Tuesday, September 27
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THE FORUM DAILY

Regarding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R) transport of migrants to
Martha's Vineyard, interviews, court documents and state records
"paint a picture of a carefully orchestrated, taxpayer-funded operation
with little apparent concern for the interests of the migrants caught in
the middle," report Beth Reinhard, Maria Sacchetti and Molly
Hennessy-Fiske of The Washington Post
. 

Florida officials began researching Texas's migrant stations weeks
before the flights, and a contractor linked to the DeSantis
administration helped coordinate efforts, they report.  

Some migrants say they were misled into signing documents for the
travel. "I don't like the way they treated us," said Jose, 27, who had
fled from gangs in Venezuela. "We're human beings." 

The details in this story are worth a click-through. And don't miss
our own FAQ on states' transport of migrants
. 

Elsewhere in The Washington Post
,
Tim Craig and María Luisa Paúl report on how the current politicking
is affecting immigrant populations in Florida, long a place of safety
for migrants seeking one. 

And in an op-ed in The Guardian
,
Deepak Bhargava and Rich Stolz of the Roosevelt institute make the point
that better legal-immigration options would deter migrants from making
dangerous journeys that end with "scenes of disorder" at the border -
and avert political grandstanding. Plus, they argue, the U.S. needs more
immigrants, not fewer - an argument that we also have been making
.  

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of The Forum Daily.  I'm Dan
Gordon, the Forum's strategic communications VP. If you have a story
to share from your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected] .  

**UNACCOMPANIED MINORS** - Two government employees experienced
retaliation for raising concerns last year about the treatment of
unaccompanied migrant children at the Fort Bliss, Texas, emergency
shelter, Ted Hesson reports for Reuters
.
The alleged acts of retaliation, including demotion and removal from
assignments, likely prompted "a broader 'whistleblower chilling' ...
effectively scaring staff into withholding any complaints or reports of
wrongdoing," according to a Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) inspector general's
report
out today. In testimonials filed in court last year, children at
shelters including Fort Bliss described "crowded living conditions,
spoiled food, lack of clean clothes and struggles with depression." HHS
said it agrees with the report's recommendations, "including ensuring
that employees and contractors are aware of whistleblower
protections." 

**REFUGEES' CONTRIBUTIONS** - We should hear soon about the refugee
cap for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins Saturday. But the cap is
merely symbolic if the U.S. doesn't "rebuild and restore" our
resettlement infrastructure, evangelical leaders wrote in a letter they
sent Friday

to President Biden and Congress. Meanwhile, in a new study

in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Michael Clemens of the Center
for Global Development estimates that recent restrictive refugee
admission policies have cost the U.S. economy $9.1 billion per year,
reports Zoe Han of MarketWatch
.
"Beyond claiming a need for protection, refugees and asylum seekers are
economic actors. All are consumers, most are (or become) workers, and
many are (or become) investors,"  Clemens explained on Twitter
.
He found that each refugee omitted from today's economy reduces
ongoing gross domestic product by at least $30,962 per year.   

**'GIVE AND RECEIVE LOVE'** - Sunday's World Day of Migrants and
Refugees marked the last day of National Migration Week. "Along with the
commandment to love asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, we must also
recognize how showing compassion and hospitality to these image-bearers
blesses and nourishes our own souls," Lora Kim Kwan of World Relief
writes in Christianity Today
.
"In other words, their presence in our lives benefits us as Christians
by expanding our capacity to give and receive love." And Carol Glatz of
Catholic News Service

reports that Pope Francis, marking the day, said, "Let us renew our
commitment to building the future in accordance with God's plan ... in
which migrants, refugees, displaced persons and the victims of human
trafficking may live in peace and with dignity."  

**DOCUMENTED DREAMERS** - For documented Dreamers who depend on a
parent's visa to stay in the country, Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) isn't an option, Sara Pequeño writes in a column for
The News & Observer
. Such is
the case for Julie Gras-Najjar and her twin sister, Adèle, who upon
turning 21 were forced to leave North Carolina for Canada - a country
they left when they were just infants. While Julie was able to secure
her green card through marriage, Adèle is still stuck in Canada. "The
struggle facing these 'documented Dreamers' is an indictment of the
process we use to keep others out," explains Pequeño. "... The
dysfunction becomes a feature, not a bug, as a way to minimize the
number of immigrants coming into the U.S." Read more from the Council on
National Security and Immigration on why Congress should protect
documented Dreamers
. 

**AFGHAN FAMILY REUNITED** - Two Afghan siblings who made it to the
U.S. last year have finally reunited with their father and brother in
D.C. - after being separated by the August 2021 bombing outside the
Kabul airport, which killed their mother, reports Antonio Olivo of The
Washington Post
.
"I can't believe you are here," 8-year-old Mina Stanekzai said to her
older brother at Dulles Airport. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John
Bradley worked tirelessly to ensure the reunion took place. Thousands of
Afghan families remain separated. TheAfghan Adjustment Act
would
expand pathways to protect Afghan allies already in the U.S. and those
at risk in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, for The Banner

- the magazine of the Christian Reformed Church - Christina Ray
Stanton, co-founder of Loving All Nations
, speaks to how Afghan evacuees helped
recenter her faith and fall in love with her hometown of Tallahassee,
Florida.  

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

**P.S.** On Monday, the Biden administration announced it is expanding
and extending Temporary Protected Status

to May 2024 for several thousand people from Myanmar already in the
U.S., reports Trisha Ahmed of the Associated Press
. 

 

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