Hilda Hernandez, originally from Honduras, was separated from her 3-year-old granddaughter Shayra when they arrived in Eagle Pass, Texas, to request asylum, reports Rick Jervis of USA TODAY. Customs and Border Protection officials separated them despite documents showing that Hernandez is her granddaughter’s main caregiver.  

"I did everything the right way. I did everything legally," Hernandez said through tears. "You feel so helpless. I just want my little girl back." 

Families like Hernandez and her granddaughter are being separated via a U.S. law designed to protect asylum-seeking minors from child traffickers and other threats, Jennifer Podkul of Kids in Need of Defense told Jervis: "The intent is child protection. But the result is a lot of needless separation." 

The Biden administration has been working on reuniting about 3,900 families separated during Trump’s "zero tolerance" policy in 2018. But efforts do not address nonparental guardians such as grandmothers and aunts, per Casey Revkin, executive director of Each Step Home. 

Hernandez worries about Shayra, who remains in a federal children’s shelter in San Antonio. "She’s suffering, I know she is," Hernandez said. "Please I just need them to return her to me." 

In terms of border data, December’s show 251,487 encounters, a 7% increase from November. Although Title 42 remained in place, less than 20% of all December encounters were people returned under the policy. In the long run, that’s good: more processing at ports of entry means a more orderly process. The figures predate the Biden administration’s new border initiatives — January’s data will be interesting. 

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]. 

REALITY IN CONGRESS — Last week, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) told House Republicans that the only way forward on immigration reforms is to work with Democrats on a larger package beyond just border security, Greg Sargent writes in The Washington Post. Sargent notes that House Republicans are delaying a vote on a border-only bill (as first reported in Punchbowl News). The scope of the bill "has rattled dozens of House Republicans, many of whom worry it would prevent migrants and unaccompanied children fleeing violence from seeking asylum in the United States — a traditionally protected tenet of the country’s immigration laws," Marianna Sotomayor and Theodoric Meyer report separately in the Post. 

LABOR CHANGES — The country needs to expand its workforce to keep up with inflation rates and reduce labor shortages, Larry Edelman writes in a column for the Boston Globe. "The U.S. faces a chronic labor shortage over the next decade or so as the baby boom generation continues to leave the labor force and foreign immigration is limited, unless there is a significant change in immigration law," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. One positive sign: The U.S. and Mexico signed a memorandum of understanding last week to strengthen protections for workers in temporary foreign worker programs.  

PROTECTING WORKERS — The Department of Homeland Security took steps this month to better protect noncitizens who experience or witness labor abuses. Advocates in Connecticut are calling for further expansion of whistleblower protections, reports Maricarmen Cajahuaringa of Connecticut Public Radio. Advocates are hoping they can convene at the following state Capitol to revamp these efforts. 

PAROLE PROGRAM — Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti of The Washington Post take a thorough look at the Biden administration’s use of humanitarian parole — and at the history of the program, which started in 1952, well before the formal refugee resettlement system was created. "While previous administrations have used parole to deal with emergencies or humanitarian challenges, Biden has made more frequent use of the authority than any other president" to help better manage the border, they write.  

FAITH PERSPECTIVES — Many faith groups see the newly announced Welcome Corps program as a way for the public to get more engaged with refugees — and an opportunity to fill gaps where resettlement agencies don’t have staff or offices, per Emily Belz of Christianity Today. For more details on the program, including what private sponsorship entails, read this helpful Q&A from World Relief. From a broader perspective, Christian Vaughn, a high school and university pastor at First Baptist Church of Plainview, Texas, considers what the church can do to fix our broken immigration system for Baptist News Global. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan