Monday, August 1
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THE FORUM DAILY

The Biden administration is debating whether and how quickly to fully
end the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the "Remain in
Mexico" policy, Michelle Hackman reports for The Wall Street Journal
. 

The Supreme Court has given the administration the green light to
officially terminate the program. But some National Security Council
officials say without MPP in place, they are concerned about migrant
increases at the U.S.-Mexico border, especially from countries including
Cuba and Venezuela. They are also wary about upending continuing
immigration negotiations with the Mexican government and the potential
for further legal challenges by Texas and other GOP-led states. 

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, see MPP as
too time-consuming and costly. Tent courts at the border

for the program are costing ICE tens of millions of dollars as the
agency faces a $400 million budget deficit. 

Advocates are pushing for quick action, as Jasmine Aguilera notes in
TIME magazine
.
"Every single day [MPP is] in place it's causing harm, it's
endangering lives, and it's frankly allowing the Trump Administration
to rule from the grave," said Blaine Bookey, legal director of the
Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California,
Hastings. 

Welcome to the Monday 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] .  

HELP WANTED - The Biden administration's plans to produce microchips
domestically, including at a site outside of Columbus, Ohio, faces a
major stumbling block, Brendan Bordelon and Eleanor Mueller report in
POLITICO
:
a lack of workers. Immigration reform would offer a solution, but
currently the U.S. has "a bewildering and anachronistic immigration
system, historic backlogs in visa processing and rising anti-immigrant
sentiment have combined to choke off the flow of foreign STEM talent
precisely when a fresh [increase] is needed." Meanwhile, business
leaders in Nebraska are also looking to immigration reforms to help with
severe labor shortages, Cindy Gonzalez of the Nebraska Examiner

reports. "There is a real sense of urgency," said Bryan Slone, president
of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "We're down 50,000
to 80,000 jobs that we can't fill. We just don't have the people." 

**PERMANENT SOLUTIONS** - In an op-ed for San Antonio Express-News
,
Brenda Kirk, a South-Central mobilizer for the Forum, lays out a
personal appeal for Congress to enact a permanent solution for Dreamers.
Andrea Rathbone Ramos, a Dreamer whom Kirk has come to know as a friend,
is making a significant impact in San Antonio, she writes. "I join other
evangelical Christians in continuing to pray for Congress to provide
Dreamers with the permanent solution they deserve," Kirk writes.
"Dreamers such as Ramos support America and make it better. It's time
for Congress to act and show that America supports them, too."  

MADE-UP INTERVIEW CLAIM - Some border agents are denying entry to
asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border based on what lawyers say are
fictional interviews, per Dianne Solis of The Dallas Morning News
.
Such is the case for Roxana, originally from El Salvador, who says she
was never interviewed - nor were her two children. Yet federal
documents say her 2-year-old son Benjamin confirmed he entered the
country to look for work or go to school. "He never said that! He can
barely talk," Roxana said. "... They didn't give us a chance to
explain our case ... I'm afraid. They could hurt my kids." Such
stories increase concerns around expedited removals, in which people are
rapidly deported, with few options for recourse. 

**BORDER NEWS BRIEFS** - A few more recent news items related to the
border: 

* Citing safety concerns, the Biden administration has authorized the
completion of border barriers to close four wide gaps near Yuma,
Arizona, per Anita Snow of the Associated Press
. 

* NBC
's
Julia Ainsley reports that "U.S.-assisted arrests of smugglers in
Central America, far from U.S. soil" may have contributed to the June
decrease in migrant crossings and arrests.  

* Asylum seekers are struggling to survive in Juárez, Mexico, as they
wait for the U.S. to officially repeal Title 42, reports Julian Resendiz
for Border Report
.
Meanwhile, in an op-ed for The Hill
,
immigration attorney Stephen Yale-Loehr highlights Title 42's dangers.
Separately, Emily Van Fossen of the Niskanen Center

notes that the policy has played into anti-immigration groups' efforts
to misrepresent border data. 

WELCOME - The U.S. officially has admitted 100,000 Ukrainians since
the Feb. 24 Russian invasion, fulfilling President Biden's pledge,
reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
.
Meanwhile, the residents of Utah have been very welcoming toward Afghan
evacuees, per Peter Suderman and Fiona Harrigan in a Reason

podcast. Utahns, having a history of forced migration and persecution,
are "very sympathetic to people who are fleeing similar circumstances,"
said Harrigan. "It helps these new Afghans feel very welcome in the
state. I think it's a thing that really translates to every level of
society from the governor's office to the volunteers, to civil society
organizations and every other religious organization in the state." 

Elsewhere on the local front: 

* Thanks to Tucson, Arizona, City Councilmember Steve Kozachik's
advocacy, Afghan judge Ahmad Wakili, who had been separated from his
wife and daughter for a year and a half, was reunited with his family in
Phoenix. (Zayna Syed, The Arizona Republic
) 

* The Sioux City branch of Lutheran Services of Iowa and the Mary J.
Treglia Community House are collaborating with the Iowa Department of
Transportation to ensure written driver's license tests and driving
courses are available in Pashto and Dari for Afghan evacuees. (Kendall
Crawford, Iowa Public Radio
) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

 

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