The Forum Daily | Tuesday, February 4, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**El Salvador is offering to house "dangerous criminals" deported from the United States, no matter their country of origin, reports Simon Lewis of Reuters [link removed].  

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the offer as "an act of extraordinary friendship," reports Annie Correal of The New York Times [link removed]. Bukele posted on X [link removed] that convicted criminals could be housed for a fee and could include U.S. citizens. The latter could draw legal challenges, as Correal notes. 

Separately, deportation flights are raising eyebrows. Those on military aircraft come at high taxpayer expense — at least one flight, from El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala, "likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant," reports Phil Stewart of Reuters [link removed]. A publicly available first-class ticket was $853 at time. 

At least seven military flights using C-17 cargo planes have left El Paso and Tucson, Arizona, since President Donald Trump took office, reports Jeff Abbott of the El Paso Times [link removed]. 

People chained by the waist, hands and feet for the duration of a Guatemala-bound flight said they were not violent criminals and had not been in the U.S. for long, Abbott reports.  

After a deportation flight to Brazil that was riddled with mechanical problems, officials in that country criticized the Trump administration’s treatment of 88 deportees who were handcuffed and shackled, reports Jack Nicas of The New York Times [link removed]. 

Brazil human rights minister Macaé Evaristo greeted the passengers. "Our position is that countries can have their immigration policies, but they can never violate anyone’s rights," he said. 

We think so, too.  [link removed]

Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s VP of strategic communications, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Soledad Gassó Parker, Broc Murphy, 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]. 

**DISTRESS** — An immigration arrest of a man outside a church he had planted is causing anxiety among faith leaders, reports Andy Olsen of Christianity Today [link removed]. Trump revoked restrictions on arrests at houses of worship and other sensitive locations, a move that faces a new lawsuit, report Sophie Hills, Whitney Eulich and Sarah Matusek of The Christian Science Monitor [link removed]. "The most significant impact ... is that people will be afraid to go to church," said Matthew Soerens, national coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table. 

**REALITY CHECK** — We can expect more Trump administration actions to make America less welcoming to newcomers, reports Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal [link removed]. But the Journal’s polling indicates that while voters support securing the border and deporting violent criminals, "many other elements of his plans draw substantial opposition." One example: 70% of voters oppose the deportation of unauthorized immigrants who have deep roots here and pay taxes. We've found similar in our polling [link removed].  

**ASYLUM** — We Choose Welcome [link removed], a grassroots faith community of women, has drawn more than 3,300 signatures on a petition [link removed] to preserve asylum pathways. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing over the recent executive order pausing asylum, reports Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of NPR [link removed]. "The government is doing just what Congress by statute decreed that the United States must not do," the lawsuit reads. "It is returning asylum seekers — not just single adults, but families too — to countries where they face persecution or torture, without allowing them to invoke the protections Congress has provided." 

**BUSINESS** — Workers born in other countries are "productive and crucial" in New Hampshire’s economy, Mark Hayward of the NH Business Review [link removed] reports. That’s according to a recent report from the state’s Department of Employment Security. Elsewhere, a new group comprises Latino and Mexican business leaders advocating for bipartisan immigration solutions, reports Bobby Poitevint of KXXV [link removed]. And yesterday, restaurants in several cities were among the participants in a "Day Without Immigrants," reports Tara Suter of The Hill [link removed]. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

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