Advocates worry over the treatment and conditions of deportees stuck in Costa Rica and Panama amid deportations and reverse migration from the United States, report Megan Janetsky, Matías Delacroix and Joshua Goodman of the Associated Press. 

Officials are taking people’s passports and phones while also denying them legal counsel and moving them between rural outposts, the team reports.  

"There is no focus on human rights, there is only focus on control and security. Everything is very murky, and not transparent," said Harold Villegas-Román, a political science professor and refugee expert at the University of Costa Rica. 

Panamanian authorities said that the 112 people are detained in a remote jungle camp after their deportation from the United States and their initial refusal for repatriation, reports Sarah Kinosian of Reuters.  

When asked about the migrants being denied legal representation, Panamanian President Jose Mulino said that he "didn’t know."  

Panamanian lawyer, Susana Sabalza, is representing a family from Taiwan that is being held in the jungle camp. "This isn’t normal, we have never seen this in Panama before," Sabalza said. "I should be able to talk to my clients." 

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

RAIDS – Employers of the agricultural and child care sectors across the country are preparing for immigration raids in their locations, reports Ximena Bustillo of NPR. Separately, ACLU attorneys are suing the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol agents arguing racially profiling detainees and violating the 4th amendment by committing unreasonable searches during a raid in Kern County, California, reports Rebecca Plevin of the Los Angeles Times.  

FUNDING — Catholic Charities, an agency that runs refugee programs through the church, has been forced to cancel their programs or reduce staff due to budget freezes in Texas, Florida and Kansas, reports Madalaine Elhabbal of Catholic News Agency. In Indiana, Catholic Charities director of immigration services Luz Ostrognai urges others too "look at the immigrant with compassion, not hatred," reports Scott Warden of OSV News. 

SCHOOL SETBACKS – In Austin, Texas, federal funding freezes are affecting some schools where contracts of employees who assist immigrant students recently arrived could be terminated soon, reports Keri Heath of the Austin American-Statesman. This move comes after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lost their Refugee School Impact funding, making the district short on budget. Separately, Pennsylvania educators are still looking for answers and procedures for immigration enforcement operations in schools, reports Celia Bernhardt of WHYY News. 

PATHLESS – Some Afghans in Omaha, Nebraska, are fearfully waiting for their cases in one of the strictest immigration courts in the country amid recent changes on immigration policies, reports Nasrin Nawa of Flatwater Free Press. "Whether or not you fall under this executive order, being a refugee or immigrant means living in fear and uncertainty," said Mohammad Sahil, director of the Afghan Community Center. Elsewhere, the #AfghanEvac coalition is calling on U.S. veterans to stand up for Afghan allies, reports Laura Barrón-López of PBS News. 

More on welcome efforts that persist despite the barriers:  

Thanks for reading,  

Clara 

P.S. After coming to the country at age 9 as a refugee from the Somali Civil War, Ugbad Abdi is now walking the runway as a high fashion model. She’s nominated as one of USA Today’s Women of the Year, reports Courtney Crowder of the Des Moines Register.