The Forum Daily | Friday,??? December 12,??? 2025 ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
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Before we get to the news, a heartfelt thank-you to our great intern Masooma, as she wraps up her time with us. We truly appreciate all your help!?? ??
The
federal government's immigration crackdown is increasingly relying on threats of family separation and other harsh tactics to get people to accept deportation, report Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke of Reuters [link removed].??
The threats also include prolonged detention or deportation to distant countries, Hesson and Cooke note.??
Hector Grillo, 31, asked to be sent back to his native Venezuela because he feared being sent to an El Salvadoran prison. "That was the fastest way to get out of that torture," he said.??
These policies have introduced a different kind of separation, especially for families with mixed immigration status, reports Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press [link removed].??
"I'm afraid in Nicaragua,
but I'm scared here too," said Yaoska, who's pregnant with her third child. She and her family came to the United States legally when her husband's political activism led to death threats. They settled in Florida, and their second son was born in the U.S., but her husband was recently deported.??
A new report [link removed] from the University of South Florida looks at how the state's harsh immigration policies affect immigrant parents and U.S. citizen children, reports Lizbeth Gutierrez of Bay News 9 [link removed].????
Welcome to Friday'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, Nicci Mattey and Clara Villatoro.
If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected].??
**BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP** - A new survey [link removed] from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is the latest to show that most Americans favor birthright citizenship, reports Russell Contreras of Axios [link removed]. The survey revealed that two-thirds of Americans support preserving the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to those born on U.S. soil. "Most Americans, including many conservatives and religious Americans, see birthright citizenship as a core constitutional promise," said PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman.??
**BETRAYAL, ANXIETY** - Afghans resettled here after serving in CIA "Zero Units" are
feeling abandoned by the United States government, reports Brian Mann of NPR [link removed]. Some are experiencing despair and anxiety in turn. Afghans in the U.S. are at risk of deportation with limited options, reports Julia Vargas Jones of CNN [link removed]. Joseph Azam, board chair of the Afghan-American Foundation, lamented the policy shift for all evacuees: "This moment of tremendous pain and agony and fear in our country [is used] as an opportunity to create division - to scapegoat Afghans, to scapegoat American Muslims, to scapegoat immigrants."??
**REFUGEES** - For the 3 million U.S. residents who came to the country as refugees, a climb up the economic ladder is not unusual, report Konrad Putzier and Max Rust of
The Wall Street Journal [link removed]. "Refugees are one of the cleanest and clearest immigrant economic success stories," said Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis. It's a conclusion we've reached as well [link removed].??
**'VALUED MEMBERS'** - In suburban Washington, D.C., members of St. Thomas Episcopal Church are praying for two fellow congregants fighting to be released from an immigrant detention center in Florida, reports David Paulsen of Episcopal News Service [link removed]. The two adult sisters originally from Iran "are people that are valued
members of our community," said the Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith, St. Thomas' rector. Separately, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich voices his concerns over immigration enforcement tactics with Scott Detrow on NPR's Consider This [link removed].??
Thanks for reading,??
Dan??
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