In the latest Lifeway Research poll, 71% of evangelicals said it is crucial for Congress to pass immigration reform this year. Seventy-eight percent said they would support legislation that would "both increase border security and establish a rigorous process to earn legal status and apply for citizenship," for those who meet eligibility requirements. 

Moreover, 92% of evangelical voters in the poll agreed that unity of the family and human dignity (90%) should be the guiding principle for immigration reform. 

"... [T]he message from evangelicals to Congress couldn’t be more clear: please be serious about fixing a broken border and a broken immigration system," writes Darling. "Admittedly, the issue of immigration is complex, and good people will differ on exactly how to proceed. But perhaps the next Congress could begin with a few items: increasing money for border security and passing legislation that allows children brought here a pathway to citizenship." 

Amos Humphries, the Senior Pastor of Park Lake Drive Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, agrees. In an op-ed for the Christian Post, he underscores the Lifeway Research poll as a prime example of evangelicals being compelled by their faith to see immigration as an asset.  

"Welcoming immigrants is a great opportunity for the church to step up and be a real voice to the vulnerable," he writes. "Where we have failed to represent the Kingdom of God in the past, immigration provides an opportunity for the church to redeem itself by being a united voice for the love, compassion, and justice of Jesus Christ." 

The message from this influential group of voters is clear. Congress must act and provide long-lasting immigration solutions. 

Welcome to Monday’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]. 

AT THE BORDER — Annalisa Quinn of the Boston Globe Magazine reports the story of La Iglesia Fronteriza, or "the border church," which has been offering weekly, bilingual, interdenominational service on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border since the early 2000s. Today, further border wall developments divide Tijuana, Mexico, from San Diego, California, and continue to physically separate immigrant families by 50 feet. At first, the church was an "opportunity of [migrants] being able to meet here at the border wall," said Robert Vivar, who came to the U.S. when he was six. But these days, "They cannot come right up to the border wall and have an intimate conversation, or even share a pinky kiss."  

• Meanwhile, faith-based nonprofit Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, is helping with the increase of asylum seekers at the southwest border by busing migrants to their next destination, reports Cindy Ramirez of El Paso Matters. (For more on how nonprofits are supporting transportation efforts, despite the challenges, see reports from The Texas Tribune and CBS News). 

AG REFORM — Passing the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act would address critical labor shortages, decrease inflation, and improve food security, write Dante Galeazzi and Bret Erickson, agriculture and business advocates in Texas, for an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News. But Congress and others must act. "We have a solution, but it will take leadership to make that solution a reality," they write. "Sens. Cornyn and Cruz must help get farm workforce solutions done this year. Save the politics for the hard stuff — this is an easy one." Our policy expert Arturo Castellanos-Canales underscores the need for reforms and legislative solutions in his new paper. 

GRANDI’S WORDS — As part of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, is urging world leaders to not forget the millions of displaced people due to climate change. Speaking of displacement, Grandi underscored just last week how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has displaced nearly 14 million Ukrainians in "the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades." The increase has surmounted to 103 million displaced people worldwide, per Edith M. Lederer of the Associated Press. Stateside, Grandi is pleading with "all states to stand in solidarity with Haiti and urge them not to return Haitians to a country that is extremely fragile" as the country grapples with increased political instability and gang violence, per Al Jazeera.  

TEXAS’ WORKFORCE — We need real immigration solutions to strengthen our workforce and economy at state and federal levels in Texas, writes John McCord, executive director for the Texas Retailers Association, in a column for The Dallas Morning News. Immigrants make up more than 20% of Texas’ workforce and over 95% of the population who are eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are already employed, he notes. "However, change must come from our leaders in Congress, and it is our hope that our representatives will act before the end of the year to establish a pathway to citizenship so our businesses can continue servicing communities across the great state of Texas while growing the economy," he concludes. 

‘BROUGHT TO YOU BY IMMIGRANTS’— "The World Series is brought to you by immigrants," says a new electronic billboard in Philadelphia near the stadium where the Phillies and Astros met in Game Five, reports Jeff Gammage of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Erika Almiron, the Philadelphia senior organizer for Mijente, said the billboard helps to counter the negative anti-immigrant ads surrounding the election cycle. "This is about producing a different narrative about immigrants and about Latinos. Every time a Latino immigrant comes up to bat, and gets a hit and wins the game, we love that, right?" Almiron said. On that note, many congrats to the Houston Astros, who won the franchise’s second World Series title on Saturday. 

Thanks for reading, 

Clara