For migrant workers assisting in labor investigations, the new guidelines will create a "streamlined and expedited" process in a centralized location online. Additional instructions online are in English and Spanish, with the ability to submit a request there, per the agency’s press release. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a branch of DHS, would then review the applications.  

To apply, migrant workers must show well-documented proof of the labor or employment agency detailing the investigation, including why they need DHS support, and proof of identity, notes Santana. If approved, those cooperating with a labor investigation can legally stay in the country temporarily for two years, subject to termination at any time, or apply for authorization to work during that period.  

The latest guidelines build upon an October 2021 memo, in which Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas permitted the agency to consider requests for deferred action protection for migrants supporting labor enforcement investigations, which was formerly considered on a case-by-case basis. 

"Unscrupulous employers who prey on the vulnerability of noncitizen workers harm all workers and disadvantage businesses who play by the rules," said DHS Secretary Mayorkas in a statement. "We will hold these predatory actors accountable by encouraging all workers to assert their rights, report violations they have suffered or observed, and cooperate in labor standards investigations. Through these efforts, and with our labor agency partners, we will effectively protect the American labor market, the conditions of the American worksite, and the dignity of the workers who power our economy."   

The move has also been championed by labor and human rights advocates. 

Welcome to Tuesday’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]. 

‘NOT THE END OF THE STORY’ — Isabel Márquez fled cartel-related violence in Mexico when she was only 17, arriving to the U.S. as an undocumented and unaccompanied minor. Today, she is an associate pastor, who uses her lived experience to connect, welcome, and serve migrants fleeing violence and economic devastation in Latin America and elsewhere, Dianne Solis writes in The Dallas Morning News. Hundreds of migrants have found support and care at the respite center, Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, where she and volunteers’ work. "All these obstacles that we suffer as migrants and all the obstacles that we suffer as asylum seekers are part of the journey to actually know that God is there in the journey with us," said Márquez. "... But it’s not the end of the story. It’s just the comma." In her daily work, Márquez advocates for the right that all migrants have to apply for asylum, with a chance to start a new life.  

SERVING OTHERS — After having fled Latin American countries with deteriorating economies, many west African migrants have traveled to New York in hopes of seeking opportunity and refuge. But with limited options to start over, as Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura reports in The New York Times, these men are turning to the one person who has opened his heart and home in the Bronx: Imam Omar Niass. In the past two years, Imam Omar estimates that he has temporarily housed about 300 men. When he ran out of space in his home, he created a makeshift tent in his backyard so migrants wouldn’t have to sleep in the streets. Today, he has about 70-plus men sharing the tight space and participating in prayer. "I’m never, ever tired," Imam Omar said. "How can you get tired helping people?" 

A DAUGHTER’S PLEA — Days after NY1 exclusively aired his 6-year-old daughter's plea, Julio Patricio Gomez was released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, reports Victoria Manna of Spectrum News NY1. Gomez said he came to the U.S. from Ecuador over two decades ago and had applied for asylum. But after missing a court date in 2010, a judge issued an order of removal. Fast forward to Oct. 14, Gomez was taken into custody for being convicted of a misdemeanor assault from two years ago. Attorney Paige Austin, who is representing Gomez, argues that the order of removal was issued in absentia, deeming it unlawful. Gomez’s deportation is now paused until his appeal can be heard. With growing backlogs in immigration courts, Manna notes it could be years until that day comes. Still, after reuniting with his daughter, Gomez said, "I’m like, ‘No. This can’t be real,’ and the moment I saw her, it was just amazing, because this is my life." 

‘IN SOLIDARITY’ — Helping asylum seekers to gain legal entry into the U.S. is both a moral and biblical imperative, writes Rabbi Ari Witkin, Director of Leadership Development at the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, in an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press. Drawing from his personal history and recent border trip experience with other rabbis, he writes: "The Jewish people know firsthand that immigration policy can be a matter of life or death. Like the thousands gathered at our southern border today, many of our families arrived in this country with nothing more than what they could carry on their backs, fleeing danger in search of refuge in America. Today we stand in solidarity with those who need the safety we have been afforded." 

Thanks for reading, 

Clara