The Forum Daily | Wednesday, March 19, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**

The Department of Justice argued in a three-page filing [link removed] submitted Tuesday that "there is no justification to order the provision of additional information" on the timing of flights carrying migrants to El Salvador, reports Chris Johnson of Roll Call [link removed].  

This refusal comes after lawyers of the civil rights groups suing the administration argued that the court order to stop the flights was ignored by the government, Johnson notes. In the filing, the DOJ states that "there was no violation of the Court’s written order." 

Meanwhile, family members of Venezuelan migrants are expressing concern as their loved ones' tracking information is no longer in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) online database, leaving their whereabouts unknown, report Joshua Goodman and Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press [link removed].  

Sarah Kinosian and Kristina Cooke of Reuters [link removed] report on Venezuelan migrant Anyelo Sarabia, a 19-year-old, whose family believes he was deported to El Salvador. According to his family, Sarabia said on Friday that he will be deported to Venezuela.

"It's extremely disturbing that hundreds of people were flown on U.S. government planes to El Salvador and we still have no information on who they are, their attorneys were not notified and families are left excruciatingly in the dark," said Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. 

Welcome to Wednesday’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].  mailto:[email protected].      

**AFGHAN REFUGEES** — Ahead of an expected travel ban that could include Afghanistan, advocates are looking for exceptions for Afghan allies, reports Haley Bull of Scripps News [link removed]. Meanwhile, Afghan refugees already in the U.S. are facing following the upending of the federal refugee program, reports Tiffany Stanley of the Associated Press [link removed]. Many refugees, like Afghan father of two Rahmani, are struggling without support just a few months after their arrival, adds Stanley. 

**CITIZENS** — Experts and advocates are warning that the Trump administration’s extreme immigration policies and tactics make it more likely that American citizens could be swept up in immigration raids, reports Nicole Foy of ProPublica [link removed]. While there isn’t available data for how many citizens have been impacted so far, the United States has a history of detaining and even deporting its own citizens, Foy notes. A report [link removed] from the U.S. Accountability Office found that during President Trump’s first term, around 600 likely citizens were detained.  

**DISAGREEMENT** – Tallahassee government officials are disagreeing about the police department’s role in immigration enforcement after they accepted the 287(g) immigration task force agreement, reports Elena Barrera of the Tallahassee Democrat [link removed]. Separately, Fort Myers City Council faced similar disagreements. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he would investigate those council members who voted against it, reports Charlie Whitehead of Fort Myers News-Press [link removed].  

**ADJUSTMENTS** — Jhoan Bastidas left Venezuela looking for a better life, but upon arrival in the U.S. last year, he was detained and eventually sent to Guantánamo Bay. Now, after his deportation, he is trying to adjust to his new life in Venezuela, report Regina Garcia Cano and Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press [link removed]. "I was locked up all day in a little room — I counted the feet: 7 wide and 13 long — without being able to do anything, without a book, looking at the walls," said Bastidas, describing his experience at Guantánamo.  

More stories on the people behind the policies:  

* Relatives of a German green card holder in the U.S. are calling for his release from ICE custody, highlighting his legal status (Arielle Mitropoulos, WMUR9 [link removed]). 

* Food banks in Hillsborough, Florida, are seeing an increase in migrant families coming to them for assistance as more people are afraid to go to work. (Lily Belcher, WUSF [link removed]) 

* In Lewiston, Maine, an undocumented teenager is being deported without his family. "If you wish, you can turn yourself in, and be deported with him...," said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer to the boy’s mother. (Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, The Boston Globe [link removed]) 

 

Thanks for reading,  

Clara  

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