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. The Afghan 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.