The new rule would restrict asylum access for migrants who cross into the U.S. without authorization and failed to apply for protections in a third country before arriving at the southern border. Administration officials note that exceptions and alternate legal pathways set the proposed rule apart from the asylum ban President Trump implemented. The latter was struck down in court.  

But "[p]rivately, some Biden appointees acknowledged that the proposed rule is a far-reaching restriction," and that it’s not what they would choose to manage migration, Montoya-Galvez writes. They argued that the policy is an emergency measure amid a historic number of border encounters.  

Congress and the administration should work together to bolster alternate legal pathways that reduce pressure at the border and on our asylum system — while still ensuring that migrants fleeing persecution can seek asylum, as mandated under U.S. and international law.  

As Matt Soerens, U.S. Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, told Addie Offereins of WORLD, "The goal of the United States should be to protect people while we determine if they’re qualified to stay."  

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]. 

DESANTIS’ PROPOSAL — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new immigration-related proposal "could criminalize ministries, businesses, cities and individuals that serve immigrants in Florida," Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global reports. "[T]his is not just an immigrant issue," Florida Immigrant Coalition Director Tessa Petit said. "This is a morality issue. But most of all, this is a freedom issue." Other advocates point out that it’s also an economic one in a state where immigrants own 36% of small businesses (and that depends on tourism, we’d add).  

LEAVING THE U.S. — Many immigrants have been leaving the U.S. in recent years, often after spending decades here, reports Miriam Jordan of The New York Times. "Some of them never intended to remain in the United States but said that the cost and danger of crossing the border kept them here once they had arrived — and they built lives. Now, middle-aged and still able-bodied, many are making a reverse migration," she writes. 

TREKKING THE DARIÉN — More migrants from more than 60 countries are braving "the world’s deadliest jungle," Panama’s Darién Gap, to reach the U.S., reports Emily Green of Vice. Green chronicles part of the journey, centering on Afghan Colonel Mohammad Ahmadi, who led 2,500 elite soldiers into battle against the Taliban before the fall of Kabul. We'd note that the Afghan Adjustment Act not only would strengthen our security but also help our allies who still seek to leave Afghanistan.  

LABOR NEEDS — President Biden can help fulfill the request from Republican Govs. Spencer Cox of Utah and Eric Holcomb of Indiana for more immigrants to meet labor needs, Greg Sargent writes in The Washington Post. How? The administration could use its authority to parole noncitizens into the U.S. for "significant public benefit," per Tom Jawetz, a former senior Homeland Security lawyer.  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan