The Forum Daily | Friday, January 23, 2026https://www.forumtogether.org

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a statement pressing the Trump administration to ensure that migration policies respect international law and the individual rights of all people, reports Olivia Le Poidevin of Reuters [link removed].  

"Individuals are being surveilled and detained, sometimes violently including at hospitals, churches, mosques, courthouses, markets, schools, and even within their own homes, often solely on mere suspicion of being undocumented migrants," High Commissioner Volker Turk wrote in the statement [link removed]. 

Brittny Mejia and Ruben Vives of the Los Angeles Times [link removed] report on worrisome conditions at the California City Detention Facility, at which seven detainees "filed a federal class-action lawsuit [link removed]" in November, "alleging medical neglect, unsanitary living conditions and abusive treatment by the staff." 

Meanwhile, employers are struggling to navigate the administration’s immigration policies, most recently as new rules have disrupted entry for people from nearly 100 countries, reports Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law [link removed].  

"It’s changing the rules in the middle of the game for a demographic of very high-skilled foreign nationals whose dream was to come to the U.S.," said Ingrid Perez, managing attorney at IBP Immigration Law. 

Zooming out, Brittany Gibson of Axios [link removed] reviews five of the administration’s major shifts on immigration in its first year. 

Stay warm and safe if you’re in the path of the winter chill and storm this weekend, and 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, Malaika Onyia and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

**AT THE DOOR** — If you missed yesterday’s conversation about the state of refugee resettlement and concerning efforts to re-vet refugees, catch up here [link removed]. Speaker Matthew Soerens of World Relief spoke separately with Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global [link removed] about the expanding efforts: "ICE officers have actually shown up at [refugees’] doors and, if allowed in, detained in some cases entire families, including children. In other cases, they grabbed someone when they tried to go out to go to work, and that leaves behind a spouse and kids." 

**CHILDREN DETAINED** — A 5-year-old preschooler and three other students in Minneapolis were detained Tuesday afternoon, reports Mara Klecker of The Minnesota Star Tribune [link removed]. According to Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik, federal agents approached the child and his father in their driveway as they returned home from preschool. Reportedly, Another adult came out of the house and begged officers to leave the child with them, Klecker reports. ICE’s detention of children has elicited backlash, reports Emily Hallas of the Washington Examiner [link removed]. 

**HOSPITAL ENFORCEMENT** – In a Minnesota hospital, "federal agents stood watch by a shackled detainee’s bedside and prevented family members from visiting him," reports Brian Martucci of the Minnesota Reformer [link removed]. Fear of ICE agents has led immigrants to forgo health care — "a moment of crisis in our state," said physician and state Sen. Alice Mann (Democratic-Farmer-Labor party). Hospital staff are calling on administrators to better protect patients, Martucci reports. 

**A REPUBLICAN CALL FOR BALANCE** — As state lawmakers in Utah consider immigration legislation, Gov. Spencer Cox (R) reaffirmed the state’s balanced approach, reports Brigham Tomco of the Deseret News [link removed]. "In Utah, we believe in two things. We believe in the rule of law, and we believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect," Cox said. "We’ve done a good job of trying to balance those two things. We’ll continue to work to do so." 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

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