The Forum Daily | Friday, March 10, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**A new study shows that migrants’ decision to seek safety in the United States is influenced at least "as much by their own religious faith as it is by U.S. messaging and policies," reports Lauren Villagran of USA Today [link removed].

According to Jeremy Slack, lead author of the study and professor at the University of Texas, migrants believe immigration "is a process that will be decided by a higher power." The study shows that three-quarters of the migrants interviewed reported seeing a "sign from God" along their journey to the U.S. and a majority reported praying daily.  

"I don’t know how you take that journey, or how you survive that journey, without faith," said Bri Stensrud, executive director of Women of Welcome [link removed]. "These are people of faith. These are people who are saying, ‘I am trusting in God to bring me to a place where there are brothers and sisters in Christ." 

Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced two new appointments to top positions at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), reports Christine Fernando of the Associated Press [link removed].  

The changes come after multiple ICE officials were reassigned in February, in response to frustrations that the pace of deportation hasn’t ramped up fast enough, Fernando notes. 

Meanwhile, the administration’s plans to implement a mass deportation agenda may be complicated by its decision to lay off or incentivize the departure of over 100 high-level immigration officials, reports Annabella Rosciglione of the Washington Examiner [link removed]. 

Andrew Goudsward and Sarah M. Lynch of Reuters [link removed] report that the Justice Department has issued exemptions to a federal hiring freeze so U.S. attorney’s offices in border states can hire additional prosecutors to crack down on illegal entry into the U.S. and other border challenges. 

Welcome to Monday’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 Marcela Aguirre, Jillian Clark, Soledad Gassó Parker, Dan Gordon, and Broc Murphy. We are experimenting with a shorter version of the newsletter on Mondays again this week to help get you the latest in immigration faster after the weekend. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

Stories behind the policies 

* He escaped the cartel that kidnapped him. Then he learned there’s ‘no more asylum.’ [link removed] (Arelis R. Hernández, The Washington Post) 

* How do undocumented immigrants live in the US? Woman shares her story | FOX 5 New York [link removed] (Adeja Shivonne and Stephanie Bertini, Fox 5) 

* Washington family torn apart after father arrested outside church and deported [link removed] (Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez , KUOW) 

Local Law Enforcement

* North Carolina Senate passes bill requiring state agencies cooperate with ICE: What's next [link removed] (Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times) 

* Sheriff rejects mass immigration raids in talk with Hispanic leaders [link removed] (Valentina Palm, The Palm Beach Post) 

* Chicago FBI terrorism task force new objective during President Donald Trump administration: Immigration enforcement  [link removed] (Mark Rivera, ABC7 Chicago) 

* Iowa bill would charge police with felony for failing to comply with state immigration law [link removed] [link removed] (Sabine Martin, Des Moines Register) 

Other Stories we’re reading

* Haitian immigrants grapple with uncertainty as TPS end date looms [link removed] (Fredlyn Pierre Louis, NBC News) 

* Federal judge won’t order immigration officials to change school arrests policy [link removed] (Colleen Slevin, Associated Press) 

* Republicans Urge Trump To Let Ukrainians Remain [link removed] (Billal Rahman, Newsweek) 

* Economist discusses potential economic impact of mass deportations [link removed] (Dave Davis, News on 6) 

Thanks for reading, 

Clara 

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