Tuesday, June 14
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

THE FORUM DAILY

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the announcement of Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).  

When Brazilian-born Bruna Sollod first applied for DACA, she was a
college student in her 20s. But with challenges to DACA still winding
through the courts, Sollod worries she may lose protection and be
deported - away from her career and her 3-month-old son, reports
Caroline Simon of Roll Call
. 

"As a 20-something-year-old when I first got DACA, I thought for sure
that by the time I got here, in this stage of life, by the time I had a
family ... that I would be a citizen," said Sollod, now communications
director at United We Dream. 

She's not alone: Hundreds of thousands of immigrants protected under
DACA, including would-be new applicants, fear the same uncertain fate. 

The bottom line: Congress must pass a permanent legislative solution for
DACA recipients and other Dreamers to live their full lives without fear
of getting kicked out of the only country many of them have ever called
home. 

The Evangelical Immigration Table

and the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force
are among the groups urging
Congress to pass such reforms, as Sandra Sanchez reports for Border
Report
. 

"DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of young people - including
many who are integral members of evangelical churches, campuses and
organizations - the opportunity to pursue their dreams, support their
families and serve their communities," the Table's letter to members
of Congress reads. "... [I]t's clear that it is past time for a
permanent solution for Dreamers - one that only Congress can
provide."  

Said Pharr, Texas, Police Chief Andy Harvey, a Law Enforcement
Immigration Task Force member: "After 10 years of DACA, it is clear that
Dreamers are contributing members of our communities. They help keep our
nation safe, yet many live in fear of being undocumented. I urge
lawmakers to work across party lines and find a permanent solution that
allows law-abiding Dreamers to feel secure in their communities." 

Stay tuned for a special DACA/Dreamers edition of The Forum Daily
tomorrow. 

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

**'THIS IS MY REALITY'** - For WBEZ
,
Anna Savchenko interviews Carlos Alberto Benitez Cruz, a Ph.D. candidate
at the University of Illinois Chicago, who came to the U.S. from Mexico
when he was only 4. "I do not call myself a dreamer," he says. "I'm
just an undocumented person. Because the Dream Act didn't work. And
I'm not dreaming. This is my reality." And in AZ Central
,
Arizona State University graduate and aspiring law school candidate
Mario Montoya expresses similar sentiments: "I've been overwhelmed
with fear and anxiety with every lawsuit, presidential administrative
memorandum, and court ruling. At any second, my legal presence in the
only country I have known could be taken away." 

THE NEED - Federal immigration reform would alleviate Georgia's
labor shortage as a record number of employees resign, John Pezold, a
restauranteur and Republican former state legislator, writes in the
Ledger-Enquirer
. More
than 40 percent of restaurant chefs and nearly a quarter of restaurant
managers are foreign-born. They have not only bolstered the economy but
"enhanced the culture, diversity and flavors of Georgia's food," he
writes. Pezold points to the Dream Act

and Farm Workforce Modernization Act
,
both of which are bipartisan. "Georgia's federal delegation should
explore all avenues to enact immigration reform that supports our
economy and allows us to expand our talent pool," he concludes. 

SUPREME COURT - The Supreme Court continues to make it more difficult
for immigrants and advocates to challenge immigration policies in the
courts. On Monday, it ruled that lower federal courts cannot grant
relief to entire classes of immigrants but can decide only on cases
brought individually, reports Tierney Sneed for CNN
.
In a partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, "It is one matter
to expect noncitizens facing these obstacles to defend against their
removal in immigration court. It is another entirely to place upon each
of them the added burden of contesting systemic violations of their
rights through discrete, collateral, federal-court proceeding." 

REFUGEE SUPPORT - A group of universities, including the University of
Albany, is calling on higher education institutions to welcome and
support refugees and displaced students ahead of World Refugee Day on
Monday, Havidán Rodríguez and Rey Koslowski of the University at
Albany write for the Times Union
.
"This includes making visas more accessible to displaced international
students; maintaining and expanding supportive processes

that give students and scholars more flexibility within their visas; and
- perhaps most critically - launching broader private sponsorship of
refugees," they write. 

On the local front: 

* Notre Dame de Namur University's Belmont campus in California is
offering about three dozen Afghan refugees housing for up to three
months. "As a Catholic university dedicated to our founding core
principles of social justice, we are delighted to answer the call to act
upon our stated values and advance our mission," said NDNU President
Beth Martin. (Rya Jetha, Bay City News Foundation
) 

* Rahmatullah Hamdard and Sulaiman Sulaimankhil, Afghan refugees and
founders of Hope for Education and Leadership in Afghanistan (HELA),
have found their own hope resettling in St. Louis, thanks to the
community: "People here were so welcoming. People welcomed us with warm
hugs. That gave us a new hope. We started our new life here. We started
to have our new home here." (KMOX
) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

 

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