Over 490 of them have already arrived, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. 

But as Maria Sacchetti and María Luisa Paúl of The Washington Post report — there are limitations: Anyone who crosses irregularly or unlawfully into the U.S., Mexican, or Panamanian borders after Oct. 19 is automatically ineligible from the program and expelled to Mexico under Title 42.  

Josue Cardozo, 28, is one of those migrants who was sent back. He said he left Venezuela over a month ago to seek asylum at the southern border. In his harsh journey, Cardozo dodged smugglers and saw other migrants die. But once at the border in Texas, he and other migrants were sent back to Mexico. 

"I used up all my savings and saw hell to find freedom in the United States," Cardozo said. "I just wanted to work and have a shot at a better life. But it literally felt as if Joe Biden had grabbed my heart and pulled it out of my chest." 

My colleague, Thea, just got back from her trip at the border, where she heard first-hand stories from many migrants, including Venezuelans who are expelled under Title 42. In her own words: 

"Our conversations with the migrants, aid workers, faith leaders, and law enforcement officials who collectively make up the binational, multicultural region of Juárez and El Paso made one thing clear above all: for border communities, immigrants, and the American economy to flourish, we need meaningful, bipartisan immigration reform." 

Speaking about the reality at the border, the Council on National Security and Immigration (CNSI) just published two new papers. One highlights the difference between trafficking and smuggling; the other highlights the unprecedented challenges U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are facing at the southern border, with recommended solutions.  

Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Clara Villatoro, the Forum’s strategic communications manager. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

REFUGEE NUMBERS — The first refugee data for Fiscal Year 2023 was released yesterday. Our policy expert Danilo Zak published his savvy thread (as usual) to provide more context — and call for a better U.S. refugee admissions and resettlement program. U.S. & News World Report’s Elliott Davis Jr. is also out with a look at the U.S. refugee program, including plans from the government to tackle the backlog. "Functionally, [the cap] doesn’t make a huge difference because we’ve been admitting such few refugees," said Shailja Sharma, a professor focused on refugee and forced migration studies at DePaul University. To help with resettlement, "[t]he first thing is staffing, staffing, staffing," Sharma added. "President Biden has been in power now long enough that he can make this a priority to re-staff." 

TIME FOR SOLUTIONS — Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) is urging the Senate to pass the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, reports Khirstia Sheffield of KIMA. "When we’re in the midst of a food crisis, why would we not implement change to ensure that Americans are fed," Newhouse said. "It’s far past the time to deliver solutions." There are currently 2.5 million farmworkers employed in the U.S. yearly and about half of them are undocumented, Sheffield notes. If immigration reforms don’t pass this year, advocacy efforts will have to start from scratch in a new Congress.  

RETHINKING IMMIGRATION — We need immigration reforms in an age of globalization, workforce shortages, and mass migration, writes Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio in a column for The Tablet. "... [A] reformed system that favors legal pathways for family unification and to meet workforce needs will help reduce the number of migrants who cross into the U.S. without authorization," he writes. "By creating more legal pathways for entry, we will be able to meet our future demand for labor in a safe and orderly manner." DiMarzio points to the number of recent border encounters, and the demographics of the migrants. For more on the latter, read Danilo’s breakdown.  

MARISOL’S STORY — Jules Struck of Syracuse.com reports the story of DACA recipient Marisol Estrada Cruz, a 28-year-old student at Syracuse University School of Law and a part-time legal aid. "My whole life, I worked hard. And there is no [legal] pathway for me at all. It just doesn’t exist." Estrada Cruz got into law partly because she knows the immigration system is so complex and wants to help undocumented people like herself understand it better. With current court challenges to DACA, some 600,000 DACA recipients remain in limbo. The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus — a network of advocacy groups in faith, business, education, national security and advocacy — has repeatedly called on Congress to act on a permanent solution for Dreamers and other immigration and border reforms. The WORLD’s Addie Offereins story points to the need for reforms as well. 

IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTH — The uncertainty surrounding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) affects recipients’ mental health, reports Lauren Peace of the Tampa Bay Times. That’s according to a new study of adults in the Tampa Bay area by researchers at the University of South Florida. "Every day you live in fear. That takes a toll on the entire family. It hurts," said Nanci Palacios, a participant in the study. Separately, Katie Mogg of The Boston Globe writes about the role of community leaders and grassroots organizations in the promotion of health among immigrants. These groups build trust and form relationships with immigrants, which results in an open dialogue about their health concerns and being open to receiving information.  

Thanks for reading, 

Clara  

P.S. Have you wondered about the meaning of marigolds in the recent celebration of Día de Los Muertos? Here is a nice article about it by Gustavo Arellano of The Los Angeles Times.