The Forum Daily | Thursday, March 21, 2024
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**THE FORUM DAILY**
Yesterday, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel heard arguments
regarding Texas' SB 4 law, a team at the Houston Chronicle

reported with live updates.  

The court has not issued a ruling, but the chief judge "appeared
skeptical that it does not run afoul of longstanding precedent leaving
immigration enforcement solely to the federal government," Benjamin
Wermund reports. 

Separately on CNN
,
as quoted by the Chronicle, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said, "We
need immigration reform. We need a safer border. But [SB 4] does
neither. It simply makes headlines." 

 Meanwhile, more Texas law enforcement leaders have been weighing in.
They include: 

* Sheriff Tom Schmerber of Maverick County, where Eagle Pass is located
(Aarón Torres and Kelli Smith, The Dallas Morning News
).
 

* Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar (Josh Peck, Texas Public Radio
). 

* "We make our decision on law enforcement based on public safety
[and] immigration laws are nowhere near top of our public safety
priority right now," said Jason Spencer, chief of staff of the Harris
County Sheriff's Office (John Wayne Ferguson, Nicole Hensley and Matt
deGrood, Houston Chronicle
).
 

In a recent Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force blog post
,
Chief Ruben Quesada talked about how state laws like SB 4 can undermine
trust law enforcement officers have built in their communities. Quesada
served in Mesa, Arizona, when the state's SB 1070 was in effect. 

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

**FAITH, TOO** - Led by the local Catholic Diocese, the "Do Not Be
Afraid: March & Vigil for Human Dignity" is scheduled for this evening
in El Paso, Texas. "We are called by our faith to respond," Sandra
Ramirez of Estrella del Paso told KTSM
.
"We will not walk away from those in need," San Antonio pastor Dianne
Garcia concludes in her San Antonio Express-News

op-ed. And the Houston Chronicle

editorial board calls Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit
against Annunciation House in El Paso "an attack on religious
freedom." 

**A YEAR LATER** - The El Paso march also will commemorate the March
2023 fire in a Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, detention facility that killed 40
migrants. In a collaborative investigation, reporters including Cindy
Ramirez of El Paso Matters

reveal new details about what happened that night - and how years of
failed immigration policies contributed. The fire "showed the
consequences that could come from immigration politics on both sides of
the border," said Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin
America. 

**WELCOME** - More evangelicals, especially women, are advocating for
immigration measures that respect the God-given dignity of every person,
reports Charlene Pele of CBN News
. "We
want to see people work together for the flourishing of people no matter
what party you're siding with on any given year," said Bri Stensrud,
director of Women of Welcome .    

**'AMERICAN SPIRIT'** - Ohioans want immigration solutions,
Christina Staats, a Forum mobilizer based in Ohio, writes in an Ohio
Capital Journal

op-ed. She encourages her elected officials to approach immigration with
the same spirit and faith as local communities in which many residents
are welcoming immigrants. "Take a note from your constituents. Don't
sow division and fear," Staats writes. "Ohioans are showing the American
spirit at its best by gathering together and solving problems, welcoming
well, and being creative." 

**THE ECONOMY** - Immigration has been "a big plus for U.S. economic
growth," Paul Krugman writes in a New York Times

column in which he also debunks claims about job losses. Speaking of the
latter, read our policy colleague Laurence Benenson's (and others')
myth-busting in Christine Sellers' Check Your Fact

piece.  

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

** **

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