On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration could lawfully end the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as "Remain in Mexico," Uriel J. García reports in The Texas Tribune. 

In a statement last night, DHS said it welcomed the decision and would "continue our efforts to terminate the program as soon as legally permissible," García reports. 

Todd J. Gillman and Dianne Solis of The Dallas Morning News report on reactions in Texas. 

"This policy was always a terrible and inhumane idea," said Bill Holston, executive director at nonprofit Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. "It made it virtually impossible for people who had legally claimed asylum at the border to pursue their claims in court. And it subjected them to extreme violence as they waited in dangerous border conditions. It’s policies like this which have driven people to take ever more dangerous routes to the United States." 

Added Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso: "It is a bittersweet victory, after so many lives have been lost to atrocious immigration deterrence policies both on the federal level and in the state of Texas." 

Faith groups also are weighing in, as Kyle Dunphey reports in the Deseret News. 

"Today’s decision recognizes and preserves the executive branch’s ability to reverse untenable, illegal and immoral policies, regardless of who is in office," Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, said in a statement. "The implementation of MPP has obstructed due process and subjected people to the very dangers that forced them to seek refuge in the United States in the first place." 

For more on what the Biden administration should do next, see The Forum’s statement. 

Welcome to Friday’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]. 

DACA’S IMPACT — The creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) offered hope and opportunity to hundreds of thousands of young undocumented people, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Susan Svrluga report for a Washington Post piece in which they share the stories of four DACA recipients. Yet, "DACA’s impact has always been tempered by uncertainty." That’s especially true now as it faces several challenges in the courts, including one that has a hearing scheduled Wednesday. Meanwhile, Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force leaders continue to express their support for DACA, including in a new blog post by Chief Chris Blue of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Sheriff Jerry Clayton of Washtenaw County, Michigan. As they note, the program’s protections have contributed to community safety, and the task force is calling for a permanent solution from Congress for DACA recipients.   

GRAND JURY — On Wednesday, the Florida Supreme Court approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for a statewide grand jury on immigration-related issues, including the "smuggling of undocumented children into the state," reports Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida. The grand jury will have the ability to investigate "parents, guardians or other family members of unaccompanied [minors] who have conspired with transnational criminal organizations or other illicit actors to smuggle, and thus endanger, their children," in addition to the criminal organizations themselves. 

THRIVING — At first, many Afghan refugee students in Houston struggled to adapt to the new culture and faced discrimination, bullying, and other pressures beyond the classroom, reports Duaa Faquih for Houston Public Media. To help with the transition, nonprofit Amaanah Refugee Services offered in-class support for K-12 students and hired Afghan refugees as mentors. Houston Independent School District’s wraparound services had also helped to alleviate some of the stress students faced apart from school: "If they needed more clothes, if they needed transportation support, if they needed hygiene supplies — anything that the child needed to succeed and stay in school," said Shirin Herman of the school district’s multilingual department. With combined support, many students are now thriving.  

Elsewhere: 

• YPN, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based nonprofit formerly known as the Young Parents Network, helps refugee and other immigrant families make connections and support young children — including, most recently, Afghan refugees: "They help us with everything," Alima Rahimi said through an interpreter. (Emily Andersen, The Gazette) 
• Dr. Kevin Pottie, a professor at Western University in Ontario, co-authored a curriculum framework to help health care professionals meet the needs of refugees and other migrants. (CBC News) 

‘WHAT JESUS WANTS US TO DO’ — Steven Eng, advocacy director at the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), reflects on his trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in an NAE post newly reposted by The Evangelical Immigration Table, of which the NAE is a member. Eng writes of his trip with Abara Borderland Connections, a faith-based nonprofit in El Paso, that included simulating a border crossing, viewing historic monuments, and witnessing "amazing stories that God is authoring along the border." In the words of one pastor to another member of Abara’s staff: "We don’t agree with the politics of this, but when we looked in the face of asylum seekers, we couldn’t turn away. It’s what Jesus wants us to do." 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan  

P.S. Several advocacy organizations held vigils Thursday to honor the recent deaths of migrants in search of a better life, including victims in an abandoned semitrailer earlier this week. In light of recent tragedies in Texas, the groups are "calling for more avenues to legal migration and the restoration of the asylum process at ports of entry," per Julian Resendiz of the Border Report.