Edited by Steve Volk ([email protected])
Oberlin Community Supporting Immigrants (OCSI) does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide information, education, and analysis regarding the U.S. immigration system.
CONTACT OCSI:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://oberlincommunitysi.org/
Know Your Rights: You can’t protect your rights unless you know what they are. Here’s a 2-page handout prepared by OCSI. If you want a comprehensive resource library of KYR information, updated for 2026, Austin Kocher provides one here.
OCSI Corner
Do you need a speaker on immigration of “know your rights” for your local church, synagogue, or community group? Contact us at the email below. We can help!
ACTION ITEMS
Join the ACLU’s opposition to Ohio House Bill 26. HB26 is an initiative that would force local and state law enforcement to partner with the federal government for any type of enforcement of immigration laws, including 287(g). HB 26 would allow for the weaponization of local law enforcement front and center statewide, while stoking a culture of fear, racial profiling, and distrust within communities. Sign their petition here.
PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
Judge Says U.S. Is Intentionally Violating the Law on Immigration (New York Times, February 26, 2026): Judge Zahid N. Quraishi said federal prosecutors in New Jersey had lost credibility on immigration issues. He’s the latest federal judge to show impatience with the Trump administration.
Video: ICE Agents Pepper-Spray Ohio Mom, 3 Kids Inside Moving Vehicle (Fox8 News, February 25, 2026): Video of the incident shows the mother in her car with three girls when two ICE agents drive up alongside the mother’s driver’s side window and deploy pepper spray into the vehicle as they pass.
‘Horror on a Shocking Scale’: Resurgent US Movement Calls for End to Family ICE Detention https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/23/protest-movement-family-children-ice-detention-trump (Guardian, February 23, 2026): Solidarity campaign mobilizes as thousands of children like Liam Ramos taken amid Trump’s immigration crackdown.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Columbia on February 26 to protest the detention of a student by federal authorities (Story here)
LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS
Economists: Cutting Immigration Will Harm Ohio’s Economy (Ohio Capital Journal, February 26, 2026): More than three fourths of the 21 surveyed agreed that cutting immigration will lead to higher prices for consumers. Ninety five percent believed that it would result in less small-business formation. And they were unanimous in saying that cutting immigration would lead to less tax revenue.
Oberlin Professor, Libertarian Analyst Tackle Mass Deportation, Immigration (Chronicle-Telegram, February 23, 2026): Volk said that any conversation about immigration had to center on the fact that immigrants, even those who break the law to enter the country, are human beings. Anything else, he said, would create a system that was not only discriminatory, but one that held the country back.
Protesters Rally at Amherst Town Hall, Call for Community Action (Morning Journal, February 21, 2026): Dozens of demonstrators gathered on Feb. 21 outside Amherst Town Hall as part of an Americans for Democracy protest organized by Stand Up Lorain County.
RESISTING, PROTESTING, AND ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
Portland Advances Plan to Cover Legal Services for Immigrants and Refugees (Oregon Public Broadcasting, February 27, 2026): Portland City Councilors advanced a plan Thursday to use $150,000 in city dollars to cover legal services for roughly 75 immigrants and refugees.
St. Paul Neighbors Band Together to Oppose Immigration Crackdown (Twin Cities Pioneer Press, February 21, 2026): Decentralized network sprung up during Operation Metro Surge to patrol neighborhoods, deliver food and more.
Bucks [County, PA] Investigating Quakertown Police after Violent Confrontation with Students Protesting ICE (WHYY, February 21, 2026): Videos show officers confronting student protesters in the Pennsylvania town, which the Bucks NAACP said “raised serious questions.”
THE COURTS AND LEGAL ACTIONS
‘ICE Will Comply’: Top Minnesota Judge Threatens Criminal Contempt for Continued Defiance (Politico, February 26, 2026): “The Court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt — again and again and again — to force the United States government to comply with court orders,” Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote.
Trump Administration’s Third-Country Deportation Policy Unlawful, Judge Finds (Washington Post, February 25, 2026): The ruling could make it more difficult for the government to send migrants to countries that are not their own.
Inside Trump’s Purge of U.S. Immigration Courts (Axios, February 24, 2026): Trump spent much of 2025 purging the beleaguered immigration courts. 55 immigration judges were fired, and another 80 retired.
Judges Grow Angry Over Trump Administration Violating Their Orders (New York Times, February 23, 2026): At least 35 times since August, federal judges have ordered the administration to explain why it should not be punished for violating their orders in immigration cases.
CONCENTRATION CAMPS [Note: As the Trump administration pours $45 billion into the construction of what it is calling “detention centers,” terminology becomes important. For why we are referring to them as “concentration camps,” see Andrea Pitzer’s “What Counts as a ‘Concentration Camp’” in her Substack, Degenerate Art, February 13, 2026).]
ICE Warehouse in Hagerstown, MD (Austin Kocher Substack, February 26, 2026): A report from ICE’s detention reengineering program in Hagerstown, MD.
Colorado Congressional Democrats Demand ICE Abandon Plans for Hudson Immigration Detention Center (Denver Post, February 24, 2026): U.S. Rep. Brittany Petterson and Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper sent letter to Homeland Security leaders.
We Visited an El Paso ICE Detention Facility. We Don’t Recognize Our Country Anymore (Lisa Landau and Emerson Argueta, El Paso Matters, February 24, 2026): A group of law students visited the largest-ever immigrant detention center in El Paso.
Wilson County [TN] Mayor: ICE Eyes Immigrant Detention ‘Mega Center’ in Lebanon to House up to 16,000 (Tennessee Lookout, February 22, 2026): The mayor’s announcement Friday capped a week of contradictory messages from ICE about its plans to locate an immigrant detention center in the community.
ICE’s Purchases for Big Detention Centers Are Marked by Secrecy, Frustrating Towns (AP, February 21, 2026): At least 20 communities with large warehouses across the U.S. that have become stealth targets for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s $45-billion expansion of detention centers.
ICE BUCKET
Columbia Student Detention Tests Universities’ Immigration Playbook (Politico, February 27, 2026): The incident shows even colleges with comprehensive immigration and law enforcement policies can’t account for government officials not following the rules.
ICE Arrests Columbia Student, Shipman Says Agents Lied to Enter University-Owned Residence (Columbia Spectator, February 26, 2026): Federal agents detained Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva, GS ’26, early Thursday morning after making “misrepresentations” to enter the building, Shipman wrote in a Thursday email. [And this follow-up: ICE Releases Columbia Student After Mamdani Ask Trump for Help, Washington Post, February 26, 2026): “Once inside the apartment, it became clear they had misrepresented themselves,” Columbia’s acting president Claire Shipman said. “A public safety officer arrived, asked multiple times for a warrant, which was not produced, and asked for time to call his boss, which was not given.]
ICE Arrested 261 DACA Recipients over 10 Months Last Year, Document Shows (CBS, February 25, 2026): Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 19, 2025, ICE arrested 261 DACA beneficiaries and deported 86 of them
ICE Took Their Papers – and Won’t Give Them Back (Julia Laurie, Mother Jones, February 24, 2026): Immigrants are being released from detention without documents proving their status.
ICE Whistleblower Wars New Recruits Are Receiving ‘Defective’ Training (CBS News, February 23, 2026): “New cadets are graduating from the Academy, despite widespread concerns among training staff that even in the final days of training, the cadets cannot demonstrate a solid grasp of the tactics or the law required to perform their jobs,” Ryan Schwank said during a hearing organized by congressional Democrats.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Targeting Toddlers and Minors
Legal Advocates Seek to Halt CBP Policy Pressuring Unaccompanied Children to Self-Deport (AP, February 24, 2026): A new policy introduces the self-deportation option before children enter the federally mandated shelter, a practice that started in September 2025, according to testimony from CBP officials filed in the lawsuit.
Detention and Deportation and Death
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow It to End Deportation Protections for Syrian Immigrants (CBS News, February 26, 2026): The U.S. district court in New York had ruled that Kristi Noem’s termination of the program for Syria likely violated federal law and found her decision to strip Syrians of their legal protections likely rested on “political influence.”
Nearly Blind Refugee Found Dead in New York Days after Immigration Agents Dropped Him at a Coffee Shop Alone, Officials Say (CNN, February 26, 2026): Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, who spoke little English, had been missing since February 19, when the agents left him at the shop shortly after he was released from the Erie County jail.
US Deported Gay Asylum-Seeker to Third Country Where Homosexuality Is Illegal (ABC, February 22, 2026): The woman was three days from a hearing when she was handcuffed by ICE and put on a plane to Cameroon, where homosexuality is illegal. She was put in a detention facility.
Authoritarianism, Lawlessness, Racism, andCruelty
Justice Department Indicts 30 More in Anti-ICE Church Protest in Minnesota (NBC, February 27, 2026): A total of 39 defendants now face charges in the case that has already ensnared journalist Don Lemon, formerly of CNN
Lawsuit: Warrantless Immigration Arrests in North Carolina Targeted U.S. Citizens (Ohio Capital Journal, February 27, 2026): Four U.S. citizens and a visa holder filed a federal class-action lawsuit on Tuesday, accusing the Department of Homeland Security of making immigration arrests without warrants or probable cause, and asking a judge to block the practice in North Carolina.
Trump Administration Considers Requiring Banks to Collect Citizenship Information (Washington Post, February 24, 2026): The White House is exploring measures that could require banks to collect additional citizenship information from customers, raising concerns that the move could create new barriers to financial services.
Hegseth Threatens to Force AI Firm to Share Tech, Escalating Anthropic Standoff (Washington Post, February 24, 2026): Anthropic has reservations about how its technology will be used. The defense secretary has given the AI firm until Friday to agree to the Defense Department’s terms.
A New Lawsuit Alleges DHS Illegally Tracked and Intimidated Observers (NPR, February 23, 2026): As Colleen Fagas was observing an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Main, federal agents scanned her face with a smartphone. When she asked why, the agent said: “Cause we have a nice little database,” the masked agent said. “And now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.”
Witness Who Saw Friend Fatally Shot by Immigration Agent in Texas Last Year Dies in Car Accident (AP, February 23, 2026): That witness, Joshua Orta, died Saturday in a fiery car crash in San Antonio, according to a lawyer for the family of Ruben Ray Martinez who was fatally shot last year.
Attacks on All Immigrants
Ohio Gov. DeWine Criticizes Trump Plan to End TPS for Haitian Immigrants (Columbus Dispatch, February 23, 2026): In a Feb. 22 interview DeWine defended Haitians living and working legally in Ohio, arguing that they have strengthened local communities and filled jobs amid labor shortages.
Who Profits
ICE Reliance on Microsoft Technology Surged Amid Immigration Crackdown, Documents Show (Guardian February 17, 2026): Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deepened its reliance on Microsoft’s cloud technology last year as the agency ramped up arrest and deportation operations, leaked documents reveal.
IMMIGRATION AND THE ECONOMY
More People Are Moving Out of the U.S. Than Moving in for the First Time Since the Great Depression (Fortune, February 27, 2026): A bad omen for the $38.8 trillion national debt.
BY THE NUMBERS
New Polling Data Shows Immigration Enforcement Is Costing Republicans Their Own Voters (Austin Kocher Substack, February 23, 2026): A new national survey finds 70% of Americans think the Trump administration is too focused on deportations. Immigration enforcement ranks as a top driver of defection among Trump’s own 2024 voters.
Worst of the Worst? Most US Immigrants Targeted for Deportation in 2025 Had No Criminal Charges, Documents Reveal (Guardian, February 22, 2026): An analysis of government records has found that 77% of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Trump Turns to Familiar Uncompromising Immigration Stance during State of the Union (Ohio Capital Journal, February 25, 2026): Despite the controversy the months-long immigration operation in Minneapolis has created, Trump defended the operation and his views on immigration more generally, possibly signalling he does not plan to tone down his rhetoric in an election year.