The agent behind the Houston shooting
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)
Get the Daybook in your inbox.
Free. Every weekday. English and Spanish.
We never sell or share your email. Unsubscribe any time.
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)
Upcoming
The next four weeks.
- Oct. 1, 2026
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.
- Oct. 2, 2026
USCIS says certain TPS work documents issued under Venezuela's 2023 designation remain valid through October 2 under a federal court order. We added this date because USCIS still identifies it, while its effect remains tied to litigation.
- Oct. 5, 2026
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.
- Oct. 13, 2026
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.
- Oct. 19, 2026
For Ukraine, USCIS lists October 19, 2026, on TPS documents; certain Sudan TPS work documents also remain valid through October 19, 2026. This is a date to watch, not a settled end date: Ukraine's statutory extension question and official implementation remain unresolved.
Send this edition to someone who should have it.
The link carries “?via” and nothing else — no identifiers, no cross-site tracking.
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)