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
Between May 23 and May 30, communities across Ohio are coming together for a statewide week of interfaith vigils in solidarity with people held in civil immigration detention (a.k.a. ICE jail). Faith leaders, organizers, and community members will raise their voices, hold space for reflection, and stand in collective action. This coordinated week of action calls for: An end to ICE detention, transparency on detention facility funding, and an end to 287(g) agreements. More information here.
Bintou Barro is a Columbus mother of two from Mauritania who was detained at her check-in and is jailed in the Correction Center of NW Ohio. Her habeas corpus petition will be heard before Judge Daniel Polster on Tuesday, May 26 at 1:30 p.m in U.S. District Court (801 West Superior Avenue, Cleveland, with nearby parking at Tower City and local streets). A robust showing of community support at this hearing would be very meaningful. If you can attend, please try to arrive by 1:00 p.m. and go to Courtroom 18B.
PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
‘Deplorable’: ICE Hires Firm Accused of ‘Torture’ to Track Down Undocumented Children (Guardian, May 2, 2026): Contractor denies allegations including ‘enforced disappearance’ and will help locate unaccompanied minors.
White Drivers Got a Warning. Latino Drivers Got Detained (Editorial Board, New York Times, April 29, 2026): New body camera footage from Nashville reveals a disturbing pattern of ICE and state troopers using minor traffic stops to target Black and brown drivers.
New State Department Rules Would Deny Visas to Those Who Fear Returning Home (Washington Post, April 28, 2026): A directive orders diplomatic missions to ask nonimmigrant visa applicants if they fear going back to their country and refuse U.S. travel documents for those who say yes.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
High schoolers, Israel Makoka (right) and Max Makoka (left), with host mother Gail Baptiste after being released from ICE custody on April 30, 2026 following community mobilization (Story here).
RESISTING, PROTESTING, AND ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
Pope Leo Picks Formerly Undocumented Immigrant to Lead West Virginia Catholics (Washington Post, May 1, 2026): Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, currently auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington, in 2023 became the country’s first Salvadoran bishop.
When Immigration Agents Arrested a Chicago Mother, a Stranger Stepped in to Care for Her 3 Kids (WBEZ Chicago, May 1, 2026): The three siblings had fended for themselves for nearly four weeks on the Southwest Side. Isabel Conde, 27, couldn’t find adults in their lives to take them in. So she did it herself.
Grad-Student Unions Are Demanding Colleges Help Protect Students from Deportation (Chronicle of Higher Education, April 28, 2026): The growing prominence of the issue in graduate-student labor demands comes as foreign and undocumented students have been swept up in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement.
El Paso Protest Rallies against ICE Immigrant Detention Centers (El Paso Times, April 26, 2026): Dozens of El Paso residents gathered at the entrance of ICE’s Camp East Montana in the East Side to protest the Trump administration’s immigration detention centers.
An Oregon School District and Its Teachers’ Union Agree to a First: Immigration Protections in a Contract (The Oregonian, April 25, 2026): The new language codifies both existing policy on the requirement that immigration agents must have a warrant to come onto school property and a new understanding that the district will pay for “Know Your Rights” trainings by a local community organization that clearly lay out what to do if you are arrested by ICE agents or if you witness an arrest.
Pope Leo Decries Migrants Being Treated ‘Worse than House Pets’ (US News & World Report, April 23, 2026): “They are human beings and we have to treat human beings in a humanitarian way and not treat them worse … than house pets or animals,” the pope said in a press conference.
THE COURTS AND LEGAL ACTIONS
67% of Trump Administration’s Newly Hired Immigration Judges Have No Relevant Legal Experience in Immigration (Austin Kocher Substack, May 1, 2026): Over 140 new immigration judges have been rushed onto the bench.
US Judge Rejects Trump Administration’s Halt on Immigration Applications (Reuters, April 30, 2026): A federal judge on Thursday ruled that policies that make it harder for people from countries on President Donald Trump’s travel ban list to get green cards and work permits are discriminatory and unlawful.
Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s No-Bond Immigration Detentions, Setting Stage for Supreme Court Review (AP, April 28, 2026): A unanimous ruling from a panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City sites “serious constitutional questions.”
HAITIAN TPS ARGUED AT THE SUPREME COURT
Future of Haitians Living in Ohio with Temporary Protected Status Depends on the U.S. Supreme Court (Ohio Capital Journal, May 1, 2026): With the court seemingly likely to strip legal status from Haitians, the impacts in Ohio will be profound.
Will Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Matter at the Supreme Court? (CNN, April 29, 2026): Trump has specifically vilified Haitians over the years. Trump described Haiti as a “filthy … shithole” country during his first term and during the 2024 campaign, falsely asserted that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were “eating the dogs,” “eating the cats.”
Supreme Court Appears to Lean Toward Ending TPS for Some Migrants (NPR, April 29, 2026): The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready Wednesday to allow the Trump administration to potentially proceed with mass deportations of more than a million foreign nationals, including those from Haiti and Syria, who live and work legally in the United States.
Behind Haitians’ Supreme Court Immigration Fight, a Long History Looms (Daphne Duret, Marshall Project, April 25, 2026): Trump’s move to end Haitians’ protected status is the latest chapter in a long history of the government treating them differently from other immigrants, some argue.
DETENTION WAREHOUSES AND CONCENTRATION CAMPS
When Immigration Detention Becomes a System of Concentration (Alex Braithwaite and Rachel D. Van Nostrand, The Conversation, May 1, 2026): Lessons from research on 150 historical cases.
An Ingenious New Strategy for Blocking ICE Detention Warehouses Depends on a Miniscule Snail (Slate, April 27, 2026): Grassroots opposition are turning to environmental laws to block warehouse construction.
Mesa [AZ] Can’t Enforce Its Own Fire Codes at an ICE Facility Where Detainees Can’t Even Sit Down (AZ Mirror, April 27, 2026): Federal supremacy laws leave local governments powerless to enforce fire codes or capacity limits at ICE detention facilities.
ICE BUCKET
Republicans Unlock Filibuster-Skirting Power to Pump Billions of Dollars to ICE (Politico, April 29, 2026): House Republicans succeeded in harnessing the special budget power to advance up to $75 billion for the immigration enforcement agencies Democrats refuse to fund without new guardrails.
U.S. Citizen’s Husband Living in the U.S. for Nearly 30 Years Released from ICE (Miami Herald, April 29, 2026): Carlos Della Valle was released April 28, 2026, from a Louisiana ICE facility after spending eight months in a dozen different detention centers in Florida, Louisiana and Texas, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Immigration Agents Told to Use Judicial Warrants for Home Entry (Bloomberg Law, April 23, 2026): ICE officers were told verbally weeks ago to stop entering homes without judicial warrants, marking a shift away from some of the agency’s most aggressive enforcement tactics.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Targeting Children
10-Year-Old Boy Faces Deportation Alone after Mother Detained in Houston (News4SA, April 30, 2026): A 10-year-old boy from Venezuela is facing deportation after appearing alone in a Houston immigration court without an attorney to represent him this week.
Trump Moves to Accelerate Deportations of Migrant Children in US Custody (CNN, April 28, 2026): Exclusive CNN report indicates step administration is taking to accelerate deportations.
She Celebrated Her 11th Birthday in ICE Detention. Her Wish: That Her Family Could Go Home (Guardian, April 27, 2026): After fleeing India, a family of four is being detained in a controversial Texas facility, facing deteriorating health, inedible food and substandard education.
The Stories of ICE’s Brutal Treatment of Children Are Piling Up. The Effects Are Devastating (Slate, April 27, 2026): Trump’s atrocious abuses of immigrants continue unabated.
ICE Wants to Deport 12-Year Old Boy Immigration Lawyer Says Is Citizen (Forbes, April 27, 2026): The case presents another example of ICE prioritizing the deportation of children and other individuals who do not present a criminal or other threat.
Detention and Deportation and Death
Cuban Immigrant Dies in Georgia Detention Center, ICE Tells Congress (Guardian, May 1, 2026): Denny Adán González, 33, whose death is being investigated as suicide, is 18th person to die in ICE custody this year.
FBI Redirected a Quarter of Staff to Target Immigrants under Trump’s Deportation Push (The Intercept, May 1, 2026): Over 9,000 FBI personnel were assigned to immigration after Trump returned to office — a massive diversion that experts warn could put national security at risk.
How Trump’s DHS Deports People to Prisons in Countries They Don’t Know (USA Today, April 29, 2026): A 43-year-old Cambodian man describes being sent by the United States to an Eswatini prison for over five months.
Immigration Street Sweeps Led to More ‘Collateral’ Arrests of Non-criminals (Ohio Capital Journal, May 1, 2026): A quarter of immigration arrests since August were labeled by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “collateral,” a type of arrest and detention that’s been challenged in court as an end run around civil rights.
Video Shows Parents, Attorney Detained at New Orleans Immigration Court (4WWL News, April 28, 2026): The video, taken by the detainees’ 13-year-old daughter, shows a couple being arrested by ICE after an asylum hearing.
ICE Detained Family Less than Two Days after Court Ordered Their Release (Reuters, April 25, 2026): An Egyptian family which was released from more than 10 months of immigration detention following court orders was taken into custody again by federal authorities on Saturday.
Justice Department Makes It Easier to Deport Those with DACA Status (NPR, April 25, 2026): A new precedent decision published Friday by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) says being a DACA recipient is not enough reason to provide relief from deportation.
Deporting Soldiers? Why Immigrant Veterans Fear Removal from US (Al Jazeera, April 25, 2026): Trump’s push for mass deportation has heightened fears that immigrant veterans who served in the US military could be expelled.
Authoritarianism, Lawlessness, Racism, Stupidity, and Cruelty
US Immigration Agents Left a Refugee to Die in the Cold. His Community Is Demanding Justice (Guardian, April 27, 2026): Buffalo’s Rohingya community pushes for NY state law to protect immigrants after Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s death.
The Trump Administration’s Campaign to Replace Immigration Judges with Fringe Right-Wingers (Huff Post, April 27, 2026): A Washington Post investigation found a men’s rights advocate, a promoter of conspiracy theories, and a former immigration judge who rejected an asylum claim from a man he didn’t think looked “overtly gay” were hired.
Under Trump, Green Card Seekers Face New Scrutiny for Views on Israel (New York Times, April 25, 2026): In guidance to immigration officers, the administration describes participating in pro-Palestinian protests and criticizing Israel as “overwhelmingly negative” factors.
Attacks on All Immigrants
Trump Administration Mandates Enhanced Security Checks for Immigration Applicants (CBS News, April 28, 2026): USCIS given greater access to criminal history databases to vet broad categories of immigrants applying for legal immigration.
Stuck in Limbo: Millions of Professionals Risk Losing Legal Status under Trump Pause (NPR, April 28, 2026): the Trump administration hit pause on reviewing their visa, green card, work permit and citizenship applications for those born in one of 39 countries.
IMMIGRATION AND THE ECONOMY
The American Economy’s Biggest Problem? Running Out of Workers (Matthew Lynn, Washington Post, April 30, 2026): The United States is running out of workers at the same time that it decided to close its doors to the immigrants who traditionally kept the whole machine running.
Worker Shortages, Financial Hardships Tied to Immigration Policies across Carolinas (ABC13 News, April 29, 2026): In North Carolina, immigrants make up roughly 31% of the agriculture workforce and 27% of construction workers. In South Carolina, a state report found foreign-born workers generated about $9.4 billion in economic activity in 2023 — about 8.5% of the state’s economy.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
After Major Enforcement Operations, the Trump Administration Recalibrates Its Immigration Crackdown (Washington Post, May 1, 2026): President Donald Trump’s administration appears to be recalibrating its centerpiece policy of mass deportations after a series of major immigration enforcement operations in American cities soured the public’s mood on it.
I Miss My Old Life (Mahmoud Khalil, New York Magazine, April 29, 2026): Since being arrested and detained by immigration agents, “I have learned that anything I do now can be taken out of context and made into evidence,” writes Mahmoud Khalil. “Of what exactly, I do not know. That is part of the punishment. The charge is never specified, so the vigilance must be total.”
Trump’s War on Immigrants Has Shifted from Spectacle to Bureaucratic Blitz (Sasha Abramsky, Truthout, April 23, 2026): In recent months, Stephen Miller has been deploying bureaucratic weapons to make life more difficult for immigrants.