The Forum Daily | Wednesday, August 27, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**The Trump administration intends to resume the practice of interviewing the neighbors and coworkers of applicants for U.S. citizenship, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News [link removed]. 

Though the process for carrying out “neighborhood checks” is outlined in federal law, the government has waived it since 1991. A recent internal memo of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services immediately terminated such "general waiver,"Montoya-Galvez reports.  

Separately, a new Cato Institute analysis [link removed] finds immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born individuals to report crime, reports Lauren Villagran of USA Today [link removed]. The research also corroborates decades of findings that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than their U.S.-born counterparts. 

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, between 2017 and 2023, immigrants reported 5.1 million crimes. Researchers fear that the administration’s enforcement efforts may "unnecessarily jeopardize” immigrants’ role in community safety. 

Meanwhile, as National Guard troops continue carrying out a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., many immigrants feel less safe than ever, report Daniella Silva and Megan Lebowitz of NBC News [link removed].  

Advocates and business owners say vibrant communities have been left deserted with armed troops roaming the streets. “We’re the ones feeling the effects, everyone, the business owners, the community,” said Aris Compres, an owner of a restaurant in Columbia Heights. 

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 Marcela Aguirre and Jillian Clark. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. 

**STAFF BURNOUT** — According to some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, burnout and frustration are mounting as agents struggle to keep pace with the administration’s intensified enforcement efforts, report Ted Hesson, Tim Reid and Nicole Jeanine Johnson of Reuters [link removed]. To ease pressure, the agency has begun a rapid recruitment effort, but hiring the thousands of officers needed may take a long time, the team notes. 

**LAWSUIT DISMISSED** — A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit against all 15 district judges of Maryland challenging their authority to pause deportations for migrants seeking to contest removal, reports Tyler Thrasher of Fox 5 DC [link removed]. The ruling asserts that the administration should have pursued a conventional legal route—such as appealing a specific case—rather than suing the entire federal district bench, Thrasher highlights. 

**ECONOMIC LOSS** — The loss of international students will cost the United States billions of dollars, according to an economic analysis by Implan, reports Dan Gooding of Newsweek [link removed]. According to the analysis, international students spend an average of $35,000 per year while in the U.S. “This is not a college town problem and it's not an education state problem. It's an effect that is going to ripple through the broader economy,"said academic divisional director at Implan, Bjorn Markeson. 

**REFUGEES** — Without “immediate and sustained funding” the World Food Programme, which provides food to refugees and displaced people around the globe, could be forced to stop operations in several locations, reports Bukola Adebayo of Context [link removed]. Elsewhere, Anesa Kajtazovic discusses her experience as a young refugee in her op-ed for the Des Moines Register [link removed]. And in Portland, Oregon, Nurul Haque reflects on his journey to the United States in his interview with Rheraz Sadiq of Oregon Public Broadcasting [link removed].  

More stories: 

* As immigration policy changes, Logan Airport loses many workers, one of them shares her experience of losing legal protections and her job. (Jesús Marrero Suárez, WBUR [link removed]) 

* New York City’s immigrant families share their anxieties over the beginning of the school year. (Arya Sundaram, Gothamist [link removed]) 

* A former investigative journalist from Peru, Ricardo Quintana Chavez describes his experience being detained in four different immigrant detention centers. (Cindy Ramirez, El Paso Matters [link removed]) 

Thanks for reading,  

Clara 

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