Friday, December 23
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THE FORUM DAILY

First and foremost, I and the whole Forum team send you our best for the
holidays. We hope you're finding meaning and joy - and avoiding the
worst of the winter weather. 

As we celebrate, we'll also be keeping everyone at the border in our
hearts and in our prayers: migrants, Border Patrol agents, the people
who work for local governments and nonprofits, and others. 

As we noted yesterday, the challenges they face are great. In El Paso,
Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency as the city runs
out of room to shelter migrants and temperatures drop, Addie Offereins
of WORLD Magazine
<[link removed]>
reports. 

"This is, of course, a big political issue," said Matthew Soerens, U.S.
director of church mobilization for World Relief. "But for us, it's
first and foremost about people and people who, as Christians, we
believe are made in the image of God." (The Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron,
Archbishop of Detroit, sounds a similar theme in Detroit Catholic
<[link removed]>.) 

The increase in migration comes with Title 42 still in place. The
policy, a public-health measure first implemented during the COVID-19
pandemic, could end with a Supreme Court directive any day now.  

On Thursday, two measures failed in the Senate that would have extended
the policy indefinitely, as Caroline Coudriet and Suzanne Monyak of Roll
Call
<[link removed]>
report. And that's a good thing, as our colleague Danilo Zak noted
<[link removed]>. Quinn Owen
of ABC News
<[link removed]>
takes an in-depth look at data illuminating that ending Title 42 could
"reduce border crossings long-term and ease the burden on the
immigration system while allowing migrants to make legally authorized
humanitarian claims." 

Danilo is also out with a timely new white paper
<[link removed]>
on what a holistic response to border challenges looks like. For
perspectives straight from the border, read Anyra Cano of Fellowship
Southwest in Baptist News Global
<[link removed]>
and Forum Daily drafter extraordinaire Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez's new
blog post
<[link removed]>.
And if you haven't yet, do check out our interactive journey
<[link removed]>. 

These challenges come after Congress failed to act on border and
immigration reforms this year - solutions that most Americans support
<[link removed]>.
There's plenty of need for grace for both Congress and the Biden
administration here. We'll pray, and keep working, for better outcomes
in 2023.  

Welcome to Friday's edition of The Forum Daily. The Forum is closed
next week, and we'll be back Jan. 3. I'm Dan Gordon, the
Forum's strategic communications VP, and today's 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]>. 

**A TOP 2023 PRIORITY** - We held on to hope yesterday that the Afghan
Adjustment Act would make it into the Senate spending bill at the last
minute, but no dice, as Al Jazeera
<[link removed]>
reports. "Our view has been that it's unacceptable to kick the can
down the road to the next Congress after all the blood, sweat and tears
Afghan veterans and their allies have poured into this bill," Krish
O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service, told Yonat Shimron of Religion News Service
<[link removed]>
earlier this week. Jennifer Shutt of States Newsroom
<[link removed]>
reports on positive comments on the bill from Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky): "That ought to be addressed. I think
it's important." Given the support among Republicans, Democrats,
military veterans and so many Americans, Congress must prioritize this
bill early in 2023. Support for Afghans and Ukrainians has been a big
part of what 2022 taught us, our President and CEO Jennie Murray shares
on LinkedIn
<[link removed]>.  

**STILL WAITING** - Dreamers - and their employers, schools and
communities - are also without a solution, reports Tom Strode of the
Baptist Press
<[link removed]>.
"For too long, Congress has let partisan politics and convenient talking
points impede necessary action, and this inaction is impacting the real
lives of both Dreamers and those at the border," noted Hannah Daniel of
the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (and a Forum
alumna). "Especially as the DACA program is likely to end in the near
future, courageous leadership will be needed to do what is right and
protect these individuals who have been a part of our communities for
decades." In The New York Times
<[link removed]>,
Greisa Martínez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream and a DACA
recipient, makes the still compelling case for Dreamers, who have been
waiting far too long.  

**'GET BACK INTO THE GAME'** - Let's not forget about farmers
and ranchers -and food consumers - either. The Farm Workforce
Modernization Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support, did
not make the Senate's final agenda. Given its importance, movement
next year could be possible, Victor Reklaitis reports in a MarketWatch
<[link removed]>
piece on several solutions necessary to address labor shortages and
inflation. Even with shifts in the incoming Congress, "It's a missed
opportunity if Congress doesn't get back into the game of legislating
on all aspects of immigration," said Theresa Cardinal Brown of the
Bipartisan Policy Center. Vanessa Yurkevich of CNN
<[link removed]> has
more on the continuing urgency for reforms. And Kanishka Singh of
Reuters
<[link removed]>
reports that U.S. population growth was a bit higher in 2022 than its
record low in 2021 - "driven by net international immigration." 

**FOOD CORNER** - Let's end with something - well, "lighter"
doesn't seem like the right word. For a special project by Picture Me
Here <[link removed]>, a 10-year-old program connecting
Colorado refugees and immigrants via creative workshops, check out the
new cookbook Culture Dish: Stories & Recipes by Refugee and Immigrant
Women <[link removed]>, per Allyson Reedy
in 5280 Magazine
<[link removed]>.  

Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays again! 

Dan 

 

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