The Forum Daily | Thursday, December 19, 2024https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**

Mexico is reinforcing bonds with its citizens who live in the United States, promising to support them amid an uncertain future, reports Julian Resendiz of Border Report [link removed].  

"Our immigrant brothers and sisters in the United States are heroes who have succeeded with courage," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo told immigrant leaders via videoconference Wednesday. "And we will not only recognize you always but also support you. And know that your home is here, always." 

Despite Sheinbaum’s words, how the Mexican government would help in case of mass deportation remains a question, reports Maria Verza of the Associated Press [link removed].  

"The challenges don’t stop when we return to Mexico," said Israel Concha, director of New Comienzos, which helps returning Mexican migrants integrate. "Once again we face uncertainty about whether our own government is willing to accept us back in a dignified way and help us."   

Mexico also continues to manage migrants from elsewhere. A recent report by the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders highlights that most migrants face violence and other risks while in Mexico. 

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

**CHILDREN** — Customs and Border Protection agents still "routinely" separate migrant children from their parents in detention, reports Valerie Gonzalez of the Associated Press [link removed]. A report from a court-ordered monitor also noted that food, hygiene and medical care have improved in Texas detention centers for migrant children. The report is part of a monitoring agreement that began in 2022. 

**BIRTH, THEN DEPORTATION** — A woman gave birth to premature twins via emergency C-section in Houston, missed an immigration hearing while she recovered, then was deported with all four of her children, Maria Aguilera and Anayeli Ruiz of KHOU [link removed] report. Her husband, who remains in the U.S., and three of the children are U.S. citizens, a team at CBS News [link removed] adds.  

**RECOVERY** — Immigrants in Clearwater, Florida, are still reeling from Hurricane Milton’s damage, reports Nancy Guan of WUSF [link removed]. That’s especially true for undocumented residents who are wary of seeking assistance. Local aid groups such as the Hispanic Outreach Center are trying to bridge the gaps that fear and uncertainty are creating. 

**SHORTFALL** — One practical obstacle to the incoming Trump administration’s mass-deportation considerations: an ICE budget shortfall already at $230 million, report Julia Ainsley and Julie Tsirkin of NBC News [link removed]. But the new Congress, with Republican majorities, could appropriate more funding to ICE next month without an emergency supplemental request from the White House, Ainsley and Tsirkin note.  

**EDUCATION** — The Oklahoma State Department of Education is proposing a rule that would require public schools to ask for proof of student’s citizenship or immigration status, reports Nuria Martinez-Keel of the Oklahoma Voice [link removed]. The proposal follows reports that the Trump administration could allow immigration enforcement actions in or near schools — which unsettles advocates and educators, reports Kalyn Belsha of Chalkbeat [link removed]. For schools, building trust with immigrant students and families will be more challenging, Belsha notes. 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

**P.S.** Congratulations to the 25 immigrants who took the naturalization oath and became U.S. citizens Friday in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as Paul C. Kelly Campos of Rhode Island’s PBS [link removed] reports. 

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