## Immigration courts are ordering some unaccompanied children removed

**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](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/21/metro/immigration-court-children-deportation-unaccompanied/)

**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](https://immigrantjustice.org/press-release/illinois-elected-officials-and-advocates-raise-alarm-about-due-process-violations-targeting-children-at-chicago-immigration-court), **What is SIJS?** [The Marshall Project](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/01/28/these-young-people-were-told-they-could-stay-in-the-u-s-they-might-get-deported-anyway)

## 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](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/09/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-further-enhances-program-integrity-and-interagency-coordination-in-the-h-1b-visa-program/), [Fragomen](https://www.fragomen.com/insights/united-states-new-executive-order-directs-federal-agencies-to-consider-layoff-activity-and-labor-market-data-in-h-1b-adjudications.html)

## 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](https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260921-third-country-removals-trump-deportation-policy-numbers), [Forbidden Stories](https://forbiddenstories.org/the-office-of-remigration-america-first-and-its-overseas-negotiations)

## 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](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/09/21/us-deportations-to-haiti-endanger-lives)

**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](https://www.wlrn.org/americas/2026-09-21/human-rights-watch-interviews-44-deported-haitians-some-said-they-had-pending-asylum-claims)

## 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](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/21/texas-austin-ice-shooting-victim-wilber-rafael-garces-perez/)


**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](https://www.al.com/news/2026/09/judge-orders-ice-to-halt-warrantless-construction-raids-after-alabama-worker-detained-twice.html)


**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](https://dailymontanan.com/2026/09/21/judge-orders-release-of-24-unlawfully-detained-individuals/)


**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](https://whyy.org/articles/moshannon-ice-detention-center-contract-extension-vote/)


**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](https://thedailyrecord.com/2026/09/21/trump-administration-maryland-in-state-tuition-undocumented-students/)


**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](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/21/1144166/border-towers-surveillance-investigation/)


**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](https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/over-50000-people-are-on-ice-ankle)


**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](https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2026/09/21/ice-data-by-the-numbers/)