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