Friday, September 23
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THE FORUM DAILY

Passage of the Afghan Adjustment Act

continues to hit legislative roadblocks, despite support among
bipartisan senators and ongoing advocacy from military veterans and
Afghan allies, reports Luke Broadwater of The New York Times
. 

As some cite concerns about initial vetting - which was robust, as the
Council on National Security and Immigration has underscored

- here's a key point, per the Times: "The bill would allow evacuees
who pass an added layer of security checks to seek permanent
authorization to stay in the United States without wading through the
yearslong bureaucratic burdens of applying and being approved for
asylum. It is meant to address security concerns about the Afghan
evacuees."     

In other words, the Afghan Adjustment Act is the solution, not the
problem.  

It's a solution we need in order to do right by our allies: Most of
the estimated 82,000 Afghan allies evacuated

to the U.S. in the past year-plus do not currently have a clear path to
permanent residency, which the bill would provide. They, and others
still trying to come here, continue to remain in limbo, uncertain about
their futures.  

"It's an atrocity that it is taking so long to get this simple thing
done," said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and the founder of the group
AfghanEvac. "This shouldn't be controversial. I wish we could show up
for them like they showed up for us." 

Moved to advocate with your own representatives? We have an opportunity
. 

With some of our team out Monday for a holiday - L'Shana Tova to
those celebrating - there will be no Forum Daily that day. We'll see
you Tuesday. In the meantime, welcome to Friday's edition. 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] . 

**MIGRANT TRANSPORT** - Customs and Border Protection Commissioner
Chris Magnus says that in some cases, GOP governors from Texas, Florida
and Arizona are "lying" to migrants about what opportunities might await
them in the cities they're being transported to, report Julia Ainsley
and Didi Martinez for NBC News
.
"People that are coming into our custody here are then processed, and
many of them are seeking asylum. So if some of them are released into
the country, they're doing so legally, they still have a date to
appear for an asylum hearing," said Magnus. Added DHS Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas: "When a governor acts unilaterally and refuses to
coordinate with other government officials, that is when problems arise.
And that is when we deplore political stuntsmanship when we're dealing
with the lives of vulnerable individuals."  

**DREAMERS, FARMWORKERS** - DACA recipients are preparing to learn
their fates in a forthcoming 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling,
reports Marissa Armas of CBS Colorado
.
Amid the fear and uncertainty, some are holding on to hope. "I have
faith in a higher power, I have faith in those that have put such
goodwill into this program," said Christian Pérez, a college student.
Meanwhile, Luis Cortez Romero, an immigration lawyer and a DACA
recipient himself, keeps working to protect others, Chris Stewart
reports in Newsy
.
"I get a lot of questions about it, like why don't you just apply [for
citizenship]? If there was a way to apply, we would apply," explained
Romero, who arrived in the U.S. when he was a baby. On the farmworker
front, read Greg Cardamone's letter to the editor in The Charlotte
Observer
.
Cardamone is General Manager of Eastern Vegetables at L&M Companies, a
produce sales and farming company. "I urge Sens. Thom Tillis and
Richard Burr to strongly and swiftly support new agriculture workforce
solutions," he writes.  

**MISTREATMENT** - Asylum-seeking Haitians face mistreatment and abuse
at the southern border, reports Jacqueline Charles of The Miami Herald
.
For a new report
,
Amnesty International interviewed 24 Haitians in U.S. custody before
they were expelled under Title 42. For many, "the treatment they
experienced in U.S. detention facilities - which included a harsh
combination of lack of access to food, healthcare, information,
interpreters and lawyers - quickly reached the threshold of
ill-treatment," the report reads. Amnesty International says the
findings "point to the urgent need for an investigation into systematic
anti-Black racism within the immigration system." Elsewhere regarding
Title 42, The Washington Post's

Philip Bump has a look at how the policy inflates numbers of encounters
with migrants at the border. And here's our own reminder that there
are better alternatives
.  

**GREEN CARDS** - Although U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
is on pace to process a record number of employment-based green cards
this fiscal year, the pace won't last without legislation and
significant backlogs remain, reports Suzanne Monyak of Roll Call
.
USCIS's work this year could help alleviate labor shortages

for companies searching for skilled workers in health care and other
industries. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has proposed related
legislation and said he sees hope for it following the midterms,
together with measures to address border security. Said David Bier of
the Cato Institute, "This problem is not going anywhere unless Congress
changes the employment-based green card caps." 

**'HOW FAITHFUL ... PEOPLE ARE'** - More today from Sharon
Phillips of 2 News Oklahoma

on the good work of Brenda Kirk, our south central regional mobilizer
who recently led faith leaders on a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. "One
of the things that really struck my heart was that as I asked to pray
with an elderly woman, she wanted to pray for me, and you just don't
think about how faithful these people are," Kirk said. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

**P.S.** One final bit of good news: The Biden administration has
announced that the U.S. Embassy in Cuba will start processing full
immigrant visas in early 2023, making it easier for Cubans to reunite
with family members in the United States, per the Associated Press
. 

 

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