*A man died in ICE custody in Georgia amid a hunger strike, and the full Fifth Circuit ruled three long-term residents lack a constitutional right to bond hearings. The Justice Department pressed California counties to set aside ballots of those it calls possible noncitizens. 60 Minutes followed deportees to countries judges barred. A student who is a U.S. citizen was injured as ICE agents detained him in Santa Maria, California. A final rule ends 540-day automatic work-permit extensions.*

## A death during the Folkston hunger strike

An immigrant held at Georgia's Folkston ICE detention complex died Oct. 23 as [a hunger strike over conditions there continued](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/24/georgia-ice-man-dies); officials had allegedly [threatened strikers with force-feeding](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/24/georgia-ice-man-dies). [The Guardian]

ICE [identified him as Luis Sandoval, 48, of El Salvador](https://www.univision.com/local/puerto-rico-wste/salvadoreno-muere-custodia-ice-centro-detencion-georgia) and said staff found him at about 1:46 a.m. with a ligature around his neck; an autopsy will be performed. [Univision]

## Full Fifth Circuit rules against bond hearings for three long-term residents

The full Fifth Circuit ruled Friday that three immigrants who entered without admission, each in the country for more than a decade, [have no due-process right to individual bond hearings](https://www.courthousenews.com/fifth-circuit-rules-trump-mandatory-detention-policy-constitutional/), reversing a panel ruling. [Courthouse News Service]

[Seven judges dissented](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/full-fifth-circuit-upholds-trumps-migrant-detention-policy); one other circuit has upheld the policy and nine have ruled against it. Lower courts had [ordered the three men released](https://www.france24.com/es/minuto-a-minuto/20261024-un-tribunal-de-eeuu-dictamina-que-los-indocumentados-no-tienen-derecho-a-una-audiencia-individual-para-fijar-su-fianza) before the ruling. [Bloomberg Law, France 24]

## Justice Department presses California counties over suspected noncitizen ballots

California election officials are [voicing concern and frustration over Justice Department letters demanding county registrars put in custody the ballots of people it believes are noncitizens](https://apnews.com/article/elecciones-california-extranjeros-ciudadanos-migrantes-trump-operativo-791fd6183c0fd089dba0be4a6ae9414b). The Friday letters seek sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, on about 20,000 voters. [Associated Press]

The letters went to 57 of California's 58 counties; the one to San Bernardino County [listed 1,133 names and gave the county 48 hours to commit to working with the Justice Department and DHS](https://www.telemundo.com/noticias/noticias-telemundo/elecciones-estados-unidos-2026/departamento-justicia-california-identificar-votantes-no-ciudadanos-rcna605393). Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said the Justice Department has admitted its data is inaccurate and unreliable. [Telemundo]

## Deported to countries judges had ruled off limits

A five-month CBS News/*60 Minutes* investigation [found deportees sent to third countries and then on to countries to which U.S. immigration judges had barred their removal](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-some-deportees-end-up-in-countries-us-judges-ruled-off-limits-60-minutes-transcript/). Moussa Diawara, granted withholding of removal to Mali in 2012, left Texas on a July 30 deportation flight, landed in Ghana and says he was sent on to Mali within days; 17 of the 19 people from that flight sent to Ghana whom CBS reached gave similar accounts. [CBS News]

Relatives of seriously ill detainees at the Krome and Broward detention centers in Florida and the advocacy group Workers Circle [told The Guardian that ICE was preparing to deport them to African countries](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/estados-unidos/florida/en-florida-denuncian-que-ice-prepara-deportaciones-de-inmigrantes-latinos-a-paises-africanos-nid25102026/). Immigration attorney Shalyn Fluharty said detainees' accounts pointed to flights Oct. 22–23 to the Central African Republic or Burundi; it is not clear whether they left. [LA NACION]

## Student who is a U.S. citizen injured during ICE detention in Santa Maria, California

Police in Santa Maria, California, confirmed ICE officers were involved in an incident with Erik Zepeda, a 20-year-old special-education student and U.S. citizen, who says agents detained and injured him on his way to school Oct. 21. ICE said [officers believed he matched its target's description and that he resisted](https://keyt.com/news/santa-maria-north-county/2026/10/23/santa-maria-police-turn-over-surveillance-footage-after-ice-agents-misidentify-injure-student/), and called claims of broken bones “FALSE.” [News Channel 3-12]

School and city officials said [he was hospitalized for wrist injuries](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2026-10-23/santa-maria-high-school-student-u-s-citizen-is-injured-as-ice-detains-him?ref=upstract.com); his former teacher and mentor, Glenn Goldin, said [the wrist was broken and he had a black eye and lacerations](https://www.noozhawk.com/santa-maria-special-education-injured-ice-agents/). [Los Angeles Times, Noozhawk]

## Final rule ends maximum 540-day automatic work-permit extensions

A USCIS final rule codifies last year’s interim regulation [eliminating the maximum 540-day automatic extension of work permits](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/isss/2026/10/22/uscis-reaffirms-regulation-eliminating-maximum-540-day-ead-auto-extension/) for many renewal applicants, including H-4 and adjustment-of-status filers. It applies only to certain applications filed on or after Oct. 30, 2025. [Vanderbilt University]

For those filings, the automatic extension [reverts to 180 days, or to none for categories not entitled to one](https://www.visahq.news/es/2026-10-23/us/final-rule-confirms-end-of-540-day-automatic-ead-extensions/), raising the risk of work gaps. [VisaHQ]

## Around the system

- **A ProPublica investigation follows Ingram, Texas, police officer Jaron Alexander, who suggested his town join ICE's 287(g) program and then began handing neighbors over to immigration agents after traffic stops** — the town's police [handed the equivalent of 10% of its roughly 1,900 residents to ICE within a year](https://www.propublica.org/article/deportations-ingram-texas-287g-jaron-alexander). [ProPublica]

- **Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued Sept. 29 to stop or delay the opening of a planned GEO Group-run ICE detention center in Hudson, Colorado,** [alleging DHS and ICE skipped required environmental review](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/colorado-attorney-general-phil-weiser-sues-stop-ice-detention-center-hudson) and asking a judge to cancel the 1,250-bed facility's contract until the review is done. [News From The States]

- **A settlement filed Oct. 23 ends the federal lawsuit over a proposed ICE facility at Newport, Oregon's airport,** with DHS [agreeing to give the city at least 30 days' notice before a final environmental review if it moves to open a detention facility there before Aug. 1](https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2026/10/newport-settlement-keeps-new-ice-detention-facility-out-of-oregon-coast-city-for-now.html). The state says [ICE confirmed it has no current plans for a detention facility anywhere in Oregon](https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/ag-rayfield-ice-abandons-newport-detention-center-says-no-plans-in-oregon/). [OregonLive, Oregon Department of Justice]

- **Univision cited reports of [about 40 ICE detentions around Home Gardens Academy in Corona, California](https://www.univision.com/local/los-angeles-kmex/ice-detiene-40-personas-escuelas-corona),** and activists said some children saw their parents arrested. [Univision]

- **The Advocate [rode along on an Oct. 15 ICE operation in New Orleans](https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/new-orleans-ice-arrest-deportation/article_0030f5d2-076f-5da3-98f3-17faa8ef3c14.html) that ended with a Honduran man's arrest after days of surveillance and a foot chase,** as agents shift to quieter, one-by-one arrests. [The Advocate]

- **CBP [searched 52,080 travelers' electronic devices from Oct. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbp-searches-electronic-devices-9.7392252),** up more than 32% from a year earlier and close to the full-year record of 55,424, according to agency data. [CBC News]

- **More than 40 farmers and agricultural groups [wrote to President Trump and congressional leaders that immigration enforcement is disrupting the food supply](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/23/ag-leaders-say-trumps-immigration-crackdown-is-disrupting-us-food-supply),** asking Congress to provide work permits for long-term agricultural workers. [The Washington Post]

- **DHS is offering $3,000, up from $2,500 last year, to some unaccompanied children who accept voluntary departure;** a DHS official told ABC News [the offer is aimed at children in government custody who are 14 or older and have no gang ties](https://gestion.pe/mix/usa/dhs-ofrece-us3000-a-menores-inmigrantes-que-deben-saber-las-familias-sobre-este-plan-nnda-nnlt-noticia/), though legal groups told Bloomberg Law that ICE attorneys had offered it to children as young as 5. [Gestión]

- **A woman with a history of stillbirth [says she fears losing another pregnancy while detained by ICE in Arizona](https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihAFBVV95cUxQMDN4bExfeTNscE5CTkRIQ0tkUlB6anR5a1NXbWMyODhUdHJrZF9oRG5OWFBkeVdBNHkwOG9aRG5DYjNPUHQ5VVMzV0FtWDZheXZDaEdfX0EtNE1kTTJNLUxTOVNuVmVRMk9Ra3IwT0J3bEpNNlNhXzVkckRYa0FzaUdGX2I?oc=5).** [The 19th]

- **South Austin, Texas, restaurant owners [report sales drops of 40% to 60% on some weekends since the summer amid ICE raids](https://www.univision.com/local/austin-kakw/ice-austin-redadas-migratorias-restaurantes-austin-ventas-restaurantes-inmigrantes-texas),** saying customers and workers stay home for fear of encountering agents. [Univision]