Meanwhile, the immigration court backlog has grown by more than a million cases within the past fiscal year, reports Giovanna Dell’Orto of the Associated Press.  

Miami alone has 261,000 pending cases of migrants placed in removal proceedings, the largest docket in the country. Organizations such as Catholic Legal Services for the Archdiocese of Miami teach migrants how to self-petition and represent themselves before a judge.  

"We help them understand what judges want, and we help judges with efficiency and preserving fundamental rights," said Miguel Mora, a Catholic Legal Services supervising attorney in Miami. 

The process can take years and prevents families from making a real home and integrating into American society, says Karen Musalo, an attorney and professor who leads the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. 

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 Isabella Miller, Jillian Clark and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

DISPUTE — Our hearts ache with the news that a mother and her two children drowned in the Rio Grande Friday night. On Monday, the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to allow federal agents to reach the area where the drownings took place, which the Texas National Guard and Texas Military Department currently occupy, Valerie Gonzalez of the Associated Press reports. A team at CNN offers more on the drownings and the state-federal dispute. 

BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE — Per AP VoteCast, Iowa Republican voters named immigration and the economy their top issues as Donald Trump won the Iowa Caucuses, reports Gregory Korte of Bloomberg. On a webinar organized by the Evangelical Immigration Table and World Relief last week, faith leaders from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina called on presidential candidates to "consider a biblical perspective" on immigration, reports Diana Chandler of Baptist Press. You can view a recording of the webinar here. 

CONSEQUENCES — Donald Trump’s attacks against Nikki Haley, promoting the unfounded theory that his opponent is not a "natural born citizen," have consequences that go beyond the election, Forum Senior Fellow Linda Chavez writes in The xxxxxx. Chavez reflects on some of the fringe interpretations of the 14th Amendment in the past 20 years and points out that Trump "has made clear that he intends to revoke birthright citizenship (or at least to try) on his first day in office if he is re-elected." That could affect millions of people born in the U.S. 

ADMINISTRATIVE HURDLES — New York City and Chicago are seeking more flexibility from DHS on a requirement for the reimbursement of funds for migrant assistance, reports Sally Goldenberg of Politico. Officials say they learned only in November of the requirement to gather migrants’ identification numbers. Separately, Chicago is navigating extreme cold as it tries to shelter asylum seekers, reports Kim Bellware of The Washington Post. The city has delayed enforcing a 60-day limit on shelter stays, as Todd Feurer of CBS News reported earlier for CBS Chicago. 

DREAM ORCHESTRA — In Sweeden, a group of immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees searching for a new home gathered around music when Venezuelan orchestra conductor Ron Davis Álvarez started what now has become a 400-member orchestra, reports Catherine E. Shoichet of CNN. "We are not case numbers. We are not names on a list. We are people who bring different knowledge, experience and opportunity — and a lot of dreams," Davis Álvarez said. 

Thanks for reading,