Venezuelans turned back to Mexico under Title 42 face a tough decision: try to stay in Mexico, continue the dangerous journey to the U.S., or turn back home, Albinson Linares of Noticias Telemundo/NBC News reports.   

"You have to mentally prepare yourself and really want to forge ahead, because it’s very difficult to continue," said migrant Mariantonela Orellana, who spent nine days in Darien Gap jungle after fleeing economic and political turmoil in Venezuela in 2019.  

In the first 11 months of 2022, nearly 13,000 Venezuelans requested political asylum in Mexico, a 39% increase from the 2020 total. Mexican authorities have approved 61% of all applications it received during the 2022 stretch, including an estimated 90% for Hondurans and Venezuelans, Linares notes. 

Meanwhile, some migrants trying to apply for asylum in the U.S. via the updated CBP One app say they are being given appointments hundreds of miles away, per Sandra Sanchez of Border Report.  

Alma Ruth, director and founder of the faith-based nonprofit Practice Mercy Foundation, is working with other nonprofits to try to transport migrants to their appointments. But travel along the Mexican side of the border can be dangerous, Ruth notes: "Why do we need to send them to El Paso, to Tijuana, to Eagle Pass? It’s impossible to travel like that inside Mexico without a death sentence. Even Mexicans don’t do that."   

Meanwhile, as part of a series of policy recommendations, The George W. Bush Institute is out with a paper about the root causes of migration from northern Central America — as well as one on needed immigration reforms. They’re quite worth a read. 

Welcome to Thursday’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]. 

PRIVATE REFUGEE SPONSORSHIP — Stories of local welcome for evacuated Afghans and Ukrainians have warmed our hearts over the past year and a half. Now the State Department is launching Welcome Corps, a private refugee sponsorship program that will allow small groups of Americans to help with resettlement, Camilo Montoya-Galvez reports in CBS News. "[G]roups of at least five U.S.-based individuals could have the opportunity to sponsor refugees if they raise $2,275 per refugee, pass background checks and submit a plan about how they will assist the newcomers," he writes. Ted Hesson first reported on the news yesterday in Reuters. Sponsorship opportunities for Afghans and Ukrainians were precursors to the Welcome Corps — and in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sophie Carson reports on how sponsorship for Ukrainians has helped, but also has limits.  

MIGRANT BOATS — "Freedom boats" made of steel highway dividers, tree branches, fuel drums, chicken wire and Styrofoam are among the vessels Cuban and Haitian migrants are taking to make a perilous journey across the sea toward Miami, reports David Goodhue of the Miami Herald — with can’t-miss pictures by a team of Herald photographers. "With freedom in sight, some jump into the water, hoping to make it to shore. Others are rescued by Coast Guard crews. Many are sent back. Some get to stay. And others just disappear," he describes. "But their freedom boats stay behind, caught in mangroves, nudged onto sandbars, brought up to lawns or bobbing behind backyard docks." 

BORDER PRESSURES — An increase in migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border is causing what DHS and CBP describe as "enforcement fatigue" in some transit countries, reports Jana Winter of Yahoo News. "Multiple countries in Central and South America reported having limited resources and are requesting assistance from the United States as well as international partners to support migrants already in country, stating they are unable to provide migrants with basic social service requirements," per a December DHS assessment obtained by Yahoo News. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama also have limited capacity to house migrants at shelters, with some closing because of insufficient funding. One of the major challenges on the Mexican side of the border is a severe lack of staffing for vast areas of terrain as well, notes Winter.  

BARRIERS FOR AFGHANS — "Why are [we] putting up so many barriers when we could be doing more to help them?" That’s the question Nasar Sailab of the International Rescue Committee raises in The Dallas Morning News. Allies remain stuck and Afghan families remain separated for several reasons, he notes, including a closed passport office closed in Kabul and U.S. embassy interviews yet to be scheduled. Today are thousands of Afghans still waiting in a third country to get to America. Abdul, who worked for the U.S. government, and his family of 11 fled to Pakistan more than a year ago after securing a family sponsor in Texas and getting their petition approved and submitted — but they’re now waiting for visas. "Families like Abdul’s, who were promised safety after assisting U.S. forces, deserve their own evacuation flight," Sailab concludes.  

A LONG WAY TO CITIZENSHIP — Jesus Contreras will become a U.S. citizen today after a long legal path, reports Dennis Romboy of the Deseret News. In 2009, a series of unfortunate situations, including a mistake by a lawyer, led to Contreras’ deportation to his native Mexico. At the time, U.S. courts didn’t have to hear the arguments of an immigrant who was no longer in the country, which created an incentive for quick deportations, Romboy notes. But the ensuing legal battle eventually established an important precedent for immigrants to be heard in court even after a deportation. "I am so excited. I am happy to be in the United States. Now I have the opportunity to be with my kids and now I can see my grandkids grow up," said Contreras, who is now 63. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

P.S. Author Marjorie Boafo Appiah, known by her pen name, Marjy Marj, draws inspiration from her experience as a Ghanaian immigrant when addressing tough topics, reports Asia Rollins of The Post and Courier in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her new book, "Conversations About Race," will be released this month. "It’s meant to be a conversation starter where we find ways to look at each other through a different set of eyes," Boafo Appiah says.