Wednesday, July 20
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THE FORUM DAILY

Senate Republicans and Democrats are weighing in on the Farm Workforce
Modernization Act
,
which "would improve the visa program for temporary agricultural workers
and help relieve labor shortages that push food prices higher," reports
Fiona Harrigan of Reason
.  

The measure, spearheaded by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) and Dan
Newhouse (R-Washington) - and passed in the House twice last year -
would establish both a program for foreign agricultural workers and
reform the current temporary H-2A agricultural guestworker program,
offering labor solutions in the midst of a labor shortage. 

"Increasing legal pathways like H-2A will ease pressure on the southern
border by decreasing the number of individuals - particularly single
adults - who seek to cross without authorization, all while filling
critical labor needs," Danilo Zak, The Forum's policy and advocacy
manager told Harrigan. "Passing this bill would demonstrate what real
bipartisan compromise on immigration can look like in 2022: An earned
pathway to status for a targeted undocumented population paired with
proper and effective enforcement of the system." 

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] .  

**BACKLOGS** - A recent report
from Syracuse
University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse predicts that
more than 6,000 lawsuits will have been filed against United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by Sept. 30, the end of the
fiscal year. The lawsuits are in response to government inaction on
immigration paperwork, extensively delayed visas, and long wait times,
per Eric Bazail-Eimil of Reason
.
Although the agency has been able to hire more agents to help with the
bottleneck of growing applications, "aggressive streamlining will still
be necessary," noted David Bier, associate director of immigration
studies at the Cato Institute. "It can't just be hiring more people
without better systems." Bier also released a new analysis

of the State Department's non‐emergency visa interview process,
urging Congress to investigate and act promptly to alleviate these
backlogs.  

**'GLASS CEILING'** - Many undocumented students from Mexico who
study in the U.S. face challenges to transfer college credits if they
return home either voluntarily or due to deportation, reports Max
Rivlin-Nadler of The World
.
After having built an academic and professional career in Los Angeles,
Nancy Landa was stopped on her way to work and deported to Mexico in
2009. When she arrived, she learned that a portion of her U.S. college
credits weren't accepted there and turned to working at a customer
service call center to make ends meet. "For me, that was a blow," Landa
said. She now works in Mexico City as an advocate, helping improve the
ability of students to stay and study in Mexico. "You hit this glass
ceiling, really, where because you can't enroll back in school, you
can't advance your career," she said. 

**'ATALAN'** - For Al Jazeera
,
Ali M. Latifi tells the story of Nasrat Khalid and his startup mobile
app called Aseel, which transitioned from selling Afghan-made
handicrafts to "become an aid distribution and fundraising platform" for
Afghan families in need. Individuals from around the globe can purchase
care packages through the app, which are then distributed on-the-ground
by a network of 180 local young Afghan volunteers, described as
"Atalan," meaning heroes in Pashto. This strategy helped them immensely
when an earthquake hit Afghanistan last month. 

Meanwhile, on U.S. welcome:  

* Nasir Ahmad was hired as Bowling Green, Kentucky's first Afghan
community navigator to support Afghan families with housing and
resources on driving and learning English. His ultimate goal is to "see
over 400 Afghans who came to Bowling Green fully resettled, employed and
positioned to fully function." (Mariia Novoselia, Bowling Green Daily
News
) 

* In partnership with Helping Families Settle, New Haven,
Connecticut's Integrated Refugee & Immigration Services helped
organize a baby shower for Afghan evacuees Mosa and Mohammadi Sadat. "It
just tells me that this community has got a big heart," said volunteer
Tracey Scheer, who organized the event. (Sarah Page Kyrcz, New Haven
Register
)  

* In St. Louis, the International Institute and its partners provided
phones and tablets to 35 Afghan families. "With a community like this
that pulls together resources, people can succeed and people will
succeed in St. Louis," said President of the International Institute
Arrey Obenson. (Laura Barczewski, KSDK
) 

**DIVERSITY** - America's changing demographics are part of our
history and reality, which the "great replacement theory
"
rejects, writes Joseph Chamie, a demographer, former director of the
United Nations Population Division, and author in an op-ed for The Hill
.
"America's population is continuing to evolve

with increased diversity and the blending of people with differing
backgrounds, ethnicities and national origins," Chamie writes. "America
should acknowledge the increased diversity as a source

of enrichment, innovation and advancement." 

Thanks for reading, 

Becka  

 

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