Wednesday, July 13
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THE FORUM DAILY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Tuesday the
new launch of the ambassador initiative
,
tapping eight advocates and community leader volunteers "to encourage
millions of green card holders to apply for citizenship," reports
Suzanne Monyak of Roll Call
. 

The goal of the program is to have ambassadors from across the country
- most of whom are naturalized citizens themselves - partner with
local field offices to improve and expand outreach strategies to
immigrant communities, notes Monyak. As part of the program, they'll
receive agency citizenship process training. 

"The initiative," per a USCIS statement, "is designed to make a personal
and local connection to the more than 9.1 million lawful permanent
residents who may be eligible to apply for naturalization and who
otherwise may not have access to or knowledge of the naturalization
process." 

Nam Loc Nguyen, an ambassador who previously served as the director of
the immigration and refugee department at Catholic Charities in
California and a former Vietnam refugee, said: "We are the community
leaders...They know us, and I think naturally, they're looking for
someone that they trust." 

Welcome to Wednesday'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] . 

**COOPERATION** - In Tuesday's meeting, Mexican President Andres
Manuel López Obrador agreed to invest $1.5 billion over the next two
years to improve "smart" border technology, report Will Weissert and
Zeke Miller for the Associated Press
.
"Borders that are more resilient, more efficient, and safer, will
enhance our shared commerce," Biden and López Obrador said via a joint
statement
.
"We are committed like never before to completing a multi-year joint
U.S.-Mexico border infrastructure modernization effort for projects
along the 2,000-mile border." Both leaders agreed to other important
immigration-related promises, including tackling root causes of
migration across the Americas, expanding the quota for work visas in the
U.S., welcoming additional refugees, and more. 

**'REMAIN IN MEXICO'** - Thousands of asylum seekers remain
vulnerable to the dangerous conditions in Mexico as they wait for the
Biden administration to completely end the Trump-era Migrant Protection
Protocols

or the "Remain in Mexico" policy, reports Daniella Silva of NBC News
.
"Our perspective is not if they're going to be victimized when they
are in Mexico, but when," immigration attorney Taylor Levy said.
"We're constantly fielding calls about horrific things." While the
Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that Biden could officially end the
program
, the
administration said it would need "several weeks" to do so, per Tal
Axelrod at ABC News
. 

'

**WRONG APPROACH'** - Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force member
Sheriff Javier Salazar of South Texas' Bexar County is calling on
sheriffs to stop the negative rhetoric around migrants at the
U.S.-Mexico border, following the recent tragedy in Texas
, per Jacob Beltran of
San Antonio Express-News
.
Deterrence is not the answer, Salazar notes. Border solutions like
providing resources to what he describes as "hub jurisdictions," areas
where migrants are hidden in transit, in addition to requesting a grant
to combat transnational crime would help. "Until we find a way to
[manage migration] ... holistically, we're not going to have success,"
Salazar said. "Fifty-three people died in my county, and that's
extremely heartbreaking," he added. "I'm not just going to sit quietly
by while I feel like we're taking the wrong approach." 

VETO - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (R) recently vetoed an
immigration bill for a second time in four years that would force North
Carolina sheriffs to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement's (ICE), reports Will Doran and Avi Bajpai of The News &
Observer
. "This
bill is unconstitutional and weakens law enforcement in North Carolina
by mandating that sheriffs do the job of federal agents, using local
resources that could hurt their ability to protect their counties,"
Cooper said. Added Rep. Ricky Hurtado of Alamance County (D): "Bills
like this make it harder for folks on the ground to do their job, and it
puts us backwards in our ultimate goal of keeping everyone safe." 

'STILL IN AFGHANISTAN' - "Physically, I am here, but mentally, I
am still in Afghanistan," said Homeira Qaderi, a single mother and
writer who, like many other Afghan evacuees, "is torn between
opportunities in the USA and the horrors she left behind," reports
Fatema Hosseini for USA Today
.
Qaderi wrote the book "Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter
to Her Son," about "the injustice that Afghan women experience in a
patriarchal and misogynistic society," putting her at risk under the
country's new Taliban government. She fled to the U.S. wanting to
build a life as a writer and educator, but to protect her family, she
tries to maintain a low profile. She is currently on a fellowship at
Harvard University, writing another book. 

Today's local stories: 

* With the deadline to apply for legal status quickly approaching, Iowa
Migrant Movement for Justice, Drake Legal Clinic, and Iowa Legal Aid are
organizing in-person information sessions to help Afghan families under
humanitarian parole "figure out their next steps to becoming permanent
residents..." (Linh Ta, Axios
) 

* The Afghan Village Restaurant and Market in San Antonio, Texas, has
become a hub for Afghan newcomers, according to restaurant owner and
former Afghan refugee, Essa Yousafzai. "We try to be authentic as much
as possible and get anything the Afghan community over here
needs." (Amber Hughes, Spectrum News 1
) 

* One Faith Fellowship in Owensboro, Kentucky, is holding a benefit
concert on Sunday to help a refugee family buy a car. (Don Wilkins,
Messenger-Inquirer
) 

Thanks for reading,

Becka

 

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