The idea behind the policy is sound: reduce unlawful crossings between ports of entry — and thus reduce the appeal of smuggling — by creating a lawful channel for some migrants. In this case, Venezuelan migrants who have a supporter in the U.S. and pass rigorous vetting may be granted humanitarian parole. 

But there are some caveats and questions. As Nick Miroff and Kevin Sieff report in The Washington Post, there’s a cap of 24,000 such migrants — whereas close to 160,000 in just the past year have been taken into custody after trying to cross the southern border. For their part, Mexican officials say the program will work only if the U.S. accepts a substantial number of Venezuelans. And the U.N. estimates that almost 7 million Venezuelans have left their native country since 2013. 

Migrants who attempt to cross between ports will be returned to Mexico under Title 42 and will be ineligible for parole. Migrants who enter Panama or Mexico illegally also will be ineligible — and an editor’s note that Venezuelans need visas to enter those countries legally. 

I turn again to my colleague Danilo Zak for a succinct summary: "The right to apply for asylum at the border — including between ports of entry and ‘irrespective of status’ — is explicitly enshrined in our immigration laws. More processing at ports is good, but this new policy for Venezuelans (and Title 42 in general) infringes upon that right."  

In other news, with midterms around the corner, misinformation targeting immigrants is rampant, reports Tiffany Hsu of The New York Times. Researchers are finding misinformation in more languages, covering more topics and on more digital platforms than in the past. Multilingual fact-checkers are urging Facebook, YouTube and other big social media platforms to help them debunk falsehoods — in languages other than English.  

Welcome to Thursday’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]. 

FARMWORKERS — In a forum hosted by the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Kansas City last week, ag industry leaders pushed for immigration reform as a solution to address increasing food prices and farm labor shortages, Noah Fish reports in Agweek. Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land O’Lakes (a Forum partner), urged the Senate to take up the Farm Workforce Modernization Act without delay: "We’re a couple million workers short, so what will it take?" Farmers in Ohio have a similar message, Joe Gilroy reports in the Norwalk Reflector. "This comes down to a simple and basic choice for Americans. We either import workers or we import food," said Bob Jones, owner of The Chef’s Garden and Farmer Jones Farm Market in Milan, Ohio. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support, including from Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Washington), who also urged the Senate to act in a recent op-ed in The Hill. 

FLORIDA, NEW YORK — The Treasury Department is investigating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) migrant transport initiative "and whether the Republican governor improperly used money connected to Covid-19 aid to facilitate the flights" to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, report Gary Fineout and Lisa Kashinsky of POLITICO. If the answer is yes, Florida taxpayers would foot the bill, Greg Sargent writes in his Washington Post column. Meanwhile, in the wake of New York City’s declaration of a state of emergency to help address the increase in migrants, Washington Post contributing columnist Fernanda Santos writes about the migrants themselves, who are caught in the fray.  

HUMANITARIAN LEADERSHIP — In light of current global displacement, the U.S. has work to do if we want humanitarian leadership to guide refugee resettlement, Emily Frazier of Missouri State University writes in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Frazier looks at the history of our refugee policies and concludes that geopolitical interests, not humanitarian ones, have been the guiding force. On expanding protections, "the administration’s progress has been irresolute, raising questions about Biden’s commitment to restoring refuge in the United States," she writes. Last month, the administration announced a 125,000-refugee admission ceiling for the 2023 fiscal year, the same as in 2022. But this past fiscal year, only 25,465 refugees were resettled. 

TALIBAN RESTRICTIONS — On International Day of the Girl Child, the Biden administration imposed new visa restrictions for current and former Taliban members and others due to their severe repression of women and girls, reports Darryl Coote of United Press International. "We continue to press the Taliban and others to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms — including the right to education — of all Afghans, including women and girls," Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted Tuesday. For The Atlantic, Bushra Seddique underscores the chilling reasons why "Afghanistan is, once again, the worst place in the world to be a woman." Read more on why education is a "power for peace and security" in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls, in a new report by Natalie Gonnella-Platts of the George W. Bush Institute. 

QUICK BITES — More stories worth a look today: 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan