National Immigration Forum

10/20/2026

Bri Stensrud leads Women of Welcome, a shared project between The Forum and World Relief. They are a community of Christian women who talk about immigration through the lens of their faith.

When they walk into a congressional office, they start the same way. They tell lawmakers they’re deeply Christian, deeply patriotic, and they love this country. They also want it to do better.

“We want the nation to love people better so we can have safe and secure borders. We can also have the humane treatment of people.”

Bri says those two goals can exist together. Her group follows Christ into welcome, and they ask our leaders to do the same.

If you sat across from your member of Congress tomorrow, what would you say first?

10/20/2026

ICE held a U.S. citizen after a phone app linked him to someone else’s immigration record. He was let go only after agents checked further.

The app is called Mobile Fortify. Court filings show agents used it more than 100,000 times in its first six months.

People can’t say no to the scan. And CBP can keep those photos for up to 15 years, even when the match is wrong.

DHS’s own rules say a match is a lead, not proof. That sounds great, but in one Oregon case, two photos of the same woman pulled up two different names. The agent said the app didn’t actually show how sure it was.

We support tools that help identify real threats faster, but in addition to the cases of mistaken identity, currently there is no federal limit on how long these photos are kept and who else gets to see them. Right now, the agencies using the tools mostly set their own rules.

Clear limits protect everyone, citizens included. Our new paper explains how these systems work and where the gaps are.

A PDF of this resource is available here. Introduction  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasingly relying upon an extensive biometric data[1] and artificial intelligence (AI)[2] infrastructure in conducting operations. What began as a modest set of legacy identification tools h...

10/19/2026

Refugees now get 10 days to fight for their status. Two weeks ago, they got 30.
The rule took effect last Wednesday, the same day it was issued. Up to 186,000 refugees could fall under it. Ten days isn’t much time to find a lawyer, track down records, and get documents translated.

It wasn’t the only change last week:

📌 432,000 work permit renewals have been stuck for 6+ months, and workers whose permits run out while they wait now have to stop working.
📌 A federal judge ordered the return of a man deported to a country he’d never lived in.
📌 DHS turned down a watchdog’s call for ICE body cameras that turn on by themselves.
📌 Advocates say at least 100 people were detained in three days in California’s farm towns.
📌 The family of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, has sued.
📌 A court brought back the Diversity Visa lottery.

Public comments on the refugee rule are open through Nov. 13.

Which of these did you not know about?

10/16/2026

Helena Coric runs our Citizenship Advance program. Her work helps green card holders become U.S. citizens, right where they work.

A lot of workers qualify for citizenship and never apply. The reasons are often practical. The process costs a lot. Many people can’t get legal help. The paperwork has rules that are easy to miss. For some, English or online forms get in the way.

Citizenship Advance partners with employers and business groups to bring education and legal services to the worksite. As Helena puts it, the process is “confidential, it’s accessible, and it’s really convenient for the workers.”

Workers get a clear path to citizenship. Employers get a steadier team.

Want this for your workplace? Learn more at https://forumtogether.org/article/citizenship-assistance/

10/15/2026

Humanitarian parole keeps coming up in the news. Here’s what it actually is.

It’s temporary permission for certain people outside the U.S. to come here for an urgent humanitarian reason or a major public benefit. The government decides each case on its own.

Parole lets someone in. It doesn’t give them permanent status.

That’s one of eight terms in part three of our plain-English immigration glossary. This set also covers green cards, work permits, Form I-94, E-Verify, immigration judges, and the difference between an emigrant and an immigrant.

See the full set on our Instagram, or get the free PDF here: https://forumtogether.org/article/glossary-of-key-immigration-terms/

What immigration term should we explain next?

10/13/2026

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is a Republican. He’s also been one of the clearest voices saying Haitians in his state should be allowed to stay.

DeWine has said Haitians came to Springfield for jobs that were sitting empty, and that they helped the city come back. Now the administration has ended their Temporary Protected Status. Their work permits expired July 27.

So where do they go? Many are trying to avoid the return to Haiti, where it isn’t safe. They’re looking at Canada. And when they leave, they’ll take the skills they built here with them, in fields like health care and senior care where we’re already short on workers.

That’s a loss for Springfield. It’s a loss for Florida, which has more Haitians with TPS than any other state. And it’s a loss for every employer who counted on them.

Our President and CEO, Jennie Murray, makes the case in The Hill: Congress can fix this. The House passed a bipartisan bill in April that would restore protections for Haitians. A longer-term solution would let people who’ve built their lives here keep working here.

Read Jennie’s full op-ed:

The administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians threatens to drive skilled workers toward economic competitors like Canada, prompting calls for a bipartisan legis…

10/12/2026

Bishop Mark Seitz leads the Catholic Church in El Paso, a city on the U.S.-Mexico border. Sheriff Sean Casey runs the sheriff’s office in Alexandria, Virginia. Jenét DeCosta leads public affairs at Driscoll's, the berry company.

This Thursday, they’ll be on the same panel.

We’re excited for this mix. A sheriff sees immigration as a public safety question. A bishop sees families. A business sees the workers it can’t find. Each one is right, and adds a perspective others don’t always see.

Our President and CEO, Jennie Murray, and Jeff Wasden of State Business Executives round out the panel.

📅 Thursday, Oct. 15
🕒 3–4 p.m. ET
👉 Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jwrZ1755R2atg0qKG2tpuQ #/

What would you ask a sheriff about immigration? Tell us in the comments.

10/12/2026

Federal agents detained at least 506 U.S. citizens in under two years, according to a ProPublica investigation. More than 300 were accused of assaulting or blocking agents. Fewer than half faced federal charges.

Here’s what else is happening in immigration news:

- A government watchdog found ICE wasted millions on detention projects that never opened. That includes $2.85 million in tents at Guantánamo Bay that went unused.

- HHS created its own team of government lawyers to represent migrant children in court. Advocates worry those lawyers will be arguing against other government lawyers who are trying to deport the same kids.

- DHS proposed a $70,000 fee tied to work training for international students. The public has 30 days to comment.

- And a federal judge let Virginia keep in-state tuition for students who went to high school there, whatever their immigration status.

Which of these surprised you most? Tell us in the comments.

10/09/2026

Amin spent ten years being careful.

"Over the last ten years, I worked very hard to not get in trouble and followed the rules in America, so that I could earn it. I cared for my life and future and was determined to stay positive and do my best."

He came from Sierra Leone at 14. Citizenship, to him, was something you earn by how you live. He waited, worked, and went for it.

Efrain, from Colombia, describes the other side of it: what you get once you cross the citizenship line: security. "No matter what administration is in office, his rights will not be stripped." A voice in elections. The ability to apply for jobs that were closed to him before.

Between the two of them, you see the whole shape of a citizenship journey. Years of doing things right, and then the solid ground that comes after.

Citizenship Advance helps people through that last stretch.

Citizenship Advance works with businesses to assist their eligible employees with the citizenship process through the worksite, so they can become full participants in their community and our economy. Citizenship Advance facilitates assistance with the naturalization process for eligible employees.....

10/09/2026

125,282 DACA renewals are stuck waiting for a decision. That's the highest number ever recorded.

At this point last year, the line was about 27,000.

DACA has to be renewed every two years. It's what lets these young adults work legally and stay protected from deportation. When a renewal sits too long, that protection lapses. They can't clock in to work. They can be detained.

And renewals are sitting for a long time. In 2025, the average wait was about 15 days. Early this year, it was around 70. Now 1 in 5 recipients is waiting more than seven months, on average.

You can see it in the count. At the end of 2024, there were 533,280 DACA recipients. By June 30 of this year, there were 436,350. That's nearly 100,000 fewer in 18 months.

These are people who came here as kids and have lived here for at least 19 years. The average recipient is 32. They're workers, business owners, and our neighbors.

DACA was never built to last. Only Congress can give Dreamers a permanent answer.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program created on June 15, 2012 that protects certain Dreamers from deportation and provides them with work authorization. DACA does not provide permanent legal status – it is a lawful presence status that must be renewed every two years. DACA fa...