PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
Apple Removes ICE Tracking Apps After Pressure by Trump Administration (Reuters, October 3, 2025): Apple said on Thursday that it had removed ICEBlock, the most popular ICE-tracking app, and other similar apps from its App Store after it was contacted by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump Revives Family Separation Amid Drive to Deport Millions: ‘A Tactic to Punish’ (Maanvi Singh, Guardian, October 2, 2025): Family separations were the hallmark of the first Trump administration’s border policy. Now advocates allege migrant families are being split up again as a retaliatory measure.
Pope Leo XIV Says ‘Inhuman Treatment of Immigrants’ in the U.S. Isn’t ‘Pro-Life’ (NPR, October 1, 2025): Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country’s treatment of immigrants is “inhuman.”
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Federal immigration agents march through downtown Chicago on September 28 (Story here).
LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS
On October 8 at 7:00 PM at Oberlin’s Apollo Theater, filmmaker Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis will be screening their new film, Borderland – The Line Within and to discuss their film in progress, Borderland_Underground and connect with community activists. No charge, all are welcome.
Rep. Miller’s National Guard Ploy Is Divisive, Political and Dangerous (Lynn Tramonte, The Land CLE, October 1, 2025): Rep. Miller’s call to deploy members of the U.S. military in Cleveland — a city he doesn’t even represent — is unwelcome, divisive and dangerous. There are some clear steps we can take to attack crime, but deploying the National Guard on our own people is not one.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Detention and Deportation
“They Never Told Me Where I Was Going”: A Family Falls into Louisiana’s ‘Black Hole’ of Deportation (Oliver Laughland, Guardian, October 3, 2025): A mother and her two US citizen children – including one with stage 4 cancer – disappeared and were deported to Honduras.
Bad Bunny Isn’t Touring U.S. due to ICE, but Agents Will Be at Super Bowl Where He’s Performing (New York Times, October 2, 2025): Three days after the NFL announced that Bad Bunny will headline the Feb. 8 halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., a Trump administration official said ICE agents will also be at one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
Massive Immigration Raid on Chicago Apartment Building Leaves Residents Reeling: ‘I Feel Defeated’ (Chicago Sun Times, October 1, 2025): In clear violation of the 4th Amendment, armed federal agents in military fatigues busted down their doors, pulling men, women and children from their apartments, some of them naked, residents and witnesses said. Agents approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building, and U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours.
How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE (New York Times, October 1, 2025): A series of arrests captured on video reveal how immigration officers have worked with other law enforcement agencies to identify migrants during stops for minor infractions.
How ICE Terror Campaigns Are Used to Discipline Labor (Sarah Lazare, American Prospect, October 1, 2025): While Chicago sees a surge of ICE detentions, workers are facing retaliation as immigrants when they advocate for their rights.
A Perilous Moment for Press Freedom: The U.S. Government Moving to Deport a Journalist in Retaliation for His Reporting (Timothy Richardson, PEN America, September 30, 2025): Mario Guevara has called the United States home for two decades. He is facing imminent deportation to El Salvador, not for any criminal act, but as a result of his reporting on law enforcement activities and content he has livestreamed or published.
Number of Detained Immigrants with No Criminal History Continues to Grow (Austin Kocher Substack, September 30, 2025): The latest ICE detention data.
US Deports 120 Iranians Back to Tehran in Trump Immigration Crackdown (Guardian, September 30, 2025): Uncommon instance of cooperation between the two countries reportedly came after months of talks.
The Trump Administration Is Arguing It Can Hold Dreamers Indefinitely (Jessica Washington, The Intercept, September 29, 2025): Immigration experts warn the Trump administration is trying to keep a DACA recipient in detention so her protected status expires.
298(g) Agreements with ICE Threaten Welcoming Communities (American Immigration Council, September 26, 2025): Section 287(g) of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act allows the federal government to partner with local law enforcement officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions in localities that have entered into agreements with the federal government.
Trump Administration’s Expansion of Fast-Track Deportation Powers Is Transforming Immigration Enforcement (Migration Policy Institute, September 25, 2025): The Trump administration has expanded the use of fast-track deportation powers in unprecedented ways to remove unauthorized immigrants in as little as a few hours, on the decision of individual Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, and without judicial review.
Profiles in Authoritarianism and Cruelty
Kristi Noem Says ICE Will Be ‘All Ove’ Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show: The NFL ‘Sucks and We’ll Win and God Will Bless Us’ (Variety, October 4, 2025): Noem said that the only people who should come to the Super Bowl are “law-abiding Americans who love this country.”
DHS Begins Targeting Unaccompanied Children with ‘Voluntary’ Deportation Offer (LAist, October 3, 2025): Lawyers representing children who entered the country apart from their immediate family have told LAist they are deeply concerned about the program because it appears children will be asked to waive their rights to see an immigration judge before being removed from the country.
‘Surreal Moment for America’: ICE Agents in Chicago Drag Children Out of Their Homes, Ransack Building (Common Dreams, October 2, 2025): “We’re under siege,” said one witness. “We’re being invaded by our own military.”
‘It’s Hard to Know What Day It is’: Families Tell of Grim ICE Detention in Texas (Guardian, September 30, 2025): Anxiety high as parents and children tell of lack of clean water, inadequate medical care and poor food in ‘prison-like’ conditions.
ICE Officer Seen on Video Pushing Woman to Ground Has Returned to Duty (CBS News, September 29, 2025): The move is a striking about-face, just a few days after the Department of Homeland Security released a statement denouncing the officer’s conduct as “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE.”
‘Like the Gestapo’: Trailblazing Immigration Judge on ICE Brutality and Trump’s Damage to the Courts (Guardian, September 28, 2025): Dana Leigh Marks had a long and notable tenure on the bench. Now she’s watching the Trump administration trash her institution – and raising the alarm.
Trump Fired a U.S. Attorney Who Insisted on Following a Court Order (New York Times, September 26, 2025): The top federal prosecutor in Sacramento was fired hours after she reminded a Border Patrol chief to abide by court-ordered restrictions on immigration raids.
He Has a Green Card and a Brain Tumor. DHS Wants to Deport Him for Forgery with No Proof (The Intercept, September 26, 2025): Paramjit Singh is going blind in ICE detention. DHS wants to deport him for a forgery conviction — but they’ve produced no record that one exists.
THE COURTS
Legal Setbacks Mount for Trump’s Birthright Order Before Likely Supreme Court Review (AP, October 4, 2025): Over a span of a month this summer, four separate federal courts rejected Trump’s executive order, ending automatic citizenship for the children of people in the country without authorization; on October 3, another court agreed with them.
Supreme Court Lets Trump End Deportation Protections for 300,000 Venezuelans (CNN, October 3, 2025): The Supreme Court on Friday for a second time allowed President Donald Trump to strip temporary deportation protections from 300,000 Venezuelans, handing the administration another win in its effort to rapidly remove non-citizens from the United States.
Trump Administration Taps Army Reserve and National Guard for Temporary Immigration Judges (AP, October 3, 2025): Training for the first group of Army lawyers begins on October 6. Experts warn the move could harm immigration courts and the military justice system.
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech (New York Times, September 30, 2025): In a blistering opinion, a federal judge in Boston said the Trump administration used the threat of deportations to systematically intimidate certain campus demonstrators into silence.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY
Trump Gutting Protected Status for Immigrants Will Strain US Healthcare, Democrats Warn (Guardian, September 30. 2025): More than 100 members of Congress warn TPS cancellations will result in significant staff losses that US healthcare facilities will struggle to replace.
How Donald Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee Could Affect the US Economy (Arthur Sullivan, Deutsche Welle, September 23, 2025): Critics say the president’s plan to charge $100,000 application fees for the H-1B visa program will greatly stifle the US economy. Universities, nonprofits and tech startups stand to be most affected.
Louisville Factory Lays Off Workers After Their Legal Immigration Status Was Revoked (CBS, September 23, 2025): In May, nearly 150 workers, mostly Cuban immigrants, were laid off after the Trump administration abruptly changed their legal immigration status.
ATTACKS ON AUTHORIZED IMMIGRATION, US CITIZENS
Trump Administration Is Said to Plan to Cut Refugee Admissions to a Record Low (New York Times, October 4, 2025): From 125,000 to 7,5000, with most of those devoted to white Afrikaners from South Africa.
US-Born Citizen Sues After Twice Being Arrested by Immigration Agents (ABC News,
October 1, 2025): Leonardo Garcia Venegas was twice arrested in construction site sweeps.
‘I’m From Here!’: U.S. Citizens Are Ending Up in Trump’s Dragnet (New York Times, September 29, 2025): As immigration agents take a more aggressive approach, they have stopped and in some cases detained American citizens.
Inside the Trump Administration’s Sweeping Crackdown on Legal Immigration (Priscilla Alvarez and Kaanita Iyer, CNN, September 24, 2025): In the past eight months, new federal policies have made legal immigration increasingly difficult.
PUSHING BACK
Immigration Officials Outline Plans to Accept New DACA Applicants (CBS News, September 30, 2025): Federal immigration officials have revealed plans to reopen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to new applicants to comply with a court order.
As Undocumented Immigrants Face Policy Unleashing ‘Fear and Terror,’ Catholics Should Stand in Solidarity with Them, Cardinal McElroy Says (Catholic Standard, September 29, 2025): Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy at a Sept. 28 Mass said Jesus’s Parable of the Good Samaritan should guide Catholics’ response in standing in solidarity with those immigrants, regarding them as neighbors just as the Samaritan did to the robbery victim needing help.
‘No Authority to Enforce Immigration Law’: Ogden Police Spell Out Stance on Immigration (KSL.com, September 25, 2025): The Ogden Police Department this week joined other departments around Utah in spelling out its stance on immigration, saying it doesn’t intend to unduly single out immigrants.
ACTION ITEMS
ICE Believes It’s Above the Law: Demand Congress hold the agency accountable. Sign the National Immigration Law Center’s petition here.
Seven Ways You Can Take Action for Immigrants (HIAS Staff).
I’m Your Neighbor Books in Portland Maine recently formed “Sanctuary Stories,” a program which hand-selects and gifts books to families impacted by ICE. Stories, they observe, provide a crucial sanctuary – a place of refuge, safety, hope, and healing. They are fund-raising for this project. If you are interested, you can donate here.
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]