A plan to settle a class-act lawsuit over the Trump administration’s family separation policy is expected to be approved, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News.

Nearly 4,000 migrant children were separated from their parents under the policy. The settlement agreement would give affected families legal and social benefits, including a special process to apply for asylum in the United States.

The proposed settlement also would disallow the federal government from again using the same legal argument the Trump administration used to justify separations. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw is expected to approve the agreement, which would last six years.

"Nothing can make these families whole again or eliminate the moral stain of this policy, but this is an important start," said Lee Gelernt, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer representing the migrant families.

The ACLU, other advocacy groups and the Biden administration are still assisting in the search for the hundreds of parents who were deported after being separated from their children.

Meanwhile, we are mourning 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was killed over the weekend in an alleged anti-Muslim hate crime in Plainfield, Illinois. Wadea’s parents had emigrated from the Palestinian territories. I was reassured to read the words of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland: "No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from."

Welcome to Tuesday’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].

BORDER RUNDOWN — José Ignacio Castañeda Perez of The Arizona Republic presents the facts — and counters myths — about Arizona’s border with Mexico and broader border and immigration debates. We appreciate that he calls out "invasion" rhetoric — as we’ve noted, such rhetoric is rooted in dangerous ideology. Perez also points to new research from America’s Voice suggesting that claims of "open borders" are encouraging migrants to come to the United States. Vanessa Cárdenas writes more about the research in an op-ed in The Messenger.

TO BREATHE FREE — People seeking refuge in the United States should be allowed due process and basic human dignity, Ryan Brown of Open Doors U.S. and Myal Greene of World Relief write in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner. Raising their voice as Christians and advocates for persecuted people around the world, Brown and Greene say that bill in Congress would get in the way. "H.R. 2 would go well beyond halting immigrants from entering the country unlawfully and evading apprehension: It would dramatically restrict due process for those seeking asylum, including those persecuted for their faith," they write.

WARNING — Customs and Border Protection has confirmed the death of a migrant after a medical emergency at a camp near San Ysidro, near the California-Mexico border, reports Guillermo Méndez of NBC San Diego. It is considered the first death connected to the outdoor migrant camps in that area. "For us, it is very worrying because we have been warning for months that the way of having people under these subhuman conditions will cause the loss of life, and here unfortunately we are seeing that happen," said Pedro Ríos, the Director of the Organization Committee of the friends of San Diego.

Thanks for reading, 

Dan  

P.S. For a touch of inspiration, take a look at Marianne Todd’s piece in the Santa Fe New Mexican about a small population of resettled Afghan women who are building community in Santa Fe.