## A hard form switch is coming for work permits and status extensions

**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](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-to-publish-new-editions-of-form-i-539-and-form-i-765-older-editions-will-be-rejected-starting), [Arias Villa Law explainer](https://ariasvilla.com/new-i-765-and-i-539-forms-required-september-15-2026-uscis-will-reject-older-editions)

**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](https://www.uscis.gov/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](https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2026-09-07/deportados-desde-ee-uu-a-liberia-un-pais-del-que-no-habian-oido-hablar-nos-tuvieron-encadenados-durante-todo-el-viaje.html)

**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](https://conexionmigrante.com/2026-/09-/07/usa-deporta-a-mexico-a-mas-de-mil-migrantes-no-mexicanos-cada-mes), [Desterrados al sur report](https://cdhfraymatias.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Desterrados-al-sur-el-costo-humano-de-la-deportacion-Espanol.pdf)

## 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](https://laist.com/news/politics/data-from-911-calls-at-ice-detention-centers-must-be-released-under-bill-going-to-gov-newsom)

## 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](https://cdmigrante.org/georgia-ice-raid-ftca-claim-alfredo-fajardo), [WTOC](https://wtoc.com/2026/09/04/1-year-later-no-charges-filed-hyundai-megasite-immigration-raid)

## 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](https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20260831-VoterRegNatzCeremonies.pdf)


**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](https://santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/after-recent-ice-arrests-santa-fe-to-consider-new-measures-protecting-immigrants/article_b860cc24-2105-46ea-b818-0b95661d8acc.html)


**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](https://gothamist.com/news/federal-court-dismisses-trump-dojs-lawsuit-over-ice-activity-in-nj)


**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](https://univision.com/local/arizona-ktvw/noticias/inmigracion/dos-exguardias-de-la-alcatraz-de-los-caimanes-enfrentan-cargos-por-presunta-agresion-a-migrante-cubano)


**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](https://univision.com/local/dallas-kuvn/shows/noticiero-univision/nueva-directriz-de-dhs-permite-cuestionar-casos-de-asilo-antes-de-una-audiencia-en-eeuu-video)