As we come to the end of a very difficult year, we wish you strength, courage, and wisdom in the struggles ahead, and we send our hopes and prayers for a new year in which all our neighbors, in every town and city, on every street and avenue, will find acceptance, dignity, peace, and safety. Happy New Year from OCSI.
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.
Know Your Rights: You can’t protect your rights unless you know what they are. Here’s a 2-page handout prepared by OCSI.
PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
ICE’s Interest in High-Tech Gear Raises New Questions: ‘What Is It For?’ (Alfred Ng, Politico, December 26, 2025): The immigration agency’s surveillance tools and increased access to government databases draws privacy concerns.
For Undocumented Immigrants, a Posada Offers a Moment of Safety and Comfort (Los Angeles Times, December 24, 2025): “This brings out the community, brings a little bit of joy into their lives,” organizer Ramona Landeros told me. “This street is like a safe haven for a lot of our folks.”
Immigrants Now Have Fewer Legal Options to Stay in the U.S. under Trump (NPR, December 23, 2025): More than 1.6 million immigrants have lost their legal status in the first 11 months of President Trump’s presidency, including people who applied for and were accepted to come to the country on a wide variety of immigration parole, visa, asylum and temporary protected status programs.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Weapons on Mass Construction: Fiber artists fight back (Story here)
LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS
Hundreds Allegedly Detained in ‘Operation Buckeye’ Raids, ICE Reported in Dayton Area (Dayton Daily News, December 26, 2025): Officials with the Dayton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said they’re actively monitoring the situation and coordinating with community partners. The Hispanic Chamber said it is “aware of confirmed ICE activity reported in the Dayton area.”
“Operation Buckeye” Is a Black Eye for ICE (Ohio Immigrant Alliance, December 24, 2025): Over 214 arrested, 80% Latino. Profiling Latinos, creating chaos, and violating rights.
Apparent ICE Agent Threatens to Smash Columbus Woman’s Window for Tailing Them (Columbus Dispatch, December 24, 2025): A 20-year-old Columbus woman and her 18-year-old sister captured video of a person they believe to be an agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatening to smash her window and arrest her.
ICE Sweeps into Ohio, Stirring Fear Among Somalis and Other Immigrants (New York Times, December 24, 2025): After Mayor Andrew Ginther of Columbus said that its policy prohibited local cooperation on immigration enforcement, Elon Musk called him a “traitor.”
Protesters Blast Music Outside Columbus Hotel Where ICE Was Staying (Columbus Dispatch, December 20, 2025): Protesters discovered where ICE officials were staying locally and showed up outside their hotel to blast music and disrupt their sleep, according to reports from social media, a witness, police and a hotel employee.
Columbus Legislator Co-Hosts Somali Community Meeting Amid ICE Activity (Columbus Dispatch, December 18, 2025): Community leaders within Columbus’ Somali community rallied together and hosted an “emergency meeting” amid an increase in immigration enforcement by federal agents in the city.
RESISTING, PROTESTING, AND ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
How an Ex-US Marine Became Vital in the Fight against Trump’s Aggressive Immigration Enforcement (Guardian, December 26, 2025): When Trump began deploying troops to US cities, Janessa Goldbeck’s Vet Voice Foundation was ready – now they’re preparing for what may be next.
The Protesters Showing Up Every Week to Shut Down ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: ‘We Will End This’ (Guardian, December 26, 2025): Every Sunday, protesters from Florida and beyond go to the notorious immigration jail and advocate for its closure.
Boston Taps into ‘Spirit of Rebellion’ as It Resists ICE’s Immigration Crackdown (Guardian, December 24, 2025): The city is responding with ‘strategized resistance’ as masked men roam the streets carrying out immigration raids at traffic stops, supermarkets and courthouses.
Head of US Catholic Bishops Says Deportations Are Causing ‘Fear and Uncertainty’ (Politico, December 21, 2025): The church has been increasingly critical of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Thousands March in “ICE Out” Rally on Minneapolis’ Lake Street Corridor (CBS News, December 20, 2025): The event — organized by COPAL, Unidos, and local union groups — comes as the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Metro Surge prepares to enter its third week.
Protecting Immigrant Communities: How States Can Lead in 2026 (American Immigration Council, December 19, 2025): A list of actions some states have taken to protect their immigrant neighbors from aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
THE COURTS
Landmark Ruling Halts ICE Courthouse Arrests in Northern California Amid ACLU Lawsuit (Hoodline San Francisco, December 25, 2025): The arrests were criticized for giving immigrants “a Hobson’s choice between two irreparable harms.”
Supreme Court Hands Trump a Major Defeat on National Guard Deployment (Washington Post, December 23, 2025): The president’s ability to federalize the National Guard likely only applies “exceptional” circumstances, the court’s unsigned order said.
Judge Orders Administration to Submit Plans for Return of Migrants Deported to El Salvador Prison under AEA (ABC News, December 22, 2025): Over 200 migrants were sent to the CECOT prison under the Alien Enemies Act.
More Stumbles by Feds Mar Kilmar Abrego Garcia Deportation Case (Politico, December 22, 2025): Judge extends order protecting illegally deported immigrant from re-arrest.
DOJ Vowed to Punish Those Who Disrupt Trump’s Immigration Crackdown. Dozens of Cases Have Crumbled (Oregonlive.com, December 20, 2025): Of the 100 people initially charged with felony assaults on federal agents, 55 saw their charges reduced to misdemeanors or dismissed outright. At least 23 pleaded guilty, most of them to reduced charges in deals with prosecutors that resulted in little or no jail time.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Detention and Deportation
Two Injured in Anne Arundel County (MD) Shooting by Immigration Officer (WTOP News, December 24, 2025): Two people were shot by an ICE agent in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
Over 80K Migrants to Be Housed in ICE Warehouses Throughout the US (Sandra Sanchez, Border Report, December 24, 2025): U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking contractors to help it renovate at least 22 warehouse facilities for detention use, the Post reported Wednesday, citing draft documents.
Trump Administration Seeks to Cancel Thousands of Asylum Cases, Saying Applicants Can Be Deported to Third Countries (CBS News, December 23, 2025): The Trump administration has mounted a nationwide campaign to void the asylum claims of thousands of immigrants with active cases in immigration court by arguing that they can be deported to countries that are not their own.
Record Number 68,442 Immigrants Will Spend Christmas in Cages (Austin Kocher Substack, December 22, 2025): Almost 70,000 detainees, most with no criminal history, are currently penned up in one of ICE’s 216 detention centers across the country.
NPR Analysis Shows Skyrocketing Number of ‘No-Shows’ in Immigration Court (NPR, December 22, 2025): “What happened is that the word spread that if you go to court, you could get picked up from ICE,” said Ruby Powers, an immigration lawyer based in Texas with cases all over the country.
The Trump Administration Has All But Stopped Reuniting Detained Migrant Children with Families (Texas Public Radio, December 19, 2025): The Trump administration has virtually stopped releasing undocumented children in federal custody to their parents and other relatives.
Targeted Cities
ICE Surge in Columbus Leaves Families in the Lurch on Christmas (Columbus Dispatch, December 24, 2025): While ICE officials have said agents are ridding central Ohio of undocumented criminals, advocates told The Dispatch agents have caused chaos and invoked fear in both immigrants and citizens, causing high-speed chases and profiling and pulling over drivers at random.
Profiles in Authoritarianism, Racism, and Cruelty
ICE Agents Arrest Man on Christmas Eve – and Then Steal His Groceries (The New Republic, December 26, 2025): Trump’s immigration agents are doing whatever they want. Video here.
The White House and ICE send out Christmas “greetings” celebrating deportations and cruelty. If you can stomach it, the videos are here and here.
The Brazen Cruelty of the Trump Regime (Robert Reich Substack, December 24, 2025): Its plan to warehouse immigrants has shades of Nazi concentration camps and America’s shameful imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Faith Leaders Denied Access to Pray in Broadview ICE Facility on Christmas Eve (Chicago Tribune, December 24, 2025): The leaders said they sent requests to immigration authorities to enter the facility and lead a prayer on Christmas Eve but received no response. As they walked up to the doors of the Broadview site at about 10 a.m., they were refused.
Stephen Miller Cites Children of Immigrants as a Problem (New York Times, December 23, 2025): As it seeks to end birthright citizenship, the Trump administration is arguing that immigrants bring problems that extend for generations. The data shows otherwise.
‘It’s a War’ – Inside ICE’s Media Machine (Washington Post, December 23, 2025): Messages reveal how the agency has raced to satisfy the White House by pumping out videos of confrontations and arrests.
White House Rebuffs Catholic Bishops’ Appeal for a Christmas Pause in Immigration (NBC News, December 23, 2025): An appeal was issued by the Miami Archbishop, and signed by seven other members of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, asking to pause immigration enforcement activities during the Christmas holidays.
CBS Shelves ’60 Minutes’ Story on Trump Deportees at Last Minute: ‘People Are Threatening to Quit,’ Staffers Say (CNN, December 21, 2025): CBS News suddenly shelved a segment featuring the accounts of Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Trump’s DNA Dragnet: The Law that Turns Us All into Suspects (Alex Ashley, Rolling Stone, December 21, 2025): A little-used federal law is being activated in ways that could turn immigration screening into the backbone of a far-reaching DNA surveillance system.
How ‘Turn and Burn’ Immigration Operations Unleash Chaos – and Sweep Up U.S. Citizens (New York Times, December 20, 2025): A video analysis of one early morning raid in Los Angeles revealed the vast web of consequences brought by new aggressive Border Patrol tactics.
Four ICE Detainee Deaths in Four Days Spark Alarm as Arrests Grow (Washington Post, December 20, 2025): At least 30 detainees have died in 2025, prompting concerns about deteriorating conditions at facilities even as the agency has received an infusion of cash from Congress.
Four Arrested Taking Care Packages to Immigrant Detainees at Burlington Processing Center (GBH.org, December 16, 2025): A group of activists and a local faith leader were detained Tuesday while trying to deliver basic necessities to immigrants detained at the Burlington U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center.
Attacks on US Citizens, Authorized Non-Citizen Immigrants, and Immigrants in General
Trump Officials Move to Screen Visa Applicants’ Posts for ‘Anti-American’ Speech (Washington Post, December 26, 2025): The administration’s efforts to curtail legal migration have accelerated in a way that immigrant rights advocates say is chilling public discourse.
Trump Exploits a Tragedy to Target Legal Immigrants (Washington Post, December 20, 2025): Collective punishment followed shootings at Brown University and in D.C., with more to come.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY
ICE Crackdown Chills Sales at Immigrant-Owned Businesses (Minnesota Star Tribune, December 24, 2025): Owners believe many customers are avoiding the businesses for fear of drawing unwanted scrutiny.
‘Deportation, Inc.’ and the Rise of the Immigration Enforcement Economy (Lawfare, December 19, 2025): Why does the government outsource the critical immigration enforcement functions?
BY THE NUMBERS
A Narrow Majority Thinks Trump Is Doing “Too Much” to Deport Immigrants, Pew Survey Says (KSL.com, December 25, 2025): A survey shows 53% of Americans believe President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts go too far, up from 44% in March.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Trump’s Immigration Nightmare: It Is Happening Here (Radley Balko, The New Republic, December 24, 2025): With astonishing speed, the administration has toppled the most cherished pillars of a free society. And the experts agree: It’s all going to get much, much worse.
10 Companies Have Already Made $1 Million as ICE Bounty Hunters. We Found Them (Sam Biddle, The Intercept, December 23, 2025): And they stand to make millions more in cash bonuses for surveilling and tracking immigrants in service of ICE’s deportation machine.
Inside the Deportation Machine (Raj Saha, Zach Levitt, and Albert Sun, New York Times, December 22, 2025): How ICE has moved thousands of people through detention and out of the country.
The Cost of Disposability (Eleanor’s Squad Substack, December 22, 2025): How human bodies are converted into human capital to support a growing detention budget.
Immigration Crackdown Creates Fault Lines Among Baptists (New York Times, December 21, 2025): An increasingly loud contingent supports the Trump administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
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]