Thursday, December 15
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THE FORUM DAILY

With time running out for this Congress to pass immigration reforms,
I'm reminding myself that faith can move mountains. 

Many Christians are among the many Americans urging action. Rafael
Munoz, pastor of mobilization and ministries at Primera Iglesia Bautista
in Dallas, was among nearly 200 moderates and conservative advocates
<[link removed]>
from around the country who joined us last month to push for
compassionate, bipartisan reforms, reports Christian McPhate of The
Dallas Observer
<[link removed]>.
 

Munoz met with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's (R) office to discuss the urgent
need to pass a legislative solution for Dreamers. Munoz and the group
also advocated for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and refugees. 

To advance these reforms, Munoz said, "We need to get good information
out in front of people. The media at times can build this sentiment of
fear ... We want humane and secure solutions, and sometimes those
conversations are derailed by peer tactics and being misinformed." 

Although he has yet to hear further from Cruz's office, "We believe
the conversation could lead to one of inclusivity," Munoz said. "One of
the things that stood out to me was to be part of the solution, you have
to be part of the conversation." 

And this week the Evangelical Immigration Table launched 12 Days of
Prayer & Action for a Christmas Miracle for Immigrants
<[link removed]>.
Aubrey Sampson and Brian From feature the effort on WYLL's "The
Common Good"
<[link removed]>
podcast. 

In the polling world, more than two-thirds of Texas voters support a
pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.,
per a Third Way poll
<[link removed]>
released Tuesday. With these findings, Third Way hopes to garner some
support from Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) for a potential bill that would
address Dreamers as well as the border, reports Todd J. Gillman of The
Dallas Morning News
<[link removed]>.
 

Seventy-eight percent of Texans support citizenship for Dreamers if they
attend college, serve in the military, or pay taxes, per the survey. And
at least 75% of Texas voters want more investments in the immigration
court and asylum systems. 

Welcome to Thursday'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]
<mailto:[email protected]>. 

**MISSING LABOR FORCE** - A significant decrease in immigrant labor
"is worsening widespread labor shortages and hobbling the U.S. economy
at a time when more than 10 million jobs remain unfilled," report Abha
Bhattarai and Lauren Kaori Gurley of The Washington Post
<[link removed]>.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell recently estimated this deficit
to be about 3.5 million workers, and close to half of that deficit is
because of reduced immigration, economists say. "There is no question:
We need more immigration," said Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Economic
Innovation Group. "Immigrants aren't just workers, they are
particularly flexible, mobile workers, who help address acute labor
shortages wherever they emerge. And that's particularly important in
this constrained economy we're facing right now." Powell again
emphasized the labor imbalance in a press conference yesterday
<[link removed]>: "[T]he labor market
continues to be out of balance, with demand substantially exceeding the
supply of available workers." 

**WORKING CLASS** - Immigration reforms would not negatively affect
working-class families, D'Markus Thomas-Brown writes in an op-ed for
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
<[link removed]>.
(Thomas-Brown also joined us last month.) "Dreamers in Missouri are not
taking jobs from the working class, many of them are working class
people who will leave a gaping hole in the economy if they are not given
the opportunity to become citizens," Thomas-Brown notes, responding
to negative comments from Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R). "The best way
to support working class people is through bipartisan immigration reform
that strengthens border security while also making it easier for people
to come to this country legally. Currently ... our factories, farms and
small businesses continue to struggle to find workers." 

**'MONUMENT TO MISGUIDED THINKING'** - In an op-ed for CNN
<[link removed]>, Raul
A. Reyes analyzes the effects of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's (R)
shipping containers at the border. "Ducey's wall amounts to a
large-scale publicity stunt," he writes. "It causes problems, instead of
solving them - and represents a monument to misguided thinking." The
project's estimated cost is $95 million, and environmental groups
<[link removed]>
have highlighted the wall's threat to wildlife, Reyes notes. In
contrast, Reyes highlights the bipartisan proposal
<[link removed]> from
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) as
an alternative. "Though it may be imperfect, it is a serious proposal
and worthy of consideration," Reyes writes. 

**VISA APPROVALS** - For fiscal year 2022, the U.S.
issued 493,000 permanent visas to immigrants abroad, rebounding from
a drop in visa approvals at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports
Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
<[link removed]>. The
number of visas approved represents a 73% jump from fiscal year 2021,
per unpublished government data. "The rebound, an enormous part of it,
is the easing of pandemic restrictions and the reopening of consulates
and [U.S. immigration officials] getting back to regular levels of
processing," said Julia Gellat of the Migration Policy Institute. "But I
also think the Biden administration is really concentrating on this."
Mexico, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines were among the top
10 countries in the number of immigrant visas awarded.  

**LOOKING AHEAD** - "Could 2023 be different?" asks Henry Gass of The
Christian Science Monitor
<[link removed]>,
assessing the Biden administration's management of the U.S.-Mexico
border this year. "As border issues grow more complex, the U.S.
immigration system remains outdated and under-resourced," he explains.
Gass cites experts who have highlighted sponsorship programs for
Ukrainians
<[link removed]>
and Venezuelan migrants
<[link removed]>
but say that "[m]ore fundamental changes are possible - and needed."
Gass notes potential solutions such as a better legal immigration system
and hemispheric partnerships with countries such as Mexico, Canada and
Costa Rica, which have accepted more asylum-seekers in recent years. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan

 

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