The Forum Daily | Thursday, September 18, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**The U.S. government plans to add questions to the civics test portion of the citizenship interview, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez CBS News [link removed].  

Becoming a U.S. citizen is already a costly and lengthy process, Montoya-Galvez points out. The first Trump administration proposed the longer test in 2020, but the Biden administration reverted to the existing test, saying the higher bar was an unnecessary impediment for would-be citizens.  

Under the proposal, test takers will have to study 128 questions, up from 100, and get 12 out of 20 correct rather than 6 out of 10. 

The changes are part of a broader push to examine citizenship applicants more closely, including measures to check “good moral character” and conduct interviews with neighbors and co-workers, Montoya-Galvez notes. 

Meanwhile, UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, warns that governments around the world but especially in the “Global North” are undermining global conventions on refugees and asylum seekers, reports Renata Brito of the Associated Press [link removed]. 

“I am not exaggerating when I say that the institution of the asylum worldwide is under more threat now than it has ever been,” said Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, assistant high commissioner for protection at UNHCR. 

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

**VIOLATIONS** — Inspectors recently found conditions in the Fort Bliss immigrant detention center near El Paso, Texas, that violate at least 60 federal standards, a team at The Washington Post [link removed] reports. The detention center was built and opened within less than two months. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspectors this month found problems with medical care and access to lawyers, among other concerns, according to a copy of the report the Post obtained.  

**CRIME VICTIMS** — ICE is deporting immigrant victims of crime following the abolition of a policy that protected them from detention and deportation, reports Ryan J. Foley of the Associated Press [link removed]. Jesus Hernandez, a Mexican migrant, was shot and almost killed during a robbery in Muscatine, Iowa. Later, ICE detained him when he tried to retrieve his belongings from the police. Separately, Rebecca McCray of The Marshall Project [link removed] reports that ICE has expanded checkpoints across the country — beyond border areas. 

**BLOWING THE WHISTLE** — A whistle-blower's report shared with Congress Tuesday alleges that the federal government hid data indicating that more than two dozen children slated for deportation to Guatemala would be at risk there, reports Zach Montague of The New York Times [link removed]. The report contradicts the statement of a senior administration health official, who had said the children were screened and properly cleared for repatriation. 

**CONTRIBUTIONS** — The immigrant community is a big part of what makes Dayton, Ohio, successful and vibrant, reports Sydney Dawes of the Dayton Daily News [link removed]. In 2023, immigrant-owned businesses contributed $116.2 billion in business income, according to the American Immigration Council. But the contributions go beyond economic: “If you don’t have the things that stand up a culture, then people don’t want to live, work or stay here long-term,” said Christina Mendez, the Executive Director of Dayton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “And we’ll just be a city that people pass by on the highway on their way to Cincinnati or Columbus.” 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

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