September 2026

Certain longtime U.S. residents facing detention can seek a bond hearing. In Buele Morocho v. Warden Philadelphia FDC, the Third Circuit affirmed release orders for Gabriel Antonio Buele Morocho and Wanderson Lopes De Andrade, holding that their detention without bond hearings violated the Immigration and Nationality Act—the federal law that governs admission to and removal from the United States—and due process. The ruling means that, for people in their position, ICE cannot make detention automatic under its expanded reading of the law: an immigration judge must be able to assess public-safety risk and the likelihood of appearing for future proceedings. Third Circuit decision, Politico, La Nación

Where someone entered the United States does not by itself bar an asylum application. In Garcia Morales v. Blanche, the Ninth Circuit granted review for a Guatemalan family and held the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule inconsistent with the asylum statute. The ruling says people who have arrived in the country may apply regardless of whether they entered at a designated port of entry; it sent the family’s remaining asylum claims back to the immigration agency. Ninth Circuit decision, San Francisco Chronicle

Stanford student journalists win speech-based visa challenge

Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation and an anonymous F-1 student challenged immigration provisions they said chilled reporting and participation. In Stanford Daily Publishing Corp. v. Rubio, the newspaper said visa cancellation and deportation threats tied to noncitizens’ speech affected its international student journalists; the plaintiffs prevailed on six of eight claims. Court decision, Stanford Daily, SFGATE

Judge Noël Wise found the challenged provisions unconstitutional when used against protected speech. Her August 28 decision held that their application violated the First and Fifth Amendments and granted declaratory relief, but did not permanently block the provisions. Reuters, Al Jazeera

Indiana ICE detention site faces protests and conditions scrutiny

Indiana’s two-year agreement with ICE allows Miami Correctional Facility in Peru, Indiana, to hold up to 1,000 men; the first arrivals came last October. More than 60 events protested the arrangement over the weekend. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana recently filed federal suits for detainee Andranik Grigoryan, naming the Indiana Department of Correction and Centurion Health of Indiana and alleging inadequate medical care and unreasonable force; DHS disputes those claims, arguing that they have not been legally verified. Axios, WFYI

ICE maintains contracts for vehicle-forensics and location-tracking tools

Homeland Security Investigations appears to be actively maintaining vehicle-forensics and location-tracking capabilities through two relatively small contracts. Biometric Update reported that Berla iVe can recover navigation histories, GPS logs, and data left by phones connected to a vehicle’s infotainment system after lawful access, while HSI posted a separate sole-source notice involving Ensurity Mobile Corp. covert GPS trackers. ICE reportedly paid Berla about $130,000 in 2025 and spent $311,250 on Ensurity equipment, including 325 trackers; the new notice is not confirmation of an awarded contract. We’ll keep digging into the companies and underlying records. Biometric Update

Around the system

• Third-country removals: Reports describe U.S. deportations to countries where deported people may have no connection, including Liberia and the Central African Republic; the accounts include people with protections against return to their home countries and an Afghan whose relatives assisted the U.S. military. New York Times, AP News

• Visa processing pause: We noted last week that consulate immigrant-visa processing had been paused. The State Department has said the suspension of interview appointments is an operational pause, not a denial of pending applications, though delays can create problems such as expiring medical exams and children aging out of eligibility. La Nación

• Naturalization screening: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has added a policy allowing discretionary personal or neighborhood investigations; they are not automatic for citizenship applicants, but may draw on information from neighbors, employers, or others who know the applicant. Li Law Group, El Comercio

• Local enforcement partnerships: Under Tulsa County’s 287(g) Task Force Model agreement, certified local officers can question and make warrantless immigration arrests of people they suspect are unlawfully present; the sheriff said certified deputies are not assigned to patrol and patrol deputies will not be certified. Journal Record, 287(g) Watch

• Private-data tracking: Spanish-language reports describe Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts with companies that use public records, commercial databases, and online information to locate people, including possible in-person checks of addresses or workplaces. Univision, MundoNow

The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against 21 states to block tuition policies for undocumented students. The latest suits target Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, where some undocumented students who attended and finished high school locally can pay the resident rate at public colleges. In Arizona, Proposition 308 was narrowly approved by voters in 2022 and makes qualifying high-school graduates eligible regardless of immigration status; the DOJ argues that policy unlawfully favors them over out-of-state U.S. citizens. CALÓ News / Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting

The practical question is whether a student’s connection to a state’s schools matters more than their ability to pay an out-of-state price. Across the four states, eligibility generally turns on graduating from an in-state high school and meeting local attendance requirements, rather than immigration status alone. At the University of Washington, the federal complaint puts 2026–27 undergraduate tuition at $13,406 for residents and $44,460 for nonresidents. A federal victory would not merely change a tuition category: it would move access away from a record of growing up and graduating in a state and toward whether a family can absorb the nonresident bill. EL PAÍS

A man died in ICE custody in the Northern Mariana Islands

Lianyong Wei, a 51-year-old Chinese immigrant, was found unresponsive during a morning check at a Saipan detention facility less than a day after ICE took him into custody. NPR reports that he was pronounced dead on Aug. 23, after being transferred from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Safety to ICE custody the day before. The report counts Wei as the 57th person to die while held in the government’s immigration custody since the start of the second Trump administration, including 24 deaths since Jan. 1. NPR

The territory’s two relevant agencies both have formal 287(g) agreements with ICE. The Department of Public Safety has a Task Force Model agreement, while the Department of Corrections, which operates the Saipan facility, has a Jail Enforcement Model agreement. Those agreements establish ICE-local enforcement partnerships; they do not explain the circumstances or cause of Wei’s death. CNMI Department of Public Safety — 287(g) Watch, CNMI Department of Corrections — 287(g) Watch

A court found the H-2A wage cut unlawful — but the lower rates remain for now

A federal judge found key parts of the Labor Department’s new H-2A wage formula unlawful, including its treatment of employer-provided housing as a deduction from the pay of temporary agricultural workers. Judge Kirk E. Sherriff concluded the department acted arbitrarily and bypassed required public comment on much of the change. He left the lower wage rates in place temporarily rather than leave the program without federal wage floors, but required notice that qualifying H-2A workers and U.S. workers in corresponding jobs may later be owed adjustments. The Mendocino Voice

In Kentucky, bond hearings did not reliably lead to release

A Sixth Circuit ruling in May gave many people held by ICE in Kentucky a path to bond hearings; a new local review shows that a hearing often did not mean release. Louisville Public Media and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting reviewed more than 400 habeas petitions and identified 178 post-ruling orders for release or a bond hearing. Of 95 people whose bond-hearing decisions were located, immigration judges denied bond in about 80%; 18 received bond, while 76 people in the broader group were released. The follow-up is a useful reminder that a procedural right and the practical ability to leave ICE custody are separate questions. Louisville Public Media / Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting

Around the system

Vermont prisons agree to improve services for people held for ICE: The Vermont Department of Corrections settled a discrimination complaint brought by the Vermont Human Rights Commission, agreeing to language interpretation and regular access to immigration lawyers and court hearings. The agreement includes no monetary payment. VTDigger

All three witnesses to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s death are out of ICE custody: Víctor Salgado Araujo, Lorenzo’s brother and the last of the three men detained after the July 7 Houston shooting, was released after 54 days. Harris County prosecutors have said they are preparing sworn witness testimony for a grand jury and may seek more information from DHS; reporting has also underscored that the ICE agents involved did not wear body cameras. Click2Houston, The Texas Tribune

California sent two ICE-related bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom: One would impose a 25% annual tax on the gross income of private detention-center operators, with revenue dedicated to immigration services; the other would bar law-enforcement officers from using electric-shock gloves. The detention-center measure comes as federal officials seek to develop a new facility in Gilroy, California. The Mercury News

A Louisville detective is under a second investigation involving the city’s Flock camera network: Louisville Metro Police opened an internal inquiry into Det. Wesley Troutman’s reported search for a department vehicle. Earlier this year, the department disciplined Troutman after investigators found that he had shared his Flock credentials with a federal agent who made unauthorized immigration-related searches. Louisville Public Media / Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting

ICE is considering up to $2 million in robot dogs made in Massachusetts: A DHS procurement document describes Boston Dynamics’ Spot robots as tools for remote inspection, situational awareness and risk assessment in environments that could endanger personnel. The Spanish-language local report notes that Boston Dynamics is based in Waltham, Massachusetts, and that its policy bars weaponization of Spot. El Planeta

A federal judge has again blocked the administration’s effort to narrow birthright citizenship. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, issued a preliminary injunction protecting a certified class while the case proceeds. The class covers U.S.-born children who would lose citizenship under the order because their parents lack citizenship or permanent legal status; the administration can appeal while the underlying case proceeds. The August 7 Immigration Daybook tracked the executive order that set up this next round of litigation. NBC News, CNN en Español

In Miami, immigration court is turning into a mass calendar

Miami Immigration Court has begun using mega-master calendars, putting more than 100 people on a judge’s docket at once. Hearings have been moved up from as late as 2027, while in-absentia removal orders rose from 1,383 in May to 2,886 in July. Austin Kocher’s explainer describes the broader practice of packing well over 100 cases into a single hearing, sometimes on short notice. NPR

A U.S. citizen is back in Texas after being deported

Brian José Morales García is back in Texas after federal lawyers reached an agreement with his counsel following his deportation to Mexico. Morales García says he was born in Denver; his civil-rights lawsuit continues. His case comes as Texas rapidly expands local ICE enforcement: hundreds of agencies now have ICE partnerships, including task-force agreements that let local officers question people about immigration status during ordinary policing. A state law will require most county sheriffs to enter at least one ICE partnership by Dec. 1. The Texas Tribune

Minnesota schools absorb the fallout from Operation Metro Surge

Minnesota schools have lost at least 1,700 students after Operation Metro Surge. Families have kept children home or left their districts amid immigration arrests. The departures leave districts with fewer students and less state funding, making the enforcement surge an immediate pressure point for school budgets and classrooms. MPR News / Sahan Journal

DHS announced 121 arrests at a Memphis nightclub

DHS says ICE arrested 121 people at El Corralón nightclub in Memphis, Tennessee. WPLN described the overnight operation as the city’s largest raid, according to immigrant-rights advocates. DHS highlighted alleged offenses for selected people, but its public account supplied individualized charges or convictions for only five. WPLN, Tennessee Lookout, La Prensa Latina

Four days before the raid, a Shelby County judge authorized a state search warrant for alleged illegal gambling at the venue, including machines, cash and records. The warrant did not mention immigration or authorize immigration arrests. Public videos capture the scene and its aftermath. Memphis Noticias, SubX News video, La Prensa Latina video

Around the system

China wants answers after the death of Lianyong Wei in ICE custody in the Northern Mariana Islands. Its Los Angeles consulate called for a timely investigation, notice of the findings, preventive steps and help for Wei’s family. Wei, a Chinese national, died hours after entering ICE custody; the agency announced his death more than a week later. PBS NewsHour / AP

June brought the highest asylum-denial rate TRAC has recorded. Immigration courts denied 94% of asylum cases that month, while 5.5% were granted; more than 14,000 cases were decided. TRAC cautions that case mix, legal representation and nationality can affect the rates. AZFamily

The Justice Department says states risk future federal funding if they do not report people it considers unlawfully present to DHS. A new Office of Legal Counsel opinion extends the requirement beyond state agencies administering TANF and SSI to all state agencies; reporting says the implementation is unclear and litigation is likely. CNN en Español

Connecticut police emails show ICE regularly sought information from some local departments about dozens of people accused of crimes. The requests included people charged with serious offenses as well as shoplifting and other low-level violations; in some cases, charges had been dropped. The records also show uneven reporting under Connecticut’s Trust Act. Connecticut Public

A Honduran man in North Carolina received a DHS demand for more than $1 million in civil fines tied to a removal order he says he never knew about. Tito Sabillón is pursuing legal residence through his U.S.-citizen wife, but the letter gave him 15 days to appeal with no extension. The administration has revived the fines to pressure people with final removal orders to leave the country. WUNC

Immigration officers detained 17-year-old Gainesville, Florida, student-athlete Sebastian Jimenez Peroza and his family two days before school began. Within a week, the four relatives had been separated among three detention facilities in two states, prompting an outcry from his football team and school community. WUFT

Correction: The Sept. 1 edition cited the Indiana Citizen for a story about protests in Indiana. The Indiana Citizen did not originate the story; it republished reporting by WFYI, a public television station.

Florida has spent $1.4 billion in emergency relief funds on immigration enforcement and is now asking lawmakers for another $250 million in budget authority. The new request lands with hurricane season underway, after emergency-management money has already been directed to immigration enforcement. Miami Herald

The $250 million request includes $187.84 million for immigration efforts and $62.16 million for public assistance. The Division of Emergency Management says it has used 68% of its annual allocation just three months into the budget year and needs authority to pay pending bills. Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican on the Legislative Budget Commission, said he wanted answers from emergency-management officials before deciding whether to support the request. He called the total “a sporty amount.” Orlando Sentinel

ICE agent indicted over Minneapolis shooting

A federal indictment accuses ICE officer Christian Castro of lying to investigators about the January shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown. Prosecutors had initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an officer, but dropped those charges after video evidence raised questions about the officers’ account of the encounter. Politico, El País

Castro turned himself in to federal authorities Thursday and separately faces Minnesota charges of assault and false reporting in connection with the shooting. The federal charges were still sealed, according to the Associated Press; Castro is the first federal immigration officer prosecuted in connection with Operation Metro Surge. Associated Press

A federal judge can decide how long detention lasts

People challenging ICE detention in federal court face sharply different timelines depending on where their cases land. ProPublica reviewed more than 70,000 habeas cases filed since January 2025 and found that resolved cases in Mississippi’s Southern District had a median closure time of 92 days; in Louisiana, it was 89. In Minnesota, the median was 12 days. Some people were deported before a ruling, while others asked to be deported rather than wait in custody. ProPublica

A habeas petition is a separate request asking a federal judge whether the government has legal authority to keep someone in custody. It does not decide the underlying immigration case or guarantee release, but it forces the government to defend the detention in court. Brennan Center, American Immigration Council

Around the system

Delaware enacted new limits on civil-immigration enforcement by state and local authorities. The three laws bar civil arrests at specified state locations without a judicial order or advance notice; limit activity at schools, hospitals and houses of worship; and restrict detention based solely on an immigration detainer or civil warrant, with stated exceptions. The laws took effect immediately. CoastTV

A Chicago Public Schools custodian returned home after 42 days in ICE custody. Josue Pire-Hidalgo was detained at a routine immigration hearing and reunited with his family after his release; his attorney says he has TPS and a pending asylum application. ABC7 Chicago

School trustees in Santa Clara County, California, are opposing a proposed ICE facility outside Gilroy. More than 50 trustees from 27 districts signed a letter against it, construction is halted, and a court hearing is scheduled for September 8. San José Spotlight

An advocacy coalition reported 56 complaints from 49 people held at Aurora, Colorado’s GEO-operated ICE facility. The report alleges medical neglect, staff misconduct and poor food; GEO and DHS officials were not immediately available for comment. Sentinel Colorado

Florida’s Board of Governors approved a university-admissions rule that Telemundo 51 reports would bar people in the country unlawfully from enrolling in public universities. The vote was unanimous and without debate, despite opposition from students, faculty and education unions. Telemundo 51

USCIS will reject two current forms starting September 15—even if they were completed beforehand. The cutoff covers Form I-539, used by eligible people seeking to extend or change nonimmigrant status, and Form I-765, the work-permit application. For a paper filing, the postmark controls; for an online filing, it is the submission date. Preview copies of the new forms are already online, but USCIS says they cannot be filed before September 15. Only the 09/15/26 editions will be accepted on or after that date. USCIS alert, Arias Villa Law explainer

Three days later, Form I-485 changes too. Beginning September 18, USCIS will accept only the 09/18/26 adjustment-of-status form and reject the two older editions. USCIS: Form I-485

For deported people in Liberia, uncertainty begins after the flight

People put on an August 19 ICE charter to Liberia say they learned their destination only hours before departure, then spent more than a week in a hotel outside Monrovia unsure what would happen next. El País reported that they can leave the hotel, but interviewees said they feared going far; none wanted to remain in Liberia, and six people who refused to disembark were later sent to Equatorial Guinea. El País

A report on removals to Mexico finds that people without family, money or support networks can be bused on to unfamiliar cities after the United States sends them there. It says the United States has sent more than 18,000 third-country nationals to Mexico since January 2025, with many removals taking place through Nogales, Sonora. Conexión Migrante, Desterrados al sur report

California moves to open a window into private detention centers

California lawmakers sent a detention-center transparency bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom. SB 423 would require local agencies to release requested 911-call audio and written emergency records from privately run facilities. It allows withholding only when disclosure would substantially interfere with an active investigation, and requires names to be redacted. The measure followed reporting on alleged sexual assaults at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. LAist / CalMatters

One year after ICE detained 475 workers at a Georgia Hyundai site, a worker files an FTCA claim

The September 2025 ICE raid at Hyundai’s electric-vehicle plant construction site in Ellabell, Georgia, detained about 475 workers. Now Alfredo Fajardo Melgarejo, one of those workers, has filed an administrative Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claim alleging excessive force, detention without probable cause and misconduct despite his valid work authorization; ICE has not publicly answered the allegations. Separately, DOJ told local station WTOC that no charges have been filed against the companies that hired workers in the raid. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, WTOC

Around the system

USCIS has restored voter-registration help at naturalization ceremonies as its current Policy Manual guidance. The U.S. District Court in Maryland stayed USCIS’s 2025 restriction in League of Women Voters v. USCIS and ordered the agency to return to its 2017 guidance while the case proceeds. Qualifying nonprofit, nonpartisan groups may distribute, review, collect and help complete registration forms after ceremonies, subject to advance written requests and privacy safeguards. USCIS Policy Alert

Santa Fe, New Mexico, will consider local immigrant-protection measures after recent ICE arrests. The proposals cannot bar federal operations, but could limit use of city property and resources. Santa Fe New Mexican

A federal judge dismissed DOJ’s challenge to New Jersey’s limits on ICE use of nonpublic state property. The ruling leaves the state free to withhold its facilities from civil-immigration operations absent a judicial warrant or order. Gothamist

Two former guards at Florida’s closed Alligator Alcatraz detention center face assault charges over an alleged attack on a Cuban man held there. Both have pleaded not guilty. Univision

DHS has told ICE’s in-house lawyers to seek early denials of asylum claims they deem legally insufficient. The immediate directive tells Office of the Principal Legal Advisor lawyers to file “motions to pretermit”: requests that an immigration judge deny asylum without a full merits hearing if, even taking the application’s alleged facts as true, they would not meet the legal standard. It is an internal litigation instruction—not a proposed rule—and ICE cannot deny a claim on its own; the judge decides after the person can respond. Univision

Border Patrol teams are analyzing Americans’ financial activity and other data, then passing intelligence to local police who make traffic stops, 404 Media reports. The outlet identified the teams as Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams, or PITT, in Border Patrol’s Spokane and Laredo sectors, and reported that they draw on law-enforcement-sensitive systems to develop leads for local officers. CBP would not say what financial activity it monitors, how it obtains the data or how widely the teams operate. 404 Media

Indiana State Police is seeking about $30 million in Justice Department funding for investigative technology including covert cameras, vehicle-identification tools and cell-phone-location systems. The agency says it would not change its immigration work if it wins the grant, but its application describes existing detainments, ICE operations and intelligence referrals through the 287(g) program. 287(g) Watch lists State Police among Indiana’s participating agencies. Indianapolis Star, Justice Department grant notice

Salvadoran TPS reaches its printed end date

September 9 is the printed end date for the current Salvadoran TPS extension, not a turn-the-clock-off date. DHS had to review the designation at least 60 days earlier; a termination would require public notice and could not take effect less than 60 days after publication. If DHS did not make the required negative determination, TPS continues automatically for six months. As of Wednesday morning, no notice extending or terminating the designation appears in the Federal Register. Federal Register, Univision

That uncertainty has immediate stakes for people who have built lives under TPS. The Marshall Project reports from Marshall, Missouri, where Salvadoran workers at a Cargill plant are weighing what their status could mean for jobs, homes and families. The Marshall Project

Appeals court leaves IRS–ICE data-sharing block in place

A federal appeals court left in place a preliminary order blocking an IRS procedure used to provide taxpayer information to ICE. The D.C. Circuit said the procedure violated Section 6103’s confidentiality rules; more than 47,000 taxpayer records had already been disclosed. The ruling is preliminary, not a final decision on the merits. D.C. Circuit opinion, Courthouse News, Newsweek

Judge signals possible action on student-status rule

A judge in Massachusetts signaled that he may act before September 15 on DHS’s rule ending duration of status for F-1 students, certain J exchange visitors and I media representatives. Duration of status is the open-ended admission period that lets them remain if they comply with their program terms. Under the rule, admission would carry a fixed end date; anyone needing more time could have to seek an extension or status change. The rule has not been blocked. The PIE News, Federal Register

Around the system

California labor officials are receiving more reports that employers used or threatened to use ICE to deter complaints about wages, safety, harassment and other workplace conditions. Nearly 200 immigration-related complaints have reached the state since 2025, KQED reports; a bill headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom would explicitly include preemptive threats. KQED, Assembly Bill 2495

State College Regional Airport in Pennsylvania handled 107 ICE Air flights through July, up from two in all of 2025. The airport is about 40 minutes from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center; Penn State and aviation experts told Spotlight PA that an airport receiving federal funds has little legal room to refuse charter traffic except for safety reasons. Spotlight PA

A University of Illinois Chicago report estimates that immigration enforcement has left $1.26 billion unspent in Cook County, Illinois. The analysis points to reduced activity in retail and restaurants, along with lower tax revenue, as people stay home and businesses lose customers. University of Illinois Chicago, Block Club Chicago, CBS Chicago

Alachua County, Florida, has adopted a resolution opposing ICE operations and urging federal officers to identify themselves and explain their purpose. The measure does not bar federal action, and Gainesville’s city commission has delayed considering a parallel resolution. The Independent Florida Alligator

ICE has placed a lawful permanent resident and former U.S. military interpreter from Afghanistan into removal proceedings on terrorism-related allegations. The man and his family deny the allegations; ICE says he will remain in custody and receive due process. St. Louis Public Radio

USCIS says Salvadorans with TPS remain protected, including their authorization to work. But the online assurance is not itself the formal action that extends or ends TPS. The agency says another announcement will come “at the appropriate time.” That is the federal government’s current instruction, not a published extension or termination notice. USCIS, CNN, Truthout. What is TPS? American Immigration Council

Honduras and Nicaragua offer a limited recent comparison. DHS published their termination notices on July 8, 2025—three days after the listed July 5 end date—and made the terminations effective September 8. That is not a forecast for El Salvador, and the notices do not say when the secretary made the underlying determination. But they show DHS recently announcing TPS terminations after a listed deadline, with a formal notice setting a later operative date. Honduras notice, Nicaragua notice

In a first for the newsletter, a significant cluster of publications got it wrong and said that the status was definitively expiring. But the deadline—a public-facing date with several possible legal outcomes—arrived without a formal notice or clear agency explanation. That made for a fiendishly confusing situation for reporters and readers alike. How will those publications tell their audiences what changed, and how will readers distinguish that correction from the next rumor? The unresolved question remains what DHS means by “the appropriate time”—and what formal action and document instructions will follow.

Phoenix’s “temporary” ICE holding site is drawing new scrutiny.

The Phoenix ICE District Office has 10 holding cells and is supposed to hold people no more than 12 hours. It has no beds or on-site medical services. KJZZ’s review of Phoenix Fire Department records found 11 emergency responses there from December through March, nearly all ending in Code 3 ambulance transport to a hospital. KJZZ

Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited Wednesday, after Arizona Mirror’s reporting, and said she found 29 people there. The Mirror reported average stays had climbed from roughly eight to 10 hours to about 20; Ansari said ICE officials told her a waiver of the 12-hour limit had been lifted in July. ICE disputes the Mirror’s reading of its data and says the office does not hold people longer than 12 hours. Arizona Mirror, KTAR News

A judge asks whether children are actually getting lawyers.

A federal judge is demanding more evidence that the government is maintaining legal aid for unaccompanied children facing immigration court alone. The Office of Refugee Resettlement ended its contract with a nationwide network of more than 80 legal-service groups in July and turned to USCRI, whose official said it was still ramping up. USCRI lawyers have appeared in 1,600 hearings as Friends of Court since early August, but that role can explain a proceeding or identify a child’s language; it cannot file motions or other documents for the child. The judge ordered fuller evidence later this month. KJZZ

Around the system

Hartford, Connecticut: The ACLU of Connecticut sued the immigration court over access to dockets, case records and in-absentia removal orders, arguing that the public has a First Amendment right to records used to decide individual cases. New Haven Register

Oklahoma: An analysis of Deportation Data Project records found more than 1,800 immigration-related arrests from January through July tied to local partnerships with federal immigration authorities; fewer than 20% of those arrested had a criminal conviction, according to Oklahoma Voice. Oklahoma Voice

Danville, Pennsylvania: Advocates say ICE arrested at least 49 construction workers in two operations connected to the Geisinger Medical Center expansion. The hospital said the initial law-enforcement activity did not occur on its property; ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Philadelphia Inquirer, WVIA

South Portland, Maine: City councilors voted to move a proposed ordinance limiting city-employee cooperation with federal immigration enforcement to an October workshop. It is a live local-policy discussion, not an adopted ordinance. WMTW

Minnesota: The state and the Trump administration argued over whether Minnesota’s challenge to the concluded Operation Metro Surge can continue. The federal government sought dismissal; the state said there was no commitment that the challenged tactics would not resume. Courthouse News

Gilroy, California: A federal judge is expected to rule September 15 on the proposed ICE detention facility near Gilroy after Santa Clara County raised capacity and environmental concerns. KCRA

The administration has proposed ending the up-to-60-day grace period that lets some temporary workers remain in the country after their job or qualifying activity ends. The proposal would remove the regulation that currently gives workers in H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, TN and several E visa categories a limited window after that change. It is a proposal, not a rule now in force; it proposes a 60-day comment period. Federal Register, Reuters

The local network behind rising ICE arrests

ICE’s growing reliance on state and local police has become a quieter route to a national rise in immigration arrests. The Marshall Project reports that the partnerships range from highway patrols and sheriffs’ departments to municipal police, including 287(g) agreements that authorize some local officers to take part in immigration enforcement. The Marshall Project

This week’s local reporting shows the network in several forms at once. Oklahoma Voice found that more than 1,800 people were arrested through Oklahoma’s 287(g) partnerships from January through July, with fewer than one in five having a criminal conviction; Idaho announced an agreement signed August 28 for its prison system; Pikeville police joined North Carolina’s program; and ICE said a multiagency Southwest Florida operation made 500 arrests in late August. KGOU / Oklahoma Voice, Bonners Ferry Herald, Enlace Latino NC, ICE, Conexión Migrante

The 287(g) roster provides one view of how that network is expanding. State-level agencies were early adopters; county agencies have joined at a relatively steady rate; and municipal police departments now make up the long tail. The accompanying graphic counts each agency once, in its earliest observed signing month, rather than counting each agreement type as a new agency.

The size of the agencies signing up has declined over time. We call this the "long tail" of immigration enforcement. These agencies are unlikely to contribute many arrests, but mean the program is omnipresent in states like Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania. (Not all agencies can be joined with a personnel figure because some tiny agencies don't appear in the FBI's census of law enforcement employment, meaning this is likely to be slightly inflated.)

The dominant agreement form in the expansion is the Task Force Model. Unlike the jail-only and warrant-service forms, it allows participating officers to use immigration authority in the field during ordinary police work. The roster does not establish how often that authority is used in any individual department; it identifies agencies positioned to use it.

Around the system

• A lawsuit challenges last year’s ICE raid at a snack-food factory in Cato, New York. Associated Press reporting based on body-camera footage shows federal agents making 57 arrests at Nutrition Bar Confectioners; the newly filed suit alleges the operation exceeded the limits of its warrants. The NYCLU says the plaintiffs include workers who were moved to detention facilities out of state and separated from their families. Associated Press, NYCLU lawsuit announcement, NYCLU case account

• Illinois county prosecutors shared defendants’ personal information with federal immigration agents, according to an investigation by Injustice Watch, Borderless Magazine and WIRED. The reporting, based on more than 5,000 pages of records and court files, found that state’s-attorney offices in one in six Illinois counties shared details including home addresses, court dates and expected jail releases without criminal warrants, public disclosure or legislative oversight. Borderless Magazine

• New Haven, Connecticut is reviewing its legal options after an ICE arrest at Tweed New Haven Airport. The airport operator says federal law requires it to admit authorized agents; Mayor Justin Elicker said the city is confirming that claim and looking for lawful ways to limit ICE targeting, while city police and employees do not coordinate with ICE. New Haven Independent

• DHS issued eight immigration-related releases over September 9 and 10, centered on individual crime allegations, removals and reporting mechanisms. The department’s announcements included two “Worst of the Worst” arrest roundups, a commercial-driver-license fraud tipline and a claim about removals of people it described as known or suspected terrorists. These are agency announcements and characterizations, not independent case reporting. DHS, CDL tipline, DHS, removals claim

• A federal appeals dispute over the Laramie County, Wyoming sheriff’s ICE agreements is headed toward the state Supreme Court. A district judge dismissed the ACLU’s suit for lack of standing, but wrote that the underlying question of the sheriff’s authority to enter the agreements without county-commission approval remains unresolved. WyoFile

Starting Tuesday, students, exchange visitors, scholars and foreign journalists entering the United States will get a date by which they must leave or seek more time. Until now, people in the F, J and I classifications were generally admitted for “duration of status,” meaning that their I-94s did not carry an end date. For students, that usually lasted as long as they remained enrolled and followed the rules. Under the new rule, admission will typically last for the program period shown on the I-20 or DS-2019, up to four years. People already here with duration of status do not automatically receive a new end date, but a trip abroad or an extension application can put them into the new system. Federal Register, MIT, University of Colorado Boulder

For students in long programs, the four-year limit will mean another application and another decision. A student who needs more time to finish a program, start a new one or complete practical training will have to ask USCIS for an extension or leave and seek a new admission on return. New F students will also have 30 days, not 60, to leave after finishing. The American Physical Society notes that a physics Ph.D. takes 6.2 years on average. GBH News reports that colleges fear the new clock will make it harder to finish research or change programs. At the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, KRGV found students already weighing what the limit could mean for medical school and other long plans.

Tuesday also brings a hard form swap. USCIS will reject an old I-539, used to extend or change temporary status, or an old I-765, used to apply for a work permit, if it is filed online or postmarked on or after Sept. 15. The new 09/15/26 editions are mandatory. There is no grace period. USCIS I-539, USCIS I-765

A broader public-charge test starts Thursday

Public charge is one part of deciding whether a covered applicant can get an immigrant visa or a green card. The question is forward-looking: Is this person likely to depend mainly on public help in the future? Until now, officers generally did not use non-cash benefits to answer that question. Starting Thursday, they can. Medicaid, food assistance and housing aid can become part of the balancing act, along with the applicant’s age, health, family situation, money, education and job skills. Refugees, asylees, TPS applicants and several other groups remain exempt. Federal Register, USCIS

The State Department has resumed immigrant-visa processing in Hungary and Poland, but a wider pause on immigrant-visa appointments remains in place elsewhere while consular officers train on the new public-charge standard. The disruption affects people applying abroad for permanent residence. It does not cover nonimmigrant-visa appointments for visitors, students or temporary workers. Reuters

USCIS changes its green-card form Thursday, too. Anyone applying from inside the United States must use the new 09/18/26 Form I-485. USCIS will reject an older version filed online or postmarked on or after Sept. 18. USCIS

Salvadoran TPS did not end. The uncertainty did not end either.

An estimated 170,000 Salvadorans with TPS can still live and work in the United States, for now. When the Sept. 9 decision deadline passed, DHS said people already covered would keep their protection and work authorization until it makes another announcement. That is not a settled extension or a final decision about the designation’s future; the agency still has not said whether it will terminate, extend or otherwise reshape the program. NPR’s reporting puts the uncertainty in human terms: many of these families have built homes, jobs and children’s lives in the United States over 25 years of TPS. NPR, The Washington Post

The paperwork is part of the limbo. USCIS’s Sept. 3 materials still told affected workers that an older A12 or C19 work permit, together with the agency’s extension notice, could prove continued work authorization only through Sept. 9. After that date passed, USCIS said beneficiaries still retain protection and work authorization, but it has not yet published a new EAD end date, a Federal Register notice, or specific I-9 and E-Verify instructions for employers. That left workers and payroll offices trying to reconcile an expired-looking document with the agency’s later assurance. USCIS, WR Immigration, La Nación

ICE arrests rise sharply in El Paso, Texas

ICE apprehended nearly 3,500 people in the El Paso region through August 5, nearly matching the total for all of 2025. More than half came in June and July, El Paso Matters reported from ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project. The measure is arrests, not removals or a count of people currently held in custody, but it captures how quickly enforcement has intensified locally. El Paso Matters

Around the system

The H-2B cap filled up for the first half of the next fiscal year. USCIS said September 4 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject petitions seeking start dates before April 1, 2027; later petitions will be rejected. The regular H-2B program has 33,000 slots for each half of the fiscal year. USCIS

Massachusetts has put its new workplace-notice rule into practice. Employers who receive an ICE request to inspect I-9 records must give affected workers written notice within 48 hours, in their primary language. State guidance also covers schools, health-care sites, police departments and state agencies under the new PROTECT Act. Massachusetts Municipal Association

The Justice Department used its Alien Terrorist Removal Court for the first time. Congress created the five-judge court in 1996 for removal cases involving classified evidence, but no administration had brought it a case. Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident in Fort Worth, Texas, agreed to removal to Afghanistan after the government invoked the court; because the case ended by agreement, it did not resolve her lawyers’ challenge to a process in which they could not see the classified evidence. NPR, PBS NewsHour, Justice Department

A federal judge halted construction of a planned ICE facility near Gilroy, California. California and Santa Clara County had challenged the project over environmental review and consultation. The preliminary injunction keeps construction paused while the parties work out the scope of the order. California Attorney General, Mercury News

A lawsuit over Cuban I-220A paperwork cleared an early hurdle in Miami. ICE gives an I-220A to someone it releases from custody under supervision. It can require check-ins, but it is not a visa, legal status or grant of parole. The plaintiffs in Bello-Rubio v. Noem want courts to treat that release paper as parole for the Cuban Adjustment Act, which could open a green-card route for eligible people. The judge only allowed the case to continue; she did not decide that an I-220A is parole or award anyone a green card. Telemundo Atlanta

A separate detention case in Texas raises a hard question about medical force. Univision, citing court documents reported by The Guardian, said a judge extended authorization for ICE to force-feed a Cuban man on hunger strike at the Montgomery Processing Center near Houston, Texas, including possible surgical feeding-tube placement. His identity and much of the case remain sealed. Univision

A federal judge postponed nationwide implementation of DHS’s plan to replace Duration of Status with fixed admission periods for international students, exchange visitors and foreign journalists. U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV granted preliminary relief in a Massachusetts federal-court case one day before the rule was scheduled to take effect. The order pauses implementation while the case continues; it does not vacate the rule or enter final judgment. The existing D/S framework remains operative for now. Reuters, The PIE News, Presidents’ Alliance

In a LinkedIn post, Doug Rand thanked Amy Nice and Jeremy Neufield for “rigorous and lightning-fast research cited by the judge” and cited their paper with Michael A. Clemens, Brain Freeze. The authors estimate that a one-third reduction in foreign STEM graduates would mean roughly 6% fewer high-skill STEM workers overall, more than 11% fewer at the Ph.D. level and long-run annual GDP losses of about $240 billion to $481 billion. Their narrower D/S-alone scenario estimates annual GDP losses of roughly $72 billion to $145 billion within a decade.

The postponement does not restore an expired status, extend work authorization or remove existing student and exchange-program obligations. WR Immigration

Alligator Alcatraz investigation released

A small metal “calming” enclosure documented by DHS OIG at the former Florida Soft-Sided Facility.

Insect infestation in the shower facilities documented by DHS OIG at the former Florida Soft-Sided Facility.

A DHS inspector-general report found that people held at Florida’s now-closed South Florida Detention Facility were sometimes placed in small outdoor metal enclosures labeled “calming areas.” The report says 79 people spent time in enclosures measuring roughly 16 to 18 square feet between July 2025 and January 2026, with stays reaching about two hours. It also documented problems involving housing space, hygiene, water, showers, food service, medical monitoring and recreation. The facility ceased operations in June, and OIG later closed all 10 recommendations. DHS OIG report, NBC News, CBS News

The photographs make the finding concrete. DHS disputed the extent of federal operational responsibility, while OIG described ICE oversight and federal funding at the state-established facility.

ICE arrests are surging, but deportations are not keeping pace

ICE arrests approached 51,000 in August, while deportations remained roughly steady at about 1,200 per day. Reuters, reviewing preliminary government data, reported that arrests rose by about 19,000 from May while daily deportations stayed about the same. Legal claims, limited flights and receiving-country capacity, local cooperation, technology and data-sharing problems help explain why arrests do not automatically become completed removals. People with criminal convictions accounted for less than a quarter of July arrests, according to Deportation Data Project data cited by Reuters. Reuters

Public charge returns to the courts

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia, along with a coalition of cities, sued to block a new public-charge rule scheduled to take effect September 18. The rule would give immigration officers broader discretion to weigh benefits such as Medicaid, food assistance and housing support when deciding whether some immigrants can receive green cards or admission. It does not make benefit use an automatic disqualifier, but the lawsuits say the change could discourage families from seeking help they are legally eligible to receive. Reuters, New York Attorney General, New York City Mayor's Office, CNN

The lawsuits argue that DHS exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The policy follows the rescission of the 2022 public-charge regulation and the administration’s return to a broader framework under INA § 212(a)(4); the court challenges now put both the rule and its practical effect on access to health, food and housing assistance before a federal judge. California Attorney General, Complaint

Around the system

Miami’s immigration court has become an endurance test. People are arriving before sunrise for mass hearings, worried that missing a hearing could result in an in-absentia removal order. El País described an 11-year-old who waited nine hours for a virtual hearing; NPR reported lines stretching outside the Miami court and hours-long waits inside. EL PAÍS English, NPR

Landowners and an environmental group are challenging expedited border-wall construction near Big Bend, Texas. Conserve Big Bend and landowners sued over DHS’s authority to fast-track a wall and related infrastructure in the remote region. Texas Tribune, First Alert 7

A DHS voter-data investigation is drawing whistleblower allegations about unreliable matching and state-law violations. Reporting describes an effort to compare federal immigration records with state voter files, with allegations that the process could wrongly implicate U.S. citizens. The claims have not been independently adjudicated. CNN, NPR

Immigrant-rights groups are challenging warrantless ICE arrests in Maryland. A federal lawsuit seeks class-action relief and a preliminary injunction, alleging arrests without warrants or probable cause and describing aggressive tactics. The Washington Post, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights

A Guilford County, North Carolina, detention officer was fired and charged after officials found ICE detention forms with allegedly forged signatures. The sheriff’s office said 20 forms were used to keep people in jail for ICE; the allegations should be checked against the office’s original release before publication. Corrections1

A Boston, Massachusetts, report found that outside law-enforcement agencies could access vehicle data during a Flock license-plate pilot, despite the city’s instruction that access be restricted. ICE appears among the agencies associated with the reporting, but the coverage does not establish that ICE used the Boston data. WBUR, The Boston Globe

A Michigan coalition is asking Congress to end ICE’s use of four county jails. The campaign is directed at Rep. Elissa Slotkin and comes alongside a dispute over whether ending the contracts would reduce arrests; Michigan Public also explains how custody transfers work in the state. Michigan Public, News From The States

DHS has proposed ending the 60-day grace period for some workers who lose their jobs. The proposal would affect E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN workers and their dependents. It is not in force: the current grace period remains available unless DHS issues a final rule. Comments are due November 10. Federal Register, WR Immigration

The Associated Press sued federal court administrators over Rule 5.2(c), which it says delays remote access to immigration filings in PACER. The public can generally inspect full files at the courthouse but remotely sees only dockets and orders unless a court permits more access; this is a lawsuit, not a ruling. Fordham Law Review, Bloomberg Law

Amicus filing urges Supreme Court to set rules for border device searches

Max Blumenthal’s amicus brief asks whether border agents may search a traveler’s phone without a warrant. The brief points to differing rules by port of entry; CRS says the Fourth and Ninth Circuits require reasonable suspicion for forensic searches while the Eleventh does not, and EFF notes the Fourth Circuit recently allowed manual searches without individualized suspicion. Supreme Court filing, Tampa Free Press, Congressional Research Service, EFF

Operation Metro Surge deportation data are updated

Updated ICE data show that more than 2,300 noncitizens arrested in Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge were deported or left the country. MPR News and APM Reports, analyzing ICE records obtained by the Deportation Data Project, found that 2,102 people with detention records were later deported and another 282 left the country without a detention record. The data document more than 3,700 arrests in Minnesota during the surge, and a majority of the people arrested had no criminal record. MPR News

Around the system

• CBS News found Latin American deportees whom ICE sent to Liberia, where they are staying in a remote coastal hotel despite having no Liberian ties. Most interviewees had won protection from removal to their home countries and said ICE neither told them Liberia was the destination nor gave them a chance to contest it. CBS News

• The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) will return Palantir Technologies’ awards-gala sponsorship money, according to Migrant Insider. The outlet reported that chairman Representative Darren Soto said he had not known about the donation before directing CHCI’s president to return it. Migrant Insider

• Fifteen New York sheriffs filed a new brief in their challenge to a state law that took effect last month and bars formal ICE enforcement agreements. The suit is not backed by the statewide sheriffs’ association, whose 58 members mostly did not have ICE agreements. Times Union

• Loudoun County, Virginia, supervisors are questioning whether the sheriff’s ICE cooperation extends beyond its jail-based 287(g) agreement. FOIA records logged at least 13 instances in which deputies called ICE about people with immigration warrants and sent photos or other information. Loudoun Now

• Families with children have been held for weeks in temporary border facilities in San Diego, California, despite a government standard intended to limit stays to 72 hours. Government court data showed an average family stay of 146 hours in March—about twice that limit. KPBS

• The DeKalb County, Georgia, school board adopted a policy barring government agents from questioning or removing students, or entering nonpublic school areas, without legal authority. The district’s legal office must inspect judicial warrants or court orders, while ICE administrative detainers do not qualify. Atlanta News First

• Three Minnesota Somali men are among eight people held by ICE at Guantánamo Bay after what they were told would be a refueling stop. Seven are being held at Camp 6, a military detention center known for housing high-risk prisoners, while an eighth is in isolation. Sahan Journal

• A federal judge barred DHS and ICE from making further threats against David Streever over his critical email to a former acting ICE director. Agents had sought him at his home, an airport and a hotel five months after the email, then left a warning notice citing potential federal-law violations. NPR

More than 300 South Korean workers detained in last year’s raid at the Hyundai–LG battery-project site in Ellabell, Georgia, are seeking damages from the federal government. Lawyers have begun filing Federal Tort Claims Act administrative claims with nine agencies—a required pre-suit step, not a lawsuit, settlement or finding that the allegations are true. The claims put a formal liability process around the operation, which detained 475 people. CNN, CBS Atlanta, SBS News

The filings turn last year’s diplomatic flashpoint into a test of the raid’s conduct. Workers say they were shackled, denied clear explanations or interpreters, pressured to sign papers they could not read, and left with lost wages, confiscated belongings and psychological harm. A separate claim by Alfredo Fajardo Melgarejo, a Colombian worker, alleges agents used excessive force during his arrest. DHS said the operation was conducted under judicial search warrants in an investigation of alleged unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes; those competing accounts have not been adjudicated. WTOC, Korea Times, More raid context: Wikipedia

A judge orders a check before warrantless arrests

A federal judge has barred immigration agents in Southern California from making warrantless civil arrests without first determining that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The preliminary injunction in Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin applies across the Central District of California. It requires an individualized, pre-arrest probable-cause determination—not an assumption that unlawful status alone makes someone likely to flee. KESQ/City News Service, ACLU of Southern California

The court also required agents to write down the particular facts behind any escape-risk finding. Judge Maame E. Frimpong found the plaintiffs were likely to show that the government had an unlawful policy, enjoined reliance on a Todd Lyons memo insofar as it treated unlawful status as sufficient, and declined to stay the order pending appeal. The case concerns warrantless civil arrests, not every immigration-enforcement stop or the separate Southern California litigation over alleged racial profiling. *Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin* court order

An Ecuadorean politician’s rushed removal

The United States deported José Serrano after a three-member immigration appeals panel reversed a Miami judge’s May decision blocking his removal to Ecuador because of a risk of torture. The New York Times reports that the Board of Immigration Appeals acted less than a day after DHS made its written argument, and Serrano was placed on a charter flight within hours—leaving his lawyers no time to seek federal-court review before he left. The New York Times, El Universo

Serrano, a former interior minister, had been found ineligible for asylum but granted deferral of removal after the immigration judge found his torture fears credible. Ecuador has charged him in connection with the 2023 killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio; Serrano denies involvement and calls the case political. He is now held in Ecuador’s El Encuentro maximum-security prison. His lawyers say guards stripped and filmed him there, while Ecuadorian officials have denied mistreatment. Infobae / EFE

Around the system

• The New Orleans ICE office’s region has the nation’s second-highest reported arrest rate relative to its noncitizen immigrant population. WWNO and its Gulf States Newsroom partners, using Deportation Data Project records and Census population data, reported more than 45,000 arrests in the office’s Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee area of responsibility since January 2025—about 670 arrests per 10,000 noncitizen immigrants, behind only San Antonio, Texas. Their reporting also finds that local-jail transfers account for a substantially larger share of arrests in Mississippi and Alabama than in Louisiana. WWNO

• “Mega-master” immigration hearings are drawing renewed scrutiny in Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Oregon. GBH reported that the Justice Department has been grouping sometimes more than 100 cases in a single docket; lawyers and court watchers raised concerns about rushed notices, remote proceedings and the consequences of missing a hearing. The Justice Department said reducing the court backlog while handling cases fairly and lawfully remains a priority. GBH, OregonLive

• After federal agents raided a regular day-labor gathering spot in Woodside, Queens, New York, workers told Documented they stopped coming to look for jobs. Witnesses said ICE detained about eight men at General Hart Playground on September 1, the second reported raid there in three days; two days later, the outlet found the normally busy street nearly empty. Documented

• Santa Ana, California, has moved to bar city employees from taking outside work that involves federal immigration enforcement. The City Council unanimously adopted a policy covering work such as investigating, arresting, detaining, transporting or deporting people for ICE or its contractors. A second vote is required October 6. LAist

• ICE arrested a truck driver at a commercial-vehicle inspection station in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. FreightWaves reported that the arrest came amid planned enforcement at weigh stations and inspection checkpoints involving immigration officers, transportation inspectors and state police. A joint DOT-DHS announcement described that plan. FreightWaves

• Associated Press body-camera footage gives a rare account of a workplace raid at a snack-food factory in Cato, New York. The report says federal authorities made 57 arrests, debated what records to seize and when to release employees who were U.S. citizens; it also says a lawsuit filed this week alleges that authorities exceeded their search warrants. Associated Press

• A personal account of being held and questioned about books and magazines after arriving at Miami International Airport offers a narrow view of one border encounter. Thomas Kennedy, a naturalized U.S. citizen, wrote that CBP held him for about two hours and scrutinized his reading list. This is his account, not independently corroborated trend reporting. Miami New Times

A broader public-charge test took effect Friday for people seeking green cards. USCIS officers may again weigh use of means-tested public benefits, alongside an applicant’s age, health, finances and other circumstances. The change replaces the narrower 2022 framework. USCIS, Federal Register, GBH

Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., are asking a federal court to block it. Their lawsuit argues that the rule gives the agency too little guidance about what officers may count against an applicant. Colorado Attorney General, New York Attorney General complaint, CNN

States press for access to inspect ICE detention facilities as conditions face scrutiny

Washington, Massachusetts and Colorado are pressing to enforce state health-and-safety rules inside privately run ICE detention facilities. The cases test whether states can inspect facilities that hold people for the federal government; Washington’s dispute with GEO remains active, while a court has blocked part of Colorado’s law. News From The States, Washington governor, Colorado General Assembly

San Diego County is pursuing its own leverage at Otay Mesa. The county threatened licensing action after saying the detention center failed to report a suspected tuberculosis case, amid its ongoing lawsuit with DHS over local oversight. KPBS, NBC 7 San Diego, inewsource

Florida’s now-shuttered Alligator Alcatraz offers a grim example of what scrutiny can surface. A Homeland Security watchdog confirmed that small cages were used there; a former detainee told NBC News he spent more than 15 hours in one, while facility records put stays at under two hours. NBC News, DHS inspector general, The New York Times

Salvadoran TPS holders await clarity on protection and work authorization

DHS says Salvadorans with TPS remain protected until it announces a decision on the designation. The administration has ended TPS for most of the countries that still had it at the start of the year, but has not said when it will decide El Salvador’s case. POLITICO, WYPR, Telemundo

That leaves a large community waiting for the notice that will settle both protection from removal and work-permit paperwork. Reporting from NBC News and Telemundo shows misinformation already complicating decisions for people who have lived in the United States for decades. NBC News, Telemundo

Around the system

• A heavily redacted DHS email shows personnel circulated a list of jurisdictions that provide election materials in languages other than English. NPR first reported the email, from last year; it remains unclear why the list was shared. NPR

• A federal appeals panel held that border officers may manually search travelers’ phones without a warrant or individualized suspicion. The decision treats such searches as routine border searches; it did not decide the rules for more invasive forensic extractions. Newsweek

• The Associated Press has published a new map and search tool tracing where people released at the border said they were headed. It is based on anonymized CBP records obtained through FOIA, with results suppressed for ZIP codes showing fewer than 10 people. AP

• A Borderless Magazine investigation found Somali asylum seekers being moved through accelerated immigration-court schedules in Chicago. Its reporters observed cases in which people had little time to obtain corroborating evidence; EOIR said it is adjusting schedules to handle cases timely and lawfully. Borderless Magazine

• A federal judge in Southern California ordered immigration agents to document the particular facts supporting any warrantless arrest on flight-risk grounds. The preliminary injunction was unsealed this week after the court found evidence of an ongoing practice that did not make the required assessment. LAist / CalMatters

Carlos Josué Marchena, a 37-year-old Costa Rican man, died in ICE custody at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, last week. Austin Kocher counted Marchena as the 25th person reported to have died in ICE custody this year. ICE had not publicly confirmed the death as of the reporting reviewed. Marchena’s sister said he had diabetes and alleged that medication and food sometimes arrived late or did not arrive; the family also raised concerns about a possible cardiac event and his care. The cause and circumstances of his death remain unconfirmed. Austin Kocher, La Nación, La Teja

Marchena entered ICE custody in January and was transferred through Michigan and California before reaching Winn, Kocher reports. The former state prison is operated for ICE by LaSalle Corrections and has faced documented problems with medical care and other conditions. Marchena’s death is separate from the August death of Lianyong Wei in Saipan, which ICE announced in September. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, DHS Office of Inspector General, ICE Detention Mortality dashboard

Trafficking referrals change for unaccompanied children

Caregivers for unaccompanied migrant children were told to stop reporting trafficking concerns directly to the Office of Trafficking in Persons. Advocates told the Associated Press that the change could affect services and access to trafficking-related immigration relief. The administration says the new process streamlines referrals and filters out claims that do not meet the criminal-trafficking threshold. Associated Press

An ICE agent shot and wounded a man in Austin

An ICE agent shot and wounded a man in north Austin, Texas, on Sunday, leaving him in serious but stable condition. Austin police were not involved in the shooting; city investigators and the Texas Rangers were expected to participate. CNN and the BBC identified the man as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national. His lawyer said the family believed ICE took him into custody after he left the hospital; the circumstances of the encounter remained unsettled. CNN, Reuters, BBC

A DHS watchdog found overcrowding at Krome

A DHS inspector-general inspection found 1,102 people at Krome in Florida, which had capacity for 882. The inspection also identified problems involving sanitation, medical care, intake, food safety and use of force. Krome is separate from the now-closed Alligator Alcatraz facility. EFE

Around the system

A federal judge preserved automatic work-permit extensions only for seven plaintiffs challenging their termination. The order does not restore automatic extensions generally. La Nación

New York immigrant organizations fielded a surge of calls after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end TPS for people from Haiti and Syria. The reporting describes community response to the ruling and uncertainty about what comes next. Gothamist

ICE arrests in North Carolina exceeded 5,000 this year, according to ABC11. The figure counts arrests, not the number of people currently detained. Residents and advocates described widespread fear around the enforcement campaign. ABC11

A federal judge considered additional sanctions over allegations that ICE continued to overcrowd holding cells in Baltimore, Maryland, despite a court order. The judge did not rule from the bench. The Baltimore Banner

A federal court preliminarily blocked enforcement of provisions in Virginia laws restricting police cooperation with ICE. The litigation concerns two statutes, including the state’s limits on 287(g) agreements. Virginia Lawyers Weekly

The Justice Department is pursuing denaturalization cases in Nevada for the first time in more than two decades. The filings seek to revoke citizenship; they are not final judgments. The Nevada Independent

A federal court permanently blocked Kansas from offering in-state tuition to undocumented students under its existing law. The ruling makes nonresident tuition the practical price of attendance for affected students. Kansas Reflector

Immigration judges are issuing removal orders for some unaccompanied children while they pursue Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. The Boston Globe reported on children whose state courts had found abuse, neglect or abandonment — the predicate for seeking SIJS — but whose removal cases were no longer routinely postponed while that separate humanitarian process continued. The Globe observed 17 such removal orders in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, over the past month. The Boston Globe

A separate National Immigrant Justice Center account described Chicago hearings in August involving children with SIJS applications pending. “These are kids young enough to be playing with toys while they wait for their turn in front of a judge," said a Congressman who observed the hearings. National Immigrant Justice Center, What is SIJS? The Marshall Project

H-1B employers may face scrutiny for layoffs

A new White House order tells federal agencies to consider an employer’s layoffs and labor-market data when reviewing that employer’s H-1B petitions and related filings. The directive reaches visa petitions, labor-condition applications, consular processing and admission decisions, but it does not yet spell out how agencies will weigh those factors in individual cases. White House, Fragomen

A growing network for third-country deportations

A reporting consortium has documented more than 25,000 U.S. deportations since January 2025 to countries other than people’s countries of origin. The count includes people sent to places where they may have no ties; the investigation describes a largely opaque system of agreements with receiving governments. France 24, Forbidden Stories

Haiti deportations after TPS

Human Rights Watch says the United States has deported hundreds of Haitians since Temporary Protected Status ended in late July. Citing Haiti’s National Office for Migration, the group said more than 450 people had been returned since July; its researchers interviewed 44 people arriving on the first two post-TPS flights. Human Rights Watch

Several people interviewed after arriving in Cap-Haïtien said they had pending asylum claims, had not received removal orders or did not understand why they were deported. The report also found little sustained shelter, health care, transportation or reintegration support after arrival. WLRN

Around the system

A Venezuelan delivery driver shot by ICE in Austin, Texas, said agents fired after he asked to stop somewhere safer than freeway traffic. His lawyer said he remained in ICE custody with a bullet near his spine; DHS had not responded to the Texas Tribune’s request for comment on his account or complaint about medical care. The Texas Tribune

A federal judge temporarily halted three immigration-enforcement practices at Alabama construction sites, including warrantless entry and detention policies. The order grew from a case brought by a U.S. citizen who said ICE detained him repeatedly despite his identification. al.com

A federal judge ordered immigration officials to release 24 people held after warrantless arrests in Montana. The government disagrees with the court’s underlying determination; 13 additional petitions remained pending. Daily Montanan

Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, commissioners are set to vote on extending the arrangement that allows GEO Group to operate the Moshannon Valley Processing Center for ICE. Members of Congress are seeking financial and operational records before the vote. WHYY

The Justice Department argues Maryland cannot offer in-state college tuition to undocumented students under the state’s 2011 DREAM Act. Maryland says eligibility turns on ties to the state rather than immigration status; the federal court has not yet ruled. Maryland Daily Record

An investigation found more than 1,050 deaths within range of U.S. border-surveillance towers between 2015 and early 2026. The MIT Technology Review and Times of San Diego project examines whether the systems’ promise of faster detection and response has translated into protection. MIT Technology Review

ICE counted 53,192 people on ankle monitors in July, according to a new account of litigation challenging the agency’s monitoring policy. The reported count was up from 20,012 in the administration’s first count. Austin Kocher

A San Antonio station’s review of 2026 reporting and Deportation Data Project figures counted 11 shootings involving federal immigration agents, four of them fatal. The station also reported its ICE arrest and detention tallies alongside DHS’s response disputing the data project’s analysis. KSAT

A federal judge has temporarily stopped ICE from deporting Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, the DoorDash driver shot by an officer in Austin, Texas. Garcés Pérez, 28, is due in court next week. BBC

He was released from an Austin hospital about four hours after the shooting and taken to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, with the bullet still lodged in his back. His lawyer and supporters dispute the care he has received; DHS says he is receiving around-the-clock medical care, including pain medication. The Texas Tribune

The officer who fired had been issued a body camera but was not wearing it, NBC News reports. Austin police footage does not show the shooting. NBC News

In Miramar, Florida, a field office built for 56 held up to 342

Whistleblower photographs and allegations have put new pressure on ICE over conditions at its Miramar, Florida, field office. They describe crowded cells, people sleeping in the office’s garage entrance, overflowing portable toilets, and limited access to care, food, hygiene, and lawyers. The site is rated for 56 people; the disclosures described a high of 342 in August. Reps. Robert Garcia, Bennie Thompson, and Maxwell Frost have asked ICE and the DHS inspector general to investigate. Reason

The contractor behind ICE’s warehouse buys wins a $655 million contract

Project Salt Box reports that SK2 Rudiarius LLC received a construction award for work through 2031 at seven ICE-linked sites. They include Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Broadview, Illinois; Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; Huntsville, Texas; Oakdale, Louisiana; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Honolulu. The award does not say precisely what will be built or itself obligate funds. Bid documents identify 26-cell housing units at Aguadilla and St. Thomas; the wider program also contemplates clinics, classrooms, training buildings, warehouses, and firing ranges. Project Salt Box

The joint venture’s links to ICE’s earlier detention expansion include SK2’s role as the government’s agent in DHS’s purchase of two CoreCivic prisons this summer, according to the company’s SEC filing. CoreCivic

A refugee program centered on Afrikaners

The administration proposed admitting up to 17,500 refugees in the next fiscal year, primarily white Afrikaners from South Africa. The notice to Congress projected about $500 million in resettlement costs. It follows the administration’s claim that Afrikaners face race-based persecution in South Africa, while most refugee admissions have otherwise remained shut down. Reuters

South Africa rejects that premise. Its government says white South Africans are not a persecuted minority and rejects the portrayal of the country’s land-reform policy as arbitrary confiscation; it says the Constitution protects property rights and equal treatment. The dispute is therefore not just over the number of people admitted, but over whether the United States is treating a politically contested account of discrimination as a basis for refugee protection. Associated Press

Around the system

• Oregon’s warrantless-arrest hearing: A federal judge is weighing claims that ICE violated his preliminary order restricting warrantless arrests. During the hearing, an ICE officer acknowledged that an arrest report contained information that was not true; the Justice Department said it was a mistake, not an intentional falsehood. OPB

• Held five days after the ICE-detainer clock ran out: Maudin Gonzales was released after officials acknowledged that he remained in the Washington County Jail in Iowa five days beyond the 48-hour ICE-detainer window. The sheriff’s office attributed the failure to missed court records and notification problems. KCRG

• Tennessee trooper collaboration: The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition asked a federal judge to stop the Tennessee Highway Patrol from partnering with ICE while its lawsuit over Nashville traffic stops proceeds. The state says the operation at issue is over and that the patrol does not plan a repeat; the judge took the injunction request under advisement. NewsChannel 5 Nashville

• Seattle and King County challenge public-charge rule: Seattle and King County joined New York in litigation against the administration’s new public-charge rule, arguing that it threatens immigrant families’ access to services and could penalize lawful use of public benefits in immigration decisions. King County Executive

• Head Start eligibility directive struck down: A federal judge permanently blocked a July 2025 directive that would have barred some immigrants — including some people with TPS, DACA recipients, and visa holders — from Head Start, community health clinics, and adult education. The court found the rule procedurally invalid; an earlier order had already kept it from taking effect. Associated Press

• San Francisco staffer detained: Ho-Yin Mo, an aide to California Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, was arrested in an immigration operation at the Las Vegas airport and faces possible deportation to Hong Kong. Stefani called for his release. The San Francisco Standard

ICE is seeking “mobile detention facilities” that would follow arrest teams into the field, according to Pennsylvania expansion paperwork first obtained by Project Salt Box and reported by NPR. The documents describe a GTI—GEO Group’s transportation subsidiary—network of vans that could be used until an operation ends or a unit is full; they say women cannot be held in the vans for more than 10 hours. They do not say how long other people could be held or what rules would govern food, bathrooms or other basic conditions. NPR

The mobile plan follows ICE’s troubled effort to convert commercial warehouses into detention sites. Project Salt Box reports that the agency has moved to sell seven of the 11 warehouses it bought, while shifting toward construction at government-owned sites under new contracts worth up to $7.3 billion. Project Salt Box

Hospitals warn proposed H-1B fee could worsen staffing shortages

The American Hospital Association is warning that a proposed $103,265 fee for certain H-1B petitions could make it harder for hospitals to recruit the workers they need. In comments to DHS, the association said the fee could deepen staffing problems in rural and underserved communities, where hospitals already struggle to recruit highly skilled health-care workers. The charge is proposed, not in force, and would apply to cap-subject petitions—not every H-1B worker or filing. Federal Register, American Hospital Association

After three ICE detentions, Leo Venegas wins an interim court order

Leo Venegas says ICE detained him three times in Alabama—even after he identified himself as a U.S. citizen and showed identification. He told the court that agents entered a fenced construction site, went straight to his Latino crew, tackled him and took him to an unmarked vehicle, where he was held for more than an hour. He says officers found his Alabama STAR ID but called it fake and released him without charging him. Less than a month later, he says, an immigration officer entered a nearly completed house where he was working, marched him two blocks to an unmarked vehicle and held him for 20 to 30 minutes despite his license. In a later sworn declaration, Venegas said agents followed him home, removed him from his car and shackled him; he said officers ultimately scanned his driver’s license and released him. Decatur Daily, court filing

A federal judge temporarily paused three alleged DHS practices: warrantless entry onto private construction sites, detention without particularized suspicion and continued detention after people produce proof of citizenship or lawful status. After the government argued agents must have had reasonable suspicion for Venegas’ second detention despite having no information about it, Chief U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock wrote: “The court is simply not inclined to take the government’s word for it.” The pause is interim relief—not a final merits judgment or a nationwide final injunction. Decatur Daily

ICE activity disrupts schools and meatpacking work in southwest Kansas

In Liberal, Kansas, a woman blew a whistle beside the road to National Beef as workers arrived and left, warning them about federal immigration agents. City officials and advocates told the Kansas News Service they saw unmarked vans near meatpacking facilities stopping people going to and from work. Dodge City schools asked families to update emergency contacts and tell the district if another adult would need to collect a child; National Beef notified employees of altered starts and delayed shifts. KCUR

City leaders said they had received no advance notice of the ICE operations, according to KWCH. Reporting by the Kansas News Service also found that the Finney County Sheriff’s Office remains listed as having a 287(g) agreement, while Sheriff Steven Martinez said it is not enrolled in the program and is not assisting the operation; he said the office can temporarily hold undocumented people accused of crimes for ICE pickup. KWCH

Around the system

• Wisconsin’s caregiver shortage is colliding with immigration-policy changes. Wisconsin Watch reports that some home-health agencies and nursing homes have abandoned years-old plans to recruit overseas workers. Skilled Nursing News reports that a nursing-home operator in Sparta invested more than $100,000 in apartments for overseas workers before policy changes disrupted the plan. Providers say the resulting staffing gaps can force them to close beds or wings and turn away people seeking home health care. Wisconsin Watch, Skilled Nursing News

• The D.C. Circuit has two upcoming hearings over Venezuelan men sent to CECOT, El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison. The ACLU says the September 25 hearing will address whether the men can obtain hearings to contest the government’s allegation that they belonged to Tren de Aragua and their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. A separate September 29 en banc hearing will address whether administration officials should face criminal-contempt proceedings over alleged defiance of Chief Judge James Boasberg’s order to halt removal flights. These are pending proceedings, not rulings that the removals were unlawful. ACLU

• California lawmakers and immigrant-rights groups are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB 1537. LAist reports that the bill would bar police, sheriffs and other law-enforcement officers from taking second jobs involving arresting, detaining, transporting or deporting people for ICE. A statewide police officers’ group opposes it. LAist

• Diversity-visa applicants are racing the September 30 fiscal-year deadline. USA Today reports that a pause in visa processing has left lottery winners trying to understand whether their cases can move forward before the fiscal year closes, while related litigation and processing questions remain unresolved. USA Today

• Philadelphia is asking a federal judge to reject the Justice Department’s challenge to the city’s detainer policy. City attorneys argue that the federal government cannot commandeer local employees to hold people for federal immigration enforcement. The Philadelphia Inquirer

• ICE arrested four people in Moab, Utah, according to local reporting. The agency says two were Mexican nationals and two were Turkish nationals; it has not disclosed where the four are being held or why they were targeted. Grand County Sheriff Jamison Wiggins said the operation was not relayed to his office in advance, while accounts of local notice differ. Moab Times, Moab Sun News

• Federal agents handcuffed two roofers at a Vermont home and drove away in less than 10 minutes, Seven Days reports. Citing the farmworker advocacy group Migrant Justice, the outlet says at least 30 roofing and construction workers have been detained at 13 worksite raids and traffic stops in Vermont this year. The arrests and fear, it reports, are disrupting an industry that has come to depend on Latin American migrants to repair roofs and build homes. Seven Days

A federal judge ordered DHS to return Brayan Omar Sanchez Servellon to Colorado after he was sent to the Central African Republic, a country he had never visited. Sanchez Servellon, a Honduran man with work authorization who had lived in the United States for about a decade, had protection under the Convention Against Torture from being returned to Honduras. Judge Regina Rodriguez found that he received neither notice nor a chance to challenge his transfer to a third country. Colorado Public Radio

The remedy is unusually concrete: return him to Colorado and release him with his belongings, without GPS monitoring, mandatory reporting or other movement restrictions. The order makes the immediate dispute less abstract—what process the government owes before it sends someone to a country with which they have no connection—while the administration separately seeks Supreme Court permission to continue rapid third-country removals more broadly. ABC News, EL PAÍS

Cattle groups say ICE operations are disrupting the beef supply chain

Three cattle associations say recent ICE activity in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas has delayed shipments of thousands of fed cattle, costing producers millions and disrupting feedyards, dairies, processors, feed and grain businesses, transportation hubs and community services. The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said the operations were having a “massive chilling effect” on legal, documented, skilled workers who keep the supply chain moving. KOCO, Oklahoma Farm Report, MyHighPlains

The feedyard disruptions have also drawn their own industry coverage. Drovers reported on raids at agricultural facilities in southwest Kansas, while HPPR reported that ICE activity prompted schools to warn families and meatpacking plants to delay shifts.

The region around Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal accounts for about 22% of the country’s grain-fed beef supply; local officials said they had not been told in advance about the operation, and National Beef delayed a shift at its Liberal, Kansas, plant. KCUR, Meatingplace

ICE awards a $125 million surveillance contract to Thomson Reuters

ICE is days away from beginning work on a $125 million Thomson Reuters Special Services contract that the procurement describes as a way to continuously monitor up to 1 million people and flag potentially criminal or fraudulent behavior. That is the stated capability of the planned service, not proof it is already monitoring people at that scale; FedScoop reports it follows a previous CACI continuous-monitoring contract and that Thomson Reuters was the sole bidder after the requirements changed. FedScoop

A permanent injunction requires changes at 26 Federal Plaza

A federal judge permanently barred ICE from overcrowding Manhattan holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza and required safeguards including sanitation, meals, medical care and a confidential, free call to a lawyer within an hour of arrival. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s order follows findings that people had been held well beyond short processing stays and that ICE had not reliably complied with earlier relief; the 125-page ruling establishes continuing court oversight. Courthouse News, Documented

Around the system

• More on the shooting in Austin, TX: A specialist said Wilber Rafael Garces Perez needs surgery to remove a bullet lodged near his spine, Rep. Greg Casar said after visiting him in ICE custody. Garces Perez was shot by an ICE officer during a September 20 operation. A federal judge has temporarily halted his removal while a September 30 habeas hearing is pending. NBC News / AP, Austin American-Statesman

• The Justice Department announced $25 million in ANGEL grants for state, local and tribal agencies that assist immigration enforcement. The program adds a new federal funding route for participating law-enforcement agencies. Valley News Live

• The Fifth Circuit heard an en banc challenge over immigration detention without bond hearings. The case asks whether longtime U.S. residents can challenge the government’s claim that continued detention is necessary. American Immigration Council

• A state-commissioned Maine report estimated that immigration enforcement could remove up to 7,000 workers and $3.3 billion in annual economic output. The analysis pointed to labor shortages in sectors already struggling to hire. Central Maine

• San Diego’s Haitian community is confronting the practical aftermath of the administration’s termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation. KPBS reported on residents navigating the loss of protection and its effects on work, families and community life. KPBS

• Aminata Seck, the Senegalese college basketball player, remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, according to DHS. Her detention has drawn attention beyond immigration coverage because of her place in women’s college basketball. USA Today

• A lawsuit challenges DHS’s expanded use of GPS monitoring, arguing that electronic monitoring decisions must be individualized rather than imposed broadly. LA NACION

The administration has returned to the Supreme Court seeking permission to speed up removals to third countries—countries where the person being removed has no connection. The request asks the justices to halt lower-court orders requiring a meaningful chance to object before someone is sent to a country where they say they could face persecution or torture. It is the latest procedural move in the existing third-country-removals litigation, not the separate case in which a judge held the government in contempt over one asylum seeker’s removal. Reuters, The Washington Post, AP via WBAY

The dispute is about process, not an outright ban on removals to third countries. The lower-court rulings require notice and a real opportunity to raise a fear-based objection before removal. The administration says that requirement disrupts removals; challengers say it is the minimum safeguard against sending someone into danger. Courthouse News

White House seeks to cancel money Congress already approved

The White House has moved to rescind nearly $1 billion that Congress had already appropriated, including money connected to refugee and immigrant services. A rescission is an administration request to cancel previously approved spending. Here, the legal and political fight is over whether the timing lets the executive branch make that cancellation effective without a new vote by Congress. White House, CNN

The practical stakes are larger than the budget terminology suggests. If the maneuver stands, programs funded by those appropriations could lose money that lawmakers had directed them to receive. That is why the story is also a separation-of-powers dispute: Congress controls appropriations, while the administration is testing how far it can go in withholding or cancelling them. CNBC, NBC News, TIME

Venezuela TPS reaches a decision point

The Supreme Court was set to consider the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status dispute at its September 28 private conference, just days before the current October 2 deadline. The underlying case concerns whether DHS can unwind the 2023 extension. For people covered by TPS, the immediate stakes are protection from removal and work authorization—not an automatic path to permanent residence. La Nación, Ninth Circuit opinion, Local 10 News Miami-Ft. Lauderdale

In plain terms, this is about whether a limited group of Venezuelans can keep living and working in the United States while the case continues. TPS is temporary protection, not a green card or a route to citizenship. USCIS says the present court order preserves certain Venezuela TPS documents through October 2; who is covered depends on the document and case posture. USCIS

More on H-1B: the Chamber challenges a proposed $103,265 fee

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking DHS to withdraw a proposed $103,265 fee for certain cap-subject H-1B petitions. The Chamber argues that the agency lacks authority to use immigration fees this way, and that the proposal would weigh especially heavily on employers that file relatively few cap-subject petitions. The American Bazaar, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The proposal would apply to petitions competing for the annual H-1B allocation, including the advanced-degree exemption, rather than to every H-1B petition. It would be an added filing charge, on top of other applicable fees, and is still a proposed rule—not a fee now in effect. Federal Register

Around the system

• ICE arrest priorities: Fox News reported that the administration denied ICE agents had been instructed to limit arrests to people with criminal records after conflicting guidance alarmed agents. President Trump reaffirmed the broader enforcement policy; DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the agency’s priority as the “worst of the worst” and parole violators. Fox News

• Social-media screening: Starting October 1, applicants for I, TN and TD visas join the existing online-presence review system. The change affects foreign-media representatives, eligible Canadian and Mexican professionals, and certain family members—not every visa applicant. Deccan Chronicle

• A court-ordered return: U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher held the administration in contempt after a 19-year-old asylum seeker was removed to El Salvador despite court orders, and ordered the government to bring him back. Axios

• Duration of status: A new rule replaces open-ended admission for new F-1 students with a fixed period that can be capped at four years, with extensions handled through USCIS. Students in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas described revisiting their education plans. KRGV

• Southwest Kansas: Reporting from the region shows immigration-enforcement activity affecting families, schools, agriculture and the beef-processing economy around Liberal and Dodge City, Kansas. Garden City Telegram, KVOE

• Birth-tourism facilitators: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a visa-restriction policy aimed at people who knowingly participate in or facilitate commercial birth-tourism networks. Reporting says the policy reaches organizers and intermediaries as well as service providers alleged to knowingly participate. ColombiaOne, U.S. Department of State

• October 1 employment mobility: The new fiscal year brings a new annual allocation of employment-based immigrant-visa numbers, while separate federal actions affecting certain nonimmigrant workers are also taking effect or being watched closely. Federal Register, Visa Bulletin

The Texas Tribune identified the ICE agent who shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston as Gregory Feathers, using public records and a source familiar with the investigation. The federal government had not publicly named the agent, a contrast with the routine identification of officers involved in shootings by many state and local agencies. Texas Tribune (Sept. 28)

Children before the judge

In one Harlingen, Texas, hearing, 25 children filled the courtroom pews — including a 6-year-old pretending to fly an airplane and a 3-year-old playing with the microphone. The judge told a teen girl that the proceeding could determine whether she remained in the country or was removed. Many of the children appearing in immigration court, some as young as two, do not have lawyers. CNN (Sept. 28)

Ukraine’s TPS deadline is not the whole story

For Ukrainians with TPS, October 19 is still on USCIS’s Ukraine TPS page, but it may not be the last word. The TPS law required DHS to decide by August whether Ukraine no longer qualified. If that deadline passes without a determination, the statute provides a six-month extension. DHS has not publicly announced a Ukraine decision, leaving a gap between the date USCIS displays and what the law says happens when the review is late. USCIS (Aug. 14), U.S. Code (current through Aug. 31)

That does not make the uncertainty any easier for families trying to plan. TPS is separate from Uniting for Ukraine, the humanitarian-parole program for people arriving from Ukraine, and New York community reporting shows how both tracks are weighing on families. Meanwhile, The Kyiv Independent reports that U.S. lawmakers are pressing for an extension, a longer-term answer that would give families a clearer path forward. amNewYork (Sept. 28), Kyiv Independent (Sept. 24)

ICE’s quieter dragnet

After public backlash, ICE has moved away from armored, highly visible raids and toward quicker, lower-profile arrests spread across ordinary places — but the shift has not meant fewer arrests. The Guardian’s analysis puts July’s total at nearly 50,000, a record high; its reporters found agents waiting outside convenience stores and at intersections, making arrests at international airports, and working more often through local police and sheriffs. Some people ICE arrests have pending immigration cases or legal status, and many remain in detention for months rather than being immediately deported. The Guardian (Sept. 28)

Around the system

• U.N. experts warn on third-country transfers. Independent U.N. human-rights experts said U.S. arrangements sending migrants and asylum seekers to third countries can expose people to torture, persecution, family separation and other serious harms, and called for the agreements to be suspended. U.N. News (Sept. 28)

• A federal judge voided immigration checks for federally funded programs. The decision found the administration did not follow the required notice-and-comment process before trying to require status checks for users of services including Head Start, adult education and community health centers; the ruling leaves agencies free to try again through the proper process. Wisconsin Watch (Sept. 28)

• GAO found that visitor-visa waits remain far above pre-pandemic levels. The watchdog reported that the average wait for an interview rose from 26 days in fiscal 2019 to 201 days in fiscal 2025, while the number of consular officers working on nonimmigrant visas fell to 904 amid hiring freezes and attrition. GAO (Sept. 28)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to make a rural immigration-lawyer fellowship permanent. The program has placed new attorneys with immigrant-serving organizations in underserved regions; Newsom said existing budget funding made the legislation duplicative, while supporters said a permanent framework would help rural communities build legal capacity. KQED (Sept. 28)

• Advocates filed a new birthright-citizenship lawsuit. The case, Nathan v. Trump, challenges the administration’s latest executive order on citizenship after the judge in the earlier Trump v. Barbara case indicated the challenge should proceed separately. ACLU (Sept. 28)

• Physician and hospital groups are pressing for exemptions from the revived $100,000 H-1B fee. Their concern is that the fee, along with a proposed $103,265 penalty for some H-1B petitions, would make it harder for hospitals and small practices to recruit doctors, especially in underserved areas. Radiology Business (Sept. 28)

• EOIR swore in 47 immigration judges and six temporary immigration judges. The new judges are assigned to courts in 15 states, following the agency’s largest-ever class of new adjudicators in May. AILA (Sept. 24)

• New York sheriffs challenge limits on local ICE cooperation. Fifteen sheriffs are challenging the state’s new ban on formal ICE agreements, while advocates and local officials are watching whether it also constrains informal cooperation. New York Focus (Sept. 28), WRVO (Sept. 28)

The Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration to keep removing people to “third countries” while it considers the policy’s legality. The case concerns people sent to countries not named in their removal orders, rather than simply to their countries of citizenship. NBC News

The dispute is over what must happen before that removal. A lower court required meaningful notice and a real chance to raise fear-of-persecution or torture claims about the proposed destination. The justices put that requirement on hold and will hear the case in December. SCOTUSblog, PBS NewsHour

The White House stopped a planned Salvadoran TPS termination notice

DHS and USCIS had cleared a notice ending Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans, but the White House stopped it from being published, Politico reported. The stop came from the White House, not the agencies that had prepared the termination—making it appear to be a political intervention, even though the reporting does not establish the White House’s reason. Politico

TPS is the background that makes the stop consequential. The designation protects covered Salvadorans from removal and lets them work in the United States while it remains in effect; a termination notice would put both protections on a formal path toward ending. For now, the earlier decision to keep the designation in place has not been replaced by a published termination notice. Reuters

California broadens its oversight of immigration enforcement

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of California laws aimed at immigration-enforcement practices and detention oversight. The measures include limits on wearable electroshock devices, more transparency around detention facilities and emergency calls, and additional state oversight of conditions in civil detention. CalMatters, Politico

Other provisions create a state-law route for constitutional-rights suits, tax private detention facilities, and regulate use of state property and resources. California cannot set federal immigration policy, but the package tries to govern conduct, records, facilities and resources inside the state. Los Angeles Times, Governor of California

Around the system

• GAO found ICE expanded detention without a strategic plan. The watchdog said ICE began six initiatives without consistent capacity targets or adequate assessments of facility costs, risks and alternatives; DHS agreed to develop a plan. GAO, KJZZ, El País

• Naturalization approvals and citizenship ceremonies have slowed in Ohio. Reporting from Greater Cincinnati and elsewhere in the state describes canceled ceremonies, fewer approvals and longer vetting, while USCIS and the federal courts that administer ceremonies did not answer reporters’ questions. WVXU, The Statehouse News Bureau

• GAO said the State Department needs more consistent global staffing assessments for nonimmigrant visa processing. The report ties staffing planning to workload balance and long wait times at consular posts, a reminder that visa backlogs are shaped by staffing decisions as well as changing rules. GAO

• New York lawsuits challenge the administration’s revived public-charge policy. The challenges target a rule that can weigh use of public assistance in green-card and visa decisions, bringing a live court fight to a policy change with immediate consequences for applicants and their families. The 19th, Arizona Luminaria, The Ticker

• Honolulu’s immigration judges are requiring far more in-person hearings. The shift from virtual proceedings is driving up travel, lodging and missed-work costs for people on Hawaiʻi’s neighbor islands—and for some people and lawyers based as far away as Alaska and Texas—who are fighting removal. Honolulu Civil Beat

• DHS is looking for space for makeshift immigration courts. Bloomberg Law reports that the White House directed the department to identify space in FEMA, CISA and other DHS buildings as the administration seeks to accelerate removal proceedings, raising new questions about access to hearings and public observation. Bloomberg Law

• Local police are accounting for a growing share of ICE arrests across parts of Appalachia. A Louisville Public Media investigation of ICE records obtained through the Deportation Data Project found increased local-law-enforcement involvement in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, alongside the expansion of 287(g) agreements. Louisville Public Media

• USCIS is raising EB-5 investor-program fees. The agency said the fees, effective November 30, are intended to recover administrative costs and support program-integrity work including audits and site visits. USCIS

Clarification: Reporter Andrew Christiansen wrote to clarify the lead to the September 24 Moab item: DHS said the two Mexican nationals had final orders of removal and the two Turkish nationals had overstayed their admission; it did not say where the four were taken. Mayor Joette Langianese Wiggins said she learned of the operation after it began and was not notified in advance, while DHS said it had notified shared dispatch and Moab Police beforehand. Moab Times-Independent

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