The framework reportedly would provide a permanent pathway to legalization for 2 million Dreamers and include a border funding increase of at least $25 billion, a separate team at the Post reports. It also would extend Title 42 for at least a year, according to a Senate aid. 

The devil will be in the details, but a serious proposal is a major step forward — "the kind of bipartisan problem-solving Americans want," in the words of our president and CEO, Jennie Murray. "This reported framework is a strong step forward for this Congress to arrive at actual solutions. Americans know we need these kinds of solutions to address inflation, labor turmoil and border challenges. 

The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus and many of its members, including the Evangelical Immigration Table, also have weighed in.  

Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez, Clara Villatoro and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].  

And if you like what you’re reading, please support our end-of-year campaign here. Thank you! 

FARM WORKFORCE — The lack of workers on dairy farms is becoming a critical national security and food security concern, International Dairy Foods Association President and CEO Michael Dykes writes in an op-ed for The Hill. "You don’t need to be a math whiz to see the solution staring us right in the face," he writes. "We need a consistent, reliable pool of available labor that strengthens the domestic supply of food and keeps food prices in check for consumers." The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would provide that, while also boosting border security "by establishing a mandatory, nationwide e-verify system that would allow enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to legally work in the United States."  

TPS FOR HAITIANS — On Monday, the Biden administration extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the U.S., reports Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald. The redesignation means that Haitians already in the U.S. as of Nov. 6 are eligible for TPS if they meet all the criteria. "We are providing much-needed humanitarian relief to Haitian nationals already present in the United States," said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "The conditions in Haiti, including socioeconomic challenges, political instability, and gang violence and crime — aggravated by environmental disaster — compelled the humanitarian relief we are providing today."  

REFUGEE DATA — The United States resettled only 2,193 refugees in November, per new Refugee Processing Center data. Two months into the new fiscal year, we’re on track to resettle 26,082 refugees — about same as last year "and not remotely close to the ceiling Biden again set at 125,000," our policy expert Danilo Zak notes. November’s number includes 351 refugees from the Western Hemisphere, from which President Biden has committed to resettle 20,000 refugees by the end of fiscal year 2024. The math doesn’t add up. "President Biden must make the resettlement program a priority, investing resources and political will in creative solutions to expedite processing," Zak writes. "That’s the only path to free our system from the lingering effects of Trump-era restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic." 

WELCOME AND SUPPORT — We know Congress has a lot on its plate, but it must also find time this month to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. In the meantime, stories of local welcome continue to inspire:  

• Massachusetts-based nonprofit WelcomeNST has resettled an estimated 500 Afghans and Ukrainians across 90 neighborhoods via private sponsorship. Six are in Utah, the most of any state. (Kyle Dunphey, Deseret News) 
• The Good Neighbors of Capitol Hill Refugee Resettlement Project recently furnished an apartment in Riverdale, Maryland, for Special Immigrant Visa recipient Raz and his family — the 100th family Good Neighbors has helped resettle. (Luke Lukert, WTOP) 
  
• The nonprofit Des Moines Refugee Support, founded in 2016 by public school teacher Alison Hoeman, has provided necessities for refugees living in the Des Moines metro area, including donated items from Saturday’s "Santa’s Ride" event. (Francesca Block, Des Moines Register)  
• With support from Linda Donigan, a youth services librarian in Bennington, Vermont, libraries across the state have launched Stories Across Borders, where young Afghan children can access books in Dari. (Elissa Borden, WCAX) 
• Thanks to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, a beneficiary of The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, Abdul Bahar and his family were able to find housing, employment, and myriad of other services. (Kristen Bayrakdarian, The New York Times) 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. It isn’t fair to make you (or myself) hungry this early, but read Gary Stern’s piece in Forbes about Jewish delis, introduced by immigrants a century ago. Stern interviews Marilyn Kushner, co-curator of a New York Historical Society exhibition on Jewish delis’ historical and culinary relevance. It opened last month and runs through April 2, 2023.