"Dreamers are invaluable members of our churches and communities, and they will continue to live in uncertainty as long as Congress delays," said Hannah Daniel, the ERLC’s policy manager (and a Forum alumna).
"… Congress must act with urgency to pass a permanent, legislative solution that provides stability to these young people who have known no other home but ours." 

The day of the appeals court ruling on DACA last week, the Evangelical Immigration Table sent a letter signed by more than 1,000 evangelicals from all 50 states, urging Congress to act, the article notes. And in a recent Lifeway Research poll, 80% of self-identified evangelical respondents said they would back immigration reforms that include a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers along with stronger border security and addressing farmers’ labor needs.  

Meanwhile, in the Des Moines Register, Chief Michael Tupper of Marshalltown, Iowa, emphasizes the trust law enforcement have built with Dreamers: "Everyone loses if Dreamers’ legal protections are cut off. Our communities would see a decrease of constructive partners with civil responsibility, and law enforcement officers, like me, would lose the ability to serve them and collaborate with them for everyone’s safety."  

And if you’re looking for the details on last week’s court ruling and what happens next, see our new explainer. 

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].  

AFGHAN ADJUSTMENT ACT — More than 17,400 Afghan evacuees brought to the U.S. under humanitarian parole have filed applications for asylum or Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) as Congress stalls on taking up the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. Amid a backlogged asylum system, the bill would streamline the route to permanent status for evacuees after additional vetting, he notes. As of Oct. 2, USCIS had received more than 8,200 asylum requests from Afghans, per unpublished DHS data, and had approved 460. "If I go back to Afghanistan, my life will be in danger because the Taliban already have the list of the educated girls in Afghanistan," said Daryaa, an Arizona State University student. "That’s why I request the government to take action as soon as possible." In 2021, Congress was mandated to process these asylum requests within five months. Hibah Ansari of the Sahan Journal has more on the bill. 

Meanwhile, on local welcome: 

• Marine Maj. Dominic Chiaverotti and his former Afghan interpreter Zia recently reunited in San Francisco after Chiaverotti helped evacuate Zia’s wife, who was then pregnant, amid the chaos in Kabul last year. "We’ll never forget the help," Zia said. The video is worth watching. (Lauren Toms, CBS Bay area) 
• Hashmat Nadirpor, a lawyer who fled Afghanistan, is now helping professionals find work and refuge via the Scholars At Risk program at the University of California Irvine School of Law. (Zarina Khairzada, Spectrum News 1) 

CHILDREN WAITING — More than 9,000 unaccompanied migrant children and teens are in federal custody, per the latest data from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. Most are from Central America, but dozens of Afghan children and teens are especially at risk and traumatized, reports Melissa Sanchez of ProPublica. Some have even been in custody for a year. Afghan youth have expressed "extreme distress" about whether reports of "‘significant incidents’ that affect children’s health, well-being or safety" will be used against them or impact their families still stuck in Afghanistan, notes Neha Desai, senior director of immigration for the National Center for Youth Law. Sanchez speaks with advocates Jane Liu and Azadeh Erfani about their recent report on the incident reporting system and how it might improve. One recommendation: "actually train staff in crisis prevention," Erfani said. 

MIGRANT TRANSPORT — New documents released Friday in response to public records requests reveal that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had solicited bids for other migrant transport out of state, report Mike Damiano and Samantha J. Gross of the Boston Globe. At least one business that submitted a bid was under the impression that the job entailed transporting nonviolent criminals who were unauthorized immigrants to Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Valerie Gonzalez of The Monitor compares the challenges New York City is facing as it receives migrants with how cities in the Rio Grande Valley have responded. One key difference, as McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos notes, is that migrants are likely to stay in New York City, whereas most stay along the border only briefly. See our detailed explainer here on governors’ transport of migrants to other states. 

INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES — Migrants from Latin America who speak Indigenous languages have continued to face challenges seeking health care in the U.S., especially amid the pandemic, reports Priyanka Runwal of National Geographic. Advocacy groups including the Los Angeles nonprofit Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo and New York-based Endangered Language Alliance have stepped in to help, Runwal notes. Together, they’ve collected data on where in Los Angeles Indigenous groups live, and their native languages, to create maps. They then used the data to further secure funding from county and city health departments to develop and distribute information on COVID tests, treatments, and vaccines, inclusive of their Indigenous languages. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan