We know you didn’t expect to hear from us this week, but I want to highlight some of The Forum Daily items we’ve found most compelling this year.  

We hope you appreciate The Forum Daily and the work that goes into it. For my part, I can’t say enough about the team that puts it together: Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez, from start to finish (don’t ask what time she wakes up); Clara Villatoro, who has gotten up to speed so quickly; Katie Lutz, our regular proofreader; and our Forum communications colleagues who step in so ably and willingly when needed. 

I also want to thank everyone who has sent us story suggestions, constructive criticism and kind notes — we greatly appreciate all of them.  

If you would like to support the Daily and the Forum’s work, you can donate here.  

On to our list! If you have a different story that stood out to you this year, please share it with us. I’m at [email protected]. 

Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2023! 

Dan Gordon 
Vice President of Strategic Communications 
National Immigration Forum 

MYSTERY SOLVED — For almost a decade, Ayda Zugay has been searching for a woman named Tracy, who gifted her and her sister an envelope with $100 after fleeing the former Yugoslavia, Catherine E. Shoichet of CNN reported in May. "I want to be able to find Tracy to thank her for her generosity, for her kindness, for her empathy, and for welcoming my sister and I," Zugay said in a video on Twitter. Thirty-four hours after CNN published the story — and with the help of two of Tracy’s close contacts — Zugay was able to connect with Tracy over Zoom, wrote Shoichet in a touching follow-up story. "I just want to encourage everybody in the world to just be kind. What does it hurt? Except it helps everyone …" Tracy said. "So, I’m very, very thankful that I have found you girls, that you have found me." 

THE PLIGHT OF DREAMERS — "I began to see that Kansas City was just as much my home as anyone else’s," Diana Martinez Quintana, a DACA recipient and policy entrepreneur at policy think tank Next100, wrote for the Kansas Reflector in September. "The only difference for me was that I needed to fight to be able to stay." A couple days later in the Los Angeles Times, Maria Duarte, an essayist, poet and DACA recipient, wrote eloquently about living in limbo in this country: "I do not know Mexico; I know California. I have formed a life here ... adjusting to the nuances of this melting pot. What else can I do to be considered worthy of citizenship, to be given a piece of paper that will allow me to live without fear?"  

COMPELLED BY FAITH — Faith groups will continue to welcome and support immigrants and asylum seekers with compassion, even if Congress fails to pass immigration policies and reforms, according to executive director of Hope Border Institute Dylan Corbett. "The vast majority of hospitality is led by faith communities. Faith communities have proven that we can draw on our narratives and draw on our traditions to show what can be," Corbett told Baptist News Global’s Jeff Brumley earlier in December. "We don’t have to buy in to the lie that we have to be afraid of migrants." For more on faith, community and finding common ground in a way that bridges differences, read this Chronicle of Philanthropy piece from leaders of four major civic institutions. 

‘LIFELONG FRIENDS’ — For Savannah Morning News, Drew Favakeh told the story in January of how Mahdi (who worked for the Afghanistan military), his cousin Shukria, and her children escaped the country after "endless red tape" and resettled in Savannah, Georgia, last December. Inspiritus, formerly known as Atlanta-based resettlement agency Lutheran Services of Georgia, connected them with the Sprunger family, who are caretakers of the Wesley Gardens Retreat Center. They hosted Mahdi and his relatives for two weeks while the agency secured their permanent home. "Together, the American and Afghan families enjoyed long cups of tea, cooked and ate large batches of Biryani, a Middle-Eastern mixed rice dish, and went on hour-long walks across the quaint Moon River, across from the retreat center’s 60 acres," writes Favakeh. "At first, we thought it was just a transitional commitment, but now it’s very obvious that we’ll be lifelong friends," said Abbie Sprunger.  

PASS THE CHEESE — "If we don’t solve this labor piece, we’re going to continue to see cost increases in the supermarket on food," Rick Naerebout of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association told Justin Corr of KTVB in November. The group has been pushing Congress to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. To the east, the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association continues to support agricultural immigration reforms, reported Pan Demetrakakes of Food Processing Magazine. Meanwhile, as interdisciplinary scientist Alice Reznickova wrote in Equation, many farmworkers who put food on our table don’t know where their own food will come from — or when. Around 50% of the farmworkers are undocumented migrants, which adds more uncertainty to their lives. We could address many of these issues by passing reforms that ensure a reliable workforce for America’s farmers and ranchers. 

OK, TOP 6 — WWE wrestler and film star John Cena traveled to Europe to meet Misha Rohozhyn, a teenage Ukrainian refugee with Down syndrome who was confused and stressed about being forced to leave his home in the face of the Russian invasion — and whose mother told him that the family was traveling to meet Cena, his personal hero. The video will melt your heart.  

Thanks again for your continued support, 

Dan