## ICE pursues mobile detention after warehouse plan stalls

**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](https://www.npr.org/2026/09/23/nx-s1-5976875/ice-mobile-detention-facilities-immigration)

**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](https://www.projectsaltbox.com/p/ice-signs-contracts-worth-up-to-73b)
## 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](https://federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/23/2026-19555/enhancing-program-integrity-and-interagency-coordination-in-the-administration-of-the-h-1b), [American Hospital Association](https://aha.org/letterscomments/2026-09-23-aha-comments-department-homeland-securitys-proposed-fee-h-1b-petitions)

## 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](https://www.decaturdaily.com/news/other_news/state/judge-halts-likely-unlawful-immigration-policies-after-alabama-man-repeatedly-detained/article_92b534d2-dfc2-4cc1-9d88-47f92c0098de.html), [court filing](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alsd.76579/gov.uscourts.alsd.76579.76.1.pdf)

**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](https://www.decaturdaily.com/news/other_news/state/judge-halts-likely-unlawful-immigration-policies-after-alabama-man-repeatedly-detained/article_92b534d2-dfc2-4cc1-9d88-47f92c0098de.html)
## 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](https://www.kcur.org/2026-09-23/ice-agents-in-kansas-cause-schools-to-warn-families-and-meatpacking-plants-to-delay-shifts)

**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](https://www.kwch.com/2026/09/23/southwest-kansas-leaders-say-cities-received-no-advance-notice-ice-operations)

## Upcoming

### September 28

**Applying to asylum:** People who apply for asylum on their own with USCIS can now have their cases referred straight to immigration court without an interview first. The interim rule, already in effect, also removes the requirement that a referral letter assess the applicant’s credibility. Comments close September 28. [Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/28/2026-15190/affirmative-asylum-referrals-without-interview)

**Fines for contempt:** Immigration judges would be able to fine people who defy their authority in court (contempt), under a proposed rule setting out who can be penalised, how much, and how to appeal — aimed mainly at lawyers and others appearing in deportation cases. Comments can be filed until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on September 28, 2026. [Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/30/2026-15458/civil-money-penalty-for-actions-in-contempt-of-an-immigration-judges-proper-exercise-of-authority)

### October 1

A new fiscal year's supply of employment-based green card numbers becomes available on October 1, so the October 2026 Visa Bulletin — the State Department chart that sets who can file or be approved based on their place in line (priority date) — may show forward movement in backlogged categories such as EB-2 India. [WR Immigration (Wolfsdorf Rosenthal)](https://wolfsdorf.com/wr-immigration-news-digest-20260618/)

### October 5

The federal office that houses immigrant children who arrive without a parent or guardian, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), wants to revise the forms its inspectors use to check whether shelters are meeting licensing rules and other legal requirements. Anyone can comment until October 5, 2026. [Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/05/2026-15842/proposed-information-collection-activity-monitoring-and-compliance-for-office-of-refugee)

### October 13

USCIS can now require that certain applications and petitions be filed online rather than on paper, and the rule sets out how it will designate which ones. People who cannot file electronically can ask for a waiver. The change is already in force as an interim final rule, but comments are open until October 13, 2026. [Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/11/2026-16313/mandatory-electronic-filing-e-filing)

## 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](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/09/wisconsin-caregiver-shortage-federal-immigration-policy-home-health-nursing-workers/), [Skilled Nursing News](https://skillednursingnews.com/2026/09/nursing-home-operators-in-state-say-immigration-policy-changes-upended-years-of-workforce-planning/)

- **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](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/d-c-circuit-to-hear-upcoming-arguments-on-trump-administrations-defiance-of-court-order-and-cecot-deportations-under-alien-enemies-act)

- **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](https://laist.com/news/politics/ab-1537-police-sheriff-moonlighting-ice-isaac-bryan-hugo-soto-martinez)

- **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](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/09/23/diversity-visa-lottery-why-cases-stalled/91903651007/)

- **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](https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/ice-philadelphia-lawsuit-detainers-krasner-parker-trump-20260923.html)

- **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](https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/ice-arrests-four-in-moab-sheriff-says-he-learned-only-after-the-operation-began/), [Moab Sun News](https://moabsunnews.com/2026/09/23/moab-ice-arrests-four-taken-september-2026)

- **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](https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/immigration-news/ice-surge-is-targeting-vermonts-roofing-and-construction-workers/)