Monday January 9, 2022
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THE FORUM DAILY

Yesterday, President Biden made his first visit to the southern border
since he took office amid criticism from both Republicans and Democrats,
report Michael D. Shear and Edgar Sandoval of The New York Times
<[link removed]>.  

Democrats criticized his new enforcement plan
<[link removed]> and
Republicans pointed out his delay in visiting the border, Shear and
Sandoval note. The president's visit to El Paso was brief and included
limited contact with migrants. On the Mexican side, migrants who have
been turned back to Mexico hoped to see him.  

"I'm hoping against hope that he does something for us," said
Denyerlin Chirino, a Venezuelan migrant.  

President Biden met with some leaders in the area, including Catholic
Bishop (and Forum board member) Mark Seitz, per Cindy Ramirez, Corrie
Boudreaux and Robert Moore of El Paso Matters
<[link removed]>.
Seitz gave Biden a card with the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side and a
prayer on the back by a girl from a shelter in Juarez: "Lord, I ask
that you get me out of here fast, help me with my case, I want to be
with my mommy and my sister soon. Amen." 

Aaron A. Bedoya and colleagues at the El Paso Times
<[link removed]>
have more on how the day unfolded. 

Meanwhile, Kate Linthicum of The Los Angeles Times
<[link removed]> reports
on the humanitarian situation in Mexico. "Thousands of people from some
of the world's most oppressive countries [are] marooned in Mexico
because of the expansion of a Trump administration policy that allows
border agents to immediately expel migrants without considering their
asylum claims," Linthicum writes. 

Looking ahead, Myah Ward and Jonathan Lemire of Politico
<[link removed]>
write about the border discussion expected during the North America
Leaders' Summit, which starts today. (Reporters: Forum policy experts
are available for comment on the summit, Biden's border approach, and
the ultimate need for Congress to partner on effective, compassionate
solutions.) 

Welcome to Monday'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]>. 

'FUNCTIONALLY USELESS' - An 18-foot privately funded fence
constructed three years ago in Mission, Texas, is now "essentially
orphaned, functionally useless" due to a federally constructed border
barrier behind it, reports J. David Goodman of The New York Times
<[link removed]>.
Plus, it's at risk of falling over in a major flood, according to an
engineering report commissioned by the Justice Department. That could
redirect the Rio Grande and inadvertently make it part of Mexico,
officials fear. In Arizona, the "wall" of shipping containers then-Gov.
Doug Ducey installed has been dismantled, per Anita Snow of the
Associated Press
<[link removed]>.
Putting up the wall cost nearly $95 million in state funds; taking it
down will cost another $76 million.  

**HIGHER MIGRANT ARRESTS** - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
made more than 142,000 arrests of migrants between October 2021 and
September 2022, reports Juliana Kim of NPR
<[link removed]>.
The number is more than double the arrests in the previous fiscal year.
Arrests of immigrants with no known criminal convictions tripled, which
ICE said was a result of its agents helping Customs and Border
Protection officers process migrants amid record apprehensions.
[Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal
<[link removed]>
and Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News
<[link removed]>
first reported on the ICE numbers over the break.]  

**STATE GUARD ASSISTANCE** - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has
activated the state's National Guard to assist in handling the arrival
of more than 700 mostly Cubans last week, reports Anthony Izaguirre of
the Associated Press
<[link removed]>.
In a statement
<[link removed]>,
DeSantis said Florida will deploy airplanes, helicopters and marine
patrols to the area "to support water interdictions and ensure the
safety of migrants attempting to reach Florida through the Florida
Straits." The move comes as more Cubans continue to arrive; a CBS Miami
Team
<[link removed]>
reports that 50 Cubans arrived in the Florida Keys on Sunday. The U.S.
Coast Guard announced that it repatriated 273 Cuban migrants after
intercepting boats off the Florida coast on New Year's Eve and New
Year's Day.  

**PRIVACY CONCERNS** - The Heritage Foundation targeted the cell
phone data of nearly 30,000 migrants at more than 30 migrant aid
shelters and Customs and Border Protection facilities, Pablo De La Rosa
of Texas Public Radio
<[link removed]>
reports. Heritage wrote about the January 2022 tracking in a report
published last month. The report raises concerns about privacy, as well
as about the targeting of aid organizations. "We should be proud, not
angry, about the ways in which volunteer organizations have worked
together with federal, state, and local officials to stand up a
collaborative model of border management," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
of the American Immigration Council. 

**JOURNEYS** - Readers of the Boston Globe
<[link removed]>
submitted personal reflections related to immigrants and immigration,
published as a collection of mini-essays edited by Teresa M. Hanafin.
The stories, and their tellers, are diverse: Teachers and a police
sergeant are among those whose essays appear alongside the words of
immigrants and former refugees themselves. Give them a read. 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

 

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