Meanwhile, refugee organizations filed a federal lawsuit yesterday aiming to restart refugee arrivals and funding to help refugees already here, reports Hamed Aleaziz of The New York Times.
"The impact of these executive actions has been sweeping and harmful for our refugee clients, our staff and our local faith community partners," said Rick Santos, who leads Church World Service, one of the plaintiffs.
The local impacts are weighty. Churches are among the local organizations in the Dallas area trying to fill gaps, Alex Nguyen and Adrian Ashford report in The Dallas Morning News. In the Idaho Capital Sun, Christina Lords describes the heartache of a Syrian mother and son, Amouna and Abdullah, as they now must wait even longer to reunite with family.
In an op-ed for the Charlotte Observer, Ted W. Goins Jr., president and CEO of Lutheran Services Carolinas, writes that pausing the refugee program "is a fundamental betrayal of America’s longstanding commitment to humanitarian leadership."
And Ryan Foley of the Christian Post is the latest to report on new Lifeway Research polling indicating that by a wide margin, evangelical Christians "believe the United States has a moral obligation to accept refugees and Christians have a responsibility care for immigrants regardless of whether they are in the U.S. legally."
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].
OUR ALLIES — On a Sunday appearance with Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ "Face the Nation," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) urged the Trump administration to allow Afghans who assisted the United States to be relocated in America, reports Mandy Taheri of Newsweek. McCaul’s comments come after the president signed an executive order freezing refugee processing, putting those who fought alongside the U.S. at risk.
RIPPLES — The administration’s freeze on foreign aid funding has halted programs across Central America that promote economic stability and track gang-related activities, report Ryan Dubé and Ingrid Arnesen of The Wall Street Journal. The pause on a training program on MS-13 tracking software "is going to have consequences," said Luis Santos, Honduras’ top anticorruption prosecutor.
IRS — The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly seeking to deputize Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officers to assist with mass deportation efforts, report Tarini Parti and Richard Rubin, also of The Wall Street Journal. In a recent memo the Journal obtained, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provide agents to examine businesses that hire undocumented immigrants. The agents could help arrest, detain and transport people.
CHILL ON BUSINESS — Small businesses in Latino neighborhoods across the country are experiencing a slump in business in the wake of the administration’s immigration policies, report Ruth Simon and Paul Kiernan of (yes) The Wall Street Journal. A slowdown in spending among Latinos would have a significant impact on the economy: According to Labor Department, Latinos accounted for 13% of all consumer spending in 2023.
P.S. James Leewright, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, is among those highlighting the importance of immigrant workers, as JaNae Williams of The Oklahoman reports. "Immigrants drive growth and innovation in restaurants nationwide," he said. " ... [R]estaurant owners need a robust workforce to sustain their businesses."
