PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
Trump Cuts Threaten Futures of 250,000 Children of Migrant Farm Workers: ‘We Felt Like Crying’ (Isabeau Doucet, Guardian, September 19, 2025): The Migrant Education Program opened doors for the kids of seasonal farm laborers. The Trump administration wants to axe all its funding.
Trump’s Immigration Police State Is Growing at Warp Speed (Ian Gordon, Mother Jones, September 13, 2025): And now more local cops than ever before are signing up to work with ICE.
33 Million Voters Have Been Run Through a Trump Administration Citizenship Check (Jude Joffe-Block and Miles Parks, NPR, September 11, 2025): “There’s still uncertainty about what is happening, what happens to the data that are shared with USCIS,” said Charles Stewart, a political science professor who directs the MIT Election Data and Science Lab. “I don’t know if this means that the USCIS now has a depository of one-sixth of all [the country’s] registered voters.”
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Ayman Soliman was released from immigration jail and his legal asylum status was reinstated following concerted community support and organizing throughout Ohio, from Cincinnati to Cleveland. See story here.
LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS
Immigration Crackdowns to Hurt U.S. Population Growth, Ohio Could Be Among First to Feel It (Samantha Hendrickson, Columbus Dispatch, September 20, 2025): If the Congressional Budget Office’s prediction that Trump’s immigration crackdown will drive the US toward a smaller population, some experts warn that Ohio would be among the first to feel the impact, as a state with an aging population, dropping birth rates and a declining number of working age people.
ICE Arrests More than Doubled in First Months of 2025 in Columbus Area (Columbus Dispatch, September 18, 2025): Advocates and attorneys report that ICE is targeting not just individuals with criminal records but also those with pending cases, valid work permits, or no criminal history.
Who Is ICE Arresting in the Columbus Area? What We Know (Columbus Dispatch, September 18, 2025): In the 26-county area covered by the Columbus-area ICE field office in Westerville, the number of people ICE arrested during the first seven months of 2025 nearly tripled in comparison to the same period from 2024.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Detention and Deportation
Trump’s New Detention Policy Targets Millions of Immigrants. Judges Keep Saying It’s Illegal (Politico, September 20, 2025): The administration says the sweeping detentions are a key prong of Trump’s deportation strategy.
Under Trump, Hiring Immigration Lawyers Is Often Impossible (Law360, September 19, 2025): As the Trump administration follows through on campaign promises to arrest and deport millions, immigrants are increasingly finding that hiring an immigration lawyer is impossible. And without lawyers, they usually lose, no matter how strong their case is.
Trump Administration Rushes to Rent Space for Immigration Officers Conducting Raids (NPR, September 18, 2025): Employees at the General Services Administration — the U.S. agency that manages government facilities and procurement — are scrambling to find office space to accommodate a rapid increase of immigration enforcement officers carrying out widespread raids across the country.
US Judge Orders Mahmoud Khalil Deported Citing ‘Misrepresented Facts’ on Green Card Form (Guardian, September 18, 2025): Lawyers say pro-Palestinian activist remains protected from immigration enforcement while separate federal court case proceeds.
Trump’s Mass Deportations Bring a New Wave of Family Separations (Washington Post, September 17, 2025): As ICE officers ramp up arrests, hundreds of migrant children are being sent to federal shelters. Some parents are given a choice: Deport with their children or face separation.
After Rescinding Protections, ICE Is Moving to Deport More Immigrants Who Were Victims of Crime (AP, September 16, 2025): In January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement rescinded a policy that had shielded many victims from detention and removal.
60 Violations in 50 Days: Inside ICE’s Giant Tent Facility at F. Bliss (Washington Post, September 16, 2025): As the Trump Administration rushes to open massive makeshift holding centers nationwide, ICE’s own inspectors say the marquee Texas project is violating dozens of federal standards for immigrant detention.
ICE Seeks to Deport DACA Recipient after Arrest at El Paso Airport (Texas Tribune, September 15, 2025): An immigration judge ruled ICE can’t deport Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago, who has permission to be in the country, unless the agency can provide evidence that her legal status was revoked.
The U.S. Government’s Extraordinary Pursuit of Kilmar Ábrego García (Cristian Farias, New Yorker, September 15, 2025): The Trump Administration’s maneuvers are rising to a political prosecution.
A New Front in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown: ICE Checkpoints Far From the Border (Rebecca McCray, The Marshall Project, September 12, 2025): Checkpoints have long run near the southern border, but their recent use in other parts of the country has ignited strong responses.
Profiles in Authoritarianism and Cruelty
Immigrant Rights Activists Braced for Crackdown as Trump Threatens to Target ‘Leftwing’ Groups (The Guardian, September 20, 2025): Advocates advise staff and volunteers to practice caution but say they will not give up their first amendment rights.
Border Czar Tom Homan Was Investigated by DOJ for Potential Bribery (Politico, September 20, 2025): White House border czar Tom Homan was investigated by federal law enforcement last year and allegedly accepted $50,000 in cash from agents who were posing as business executives seeking government contracts.
At least 11 Elected Officials Arrested during ICE Protest at Federal Plaza in Manhattan (ABC7 News, September 19, 2025): The officials were protesting conditions at an immigration holding facility in Manhattan where a federal judge this week extended a court order requiring the government to improve its treatment of detainees.
‘The Dungeon’ at Louisiana’s Notorious Prison Reopens as ICE Detention Center (Guardian, September 18, 2025): Critics condemn reopening of ‘Camp J’ unit at Angola in service of Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown, noting its history of brutality and violence.
Senate Democrats Raise Concerns over Pentagon Plan to Use Military Lawyers as Immigration Judges (ABC News, September 16, 2025): A group of Democratic senators say they are deeply concerned that a Pentagon plan to allow military lawyers to work as temporary immigration judges will violate a ban on using service members for law enforcement and affect the military justice system.
THE COURTS
Trump Lawyer Made False Claims in Court to Hastily Deport Guatemalan Kids (Washington Post, September 18, 2025): A Trump-appointed federal judge found Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign made false claims to justify a “hasty operation” to deport Guatemalan children.
Judge Says She Can’t Help Deportees Trump Admin Sent to Ghana, Despite Torture Fears (Politico, September 15, 2025): District Judge Tanya Chutkan said she was “alarmed and dismayed” over the administration’s move, but was powerless to intervene.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY
Trump to Impose $100,000 Fee per Year for H-1B Visas, in Blow to Tech (Reuters, September 20, 2025): The change, which impacts high-skilled workers, could deal a blow to the tech sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.
ATTACKS ON AUTHORIZED IMMIGRATION, US CITIZENS
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Strip Legal Protections from Venezuelan Migrants (Politico, September 19, 2025): The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order allowing it to strip legal protections from more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants.
Supreme Court Decision Fuels Legal Immigrants’ Fears They’ll Be Stopped by Law Enforcement (CNN, September 19, 2025):
2 Apparent US Citizens Swept up in Elgin (IL) ICE Raid Documented on Noem’s Social Media (ABC& News, September 16, 2025): Anti-ICE rallies were held in Melrose Park and Chicago on Mexican Independence Day.
U.S. Adding More Questions to Citizenship Test in Latest Step to Overhaul Legal Immigration Process (CBS News, September 17, 2025): Matthew Tragesser, a spokesman for USCIS, said the reinstatement of the 2020 civics test would help ensure that those allowed to become citizens “are fully assimilated and will contribute to America’s greatness…American citizenship is the most sacred citizenship in the world and should only be reserved for aliens who will fully embrace our values and principles as a nation,” Tragesser added.
NEW RESOURCES
New Immigration Enforcement Dashboard Makes ICE Arrest Data Accessible to More People (Austin Kocher Substack, September 18, 2025): New Immigration Enforcement Dashboard makes Deportation Data Project data accessible through interactive visualizations, bridging the gap between complex datasets and public understanding.
PUSHING BACK
California Bans Masks on ICE Officers as Newsom Strikes Back at Trump on Deportations (San Francisco Chronicle, September 20, 2025): “ICE unmasked. What are you afraid of? You’re going to go out and do an enforcement? Provide an ID.”
Protesters and Federal Agents Clash Outside an ICE Detention Facility Near Chicago (New York Times, September 19, 2025): The Department of Homeland Security said there had been 550 arrests in the Chicago operation.
Sikh Granny’s Arrest by US Immigration Sparks Community Anger (BBC, September 19, 2025): Harjit Kaur, 73, who has lived in California for more than three decades, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on 8 September, sparking shock and sympathy from the Sikh community across the state and beyond.
Pope Leo Urges Trump Administration to Have Respect for ‘Human Dignity’ in His First Interview (Washington Examiner, September 18, 2025): In an interview, the Pope reiterated concerns that the agenda led by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance to deport illegal immigrants undermines respect for human dignity.
Catholic Immigrant Advocates Caught ‘Flat-Footed’ by Trump Chart a Path Forward (Kevin Clark, American Magazine, September 17, 2025): At a meeting in New York City from Sept. 15 to 16, speakers said it was time for the church to step up and push back against the administration’s harsh immigration policies.
She Came to Her ICE Check-in Backed by an Episcopal Bishop and 500 Supporters (Religion News Service, September 16, 2025): As immigrants increasingly fear detention at ICE check-ins, many faith groups have doubled down on accompaniment strategies to support them at those appointments.
Pennsylvania Faith Leaders, Community Unite in Interfaith Vigil for Immigrants (Episcopal News Service, September 15, 2025): The gathering was sponsored by the Anti-Racism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and brought together clergy, congregants, activists, and community members from across Montgomery County and beyond.
California Nurses Decry ICE Presence at Hospitals: ‘Interfering with Patient Care’ (Guardian, September 16, 2025): Caregiving staff say agents are bringing in patients, often denying them visitors and speaking on their behalf to staff.
Migrants Are Not Enemies, Just Brothers and Sisters in Need, Pope Says (OSV News, September 12, 2025): At a time when people feel powerless to help migrants and refugees, Christians must continue to insist that “there is no justice without compassion, no legitimacy without listening to the pain of others,” Pope Leo XIV said.
US Catholic Bishops Decry Trump’s Immigration Raids Upending Church Life (AP, September 12, 2025): “The way that the immigration policies are enforced these days are not only destabilizing the life of the particular immigrant, but whole families, businesses, the life of children, whole communities, neighborhoods,” said Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, of Washington, D.C.
Trump’s Policy Threatens Religious Liberty of Immigrants, Catholic Leaders Say (National Catholic Reporter, September 11, 2025): The dreams of immigrants are “just collapsing,” Bishop Evelio Menjivar said before joining a panel of Catholic activists critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
ACTION ITEMS
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 Save Our Churches, Pass the Dignity Act Instead of Funding Deportations (an opinion piece by Rev. Dr. Walter Kim, DC Journal, September 10, 2025). You can read about the Dignity Act here.
Ohio Fair Trade Teach-in and Expo 2025, sponsored by IRFT (Inter-religious Task Force on Central America) will be held on Saturday, October 4 from 9L00-2:00 at John Carroll University’s Dolan Science Center in University Heights (Cleveland). The theme of the fair is Migration. Throughout history, it has been shown that free trade agreements spur increased levels of migration. In a time where international migration is increasingly difficult, dangerous, and political, especially in the United States, it is important to target the source of this migration. Fair trade cooperatives offer higher incomes to artisans and farmers, reducing the need to emigrate to higher wage countries like the United States. Additionally, fair trade practices prioritize care for land and the environment, reducing displacement of people from their home communities.
The College of Wooster Museum, the Immigrant Worker Project, (the Amigas and the Mayan community garden project), OCSILiO [Ohio Center for Strategic Immigration Litigation & Outreach], and Westminster Presbyterian Church are joining forces to present a series of programming with common themes around land, culture, Central America, and immigrant communities here in Ohio. Our goal is to support each other’s events, pool our resources, etc. so that we have a vibrant and engaging series of events. Here’s what’s going on so far:
- Sept 9th: the museum exhibit, Mud+Corn+Stone+Blue opens and there will be an opening celebration with crafts (making cyanotypes with local native plants) and treats. This will plant the seed (pun very much intended!) to get us thinking about land and place.
- Sept 30: the curator of the exhibit will give a talk
This week, TroubleNation leaders of groups across the state of Ohio got together to discuss immigration action and detentions in their communities. They are rising to the challenge, making good trouble – spreading awareness, forcing our representatives to defend their conduct and reminding them that we will hold them accountable. It is heartening to see so many of us in the fight to protect our neighbors and keep our communities safe. Find a TroubleNation group doing this work in your area and see how you can help.