What could lead people to walk for days or even weeks amid all kinds of risks? It’s hard to answer when one hasn’t been in such a desperate situation. 

A large group of migrants crossed the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas, and turned themselves in to federal authorities for processing on Sunday, reports Corrie Boudreaux of El Paso Matters. Estimates of the group’s size vary, but it was one of the largest single crossings in the area. 

A team at The New York Times has more about the strain on border facilities and nonprofits. State Sen. César J. Blanco, who represents the area, has called on state and federal governments to send humanitarian aid to help. 

Other challenges include that the U.S. is limited in turning away or repatriating migrants from Nicaragua, where many in the group of migrants are from. That’s because of a "strained" relationship with Nicaragua’s authoritarian government. 

The Times reporters note that challenges could expand with the court-ordered end of Title 42 next week. The need for Congress to fast-track border spending and resources, in addition to other crucial reforms, is clear. 

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is scheduled to meet officials in El Paso today, the Times reports. And Reps. Henry Cuellar (D) and Tony Gonzales (R) of Texas are scheduled to meet Customs and Border Protection officials in D.C. tomorrow to discuss border resources ahead of Title 42’s end, reports Sandra Sanchez of Border Report. 

To end with some compassion: Christy Staats, one of our Midwest mobilizers, recently wrote about the need to respond to with mercy at and beyond our borders. And let’s take a minute to process Carmen’s words in El Paso Matters: "I am traumatized from threats in my country and I am traumatized from the kidnapping [in Mexico]. All I want is to arrive at a place that is safe. That is all we’re asking for." 

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]. 

ORGANIZED CRIME — Whom does border inaction benefit? Organized criminal networks are purposely pushing migrants through new breach points along the Arizona border, putting a larger strain on Border Patrol resources, report Ali Bradley and Devan Markham of NewsNation. "[M]y husband was threatened with death if he didn’t work with the cartels," one migrant woman told Bradley. "He didn’t want to. We want asylum because if he doesn’t work with them, they will kill us."

SUPPORTING NEW ARRIVALS — Good news regarding welcoming legal immigrants: The Biden administration is restarting the Task Force on New Americans to support the integration of immigrants and refugees in the U.S., reports Colleen Long of the Associated Press. Led by the Domestic Policy Council, the task force will focus on workforce training, education, financial access, language learning and health, per the administration. The renewed task force also plans to review existing integration policies and programs from the mid-2000s "and work to sharpen them and identify new key areas of need."   

REFORMS NEEDED — Midwestern farmers are pushing Congress to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, writes Gary Abernathy in a column for The Washington Post. An earned pathway to citizenship "coupled with making legal immigration easier and faster, to make that path more attractive," could be a viable solution, Abernathy notes. "[T]he overwhelming majority of migrants come here for a better life for themselves and their families. They risk their lives to escape hopeless futures and travel through perilous terrain," he writes. "When people want to come here that badly — and are willing to work for us in jobs we desperately need to fill — can’t we find a way to let them?" Abernathy writes. Meanwhile, in a letter to the Kansas City Star, Kurt Rietema calls on senators to improve our immigration system now. 

HAITAINS’ LEGACY — For the Miami Herald, Jacqueline Charles reports on the journey of Haitian migrants in the U.S. — and on the boat 50 years ago that started it all. "When their leaking, 56-foot wooden sailboat finally made landfall 40 miles north of Miami in Pompano Beach on Dec. 12, 1972, there was no family or Haitian community to welcome them, or protesters lining the shorelines demanding their freedom," Charles writes. Eventually, Haitian migrants rallied with a group of Black Baptist ministers, Catholic priests, and Haitian exiles in New York to challenge U.S. immigration and detention policies. "Their victory over the cold sea shows our children every day that they can do anything," said Sandy Dorsainvil, who helped organize an event Monday commemorating the arrival.  

AFGHAN WOMEN — Not wanting her daughters to grow up under Taliban rule, Yalda Royan fled to the U.S. with them last year. Now she is an Afghanistan Technical Team Leader with the nonprofit VOICE, which uses art to uplift the stories of refugee women around the world, reports Zach Merchant of WUSA9. An art exhibit highlighting these stories was recently displayed at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Royan hopes that the artwork shows the world the Afghanistan she dreams of. Speaking of beautiful art, Brooklyn Stephens of We Welcome writes a long-form poem about Afghans with no home and urges Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. From a different angle, The Wall Street Journal editorial board agrees.  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan