"The misinformation has led people in the region to think it’s a lot easier to get into the United States than it is in reality," said Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, noting that the sheer volume of these misleading posts makes it hard for migrants to decipher what is fact.  

Some of the misinformation goes as far as purposely misrepresenting the state of rivers where migrants will have to pass. 

"What smugglers will do is … infiltrate those online communities. They will provide information — very oftentimes manufactured information — that there’s an opportunity to enter the U.S.," said John Cohen, former temporary head of DHS’s intelligence division.  

In recent months, Alvarez notes, the Biden administration undertook a large operation to disrupt human smuggling networks. According to DHS, from April 1 through July 22, authorities arrested 3,533 individuals connected to human smuggling networks. And in May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched a two-month digital ad campaign designed to steer migrants away from their journey north. 

Welcome to Thursday’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].  

FOOD PRICES — To lower food prices and ease labor shortages, farmers and other advocates are urging the Senate to act on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.    "[W]e see in real time the importance of taking action now to ensure food security and agricultural independence in our country," Joel Anderson, executive director of the Snake River Farmer’s Association in Idaho, said during a press conference Wednesday, as reported by Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global. "Our ability to feed our people ourselves is key to America’s national security." Addie Offereins of WORLD Magazine has more on the prospects for the bill, and the recording of yesterday’s Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus press conference is available. 

SPAIN’S APPROACH — To combat labor shortages and understaffing in hospitality and farming, Spain passed a bill Tuesday that would ease requirements for undocumented immigrants to work in those sectors, reports Raquel Redondo of the Associated Press. The bill permits foreign workers who have lived in Spain for two or more years to seek temporary residency papers "by enrolling in training courses for jobs in high-demand sectors," notes Redondo. "These measures will provide us with better tools to tackle the challenges posed by migration," said Spanish Social Security and Migration Minister José Luis Escrivá. 

YAHIR’S PLEA — Yahir Rodriguez-Sanchez, an incoming freshman at Wheaton College in Illinois, is in limbo, he writes in an op-ed for the Daily Herald. His pending application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is held up in the courts. "I’ve always thought of myself as an American; I love this country as my own," writes Rodriguez-Sanchez, who was brought to the U.S. at age 3. "But the decision to end DACA [for new applicants] — and the lack of congressional action to replace it — makes me feel that America doesn’t love me back. ... I’m not asking for the help of the government so that I don’t have to work; I’m asking for the opportunity to work lawfully and provide for my family." 

‘I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING RIGHT’— Paperwork backlogs are having a very real impact on immigrants and their employers, Vanessa Araiza reports for WFTS Tampa Bay. In 2020, Jennifer Jones, a former refugee originally from El Salvador, received conditional status for two years. Those two years ran out on Monday, putting her work and her life on hold. Her attempts to reach U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have so far come up empty. "At some point, it’s like, okay … I have done everything right," Jones said. "I have answered to what you want me to answer to, I need you to answer so I can move on and live my life." USCIS is working to alleviate backlogs and has a current target date of June 2023, Araiza notes. 

COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP — The recent empowering of Americans to welcome resettled Afghans and Ukrainians and help them integrate points toward a new refugee resettlement model in the U.S., Gregory Maniatis writes in Foreign Affairs. "The act of taking collective responsibility for welcoming newcomers brings neighbors together across partisan and other divides in ways that reanimate community life, create a sense of common cause, and build civic consciousness," writes Maniatis, who served as Senior Adviser to the UN Special Representative for Migration for more than a decade. "By opening up the resettlement system, the U.S. government would enable private citizens who are concerned about international humanitarian crises to become directly involved in the act of securing a better future for those who have been forced to flee their countries." 

Speaking of local welcome: 

• Thanks to a dated recommendation letter from American Army platoon leader George Mackin, Afghan soldier "Saeed" was able to flee Afghanistan and reunite with Mackin, a person he calls his "brother," in Bismarck, North Dakota. Mackin has since started a GoFundMe to help Saeed’s family, who are still stuck in Afghanistan. (Jeremy Turley, Forum News Service) 
• Nonprofit Westminster Communities of Florida has hired more than 40 resettled Afghans to work at its nursing homes and senior communities across the state. Afghans who work for the company also receive housing and an opportunity to become self-sufficient. (Christopher Spata, Tampa Bay Times) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan