This follows the Biden administration’s border policy announcement on Jan. 5. 

The app is available in English and Spanish. Migrants from Central and Northern Mexico will have to upload biographical information as well as a photo. 

As Ted Hesson and Daina Beth Solomon of Reuters report: 

"President Joe Biden’s administration touts the app as a more regulated, potentially quicker alternative to crossing the border. But advocates worry asylum seekers will be required to submit personal information without being guaranteed entry and that some may not have access to a cell phone or internet connection." 

Access to the app could potentially reduce border crossings, or at least, that’s CBP’s goal, they note. But questions remain about how many people know about it, have access to it, or understand how to use it, if eligible.  

Meanwhile, as Biden’s proposed policy changes roll out, shelter operations are voicing their concerns about potentially not having enough space to house those newly expelled, per Julian Resendiz of the Border Report. In anticipation of a potential increase of migrants, CBP has opened a new soft-sided migrant processing facility in Northeast El Paso, that would process up to 1,000 migrants, Resendiz also reports.  

In other big (agency) news, on Thursday, the U.S. extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status which could benefit over 2,000 Somali immigrants who have been living in the U.S since Jan. 11. An estimated 430 Somalis will be able to eligible to renew their work permits and deportation protections, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News. 

Welcome to Friday’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. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday. Have a nice holiday weekend! If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

Correction: We apologize for misattributing a source in last Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. We meant to cite 15-year-old Aisha Majdoub, who attends the youth center, in our summary of this San Francisco Chronicle piece by Mallory Moench. 

BIPARTISANSHIP— The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pushing for immigration overhauls, federal permitting procedures as well as new trade deals in its new legislative agenda unveiled Thursday, reports Kate Ackley of Roll Call. More importantly, it’s urging Congress to work together, despite current divides and tensions with House GOP leaders. "Business demands better from our government," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark in the trade group’s annual "State of American Business" address, per Caitlin Oprysko and Daniel Lippman of POLITICO. "... The polarization, the gridlock, the overreach, the inability to act smartly or strategically for our future, is making it harder for all of us to do our jobs, to fill our roles, [and] move the country forward." 

AFGHAN WOMEN SOLDIERS — Thoroughly vetted U.S-trained female Afghan soldiers will be at risk of losing their humanitarian parole status — and be subject to deportation — if Congress doesn’t act to protect them as promised, writes Bill Richardson for an op-ed in The Arizona Republic. Known as the Female Tactical Platoon (FTP), "[t]hese Afghan women stepped forward in a culture that does not always encourage leadership or action by women and laid it all on the line for their fellow citizens and their U.S. allies," said Retired U.S. Central Command Commander Army four-star General Joe Votel. "This group deserves our support." As Richardson notes, passage of the Afghan Adjustment Act would help these brave women soldiers earn a legal pathway to residency in the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department published a new tool Thursday for Afghans under humanitarian parole to seek family reunification, reports Kylie Atwood of CNN. 

Locally: 

• Thanks to Lutheran Services Carolinas, the first Afghan family in Greenville, South Carolina, has been reunited after more than a year apart since the fall of Kabul.  (Peyton Furtado, WYFF News 4) 
• The new Nebraska Afghan Community Center, created last year, is a small apartment in midtown Omaha. But it is the "picture of hospitality," community gathering, conversing, and laughing, with tea brewing, and helpful services in Pashto and Dari. (Christopher Burbach, Omaha World-Herald) 

LEGAL REPRESENTATION NEEDED — Following an expansion of funding for existing programs for asylum seekers and refugees, immigration advocates are pushing for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to pursue broad immigration reforms, reports Raga Justin of Times Union. Most notable is their support for a bill that would provide a statewide right to legal representation for those facing deportation. If passed, New York would be the first state to guarantee that immigrants are provided a lawyer throughout their immigration court proceedings.  

FLAGMAKERS — A new National Geographic documentary called "The Flagmakers," currently airing on Disney Plus, "examine[s] life inside a factory that makes American flags," whose employers are mainly refugees and immigrants, reports Russell Contreras of Axios. The film features immigrants and refugees from Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia, who work at the Eder Flag factory in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. "The people that literally sew the stars and stripes of our nation are very much representational of our nation," said filmmaker Cynthia Wade. 

Thanks for reading, 

Clara  

P.S. At North High School in Des Moines, Iowa, Sophomore MJ Mangok, originally from Egypt, challenged his soccer coach to spend a day in his shoes. Chenue Her of Local 5 News We are Iowa has the heartwarming story.