Held under a nearly 200-year-old law, the detainees give valuable information for prosecuting smugglers. But the law "has been administered haphazardly, often with little regard for due process," the reporters note.

Witnesses are not charged with a crime but are treated similarly to criminals while in detention.  As immigration-related crimes become the center of many federal court dockets, there is no uniform approach to handling witnesses.

Many material witnesses are not able to apply for asylum because of limited access to lawyers and other resources. In some cases, they stay in detention for the same length of time as the smuggler’s sentence, which poses a new risk for them once they are out.

"The good thing is that you’re not charged with a crime," said Julio Garcia, a material-witness lawyer in Laredo, Texas. "The bad thing is that you’ll probably spend more time in custody than if you were." 

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Clara Villatoro and Katie Lutz. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

TALENT — Employers, universities and international students are welcoming the news that the Department of Homeland Security is authorized to expand Optional Practical Training (OPT) in STEM fields, Stuart Anderson writes in Forbes. This week the Supreme Court declined to review a case challenging that authority. The expansion of OPT encourages students to enroll in U.S. universities and gives employers a better chance to secure a H-1B visa for the students, Anderson writes — and that’s key to attracting and retaining international talent.

INCONSISTENCY — Many Cuban migrants arriving at the border are being released with paperwork that makes them ineligible for citizenship, reports Syra Ortiz Blanes of the Miami Herald. Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Cubans coming to the United States have been put on a fast track for citizenship, which applies to new arrivals who are granted parole — but not to those who receive a different document called an I-220A. "The level of inconsistency they have at the border whether they approve a parole or not is a practice that makes no sense. It’s a lottery," said John de la Vega, a Miami-based immigration attorney.

BUOYS HEARING — A federal appeals court will hear arguments this week on whether Texas can keep the 1,000-foot floating barrier installed near Eagle Pass in July, reports Todd J. Gillman and Aarón Torres for The Dallas Morning News. Last month a lower court ordered the barrier’s removal, a decision Texas Gov. Greg Abbott immediately appealed. The federal governments of both the United States and Mexico object to the barrier, which has caused dangerous conditions for migrants.

IMMIGRANT TEACHERS —A new World Education Services program will help immigrants and refugees who want to become teachers in the U.S., reports Joshua Bay of The 74. With thousands of vacant teaching positions across the country, organizations in Lincoln, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Chicago are now finding qualified educators through the immigrant community. Around 150 teachers who have immigrated to the U.S. and were trained in their home country will be placed at schools in their new communities. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan