Tuesday, June 7
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THE FORUM DAILY

Monthly refugee resettlement numbers tend not to get much attention, but
they should: The U.S. continues to resettle numbers far below our own
goals. 

The Biden administration posted data yesterday showing that the U.S.
resettled only 1,898 refugees in May, fewer than in April. The
administration is still struggling to ramp up a resettlement system
undercut by COVID-19 and cuts during the Trump administration. 

The data are here ,
and my colleague Danilo Zak has a great thread on Twitter
about them
(as usual). Among his observations: "With only 4 months left in the
fiscal year, we're on track to resettle just 18,962 refugees ... not
remotely close to the ceiling Biden set at 125,000." 

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of The Forum Daily. I'm Becka Wall,
the Forum's digital communications VP. If you have a story to share
from your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected] . 

**SUMMIT NEWS** - Today at the Summit of the Americas, Vice President
Kamala Harris is expected to announce $3.2 billion in pledges from
companies to help address root causes of migration from Central America,
Daina Beth Solomon and Ted Hesson report in Reuters
.
On CNN.com
,
Jasmine Wright and Priscilla Alvarez take a deeper look at Harris's
work and the challenges she has faced in her efforts in the region.
Meanwhile, President Biden is expected to sign a declaration on
migration Friday, Alex Gangitano reports for The Hill
.
The declaration is expected to be "an unprecedented and ambitious step
by the United States and regional partners to work together to address
the migration crisis in a comprehensive manner."  

**A FAMILY'S LONG SEPARATION** - When Jesús came to the U.S. to
get away from the man who raped her, she left her 14-month-old son
behind, worried about the dangerous journey through the desert. That was
22 years ago. As Uriel J. García reports for The Texas Tribune
,
the Central American Minors program would allow her son to join her in
the U.S. - but the pandemic has caused delays, and now a lawsuit filed
by attorneys general in Texas and seven other states puts the reunion at
risk. "Texas and the other states are attempting to close off one of the
only remaining pathways that migrant children have to reunite with their
families," said attorney Linda Evarts of the International Refugee
Assistance Project. 

**INTEGRATION AND SUCCESS** - Today's immigrants and their children
integrate and succeed at rates similar to those in previous generations,
Stuart Anderson writes in Forbes
.
In their new book "Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant
Success," economics professors Ran Abramitzky of Stanford University and
Leah Boustan of Princeton University also found that "[i]mmigrant
success does not come at the expense of U.S.-born workers." Boustan
hopes that her research will inspire policy change, as Delaney Parrish
writes for Princeton University
:
"Sometimes we feel so stuck. We feel polarized. Congress can't pass
legislation. On immigration, we've been at a stalemate for 50 years.
But you look at history, and you see we've had wild change. ... I
think economic history helps us recognize the possibility of scope for
change." 

**GO COWBOYS** - Tayyab Ghazniwal felt a calling when he saw the
colors of his native Afghanistan flying outside the School of Global
Studies and Partnerships at Oklahoma State University. As Carla Hinton
writes in The Oklahoman
,
Ghazniwal is one of 71 Afghan refugees who have resettled in
Stillwater, more than half of whom are living in university housing for
now. Through the Oklahoma State University CARES program, English
professors and graduate students help refugees "learn basic English,
conversational English, and English for the workplace," and churches and
others in the community are helping fill gaps in support. Ghazniwal said
of seeing the Afghan flag, "It called me to Stillwater, it called me to
Oklahoma State University. I felt the hand of God, the voice of God
saying 'come to Oklahoma State,' and so I came. I found purpose
here."  

More local stories of welcome: 

* Alison Hoeman, the founder and director of Des Moines Refugee Support
in Iowa, is ensuring Afghan refugees' needs are met by "arranging
transportation for [those] who need to ride to a Department of Motor
Vehicles office for driver's license tests or to a doctor's office
for medical appointments." (Emily Andersen, The Gazette
) 

* In an effort to build trust, members of the police department in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, met at a local mosque with some of the
community's 28 resettled Afghans. (Michael Rock, Fun 107
) 

**A MITZVAH OF WELCOME** - Local organizations and individuals are
stepping up to provide aid to Ukrainian refugees, Jalen Small reports in
Newsweek
. As
just one example, Holly Rosen Fink, president and co-founder of the
Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration (WJCI), immediately
mobilized her organization to help the family of "Irena" when she
learned they were living in a rodent-infested basement in New York City
after a harrowing journey from Ukraine. The coalition has helped Irena
and her son "find food, shelter, and a safe place to live" and "helped
them connect with legal and educational services, as well as with other
well-meaning community members."  

Thanks for reading, 

Becka 

 

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