## The Court lets third-country removals continue

**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](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-allows-trumps-third-country-deportation-policy-rcna599724)

**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](https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/supreme-court-to-hear-argument-on-trump-administrations-deportation-of-immigrants-to-third-party/), [PBS NewsHour](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/supreme-court-lets-trump-continue-deporting-people-to-3rd-countries-while-justices-consider-policy)

## 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](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/dhs-was-set-to-end-tps-for-el-salvador-then-the-white-house-stepped-in-01097223)

**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 For now, the earlier decision to keep the designation in place has not been replaced by a published termination notice.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](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-says-immigrants-el-salvador-will-now-keep-temporary-protected-status-2026-09-09/)

## 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](https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/09/newsom-signs-immigration-laws/), [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/ca-shock-glove-ban-signed-01094029)

**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](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2026-09-29/newsom-signs-bills-pushing-back-on-trumps-immigration-agenda), [Governor of California](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/29/governor-newsom-signs-bills-to-push-back-on-trumps-orwellian-immigration-tactics-to-protect-immigrant-communities/)

## 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](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108663), [KJZZ](https://www.kjzz.org/fronteras-desk/2026-09-26/report-ices-detention-expansion-efforts-lacked-planning-wasted-millions-in-taxpayer-funds), [El País](https://english.elpais.com/usa/2026-09-25/ice-wasted-millions-of-dollars-on-its-expansion-of-detention-centers-according-to-a-government-report.html)

- **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](https://www.wvxu.org/local-news/2026-09-28/fewer-citizenship-applications-cincinnati), [The Statehouse News Bureau](https://www.statenews.org/section/the-ohio-newsroom/2026-09-28/ohio-citizenship-ceremonies-face-cancellations-as-naturalizations-slow-under-trump-policies)

- **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](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107902)

- **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](https://19thnews.org/2026/09/trump-immigration-policies-children/), [Arizona Luminaria](https://azluminaria.org/2026/09/28/how-trumps-immigration-crackdown-is-harming-children-including-u-s-citizens), [The Ticker](https://theticker.org/19887/news/ny-sues-trump-administration-over-new-public-charge-rule-for-immigrants)

- **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](https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/09/judges-crackdown-virtual-hearings-immigrants-hawaii/)

- **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](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/dhs-expands-pop-up-immigration-courts-blocking-public-access-100)

- **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](https://www.lpm.org/investigate/2026-09-29/across-appalachian-mid-south-local-law-enforcement-helps-drive-immigration-crackdown)

- **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](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-adjusts-eb-5-fees-to-cover-program-costs-and-strengthen-integrity-measures)

***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](https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/ice-arrests-four-in-moab-sheriff-says-he-learned-only-after-the-operation-began/)*

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