Friday, October 7
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THE FORUM DAILY

The court ruling on DACA is getting a lot of attention, as it should.
(More follow-up on that below.) But another court ruling this week is
worth noting - and it's good news. 

Student visa holders with science, technology, engineering or math
(STEM) degrees can continue to work in the U.S. for up to three years
after graduation after an appeals court upheld

the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, reports Daniel Wiessner
of Reuters
. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers
are among the major business groups that have advocated for OPT to help
address a lack of qualified U.S. workers. (The Forum supports

OPT as well.) 

OPT is one of the few temporary options for some of the 1 million or so
students from all over the world who come to the U.S. each year to
study. To be clear, there's more we could do to retain their skills
and talent - and senators are renewing an effort to make more green
cards available to such students, Haley Byrd Wilt of The Dispatch

reports.  

Last week, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) proposed an amendment

to the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act

(NDAA) that would exempt STEM graduates from green card caps.  

"America should always be focused on maintaining a strong STEM workforce
because it strengthens our economy and enhances our ability to compete
on the world stage," Durbin said. "By denying international students
with STEM degrees from U.S. universities the opportunity to continue
their work here, we are losing their talents to countries overseas and
won't see the positive impacts of their American education."  

In May, 49 national security leaders wrote a letter

to congressional leaders urging them to pass such a measure.  

Welcome to Friday's edition of The Forum Daily. I'm Dan
Gordon, the Forum's strategic communications VP. Monday is
Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day, so we'll be back Tuesday.
If you have a story to share from your own community, please
send it to me at [email protected]
.  

**DACA, DREAMERS** - In light of the DACA ruling on Wednesday, more
than 600,000 current DACA recipients who know no other home than the
U.S. will continue to live in limbo, uncertain of their futures,
Catherine Rampell writes in her Washington Post

column. As a result of congressional inaction, "dreamers' precarious
livelihoods continue to volley back and forth between the executive
branch and the judiciary," she notes. But support for congressional
action spans nearly all Americans, including traditionally more
conservative faith leaders
,
law enforcement officials ,
employers

and national security experts
.
Action is needed for more than current DACA recipients, as Council on
National Security and Immigration leader Lynden Melmed highlights in an
op-ed for The Dallas Morning News
.
Melmed homes in on the plight of so-called "Documented Dreamers" who age
out of legal status via their parents' visas.  

**FARMWORKER SOLUTIONS** - Leah Treidler of Wisconsin Public Radio

has more on dairy farmers' support for the Farm Workforce
Modernization Act

to address increasing food prices and labor shortages. "Congress needs
to act to provide farms with meaningful access to a visa program for
year-round workers. ... If the past few years have taught us anything,
it's that we have taken our safe, dependable food supply for granted.
And we can no longer afford to do this," said Brody Stapel, board
president of Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative. Meanwhile, the U.S.
Department of Labor announced a final rule
Thursday
to improve the conditions for immigrant farmworkers temporarily living
in hotels or short-term rentals, Daniel Wiessner reports in another
piece for Reuters
.
 

**MIGRANT TRANSPORT** - CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus says that
governors sending migrants to other states are inciting, not deterring,
migration, report Andrea Castillo and Hamed Aleaziz of The Los Angeles
Times
.
"It's safe to say what's going on is a pull factor, which is
somewhat ironic given the criticism from some of these same governors
involved in this [have] about various pull factors that they claim
already exist," Magnus said. For more on migrant transport, see our FAQ
. 

ATTENTION ON IRAN - Rowan University president Ali Houshmand, who
immigrated to the U.S. from Iran as a young adult, is using his platform
to stand
in solidarity with Iran as human rights protests continue, reports Jeff
Gammage of The Philadelphia Inquirer
.
"The majority of people in Iran have become absolutely sick and
disgusted with a regime that projects a very dark and rigid and
restrictive lifestyle for everyone. Women are treated horribly,"
Houshmand told Gammage. "This regime is not one that can be reformed." 

HURRICANE IAN RECOVERY - To help with Hurricane Ian relief and rebuild
efforts, a growing number of undocumented immigrants from New York,
Louisiana and Texas are coming to the rescue, reports Catherine E.
Shoichet of CNN
.
"What you have now is basically immigrants who are sort of traveling
white blood cells of America, who congregate after hurricanes to heal a
place, and then move on to heal the next place," said Saket Soni,
executive director of the nonprofit Resilience Force
. Many migrants are praying for Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis "to lead a good recovery, they're praying for him to
be the best governor he can be," Soni said. "Because they need him and
he needs them." 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

**P.S.** Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday

that the U.S. will provide about $240 million in new assistance to
address migration and root causes across the Americas. Reuters

reports that the sum will include $82 million for refugee and migrant
communities and more than $160 million in security assistance, including
addressing corruption in partner countries.  

 

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