PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
Families Once Torn Apart at Border Face Renewed Threat of Separation (LAist, October 21, 2025): The second Trump administration is abandoning a promise not to separate families, putting thousands of once-separated families at risk of being split up a second time. At least four families have been deported already.
Separation (Jake Halpern, New York Times, October 21, 2025): A teenager and his family navigate the threat of deportation (a graphic comic presentation).
Rubio Promised to Betray U.S. Informants to Get Trump’s El Salvador Prison Deal (Washington Post, October 19, 2025): To secure Washington’s access to El Salvador’s most notorious prison, the secretary of state made an extraordinary offer to President Nayib Bukele.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
An ICE agent points a crowd-control weapon at a protester at the intersection of East 105th Street and South Avenue N in the East Side neighborhood, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Protesters gathered as ICE awaited the removal of its vehicle after it crashed during a pursuit. Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times
LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS
How Is Immigration Enforcement Impacting Columbus Restaurants? (Linda Lee Baird, Columbus Dispatch, October 25, 2025): Local hospitality leaders speak out.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Detention and Deportation
Trump Administration Plans a Shake-Up at ICE to Speed Deportations (New York Times, October 25, 2025): The preliminary plan stems from frustration over the pace of the deportations, which are lagging behind President Trump’s demands.
ICE Keeps Detaining Pregnant Immigrants – Against Federal Policy (19th News, October 20, 2025): But the number is impossible to measure since Congress let lapse a requirement that ICE report how many pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants are in custody.
The Trap at 26 Federal Plaza (Andrew Rice and Paula Aceves, New York Magazine): Every day immigrants arriving for routine hearings in New York City’s federal building are targeted by ICE agents and taken from their families.
He Was Detained by ICE. Here’s What Happened When He Lawyered Up (Ximena Bustillo, NPR, October 18, 2025): ICE tried to send one immigrant to a country he never lived; then he lawyered up. Detainees like him who can afford to pay for more due process show the pitfalls of a mass deportation approach.
Profiles in Authoritarianism, Racism, and Cruelty
Masked Authoritarianism Is No Prank (Steven Volk, Cleveland.com, October 24, 2025): It’s undercutting our democracy.
Two Months of ICE Terror in Chicago (Emma Janssen, American Prospect, October 22, 2025): A dispatch from her city, where ICE has disrupted lives and protesters are fighting back.
Some New ICE Recruits Have Shown Up to Training without Full Vetting (NBC News, October 22, 2025): The recruits have had criminal backgrounds or failed drug tests or were unable to meet physical or academic standards, raising concerns about the agency’s rush to hire immigration officers, sources told NBC News.
Dim Days, Bright Nights: A Hidden Cruelty of ICE Detention (Guardian, October 20, 2025): Tens of thousands of people held across the US amid Trump’s immigration crackdown could face an insidious hazard: broken internal clocks.
ICE’s ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits (The Atlantic, October 20, 2025): More than a third of the recruits can’t do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
Ex-ICE Director Says Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Putting Agents in “Terrible Position” (CBS News, October 18, 2025): They are being tasked with operations in “a city where they don’t belong.”
THE COURTS
Judge Rules Immigration Detention of Chicago Man with Daughter Battling Cancer Is Illegal (AP, October 25, 2025): Judge rules the man must be given a bond hearing.
Judge Orders CBP Official Leading Immigration Crackdown to Appear in Chicago Court Next Week (ABC News, October 24, 2025): The order comes after Bovino was accused of violating a judge’s order.
Inside Donald Trump’s Attack on Immigration Courts (E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, October 23, 2025): Judges describe a campaign of firings and interference which threatens the system’s independence (and it was hardly independent to begin with).
Chicago Judge Hears Testimony from ICE, Border Patrol over Use of Force in Operation Midway Blitz (CBS News, October 20, 2025): Friday the judge reinforced her order for all federal agents in the Chicago area to wear body cameras: “This was not a suggestion…It was an order.”
PUSHING BACK
Democrats Swept Elections Far Beyond the Big Races in Referendum on Trump (Washington Post, November 8, 2025): In a closely watched sheriff’s race in Bucks County, PA, Democrat Danny Ceisler knocked off Republican Fred Harran, unseating an incumbent who played up his partnership with ICE.
As Trump Cracks Down, Faith Groups Step Up for Immigrants: ‘What Has Happened to Our Heart?’ (Guardian, October 26, 2025): Nuns, bishops and laity from California to Texas have created a network of help to uphold church teachings.
Orange County (CA) Activists Are Tracking ICE in Their Communities and Live-Streaming What They Find (LAist, October 21, 2025): If they receive messages from someone reporting a suspicious vehicle or what looks like ICE agents at a location somewhere in Orange County, they head that way in their cars.
Small No Kings Event Puts Love Ahead of Politics in Rural Kansas Town Where Immigrants Are Detained (Kansas Reflector, October 18, 2025): Kay Krause has collected more than $5,000 to support the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, providing them with postcards and stamps.
Challenging the Government’s Barriers to Access to Counsel in Immigration Detention Centers (American Immigration Council, October 13, 2025): ICE has implemented policies that make it extremely difficult—and in many cases impossible—for people in immigration detention to access their attorneys.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Weights Heavy on the US Labor Market (AP, October 18, 2025): Trump’s sweeping crackdown on immigration is throwing foreigners out of work and shaking the American economy and job market at a time when hiring is already deteriorating amid uncertainty over Trump’s erratic trade policies.
Are We Living Through the End of Texas Farming? (Jack Herrera, Texas Monthly, October 13, 2025): The Trump administration’s immigration policies have made it much harder to find agricultural labor in the state—but that’s just the latest blow in a deepening, industry-wide crisis.
ATTACKS ON AUTHORIZED IMMIGRATION, US CITIZENS
4 US Citizens Arrested During ICE Crackdown on NYC’s Canal Street, Congressman Says (ABC News, October 22, 2025): Nine undocumented immigrants were also arrested at Canal Street, DHS said.
Lawmakers Slam ICE After US Military Veterans Are Arrested, Injured (Guardian, October 20, 2025): US veterans have been injured and arrested at protests against Ice deportations.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Police Across US Spread False Rumors about Venezuelan Gang Threats (Sam Levin, Guardian, October 23, 2025): Claim that Tren de Aragua planned to attack officers was widely shared – only for FBI to later acknowledge it was mistaken, internal files show.
Flooding and Droughts Drove Them from Their Homes. Now They’re Seeking Safe Haven in New York (Jazzmin Jiwa and Carla Mandiola, Guardian, October 22, 2025): Data analysis found higher than average migration growth to the US from areas in Guatemala, Bangladesh and Senegal hit by repeated climate disasters.
What Powers Does the Border Patrol Have Across the Country? (New York Times, October 18, 2025): The Trump administration is increasingly relying on the agency for immigration enforcement within the U.S.
Understanding ICE Raids at American Workplaces (American Immigration Council October 9, 2025): Fact sheet.
ACTION ITEMS
Read about Jackie Merlos and join the National Immigration Law Center in demanding her immediate release.
Join SEIU and demand to “De-Ice” those airlines who are deporting our immigrant neighbors. Sign the petition.
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]