Wednesday, September 14
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THE FORUM DAILY

Migrant children who journey north to Tapachula, Mexico, with their
parents often face barriers to education because they're moving from
shelter to shelter and have a lack of paperwork to enroll in school,
reports Mikenzie Hammel of Cronkite Borderlands Project
. 

Cristofer, age 9, is one of them. He hasn't been to school in more
than two years, since he and his father left Honduras in search of a
better life.  

"Growing up, I would like a better level of education, good for him,"
his father, Arnol Sorto, said. "He is going to decide what he would like
to study. ... Like everyone, I want the best for him." 

One school in the city near the Guatemalan border, La Escuela Primaria
Fernando Montes de Oca Rodriguez, is supporting migrant children despite
the challenges. It's the only school that does not require documents
or entrance exams for enrollment, Hammel notes. 

"In this case, our school will be known as one with open arms. We do not
reject," said the school's principal, Maria Guadalupe Verdugo Escobar.
"... I don't care if your dad is an assassin, I don't care if your
mom is a radical. What I care about is you [the child]. You are the
future of tomorrow." 

Welcome to Wednesday'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] . 

**GROCERY PRICES** - New Consumer Price Index data show that overall
inflation remains near a 40-year high, despite recently lower gas
prices, reports Paul Davidson of USA TODAY
.
Rising food costs were one reason why: Grocery prices in August were up
0.7% from July and 13.5% from August 2021. Our latest poll

indicates that a strong majority of Americans agree with farmers who say
that immigration reforms can help lower food prices - and that more
than three-quarters of Americans want reforms

**this year** that help the nation's farmers.  

**AT THE BORDER** - Information technology issues and poor
recordkeeping caused the Department of Homeland Security to lose track
of migrants at the border, per a DHS inspector general report

Tuesday, Ellen M. Gilmer of Bloomberg Law

reports. The result may have been "unintended family separations and
prolonged time in custody," per the report. Meanwhile, NBC News
'
Julia Ainsley reports that newly arriving migrants, primarily from
Venezuela, have exceeded the Border Patrol's and shelters' capacity
in El Paso, Texas. Following biometric screenings, those who are not a
threat to public safety may be released near bus stations to continue
their journeys. More than 900 such migrants have been released over the
past week. 

**HIGH-TECH COMPETITION** - In high-tech fields, the U.S. and its
allies need to compete with China as "their primary strategic
objective," per a new report

published by bipartisan national security and tech experts, John M.
Donnelly of Roll Call

reports. According to the Special Competitive Studies Project's report
itself, "The U.S. government should accelerate immigration processes,
increase efforts to attract international tech talent, and target visas
directly to needed tech fields. Highly-skilled immigrants have a
disproportionately positive impact on innovation and job creation."
Leaders on the Council on National Security and Immigration have been
urging a similar emphasis, including in a letter to Congress

and a post on the STEM skills shortage

by former DHS official Elaine Dezenski. In related news, the U.S. and
Mexico plan to cooperate on semiconductor supply chains and production
of electric vehicles to compete with Asian nations, report María Verza
and Christopher Sherman of the Associated Press
. 

**FOR OUR AFGHAN ALLIES** - Veterans continue to feel the burden and
shame of leaving behind Afghan allies with whom they worked shoulder to
shoulder, retired U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian deLutio writes in the Bangor
Daily News
.
As he reflects on the anniversary of 9/11, deLutio advocates for his
state's senators "to co-sponsor and help pass the Afghan Adjustment
Act
.
The United States has a moral obligation to save our allies we left
behind." Elsewhere, the first episode of the four-part "No Way Home"
podcast was released Sunday by The Intercept

and the Future Frontlines and Fellows program at New America. In it,
Summia Tora tells the harrowing story of trying to evacuate her father
from Afghanistan in August 2021 - and, at the same time, trying to
save a longtime NGO worker and his family.  

New in local welcome:  

* Thanks to the Center for Refugee Services in San Antonio, more than
3,200 Afghan evacuees have resettled, with CRS and the community
offering "housing help, job training and guidance on applying for
government benefits." (Zack Briggs, KENS
)  

* Allies of our Afghan Allies, a local community group working with
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston, has helped five Afghan
men and a separate family of four resettle in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
(Michael Cronin, Gloucester Daily News
) 

**UKRAINIAN SPONSORSHIP** - Nearly 124,000 Americans have applied to
sponsor Ukrainians, and applicants from five states - New York,
Illinois, California, Washington and Florida - account for more than
half of that total, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
.
"Our children now sleep peacefully. They don't wake up from air
sirens," said Natalia Agaieva, whose family resettled in Washington.
"I'm so happy to see that our kids like it here, and that they enjoy
and live a full life." The Biden administration launched the private
sponsorship program, "Uniting for Ukraine," in the spring. Ten
metropolitan areas are the source of 55% of sponsorship requests: New
York City, Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Sacramento,
Miami, Portland, Cleveland and Detroit.  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

 

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