The Forum Daily | Friday, February 14, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**

Panama is now accepting deported migrants who came to the United States from Asian and African countries, a new step in the White House’s mass deportation efforts, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News [link removed].  

In a statement released yesterday, Panama’s foreign minister confirmed the arrival of a deportation flight Wednesday and that more flights are scheduled. With distance and cost making deportations to Asia and Africa more complicated, this diplomatic deal will allow the administration to deport people faster, Montoya-Galvez notes. 

Internally, the Trump administration’s search for funding to carry out deportation efforts continues, reports Brittany Gibson of Axios [link removed]. In addition to seeking a spare $175 billion from Congress, the White House is now looking into possible contracts with the Defense Department, report Julia Ainsley and Courtney Kube of NBC News [link removed]. Those could draw legal challenges, the pair note. 

A team at ABC News [link removed] looks at the effects of the administration’s enforcement efforts so far. Those effects include some immigrants staying home from work, a chilling effect that concerns employers in multiple industries, report Arian Campo-Flores and Chao Deng of The Wall Street Journal [link removed].  

"Anything that reduces the supply of labor at all will have an impact on a contractor’s ability to successfully deliver projects," said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America. 

We’ll be catching up after the holiday weekend and back in your inbox Wednesday. Welcome to Friday’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]. 

**FILLING THE GAP** — In South Dakota, foreign-born teachers are helping school districts address educator shortages, reports Bart Pfankuch of South Dakota News Watch [link removed]. "It's quite a process, but the end result is you get great, experienced teachers," said George Shipley, superintendent of the Bison school district. Diversity in schools has been enriching for students, he said, broadening cultural awareness in the community.  

**BETRAYAL** — The halt on refugee resettlement "betrays a promise" to our Afghan allies, the Bloomberg [link removed] Editorial Board writes. That halt is alarming Afghan evacuees in Sacramento and surrounding communities, reports Jake Goodrick of The Sacramento Bee [link removed]. And the halt on of federal funding for those already here is "wreaking havoc on the entire immigrant-refugee community and all the organizations that support them," said an official from a California resettlement agency.  

Even so, local welcomers are persevering: 

* Polk County, Iowa, has approved $500,000 in emergency funds to help fill the hole the federal government has left for people already here. (Lee Rood, Des Moines Register [link removed]) 

* In North Carolina, Lutheran Services Carolinas continues to work to support new arrivals. (Jesse Pierre, WCNC [link removed]) 

* In New Haven, Connecticut, 3,000 5K participants ran to raise money for refugees. (Crystal Elescano, CTPost [link removed]) 

* Bonus item this Valentine’s Day: Yalda Qasemi and Robert Jenkins’ love story comprises more than one hurdle as they navigated global unrest and the U.S. refugee system to be together. (Bryce Buyakie, Akron Beacon Journal [link removed]) 

**PATHWAYS** — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, says there should be more paths for immigrant workers as long as they do not have a criminal history, reports Scott Wartman of the Cincinnati Enquirer [link removed]. Although Paul draws a line regarding citizenship, "If you want to work in our country and you're willing to be a productive member of our society, you stay," he said.  

**CONSIDER SCRIPTURE** — "Surely, we can come up with sound immigration policy that fits within the bounds of caring for foreigners living among us, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves and honoring our civil authorities," writes Eric Black, executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard [link removed]. Black advises his fellow Christians to look to Scripture when considering policy debates around immigration. 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

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