Tuesday, July 5
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THE FORUM DAILY

I'm praying this morning for the victims in Highland Park, Illinois,
their families and the community - and for all who are grieving
.   

For Independence Day in this nation in need of healing, Darren Walker,
president of the Ford Foundation, reflects on our divisions and how we
can move forward - "both despite and because of our differences," in
an op-ed for The New York Times
. 

The American identity we share matters, including how we respond to the
values and aspirations the country was founded upon, Walker writes. He
urges us to look ahead and create solutions: "Let's build longer
bridges, not higher walls. The cost of the alternative is greater than
any of us can bear. Let's resolve to listen with humility, curiosity,
and empathy - with open hearts and minds. Let's resolve to extend
the presumption of grace and the benefit of the doubt." 

Speaking of an America to aspire to, United States
Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) is celebrating Independence Day
throughout the week by welcoming more than 6,600 new citizens. Ming
Zhang, who moved from China almost 14 years ago and has since earned a
law degree and started a family, was one of them, per Margaret Mellott
of Kansas Reflector
. 

"I just really love the freedom here," Zhang said. "(The) people are
friendly and the culture - I just really fell in love here." 

And at NPR

this July Fourth, six immigrants from across the world reflect on their
relationship to the U.S. - some with concern, others with hope.
"[L]ooking at how people actually practice democracy and fight for their
rights and everything, there's light at the end of the tunnel. And I
think that's what makes the nation one of the greatest nations in the
world," said Nigel Gombakomba, originally from Zimbabwe. 

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].  

**REVISED GUIDANCE** - A good step: The Biden administration quietly
expanded eligibility rules for Afghans and other refugees seeking entry
to the U.S. via humanitarian parole, "amid mounting criticism over the
rejection of thousands of applications from Afghans seeking refuge,"
reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
.
"USCIS issued revised guidance to adjudicators on the types of evidence
we consider relevant in evaluating parole requests based primarily on
protection from individualized or targeted harm," the agency said. "With
the significant influx in new parole requests based primarily on
protection needs following the Afghan humanitarian crisis, USCIS decided
that a review of our policies was appropriate." 

On local welcome: 

* Dozens of volunteers help staff Tracy Harper's makeshift legal
clinics around the Denver area, each of which helps "as many as 25
[Afghan] families simultaneously fill out asylum applications." (Kevin
Beaty, Denverite
)  

* Following a judge's decision, a building that formerly housed school
administrative offices in Harvard, Massachusetts, will be leased as a
residence for two Afghan refugee families for at least a year, ending
"more than six months of uncertainty." (Rebecca Zhang, The Harvard Press
) 

**UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN** - Florida Gov. Ron Desantis' (R)
emergency rule blocking shelters from renewing their required state
foster care licenses to temporarily house unaccompanied minors is
negatively impacting several nonprofit faith organizations whose mission
is to care for them, Kate Santich reports for the Orlando Sentinel
.
Bethany Christian Services announced last month that it's no longer
housing unaccompanied minors in the state. "This is a sad moment for our
state, and we grieve for the children who will now face living in
unlicensed shelters or centers that don't provide adequate care needed
for them to thrive," said Tawnya Brown, Bethany's senior vice
president of global, refugee and immigrant services. "Using vulnerable
children as political pawns is unacceptable. As we face the challenges
ahead, we need followers of Jesus to join together - despite
any differences we might have - and care for children who
need our help." 

**HUMAN DIGNITY** - In light of last week's tragedy in Texas in
which more than 50 migrants died, the Biden administration "should
urgently restore and reimagine an asylum system," Krish O'Mara
Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee
Service, opines in CNN
.
"The choice is clear-cut," she writes. "Either our nation reckons with
the failure of a deterrence-based framework and implements solutions
that benefit Americans and newcomers alike; or we turn a blind eye to
the man-made suffering of our militarized immigration regime until the
next tragic loss of human life." Meanwhile, in a piece in San Antonio
Report

adapted from his comments during a memorial mass, Archbishop Gustavo
García-Siller pleads for immigration reform in the name of human
dignity. 

**GENERATIONAL SUCCESS** - Volunteers' digitizing of early census
data has helped economists discern that the "current wave of immigrants
is succeeding and assimilating at virtually the same rate as immigrants
did a century ago," per Andrew Van Dam of The Washington Post
.
"Using the genealogy data, the economists could soon follow generations
of immigrants from the Ellis Island era as they assimilated (or
didn't) and prospered (or didn't)," Dam explains. "Because their
data follows immigrants across generations, the researchers were able to
write the surprising sequel to immigrants' early struggles: Their
children thrived in America, rising up the economic ladder faster than
their native-born peers. And the same is true of immigrants
today." Enjoy diving into this history - the graphics are
fascinating. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

 

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