The Forum Daily | Wednesday, August 19, 2026https://www.forumtogether.org

Weekslong stays in immigrant detention — where children are supposed to be held for 20 days at most — are driving some families to give up on their immigration cases and return to their native countries, Lauren Villagran of The Marshall Project [link removed] reports. 

She shares the story of the Kikabidze family, in which both parents have green cards but a series of family and global circumstances — together with tightened U.S. immigration restrictions — led to their immigration detention. 

This summer, after 38 days in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas and with the specter of many more days to come, they gave up on their case and have since returned to their native country, Georgia. 

This week, a federal district court judge ordered [link removed] unannounced checks for at least a year at Dilley and detention cells along the border to make sure the government is adhering to the settlement agreement that limits kids’ time in detention, Villagran notes. 

Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) system for inspecting detention facilities enables most to stay open, "no matter how bad the conditions," report Isabel Del Mastro of American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop and René Kladzyk of POGO Investigates [link removed], the news reporting arm of the Project On Government Oversight. 

"I would not be surprised if [ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight] understood its job to be to bless most of what they see and only say anything in the most significant circumstances," said Deborah Fleischaker former acting chief of staff at ICE. "I think there is an understanding that they need to get out of the way." 

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. 

**RURAL SQUEEZE** — Immigrants have been a boon to many relatively rural communities, and restricted immigration is threatening past gains, Selen Ozturk of American Community Media [link removed] reports. Immigrants have been "a population lifeline" in the face of economic and demographic challenges, said Tim Slack, a sociology professor at Louisiana State University. Don’t miss the comments from faith and law enforcement leaders in Iowa and Ohio, as well as from Jennie. 

Elsewhere in impacts of immigration policies: 

* Armelle Bondonga went to a scheduled appointment for her marriage-based immigration case, then was detained. (Ruby Grisin, Louisville Courier Journal [link removed]) 

* A woman with a pending asylum application and her daughter have returned home after an airport arrest and nearly a month in detention. (Itay Hod, CBS San Francisco [link removed]) 

* A woman with a pending green card application was arrested at an airport and detained for 16 days, changing her husband’s perspective on immigration enforcement. (Miriam Jordan, The New York Times [link removed])  

**FEAR, SUPPORT** — Some Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, have been detained, broadening fear across the community, Miriam Jordan of The New York Times [link removed] reports. But churches there are offering support, including helping parents ensure their children will be cared for should the parents be detained, Kathryn Post of Religion News Service [link removed] reports. Meanwhile, some Haitians in the U.S. are considering seeking safety in Canada, Trevor Hughes of USA Today [link removed] writes. And the end of Haitian Temporary Protected Status is leaving families and health care providers in the lurch, reports Maria Tsvetkova of Reuters [link removed]. 

**WORSHIP UNDER WATCH** — A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an order limiting immigration enforcement at houses of worship, reports Nate Raymond of Reuters [link removed]. The judges ruled that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy allowing such actions likely violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In a Minneapolis church covered by a similar injunction, an undercover DHS agent entered and secretly recorded a meeting in May, Jon Collins of MPR News [link removed] reports. 

**AMEN TO BUILDING COMMUNITY** — Speaking of Minnesota houses of worship, many that responded during increased enforcement earlier this year are continuing to connect people, Mara Klecker of The Minnesota Star Tribune [link removed] reports. Some people who came to help are now attending worship services, she notes. "Almost all of them say they’re looking for community, they’re looking for a place to belong, and they found it with us," said the Rev. Chris McArdle of Anoka United Church of Christ. 

Thanks for reading, 
Dan  

**P.S.** Don’t miss the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force’s new blog post, a Q&A with Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey [link removed] of Hamilton County, Ohio.

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