Unauthorized crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border have reached the lowest numbers since 1970, Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News reports.
In fiscal year 2025 — October 2024 through September 2025 — Border Patrol reported approximately 238,000 arrests, a figure not seen since 1970, when 202,000 arrests were recorded.
Meanwhile, the realignment of federal law enforcement to focus on immigration has taken agents away from investigating drug trafficking, sexual exploitation and organized crime, report Steve Fisher and Vera Bergengruen of The Wall Street Journal.
In May, Jason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff, testified before Congress on this shift and how it affects the inspection of cargo coming in at the border, saying "screening, inspection, and interdiction suffer."
In another policy shift earlier this year, the administration cut hundreds of workers in the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, arguing that they were "internal adversaries that slow down operations."
Now those workers are warning of potential civil rights violations that could take place without their oversight, report Ximena Bustillo of NPR.
Finally, the head of the United Nations refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, suggested Monday that recent deportation practices in the United States may violate international law, reports Jamey Keaten of the Associated Press.
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 Masooma Amin, Jillian Clark, Nicci Mattey and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
IMMIGRATION JUDGES — Priscilla Alvarez of CNN examines the dismissal of 139 immigration judges since the beginning of the Trump administration. Per CNN’s analysis, at least 30 of the judges had high asylum approval rates. "I had absolutely no time to hand off my 6,000 cases," said Chloe Dillon, who’s challenging her removal. Meanwhile, training started yesterday for the first group of National Guard and Army Reserve lawyers the administration has assigned to be temporary immigration judges, report Julie Watson and Amy Taxin of the Associated Press.
THOSE STILL PROTECTED — Recent policy changes and conflicting court decisions have left hundreds of thousands who held Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in legal limbo. Jazmine Ulloa and Allison McCann of The New York Times break down the groups that are still protected, those who are facing deportation, and the consequences of these changes. To learn more about TPS, check out the Forum’s fact sheet.
DEPORTATION TO AFRICA — Ten migrants deported from the United States arrived in the African country of Eswatini by plane yesterday, report Nokukhanya Musi and Gerald Imary of the Associated Press. The administration has deported more than 40 migrants to five African countries since July using third-country deportation agreements. Activists denounced the transfer of migrants to countries where they likely would be denied due process and subjected to harsh conditions.
H-1B WARNINGS — Council on National Security and Immigration leaders warned Friday that the $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications "will undermine U.S. competitiveness and security." Also Friday, plaintiffs filed a lawsuit attempting to block the fee, reports Stuart Anderson of Forbes. They include a church, unions, a pastor, a professors’ group and a nurse staffing company, highlighting just how far-reaching the effects of the increase could be, Anderson writes. Separately in Forbes, contributor Tim Bajarin examines how the fee could hurt future U.S. tech innovations.
P.S. At a Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants in Detroit, Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger praised the "courage and tenacity" of displaced people around the world, reports Daniel Maloy of the Detroit Catholic.
