Monday, December 19
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THE FORUM DAILY

Congratulations to Argentina for winning the World Cup final
<[link removed]>
and thanks Lionel Messi for an incredible performance. What a game! I am
sure Argentina's fans, especially many Latin American immigrants, are
still in awe of the news.  

Now onto today's other (less cheerful) headlines: 

U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on the Biden
administration to better manage the southern border as border cities
expect an increase of migrants, pending the Title 42 lift this week, per
Jason Lange of Reuters
<[link removed]>.  

Lange points to the conversation with different political actors in
"Face the Nation
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on CBS News, moderated by Margaret Brennan: 

"If Title 42 goes away, we will then go back to Title 8, which allows
for a process ... to help us provide the resources that will be needed
to process these migrants, to make sure that people are treated
humanely, to make sure that the bordering communities have the resources
that they need," said Keisha Lance Bottoms, White House senior advisor
for public engagement. "... And we need Congress to be a partner in this
... this is a global issue that we are facing." 

Meanwhile, more migrants crossing the border to seek asylum in Texas are
being met with the winter cold and no space at shelters, a team at NBC
News
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reports. 

Nonprofits like Border Network for Human Rights
<[link removed]> and Annunciation House
<[link removed]> have stepped in to help but need more
room, resources, and capacity.  

Welcome to Monday's edition of The Forum Daily. I'm Clara
Villatoro, the Forum's strategic communications manager, and the
great Forum Daily team also includes Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez 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]>. 

**FOR OUR AFGHAN ALLIES** - More than 30 retired officers are among
those pushing Congress to attach the Afghan Adjustment Act with the
must-pass spending bill, reports Dan Lamothe of The Washington Post
<[link removed]>.
Jake Tapper of CNN
<[link removed]>
first reported the efforts, including part of the letter sent to senior
lawmakers <[link removed]> on Saturday. "We are
convinced that the Afghan Adjustment Act furthers the national security
interests of the United States," the officers wrote. "It is also a moral
imperative ... As military professionals, it was and remains our duty to
prepare for future conflicts. We assure you that in any such conflict,
potential allies will remember what happens now with our Afghan allies."
Farah Stockman of The New York Times
<[link removed]>'
Editorial board echoes the message. And for the Ottumwa Courier
<[link removed]>,
our friend Rev. Joel Toole, the Lead Pastor of Melbourne First Church of
the Nazarene in Florida, makes a personal plea for Iowans to call Sen.
Chuck Grassley (R) to make Iowa a place of welcome, especially for our
Afghan allies. 

**DENVER WELCOME** - More than 700 migrants fleeing their home
countries have arrived in Denver, Colorado, in recent months, reports
Rob Harris of Denver7
<[link removed]>,
an ABC News affiliate. The city has partnered with nonprofits such as
Casa de Paz <[link removed]> to accommodate them.
Most of the migrants arriving are Venezuelans and immigrants already
established in the U.S. are supporting efforts to welcome them. "We have
no health, no food, nothing," said Keila Maria Pozo, who recently became
a U.S. citizen and explained why people are leaving her home country of
Venezuela. "Our kids die. We have a high degree of malnutrition. You see
people looking for food in the trash." Pozo is now living in Denver.
"The only thing that I ask of Denver and everyone around the world is
that you give us the opportunity to show you that we're going to do
the best that we can for this country," she added. For more on
Denver's welcome efforts, see Jasmine Arenas' piece in CBS News
<[link removed]>. 

**'WE NEED MORE PEOPLE'** - This isn't new but it's worth
repeating: We need an increase in immigration to help with labor
shortages in this tight labor market, writes Juliana Kaplan for Insider
<[link removed]>.
A record of early retirement, deaths from COVID-19, and a lack of
immigration, have contributed to what Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell
calls a "structural labor shortage." Powell estimates that there are
just under 4 million fewer people available to work than employers want
to hire. That means we have a great workforce gap. "We need more
people," he said. Separately, from a faith lens, Steve Eng, advocacy
director for the National Association of Evangelicals, invites us to
push Congress to pass urgent agricultural and labor reforms this
holiday: "Together, we can uphold the dignity of those who provide our
food and ensure that no one goes hungry this Christmas and, in the
years, ahead," per Christianity Today
<[link removed]>. 

**FINALLY FREE** - It's unfortunate that migrants face such a harsh
reality in immigration detention systems around the world. Here is a sad
story with a hopeful ending: After nine years in Australia's
immigration detention system, six refugees were granted permanent
residency to relocate to New Zealand, reports Ali MC of Al Jazeera
<[link removed]>.
They were among more than 4,000 people
<[link removed]>
who traveled to Australia by boat to seek asylum over the past decade,
but instead were detained in the remote Pacific Island of Nauru,
operated by Australia, notes MC. "It is very, very amazing. I still
don't believe that I'm free. It seems like a dream," said
39-year-old Jacques, originally from Cameroon. "... I want to go out of
the gate. I want to see people together and if they are playing football
somewhere. I want to test if I am really free." 

Thanks for reading, 

Clara  

 

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