## Spotlight turns to children
The Department of Health and Human Services **awarded a $150 million contract to Houston-based Burke Law Group** to represent children who arrived in the United States without a parent or guardian. The small firm has ties to the Trump administration and little immigration-law experience, the Associated Press reported. Legal-aid groups that have long represented these children warned that disruption in representation could leave them more exposed to deportation. [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/migrant-children-deport-unaccompanied-8c8c5b7929f25c410e83d8b1112c5f09)
**A federal complaint alleges the administration is accelerating the removal of unaccompanied children** even when their claims for protection remain pending. The lawsuit, filed for a Pittsburgh service organization and six children, says procedural changes are being used to repatriate children to places where they escaped danger or harm. Those claims have not yet been adjudicated. [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/05/trump-immigration-children-deportation-push), [filed complaint](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535157-petitioners-vs-doh/) *(July 29)*
## Court removes stay on ending Temporary Protected Status, but allows lawsuit to move forward
**An Aug. 5 order confirmed that the district court's earlier injunction against ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians was no longer in effect.** U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes acted after the Supreme Court's June ruling and an Aug. 4 appellate mandate. But the underlying lawsuit continues: Reyes denied the government's request to halt discovery and ordered the parties to propose a new schedule. [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/politics/haiti-temporary-deportation-protections-tps-no-longer-in-place), [Bloomberg Law](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/dc-judge-confirms-order-blocking-haiti-tps-termination-now-void-29), [federal court order](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214.144.0_1.pdf)
## States and localities clash with Washington
**Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed the PROTECT Act,** limiting local cooperation with immigration agencies and barring ICE from schools, hospitals, and courthouses. Supporters call it one of the nation's strongest such measures, aimed at ensuring immigrants feel safe using public services without fear of arrest. [GBH](https://wgbh.org/news/politics/2026-08-05/gov-healey-signs-protect-act-banning-ice-from-schools-hospitals), [Christian Science Monitor](https://csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0805/massachusetts-immigration-healey-protect-act)
**Federal authorities began warning elected county sheriffs they could face prosecution** for refusing immigration agents extensive access to jail inmates facing deportation. The letters mark an escalation in Washington's pressure on local officials who limit cooperation. [The New York Times](https://nytimes.com/2026/08/05/us/ice-minnesota-sheriff-prosecution.html)
**A California judge held the Department of Homeland Security in contempt** for slow-rolling an order to copy the cellphone communications of agents in last year's Los Angeles sweeps. The judge imposed a $500-per-day fine; attorneys argue the phones may hold evidence of racial profiling in the Operation At Large crackdown. [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/08/los-angeles-immigration-lawsuit-contempt)
Governments and activists are also fighting over where detention centers can be built.
**Indiana's attorney general sued Merrillville** for opposing a detention facility under a state law barring localities from restricting federal immigration enforcement. [Telemundo Chicago](https://youtube.com/watch?v=RmoQCBZm8Mk)
**Bay Area officials are weighing zoning moratoria** to block a proposed detention facility. [Telemundo 48 (Bay Area)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=9o70CUI29S8)
**The federal government agreed to buy a long-shuttered 1,600-bed private prison in Appleton, Minnesota,** for immigration detention. The Star Tribune reported the sale and its local tax implications; Minnesota Women's Press published an activist statement opposing the facility's reopening. [Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/ice-buys-empty-appleton-minn-prison-for-immigration-detention-raising-tax-questions/601875696), [Minnesota Women's Press](https://womenspress.com/commentary-indivisible-opposes-ice-detention-center-opening-in-minnesota-august-11)
## Around the system
- People held in two California immigration detention centers are **using a Spanish-language self-help packet to file their own habeas petitions** when they cannot obtain lawyers. The administration is separately trying to restrict that route for challenging detention. [EL PAÍS English](https://english.elpais.com/usa/2026-08-04/how-migrants-are-fighting-alone-to-leave-ice-centers-using-a-legal-remedy-trump-seeks-to-eliminate.html), [Immigrant Defenders Law Center's English and Spanish habeas guides](https://www.immdef.org/notalone)
- **Reports and activist networks point to increased ICE activity in New York City,** but neither federal nor city officials confirmed a coordinated citywide surge. Documented found that the lack of official federal data left the scale of recent activity and arrests unclear. [Documented](https://documentedny.com/2026/08/05/ice-surge-nyc-sightings-arrests-new-york-new-jersey/)
- **A federal judge temporarily blocked Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita** from enforcing a broad civil investigative demand against Exodus Refugee Immigration. The Aug. 5 order found Exodus had shown a strong likelihood of success in its retaliation case. [ACLU of Indiana](https://www.aclu-in.org/press-releases/federal-court-blocks-attorney-general-rokitas-retaliatory-attack-on-exodus-refugee-immigration/), [federal court order](https://www.aclu-in.org/app/uploads/2026/08/Exodus-PI-decision.pdf)
- **The Trump administration is using its control over immigration courts** to fire judges and press the system toward faster deportations and more asylum denials, former judges told Borderless. Immigration judges are Justice Department employees rather than members of an independent judiciary. [Borderless Magazine](https://borderlessmag.org/2026/08/04/immigration-judges-president-donald-trump-reshaped-court-system/)
## In case you missed it
**The federal-local enforcement network continues to expand.** More than a quarter of all 287(g) agreements were signed since April, according to a [Recovered Factory analysis](https://recoveredfactory.net/en/287g-network-expansion).
Expansion of the 287(g) network. Use it for free.