Tuesday, November 22
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THE FORUM DAILY

This Thanksgiving as we gather around the table, it is imperative that
we think about how the food we will eat got there.  

Thanks to farmworkers, we can have the opportunity to feast. For that
and more, we should be grateful. 

Amid acute labor shortages in the U.S., food prices remain high
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this holiday. And food security remains a national security concern.  

Farmworkers are especially at risk as they are among some of the
"lowest-paid workers" in the U.S., writes interdisciplinary scientist
Alice Reznickova of Equation
<[link removed]..>.
In 2020, a family earned between $25,000 and $29,999 yearly.  

While there isn't national data to track which occupations may be the
most vulnerable to food insecurity, "[b]ased on the estimated number of
farmworkers, between 1.1 million and 1.9 million farmworkers and their
family members including children do not know where their next meal will
come from." 

Think about that: Many farmworkers who put food on our table don't
know where their own food will come from - or when. Around 50% of the
farmworkers are undocumented migrants
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which adds more uncertainty to their lives. 

"While farmworkers harvest thousands of pounds of food every day, they
may not be able to put food on their own Thanksgiving tables - despite
recent assurances from the United States Department of Agriculture
<[link removed]> (USDA)
that everyone who wants to get a turkey can get one. And our gratitude
is not enough without action," Reznickova writes.

We need action, and from the immigration perspective we need reforms
that can give a legal path to those who bring the food to our tables
and have no legal protections. 

John Erb, Chief Operating Officer of Roy Farms in Moxee,
Washington, offers some prayers
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for farmworkers and other immigrants this month, and
invites everyone to advocate on their behalf as well
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Welcome to Tuesday's edition of The Forum Daily. We hope you enjoy
your Thanksgiving break. We'll be back next Monday. 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]
<mailto:[email protected]>.  

COMMUNITY DINNER - The nonprofit HIAS Pennsylvania hosted a potluck
Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday for Afghan evacuees who resettled in the
area last year, reports Susan Snyder of The Philadelphia Inquirer
<[link removed]>.
The Ethiopian Community Development Council, an Arlington,
Virginia-based resettlement agency, held a similar event, reports Laura
Meckler of The Washington Post
<[link removed]>.
"No politics, no religion, no nothing; just people getting together,"
said Sarah Zullo, director of the African Community Center. "When
people are actually sitting together to eat, we find we have a lot more
in common than our differences." On the advocacy front: The
International Rescue Committee
<[link removed]>,
along with big companies like Door Dash, Uber, Airbnb, and The U.S
Chamber of Commerce, recently sent a letter to Congress
<[link removed]>
pushing for passage of the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act this year,
per Khaama Press
<[link removed]>. 

DREAM ACT - Immigrant activists are calling Congress to approve a path
for permanent residency before the end of the year for those enrolled in
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, reports
Shannon Young for KGNU and Aspen Public Radio
<[link removed]>.
"In order to have something more permanent, and I can stay in this
country and eventually become a citizen, we need the DREAM Act, or a
path to citizenship," said DACA recipient Jesus Castro. "We grew up in
this country, we are part of this economy, we call this place home, and
we want to have something better. We want to have a permanent solution
and feel safe, and in order to feel safe, we need a path to
citizenship." Several faith-based organizations around the country have
also continued to urge Congress to pass a permanent solution for
Dreamers, per Jessica Weisman of The People's Vanguard of Davis
<[link removed]>. 

NEXT STOP, PHILLY - For the second time in the past week, Texas
officials unexpectedly bused a group of asylum-seeking migrants to
Philadelphia, per NBC10
<[link removed]>.
"It's not just unproductive and disappointing, but downright
irresponsible and calloused to do this unannounced and without
coordination, showing blatant disregard for the sanctity of human
lives," said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney on Wednesday, in response to
Texas Gov. Abbott's (R) actions. Regardless, "Philadelphia is a proud
welcoming city," said Kenney. "For those arriving in Philadelphia please
know you are welcome here." Migrants who were transported to the city of
brotherly love were from Ecuador, Colombia, and other countries.

**VISITATION RIGHTS** - Immigrant families are still struggling to see
their loved ones in detention, despite Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) lifting a pandemic-related ban in May
<[link removed].>
to reinstate social visits, reports Juliana Kim for NPR
<[link removed]>.
In José Hernandez's case: not only does the drive to visit him take
four hours, but his parents don't have a car to go see him. Individual
facilities also continue to use their discretion - often using COVID
measures as a proxy - to prohibit visits, notes Kim. "The
inconsistency with the visitation guidelines has made it more difficult
for my parents to see me," said Hernandez, who is currently detained at
a facility in Bakersfield, California. "I just want the chance to see my
family and give them a hug before worse comes to worst: I have to leave
the country I've called home for 29 years." 

**'WORLD CUP DREAMS'** - The Cornell University engineering school
began partnering with an all-girls robotics team called Afghan Dreamers
to "inspire young people to dream big, in both soccer and STEM
learning," reports Tom Fleischman of Cornell Chronicle
<[link removed]>.
Many of the girls fled Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul. The team has
been working on developing a free, downloadable soccer video game named,
"World Cup Dreams." Said professor David Schneider: "We hope this might
be empowering for young girls. There could be a young girl in Cambodia
who could download this game for free on a phone. She could read the
small blurb about the Dreamers and maybe, just maybe, be a little bit
more inspired to dream what she could make happen too."   

Thanks for reading, 

Clara  

 

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