Tuesday, September 6
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

 

THE FORUM DAILY

Human lives continue to end at the hands of immigration policies that
push migrants to take desperate measures. 

A rain-swelled Rio Grande claimed the lives of nine migrants on
Thursday, David Montgomery and Miriam Jordan of the New York Times

report. Thirty-seven others were rescued. 

Eagle Pass, Texas, fire chief Manuel Mello said drownings are now a
daily occurrence on the adjacent section of the border. And we're just
over two months removed from the deaths of 53 migrants among the nearly
100 found June 27

in the back of a semitrailer in San Antonio. 

I'll say again what I said then: In the name of human lives and human
dignity, Congress should act quickly on solutions that bring compassion,
security and order to our border. Expand capacity at land ports of
entry. Invest in technology and training so CBP can better help migrants
in distress. Expand permanent and temporary ways for people to apply to
enter the U.S. legally. 

As our new polling

makes clear, Americans want immigration reforms

**this year** to help address the border and other pressing challenges.
More than 70% of respondents support Democrats and Republicans working
together this year on legal immigration options that could help reduce
pressures at the border as well as counter labor shortages. Even more
- nearly 80% - want the two parties to work together this year on
immigration reforms that could reduce food prices by helping America's
farmers and ranchers. (See more on labor shortages and farmers below.) 

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] . 

**VENEZUELA** - Many of the migrants arriving at the southern border
are people fleeing Venezuela. Bryan Pietsch and Hari Raj of The
Washington Post

report that an estimated 6.8 million people have left Venezuela since
2015, trying to escape "political chaos and economic collapse." That's
nearly the number of Ukrainian refugees, but attention on Venezuela has
been lacking, they report - as has funding for those who are
displaced. "Currently, only 20 percent of UNHCR's annual funding
requirements for the Americas has been met, and Colombia - which, with
some 2.48 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, is the top host
country for displaced Venezuelan nationals - is also among the
UNHCR's most underfunded country operations in the world," UNHCR
spokesperson William Spindler said. 

**'NEW REALITY'** - Labor shortages are looking less like a
temporary, COVID-related blip "and more like a new reality," Megan
Cassella reports in Barron's
.
That's a threat to productivity and economic growth, not to mention
American leadership in the world. The drop in immigration in recent
years has exacerbated other problems - and, as we've noted
,
immigration could help solve them. Immigrants are "just not there, at
the time when we probably need them more than ever," said Ron Hetrick, a
senior labor economist with Lightcast and leader of a 2021 economic
report called "The Demographic Drought." For more on this theme, don't
miss Rice University economist Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez's piece on
The Conversation
. 

**ON THE FARM ...** - Indiana farmers are encouraging the state's
U.S. senators to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and help them
meet their labor needs, Bob Segall reports for WTHR
.
"Getting people has been difficult over the last few years," said Jill
Houin of Homestead Dairy, two hours north of Indianapolis. "If you
don't have workers, you don't have milk." On Earth First Farms north
of South Bend, apples are rotting on the ground after not enough migrant
workers arrived. "We all know about rising food costs, and labor is an
important part of that," said Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana
Department of Agriculture. "I hear about it almost every day. Our
farmers need help to access more labor." Farm leaders in South Dakota
conveyed the same needs at a roundtable Friday, reports Erik Kaufman of
the Mitchell Republic
. 

**... AND ON THE BIG RIGS** - The labor shortage is hitting home for
the trucking industry, which up against a retiring workforce and a lack
of new drivers, per Andy J. Semotiuk of Forbes
.
An estimated 80,000 more drivers are needed to make up a shortage this
year and that number could reach 160,000 by 2030, per the American
Trucking Association
.
One way to help, Semotiuk suggests, is to model Canada's Express Entry
program
,
permitting truckers from other countries to apply. "Now would be a great
time for America to undertake such a task to help the trucking
industry," he concludes. 

**ENDURING WELCOME** - The Biden administration is transitioning from
"Operation Allies Welcome" to "Enduring Welcome," as it pivots to a
long-term strategy to resettle Afghan evacuees across communities in the
U.S., reports Priscilla Alvarez of CNN
.
"This commitment does not have an end date - the commitment to
resettle our Afghan allies," including Afghans and their family members
who remain abroad, senior administration official told reporters. The
ongoing effort will integrate family reunification efforts, Special
Immigrant Visa applicants, and the U.S. refugee admissions program. In
the Deseret News
,
Kyle Dunphey speaks with Afghans in Utah about their experiences and the
challenges for allies still in Afghanistan. "It's like a lottery, but
it shouldn't be," said Abdul, whose wife recently joined him in the
U.S. after she hid in Kabul for a year. Separately, Catholic Legal
Immigration Network and Catholic Charities USA are adding their voices
to the call for an Afghan Adjustment Act, Catholic News Service

reports. 

In local welcome: 

* Living Water Community Church in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, has
helped resettle the Ahmadi family after their flight from Afghanistan.
"It's figuring out, at least from the Christian perspective, how do
you show Christ's love to other people?" Pastor Mike Leonzo said.
(Valerie Pritchett and James Wesser, WHTM
) 

* Inspired by her own experience learning English as a kid, Maie
Zagloul, now a second-year medical school student, is collecting book
donations for newly arrived Afghan children. (Sophie Carson, Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

 

DONATE

 

**Follow Us**

 

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum

10 G Street NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002

www.immigrationforum.org

 

Unsubscribe from The Forum Daily

or opt-out from all Forum emails.

 

 
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum, 10 G St NE, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002, United States