We all have experienced uncertainty at some point in our lives. And I think it’s safe to say that no one enjoys the anxiety that comes with it.

Now imagine living in continuous uncertainty.

That’s what Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients express is their everyday life, given the very real threat in the courts to DACA’s future.

But the chorus is growing louder for Congress to find solutions during the lame duck session that is under way — for Dreamers and for border challenges. Donald Graham, chairman of Graham Holdings and a co-founder of TheDream.US, which helps Dreamers attend college, sounds this theme in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

"Republican lawmakers should bring forward their best ideas to reinforce the border and also be prepared to help DACA-eligible young people and others get work permits and a chance at a green card," Graham writes. " ... Democrats, for their part, should be prepared to listen to ideas that would secure the southern border."

In a Los Angeles Times podcast, Gustavo Arellano and Andrea Castillo offer a recap of DACA and the situation Dreamers find themselves in.

"All of the people enrolled in DACA have been on this emotional roller coaster, and they're following each court hearing and ruling and breathing sighs of relief every time the program survives another day," Castillo says.

There are about 600,000 current DACA recipients — people who grew up here and are working or studying. Millions more Dreamers are stuck because of legal holds on new DACA applications or the bureaucratic limits of the program. Their uncertainty is already our loss, and the end of DACA would be devastating.

But legislative solutions with bipartisan support are on the table — for Dreamers, the border and, while we’re at it, farmers and farmworkers. The clock is ticking.

Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and I have a special invitation today: To celebrate a decade of Giving Tuesday, we’re setting out to raise $10,000 to advance immigration and border solutions. If you feel moved to support our work, please make a gift today. And as always, if you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].

‘A CITIZEN OF NOWHERE’ — You might remember the Tom Hanks movie "The Terminal," where he was stranded in an airport because his country didn’t exist anymore. Being "stateless" is a very real problem for 200,000 people (yes, you read that right) here in the United States. One of them is Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough, executive director of advocacy organization United Stateless. "Yes, I am a stateless individual, a citizen of nowhere," she writes in an op-ed for Al Jazeera. Although she was eligible for DACA, most stateless people here are not — and DACA’s end would leave her with no options: "As I do not have a passport, I cannot leave the U.S." DHS has committed to better protecting stateless people but has been slow to carry out concrete steps, Ambartsoumian-Clough notes. Congress could step in as well with specific legislation.

ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES — Today the U.S. Supreme Court will consider a case about whether the Biden administration can prioritize public safety threats in its immigration enforcement, report Nate Raymond and Andrew Chung of Reuters. (Sounds like a no-brainer to me.) The priorities, which DHS announced in September 2021, would be part of a long history of discretion in enforcement given that resources are limited. But Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines, and a lower court ruled in the states’ favor. The Supreme Court's ruling decision is expected by June 2023.

BYPASSING THE U.S. — Mexicans are requesting asylum in large numbers — in Canada, Zachary Kamel of the Associated Press reports. More than 8,000 have sought asylum this year, a number almost five times higher than 2021 and more than double the number in pre-COVID 2019. Mexicans can travel to Canada without a visa, enabling a plane flight rather than a risky land journey. "Feeling that you are going to lose your life, or one of your daughters, I don’t mind starting from scratch," said Pedro Meraz, a former college professor who was facing death threats and made the trip this year. While there are no guarantees people such as Meraz will be granted asylum, the process is easier in Canada than in the U.S., Kamel notes.

ARCHBISHOP’S APPEAL — Jose Luis Azuaje, a Venezuelan archbishop and president of Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean, is appealing to the United States to reverse its recent crackdown on Venezuelans seeking asylum, reports Elise Ann Allen of Crux. "[The U.S. policy has] caused a conflict, because they can’t return because they don’t have enough money to return," Azuaje said. "Thousands are totally blocked, they can’t go north, nor to Venezuela." While urging the leaders of nations where Venezuelans are stranded to offer support, Azuaje says the root problem is that "Venezuelans don’t find possibilities for the future inside the country."

IMMIGRANTS’ STRENGTHS — A quarter of K-12 students are immigrants or the children of immigrants, and drawing on their skills can enrich classrooms and nurture belonging, teacher and author Jessica Lander writes in a Boston Globe op-ed. Among her own students, "Their journeys to America have often made them masters at negotiation, problem solving, teamwork, and language." Many districts around the country are seizing the opportunity to engage these students, Lander writes. (Thanks to Forum Daily alumna Joanna Taylor for passing this piece along.)

Thanks for reading,

Dan