Oberlin Community Supporting Immigrants

Week Ended December 20, 2025

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by

Steven Volk
in

PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked): 

‘No Sleep for ICE’: Inside the Protest Movement Keeping Immigration Agents Awake at Night (Time, December 19, 2025): When ICE agents finish a long day of raids and arrests in a new city, they usually retreat to a midscale hotel to rest, recuperate, and prepare to do it all again. But across the country, activists are stepping in to ensure that those agents do not sleep. These noisy protests outside hotels where agents are staying have become a key tactic of anti-ICE activists.

FBI Opened Domestic Terrorism Investigations into Anti-ICE Activity Across US (Guardian, December 19, 2025): Internal report shared with Guardian shows FBI has launched cases in 23 regions, some linked to Trump memo on thwarting ‘terroristic activities.’

Community Alert: Immigration Arrests at Airports (National Immigration Law Center, December 18, 2025): A resource that provides travel safety tips and other resources for immigrants traveling through U.S. airports.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Ivan Ehlers, L.A. Taco


LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS

Advocates, Attorneys Say ICE Activity Escalated This Week in Columbus (Columbus Dispatch, December 19, 2025): It started Dec. 17, when Maqueli Eldredge, a paralegal at Legal Immigration Services in Dublin, said she heard about 15 local arrests that day involving ICE. She said she heard of 20 more on Dec. 18.

ICE Descends on Columbus, Ohio, Hits K-12 Schools and Immigrant Neighborhoods (Austin Kocher Substack, December 19, 2025): ICE is showing up at schools during release time, targeting Latino/Hispanic populations.

The Ohio Grandma Racing to Help Haitian Parents Protect Children as More Deportations Near (The 19th News, December 15, 2025): Casey Rollins, the executive director of Springfield, Ohio local nonprofit St. Vincent de Paul, is working to bring attention to the unfolding crisis of children left behind when their parents are deported.

RESISTING, PROTESTING, AND ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE

Ordinary Americans Are Fighting Back Against ICE: ‘We’re Going to Outlast Them’ (Guardian, December 18, 2025): As Trump carries out his mass deportation operation, residents are banding together to block raids and distribute groceries.

Oregon County Doubles Down on Sanctuary Policy, Approves $250K for Immigrant Aid (Oregonlive.com, December 18, 2025): Multnomah County approved the use of $250,000 in rainy-day money to fund local organizations supporting immigrant families.

How a ‘Habeas Machine’ Reunited One Family That Was Pulled Apart by ICE (Hunter Walker, TPM, December 18, 2025): “If we get a habeas within two hours of detention, that’s how quickly we can turn it around.”

Amazon, Walmart Shareholder Pushes Firms to Report Impact of Trump’s Immigration Policies (Reuters, December 18, 2025): SOC Investment Group seeks impact reports on Trump’s immigration policies.

Dignity of Migrants Must Be Respected (Florida Catholic-Miami Archdiocese, December 17, 2025): Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said that the dignity of migrants, regardless of their immigration status, “must be respected because that dignity is not a gift from the state; it is something that God has given us.”

Louisiana Volunteer Group Brings Groceries to Families Fearing Immigration Crackdown (NPR, December 17, 2025): A group of volunteers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, delivers groceries to Latino families whose fears of immigration enforcement arrests keep them from leaving home.

Minneapolis Police Chief Criticizes ICE Tactics after Clash with Protesters (CNN, December 17, 2025): Onlooker video of the confrontation showed people yelling at ICE agents to release the woman, claiming she is pregnant and couldn’t breathe. After kneeling on her, an agent later dragged the woman by one arm on her back toward a vehicle.

‘You Don’t Have to Do It Alone’: How US Cities Are Helping Each Other Resist ICE (Guardian, December 16, 2025): From LA to Charlotte, organizers are learning from others’ strategies to protect residents amid federal crackdowns.

‘No ICE Allowed’: Immigrant Backers Launch Sign Campaign as Counterpoint to Crackdown (KSL.com, December 16, 2025): Around 400 signs have been distributed around Salt Lake City and other Utah cities by two grassroots organizations.

Republicans Are Divided on Afghan Immigrant Policy after National Guard Shooting (NPR, December 16, 2025): Some Republicans in Congress are splitting from the Trump administration over its crackdown on legal immigration from Afghanistan, especially for those migrants who helped U.S. war efforts there.

Not Just a Toy: How Whistles Became a ‘Tool of Resistance’ Against ICE Immigration Enforcement (Trevor Mitchell, MinnPost, December 15, 2025): Twin Cities activists have distributed hundreds of whistles to help warn neighbors about federal immigration enforcement.

ICE Agents Call for Backup during Minneapolis Traffic Stop, Bystanders Hurl Insults and Snowballs (MPR News, December 15, 2025): A pair of ICE agents found themselves surrounded by outraged neighbors and activists as they were attempting to arrest a woman in a traffic stop. Video shows agents restraining a woman on her stomach on the icy ground, then dragging her on the road towards their vehicle as bystanders and activists hurled insults and snowballs in their direction.

Inside Chicago’s Neighborhood ICE Resistance (Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, December 14, 2025): Residents have organized a formidable network to protect immigrant communities from Trump’s brutal deportation program. Their efforts are making a genuine difference.

A Moral Reckoning on Immigration (Lauren Jackson, New York Times, December 14, 2025): How we do we treat a stranger, to whom we are obligated and what constitutes human dignity? The debates are dividing Christian denominations.

Catholic Bishops Hold Mass for ICE Detainees in Adelanto [CA] (KQED, December 11, 2025): Catholic bishops from across California held mass at the Adelanto ICE Detention Center near the Mojave Desert on Wednesday.

THE COURTS

Supreme Court Revives Free Speech Lawsuit from Immigration Judges in Loss for Trump (CNN, December 19, 2025): The Supreme Court is keeping alive a federal lawsuit from immigration judges who are attempting to challenge a policy that limits their ability to speak publicly.

Milwaukee Judge Found Guilty of Felony Obstruction in Helping Undocumented Man Evade Arrest (ABC News, December 18, 2025) Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of obstructing federal agents and not guilty of concealing an undocumented immigrant from arrest during an April courthouse incident.

Immigration Agents Violated Worker’s Rights in ‘Negligent’ Search of Upstate NY Factory, Judge Rules (Syracuse.com, December 18, 2025): Immigration agents who raided a Cato nutrition bar plant violated a worker’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure, the chief federal judge in Syracuse ruled Thursday.

EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS  

Detention and Deportation  

Immigration Officials Deport Queens 6-Year-Old and Father Who Fled China (New York Times, December 19, 2025): Hundreds of people had rallied for the family in New York City after they were separated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in November.

Exclusive Look Inside ICE: How the Agency Operates in Trump’s America (USA Today, December 13, 2025): ICE agents try to balance their self-image as patriotic, law-and-order Americans with the perception that they have suddenly become, in the words of one ICE officer, “the bad guys.”

Rising Tensions and Finger-Pointing at DHS Amid Pressure to Ramp Up Deportations (NBC News, December 12, 2025): Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski have sought to deflect blame from themselves for any White House frustration with the pace and scope of the deportations, pinning it instead on the leaders of the agencies in charge of immigration enforcement — acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, the DHS officials said.

Targeted Cities

Bovino Leads Caravan Through Chicago Before Clashing with Evanston Mayor (Block Club Chicago, December 17, 2025): Wednesday marked Bovino’s second day back on the job in the Chicago area after he left in November.

Profiles in Authoritarianism, Racism, and Cruelty

ICE Hires Immigrant Bounty Hunters from Private Prison Company Geo Group (Sam Biddle, The Intercept, December 19, 2025): BI Incorporated, a subsidiary of for-profit prison company GEO Group, will help ICE pinpoint the locations of immigrants.


ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many for Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit (Anna Flagg and Shannon Heffernan, The Marshall Project, December 17, 2025): Former immigration staffers argue ICE is choosing to detain families for prolonged periods to speed deportations and compel them to leave.

Minnesota’s Immigration Cases Are Increasingly Held in Secret (Minnesota Star Tribune, December 17, 2025): Judges are limiting access to court proceedings, citing safety concerns. Observers say it’s an overreaction that hurts transparency.

I’m an Elementary School Principal. Students Live in Fear of ICE (Seth Lavin, Guardian, December 16, 2025): I am in awe of the children and their parents as they live through raids. How can you call an operation targeted when it blankets a city in fear?

I Came from Somalia at 19. Let Me Tell You about the America I Met (Mohamed Osman Mohamed, Washington Post, December 15, 2025): President Trump’s anti-immigrant ranting betrays the Americans who welcome the stranger.

US Immigration Crackdown Forces Teens to Caretake After Parents Are Detained (Guardian, December 15, 2025): As federal agents target families, teens are left to care for siblings – from accessing bank accounts to medical records.

Senator Markey Condemns ‘Cruel and Calculated Racism’ by ICE Agents at Faneuil Hall [Boston] Citizenship Ceremony (Boston Globe, December 12, 2025): “Individuals on the precipice of American citizenship were plucked out of line here at Faneuil Hall, not because of anything which they did, but because of where they were born,” he said. “They had done nothing wrong, and yet they were treated with cruelty.”

Attacks on US Citizens, Authorized Non-Citizen Immigrants, and Immigrants in General

US Suspends Green Card Lottery Scheme after Brown Shooting (BBC, December 19, 2025): The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.

New Ban Bars 1 in 5 Legal Immigrants, Even Citizens’ Spouses & Kids (David J. Bier, Cato, December 17, 2025): President Trump signed a new proclamation that bans nearly all legal immigration from about 40 countries, covering about one in five legal immigrants from abroad and nearly 400,000 legal immigrants over three years.

Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship (New York Times, December 17, 2025): In guidance, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices are asked to “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month,” representing a massive escalation of denaturalization in the modern era.

Trump Expands Travel Ban and Restrictions to Include an Additional 20 Countries (NPR, December 17, 2025): The move, which now includes 39 countries, is part of ongoing efforts by the administration to tighten U.S. entry standards for travel and immigration, in what critics say unfairly prevents travel for people from a broad range of countries. The new proclamation will prevent U.S. citizens from sponsoring a spouse, child or parent from 39 countries, approximately 20% of the world’s nations.

 Legal Immigrant Mother Blasts ICE after Agents Smashed Window, ‘Traumatized’ Her Family (Mass Live, December 15, 2025): Two teenage American citizens and their mother, an immigrant legally residing in the U.S. for two decades, filed a lawsuit Monday against immigration agents who they said “illegally and forcefully detained” them outside a Boston area courthouse this fall.

Collateral Damage: How Immigration Policy Harms U.S. Citizens in Mixed-Status Marriages (Austin Kocher Substack, December 18, 2025): 20% of families already living separated; 99% of immigrant spouses have been in the country over 10 years and nearly 50% have been here for 25-years or more.


IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY

The Truth About Immigration that MAGA Doesn’t Acknowledge (Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, December 19, 2025): American families rely on immigrants to take care of their children. Immigrants make up at least 21 percent of the child-care workforce. Immigration arrests were associated with a loss of about 39,000 foreign-born child-care workers. Meanwhile, 77,000 U.S.-born mothers of kids under 5 dropped out of the workforce.

Immigrant Labor Declines as Trump Imposes New Immigration Restrictions (Stuart Anderson, Forbes, December 17, 2025): Government data show a decline of 1.1 million foreign-born workers since January 2025, and newly announced immigration restrictions will lead to a larger drop. Economic growth relies on labor force and productivity growth, and immigrants are essential to both, particularly given the aging U.S. workforce and their role in boosting productivity.

Thanks to Trump’s Extortionist Immigration Policies, Rural America Won’t Have Enough Doctors (Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, December 15, 2025): The administration’s policies on H-1B visas are doing real-world damage in many different places.

U.S. Farm Workers Sue Trump Administration to Save American Farm Jobs and Wages (UFW Foundation, November 21, 2025): On October 2, the Department of Labor announced a new rule that cuts the wages of H-2A workers between $5 to $7 per hour, directly transferring $2.46 billion dollars in wages from workers to employers annually, according to the administration’s own estimates.

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

JD Vance’s Safe Harbor (Ian Ward, Politico, December 18, 2025): In recent comments about fraught topics ranging from housing to healthcare to antisemitism, Vance has repeatedly taken a topic that divides the MAGA faithful and linked it back to immigration, the issue that most unifies the GOP base.

Stephen Miller’s Hard-Line Mexico Strategy Morphed into Deadly Boat Strikes (Ellen Nakashima, Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, December 18, 2025): Miller, the architect of Trump’s anti-immigration and border policies, and his team were behind a new war on drugs by striking cartels and alleged traffickers in Mexico.

The Chaotic Life of an Immigration Lawyer in Trump’s America: ‘Some Days You Break Down in Tears’ (Isabeau Doucet, Guardian, December 17, 2025): This is what immigration attorney Milli Atkinson’s typical day looks like.

“I’ve Never Seen So Many Police Cars” (Samantha Michaels, December 16, 2025): Hiding out with an immigrant family in ICE-occupied Memphis.

Study Explores How Florida’s Immigration Crackdown Upends Lives (Axios, December 15, 2025): Florida’s immigration crackdown, in lockstep with the federal government, has eroded the financial, physical and emotional well-being of immigrants and their children, research from the University of South Florida finds.

Immigrants Once Avoided Some Regions of America. That’s a Big Reason We’re So Divided (Colin Woodard, Politico, December 13, 2025): Today’s debates over immigration and assimilation have their roots in patterns of settlement that go back centuries.

ACTION ITEMS

Ohio Statehouse: Immigration Bills under Consideration
Credit: Springfield Neighbors United and Honesty for Ohio Education

SB 172

  • STATUS: Passed the Senate (vote breakdown here). Sent to House Public Safety Committee
  • WHAT IT DOES: 
    • Requires state and local public offices/officials to allow the arrest or detention of anyone who is — or is suspected of being — unlawfully present in the U.S.
    • Allows such an arrest or detention to happen anywhere in Ohio under any circumstances (notwithstanding current law that extends a privilege from arrest in certain cases)
    • Applies to arrests or detentions conducted by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency or officer, with or without a warrant, and regardless of whether the proceedings are administrative, civil, or criminal in nature.
  • Tell your state rep to HELP STOP SB 172, which just came over from the Senate:
  • RESOURCES:

HB 42 — Requires entities (including school districts) to report on immigration status and report on students here “unlawfully” 

  • STATUS: 3rd hearing in House Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday 11/18/25
    • Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police said the bill could place a “substantial administrative burden” on agencies. One suggestion they offered was to narrow the requirement to apply only to arrestees who must be fingerprinted under state law.
    • CAIR-Ohio said individuals forgo health care due to fear in the current environment. “Honestly, they’re scared of even attending the mosque or going out to the supermarket and things like that”
  • WHAT IT DOES: 
    • Would require certain agencies to collect and report data concerning the citizenship or immigration status of persons with whom they come into contact
    • Includes school districts — requires reporting on immigration status and reporting on students here “unlawfully” 
    • Amendment added: Changes the requirement for law enforcement to collect and maintain citizenship status from “those detained” to “those arrested.”
  • New resources from Refugees International:
  • 1.) Urge your local school board to pass a resolution opposing this bill. Sample resolution here
  • 2.) Tell Government Oversight Committee Chair Thomas Hall not to let HB 42 pass his committee: 614-644-5094 or [email protected]
  • 3.) Tell these committee members to HELP STOP HB 42:
  • 4.) Tell your state rep to vote NO on HB 42 if it reaches the House floor — Find your state rep by typing your address below these maps
  • RESOURCE: Analysis by the Ohio Poverty Law Center (OPLC)
  • HB 42 would require all Ohio public schools to collect and report data about their students to the federal government. 
  • HB 42 would create a serious threat to student safety. How can we trust schools to protect our children if state law is forcing them to help place students at risk?
  • HB 42 would have far-reaching consequences. We are already hearing countless stories about people being mistakenly caught up in the government’s deportation push. It makes sense that many legal American families will be too afraid to send their kids to school or school activities. Children’s education and mental health will suffer.

HB 26 — Reintroduction of HB 666 from last year

HB 200 — Enact the “America First Act”

  • STATUS: 1st hearing in House Public Safety Committee on 6/11/25
  • WHAT IT DOES: Require law enforcement and local governments to cooperate with federal immigration policies + punish those who refuse
  • Summary from ACLU Ohio

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT Oberlin Community Supporting Immigrants (OCSI): https://oberlincommunitysi.org/  
  IF YOU KNOW OF OTHERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THIS WEEKLY BULLETIN: Send an email to: [email protected]