church World Service. "But beyond their familial connections and their fear of returning to a country devastated by war, many will have made deep connections in our local communities."

Thanks for reading,

Becka

P.S. Asian immigrants have been at the forefront of building unique communities from New Jersey to Mississippi to California. For The Washington Post, Kim Bellware, Emily Liu, Anne Branigin and Shannon Liao dive into why, sharing powerful migration stories and beautiful photos.