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.
Previous issues of this newsletter are archived here.
PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year (ProPublica, November 24, 2025): It’s a new record.
Missouri AG Now Siccing ICE on Gerrymander Referendum Signature Gatherers (Democracy Docket, November 21, 2025): In a stunning escalation over the Missouri GOP’s gerrymander, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway (R) announced she has referred the state’s grassroots referendum campaign to ICE, claiming without evidence that canvassers are “employing illegal aliens” to collect signatures to overturn the mid-decade redraw.
Here’s What It Can Cost to Detain and Deport Just One Person (Rachel Adams-Heard and Elena Mejia, Bloomberg, November 20, 2025): While the US government claims the cost is $17,12, the cost can be significantly higher.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
A sign outside a Home Depot in Avondale where federal authorities detained someone. The aim is to memorialize the pain of “Operation Midway Blitz” (Anthony Vazquez-Chicago Sun-Times) [Story here]
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Detention and Deportation
An Emboldened Trump Escalates His Anti-Immigration Crackdown after National Guard Shooting (CNN, November 28, 2025): In the hours following the shooting, an emboldened Trump painted a picture of a country overrun with “cuckoo” and “unvetted” migrants and he vowed a crackdown to expel them from the country and “permanently pause migration”.
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens (New York Times, November 26, 2025): Agents are arresting foreign-born spouses when they report for the final step to obtain permanent residency, and charging them with visa violations that could result in deportation.
Mother of Karoline Leavitt’s Nephew Detained by US Immigration Agents (Guardian, November 26, 2025): Bruna Ferreira, who has a child with the White House press secretary’s brother, is now in custody at an ICE facility.
A Babson College Student Wanted to Surprise Her Family for Thanksgiving. She Was Deported Instead (Boston Globe, November 26, 2025): Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was hoping to surprise her parents for Thanksgiving, but immigration agents detained her at Logan Airport last week.
Leading Democrat Calls Rise in ICE Detention Deaths under Trump ‘Stunning’ (Newsweek, November 23, 2025): “As ICE has ramped up so incredibly rapidly, often with no bid contracts, people who have no experience running detention centers and the mass deportations, it’s all gotten much worse,” Representative Pramila Jayapal said.
Nearly 200,000 Ukrainians in US Thrown into Legal Limbo by Trump Administration Crackdown (Reuters, November 23, 2025): The Trump administration’s processing delays on the humanitarian program for Ukrainians launched by Biden left nearly 200,000 people at risk of losing their legal status as of March 31.
Targeted Cities
Fewer than One-Third of those Arrested by Border Patrol in Charlotte Were Classified as Criminals (CBS News, November 24, 2025): The government document undermines claims by Trump administration officials who said the crackdown was primarily focused on apprehending immigrants who had criminal histories and posed a threat to public safety.
‘Is the Price of Doing This Worth It?’ North Carolina Republicans Worry about Trump Immigration Raids (Politico, November 23, 2025): The concerns surrounding Trump’s immigration clampdown in the Tar Heel state speak to a tension at the center of the president’s immigration agenda.
Profiles in Authoritarianism, Racism, and Cruelty
U.S. Halts All Asylum Decisions, Pauses Visas for Afghan Nationals (Washington Post, November 29, 2025): The decisions come a day after President Donald Trump vowed to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries,” among other threats.
St. Paul Police Use of Force during ICE Protests Raises Press Freedom Concerns (MPR, November 26, 2025): Three photojournalists were hit by pepper balls as they documented the day’s events.
Attacks on US Citizens, Authorized Non-Citizen Immigrants, and Immigrants in General
Trump Says US Will “Permanently Pause” Migration from “Third World Countries” (BBC, November 28, 2025): The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also said it would re-examine green cards issued to individuals who immigrated to the US from 19 countries.
Trump Uses National Guard Shooting to Cast Suspicion on Refugees (New York Times, November 27, 2025): President Trump claimed there were “a lot of problems with Afghans,” without providing evidence, as his administration announced that it was implementing new immigration guidelines.
Indigenous Actor Elaine Miles Says ICE Called Her Oregon Tribal ID ‘Fake’ (Oregonian, November 27, 2025): Miles said her son and uncle were both detained by ICE agents who initially did not accept their tribal IDs before they were eventually let go.
A Professor Was Released After 3 Days in ICE Detention. His Colleagues Fear a ‘New Normal’ (Chronicle of Higher Education, November 25, 2025): Vahid Abedini, who colleagues said was in the United States on an H-1B visa, was arrested on his way to a conference in Washington.
U.S. Ending Deportation Protections for Immigrants from War-Torn Myanmar (CBS News, November 24, 2025): The Trump administration on Monday said it would end yet another Temporary Protected Status immigration program, this time for nearly 4,000 immigrants from Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia engulfed in civil war over the past several years.
Surprise visits from Immigration Agents Frighten Prospective Citizens (Minnesota Star Tribune, November 24, 2025): U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has revived home visits for citizenship applicants. Attorneys say it’s a fear tactic.
All the Nations Who’ve Lost Immigrant Protections under Trump (Axios, November 24, 2025): At least 675,000 people who have been stripped of their TPS protections since Trump took office are at risk of deportation.
ICE Detained Teenaged US Citizen During School Lunch Break, Family Says (Guardian, November 23, 2025): Despite telling the officers he was an American citizen, one of them broke the driver’s side window and detained Christian Jimenez, an Oregon high school senior.
THE COURTS
More than 220 Judges Have Now Rejected the Trump Admin’s Mass Detention Policy (Politico, November 28, 2025): The number has skyrocketed in recent weeks and includes at least 20 judges appointed by Trump himself.
Colorado Judge Tells Immigration Agents to Stop Arrests Without Warrants (New York Times, November 26, 2025): The ruling that immigration agents are acting illegally is the latest to rebuke the Trump administration’s tactics, but earlier orders have been blocked on appeal.
Thousands of Immigrants Could Be Eligible for Bond Hearings, Striking Down DHS Policy: Judge (ABC News, November 25, 2025): The decision could potentially release those subject to mandatory detention.
Court Rules Trump Can’t Expand Fast-Track Deportation Process (Guardian, November 22, 2025): Federal appeals court declines to put hold on lower court’s finding that administration violated migrants’ due process.
Text Messages and a Moved SUV: How the Government’s Case against a Chicago Woman Shot by a Border Patrol Agent Fell Apart (CNN, November 21, 2025): Among other facts: the vehicle of the Border Patrol agent was moved 1,000 miles away after the incident.
RESISTING, PROTESTING, AND ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
What Chicago’s Fight Against ICE Can Teach Us All About How to Resist Oppression (Zoe Williams, Guardian, November 29, 2025): A harrowing US podcast documents a community’s struggle against immigration raids – and warns us about herd mentality.
In a Georgia Town with No Hotels, Volunteer Groups House People Visiting Detained Immigrants (WABE, November 24, 2025): Every weekend, volunteers from around Georgia drive to a historic house in Lumpkin, a town two and a half hours southwest of Atlanta to run a hospitality house called El Refugio, the refuge.
Religious Groups Seek to Prevent Holiday Immigration Raids (Baptist News Global, November 24, 2025): A coalition of religious groups has asked a federal court to prevent federal immigration agents from raiding houses of worship during the holiday season.
Charlotte Activists Met the Immigration Crackdown with ‘Bless Your Heart’ Resistance (Guardian, November 23, 2025): ICE and CBP’s North Carolina operation faced an early-warning system run by thousands of volunteers.
Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Immigrants Fined up to $1.8 Million for Remaining in the Country (NBC News, November 21, 2025): Daily fines of $998, designed to encourage immigrants in the U.S. illegally to leave the country, have been imposed on more than 21,500 people who the lawyers said were trying to comply with immigration laws.
Child Care Workers Are Building a Network of Resistance Against ICE (19th News, November 20, 2025): Child care workers, a substantial portion of whom are immigrants, are setting up detailed protection plans with the families in their care in case parents or the workers themselves are detained, leaving the children behind.
Immigration Agents Are Terrorizing Our Cities – Faith Communities are Pushing Back (Noel Anderson, United Church of Christ, November 20, 2025): From Los Angeles to Washington, DC to Chicago and now Charlotte, faith communities are responding with a sense of moral responsibility to take prophetic action to denounce hateful rhetoric and protect their immigrant neighbors at risk of detention, deportation, and family separation.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Number of Non-Criminal Detainees Arrested by ICE Has Surged by 2,000% Under Trump (CBS News, November 26, 2025): ICE was holding 65,135 people in detention facilities on November 16; 48% lacked any criminal charges or convictions; only 26% had criminal convictions.
Majorities of Latinos Disapprove of Trump and His Policies on Immigration, Economy (Pew Research, November 24, 2025): 65% disapprove of the administration’s approach to immigration.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Trump’s Hate-Filled Rant Ignores Facts on Immigrant Crime and Economic Benefits (Maya Yang, Guardian, November 29, 2025): The unprecedented post from a US president – spiteful even by Trump’s standards contradicted extensive research showing irrefutably that immigrants to the US commit fewer crimes than people born there, and have done so for more than a century.
ICE and Border Patrol Don’t Operate the Same Way (Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, November 25, 2025): The agencies are taking different approaches to meeting high deportation goals.
Disappeared to a Foreign Prison (Sarah Stillman, New Yorker, November 24, 2025): The Trump Administration is deporting people to countries they have no ties to, where many are being detained indefinitely or forcibly returned to the places they fled.
Where Can You Win in Immigration Court? (American Immigration Council, November 20, 2025): The impact of lawyers, detention, geography, and policy.
ACTION ITEMS
Urge Congress to do everything in their power to pass a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, who have spent years in uncertainty, their future at the mercy of an administration and courts that have become increasingly cruel. Sign the petition here.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT Oberlin Community Supporting Immigrants (OCSI): https://oberlincommunitysi.org/
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