PICK THREE (No time for all the reporting? Here are three important stories from the past week that you might have overlooked):
A Refugee’s Deportation Rattles a Deeply Conservative Town: ‘What Trump Has Done Is Not Christlike’ (Guardian, November 12, 2025): Binod Shah, a refugee from Bhutan, went to church, got married and started an auto shop in Twin Falls, Idaho. But an arrest record got him caught in the ICE dragnet.
Homeland Security Tightens Rules on Anti-ICE Activities (Kate Morrissey, American Prospect, November 12, 2025): Gives DHS more power to charge people with crimes for a variety of activities on or near federal property, including creating loud or unusual noises, distributing informational materials, wearing masks, or taking photos.
‘A Lot of Families Are Suffering’: Q&A with Sister Tracey Horan from the Kino Border Initiative in Ambos Nogales (Melissa del Bosque, Border Chronicle, November 11, 2025): In Mexico, Horan has interviewed numerous people deported under the Trump administration. “Overcrowding in detention, a lack of oversight and misinformation” are creating dangerous conditions, she says.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
A member of the clergy is detained during a protest Nov. 14 near Broadview (Chicago) ICE facility – Story here (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
LOCAL AND OHIO NEWS
OUI, Other Student Orgs Sponsor Events to Promote Campus Support for Undocumented Immigrants (Yasu Shinozaki, Oberlin Review, November 14, 2025): Among other demands Obies for Undocumented Inclusion presented to college administrators is to revitalize and disseminate the ICE Procedure with Oberlin College students, staff, and faculty.
Ohio Town Rallies Around Man Who Faces Deportation to Laos After 40 Years in the U.S. (NBC News, November 12, 2025): His family says his case shows how good people who contribute to society are getting swept up even as the Trump administration says it is targeting “the worst of the worst” in immigration enforcement.
EMERGING POLICY AND THREATS TO IMMIGRANTS
Detention and Deportation
Trump Administration Conducts 10,067 Immigration Enforcement Flights in Less Than 10 Months (Austin Kocher Substack, November 14, 2025): Human Rights First finds ICE conducted record deportation and shuffle flights in ten months, chaotically transferring people between detention centers and deporting them to more countries.
‘Detain First and Ask Questions later’: Oregon ICE Arrests Shot Up in October (OPB, November 14, 2025): Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition reported 329 arrests in Oregon last month.
US Hires 50,000 Federal Workers under Trump, Boosting Immigration Roles (Reuters, November 14, 2025): The bulk of the new hires work at ICE.
Trump’s Next Immigration Crackdown Will Target Charlotte, North Carolina, a Sheriff Says (AP, November 13, 2025): Charlotte is a Democratic stronghold, as are others targeted by the Trump administration.
Venezuelans Deported from the US to El Salvador Were Tortured, Advocacy Group Alleges (Politico, November 12, 2025): The accusations from Human Rights Watch contradict the Trump administration’s insistence that deportees were not being mistreated in El Salvador.
US Firefighter Detained on the Job Speaks Out After Deportation: ‘I Feel Betrayed’ (Sam Levine, Guardian, November 11, 2025): Border patrol arrested José Bertin Cruz-Estrada while he was battling a wildfire in Washington. He is now in Mexico, separated from his family in Oregon.
US Has Sent $7.5m to Equatorial Guinea to Accept Noncitizen Deportees (Guardian, November 10, 2025): Country is one of world’s most repressive and corrupt, raising concerns over rights abuses of those deported.
Hundreds of Thousands of Anonymous Deportees (Caitlin Dickerson, The Atlantic, November 9, 2025): Amid the president’s fast-moving deportation campaign, the stories of most people being swept up are missed.
ICE Contract Would Help the Police Track Down Immigrant Children (Bloomberg, November 6, 2025): Advocates fear the move would increase the number of family separations.
ICE’s Detainee Population Reaches 66,000, a New Record high, Statistics Show (CBS News, November 6, 2025): ICE now has enough detention beds to hold as many as 70,000 detainees at any time.
Profiles in Authoritarianism, Racism, and Cruelty
Trump Administration Plans to Pay Citizens to Snoop on Immigrants (MSNBC, November 14, 2025): Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is demanding answers on Homeland Security’s reported intent to pay an army of private citizens to help surveil immigrants.
Trump Plan to Use Travel Ban for Chilling New Immigration Rule (The New Republic, November 14, 2025): If you are from any of the countries on the travel ban, your future status could be at risk—even if you’re already in the country.
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged with a Crime (Melissa Sanchez, Jodi S. Cohen, T. Christian Miller, Sebastian Rotella and Mariam Elba, ProPublica, November 13, 2025): Immigration officials said they arrested just two members of Tren de Aragua. ProPublica talked with one and found no criminal records in his past.
California Police Intervene as ICE Agent in Plain Clothes Points Gun at Woman (Guardian, November 11, 2025): Agent said woman was following and filming him, but officer said he couldn’t assist if no crime was committed.
THE COURTS
Court Blocks New Transportation Department Rules Targeting Immigrant Commercial Drivers (PBS, November 14, 2025): The court said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s own data shows that immigrants who hold these licenses account for roughly 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses but only about 0.2% of all fatal crashes.
3 Young Immigrants Ordered Freed as Virginia Lawsuit Tests ICE Detention Policy (WTOP News, November 13, 2025): In a decisive rebuke of ICE, an immigration judge on Wednesday ordered the agency to release a young immigrant held at a Virginia detention center — one day after the same court ordered the release of two brothers at the center of a class-action challenge to ICE’s treatment of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applicants.
Judge Orders Release of Hundreds Arrested during Chicago Immigration Raids (Guardian, November 12, 2025): Trump officials also cannot pressure detainees to agree to voluntary deportation while cases are pending, says judge.
Immigration Detention Firm Seeks Immunity in Case Before Supreme Court (Washington Post, November 10, 2025): A lower court denied Geo Group’s claim that it couldn’t be sued for allegations of forced labor in an ICE detention center because it was acting in the government’s interest.
Federal Judges in Minnesota, across U.S., Reject ICE Attempts to Hold Immigrants Without Bond (Minnesota Star Tribune, November 9, 2025): Jose Andres Robles was denied a bond hearing and held for more than a month before a Minneapolis judge intervened.
PUSHING BACK
Senate President Joins Push to Ban ICE Agreements in Maryland (Baltimore Banner, November 14, 2025): Outraged by stories of immigration officers raiding workplaces, yanking people from vehicles and breaking up families, top Maryland lawmakers say they’ll ban 287(g) agreements in the state.
‘Lookout, Workers’: New App Gives NC Immigrants Tools to Track, Respond to ICE (News&Observer, November 14, 2025): Siembra, a statewide immigrant worker organizing group, held a virtual news conference Friday to introduce a new web- and phone-based immigration enforcement app to the public.
Chicago Day Care Teacher Released from ICE Detention (ABC News, November 13, 2025): Diana Santillana Galeano has been released from immigration detention.
Undocumented Students, Advocates Intensify Defense of In-State Tuition Laws (Inside Higher Ed, November 13, 2025): Undocumented students, represented by civil rights groups, are trying to intervene in cases in which the federal government and state officials agreed to end their in-state tuition benefits.
‘MigraWatch’ Trainings to ‘Whistlemania’ Events: Chicagoans Fight Back Against ICE Raids (Guardian, November 13, 2025): Residents are organizing in response to raids across the city amid Trump’s wide-ranging ‘operation midway blitz’.
City Council Aims to Put $125k into Immigrant Rights Training, Hotline (WXXI News, November 12, 2025): The Rochester City Council is seeking to fund an initiative to ensure immigrants know their rights amid an era of heightened enforcement.
Catholic Bishops Rebuke U.S. ‘Mass Deportation’ of Immigrants (New York Times, November 12, 2025): In a rare statement, the bishops framed the immigration crisis in starkly moral terms. “We feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,” they said.
Immigrant Rights Group Placing ‘ICE Stole Someone Here’ Signs in Ontario (CA) (ABC, November 12, 2025): A citizens group in Ontario is spearheading a unique and artistic effort to make the community aware of incidents involving ICE agents detaining and arresting undocumented immigrants.
‘You Are Not Alone’ Migrant Accompaniment Initiative Announced by U.S. Bishops (Catholic News Agency, November 11, 2025): The initiative, which was inspired by similar efforts in Catholic dioceses throughout the country, will focus on four key areas: emergency and family support, accompaniment and pastoral care, communication of Church teaching, and solidarity through prayer and public witness.
Local Immigrant Advocates Share Tips to Fact-Check Social Posts on Immigration Enforcement (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 11, 2025): Local immigrant rights organizations recommend you verify social media posts about immigration enforcement sightings before you share with others.
In Evanston, Whistles and Watchful Eyes Are Holding ICE Accountable (Steven Lubet, The Hill, November 10, 2025): The “Evanston Handbook” for community responsiveness.
A City in Metro Detroit Rescinds Agreement with ICE after Outrage from Activists (Detroit Free Press, November 8, 2025): Following town pressure, the town of Center Line rescinded a 287(g) agreement with ICE signed only a few weeks earlier.
The Catholic Church and the Trump Administration Are Not Getting Along (Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, November 6, 2025): The religion’s call to radical love can’t countenance this much cruelty.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY
Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money from $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts (Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica, November 14, 2025): The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.
Trump Organization Requested Record Number of Foreign Workers in 2025 (The Hill, November 12, 2025): Overall, the company has filed to hire 566 foreign laborers to work as servers, farm workers, kitchen staff, clerks and housekeepers, primarily, through H-2A and H-2B visas.
Wisconsin Dairy Farms Weigh Immigration Crackdown Against Labor Realities (Wisconsin Public Radio, November 11, 2025): As federal immigration crackdowns intensify, Wisconsin dairies face uncertainty over how to keep their barns staffed and cows milked.
ATTACKS ON AUTHORIZED IMMIGRATION, US CITIZENS
U.S. Visas Can Be Denied for Obesity, Cancer and Diabetes, Rubio Says (Washington Post, November 13, 2025): The move broadens current medical screening beyond contagious diseases and gives visa officers new justification to reject applicants, in the Trump administration’s latest effort to curb the flow of immigration.
U.S. Citizen Son, 15, Released after Gary Immigration Raid (Chicago Tribune, November 12, 2025): He had spent about two weeks at the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center after he was swept up in an immigration raid on Oct. 23 on their Gary home targeting his father, Rosario Carrillo Lopez.
Legal Immigrants Face Loss of Obamacare Help, Threatening Insurance Markets (Robert King and Alice Miranda Ollstein, Politico, November 10, 2025): The GOP megabill stripped subsidies from hundreds of thousands of green card holders and other legal migrants. Experts predict ripple effects for citizens.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Then They Came for the Dreamers (Isabela Dias, Mother Jones, November 11, 2025): Immigrants brought here as children were told they wouldn’t be deported. Now, they’re being targeted anyway.
ICE Is Functioning Like an Occupying Army. I Know Because I Served in One (Rory Fanning, Truthout, November 11, 2025): Veteran-led protests against Trump’s National Guard deployments encourage soldiers to resist Trump’s illegal orders.
Data, Stories, and Justice: Seven Numbers That Define This Moment in Immigration Enforcement (Austin Kocher, Substack, November 11, 2025): Seven key statistics reveal how our immigration system has been weaponized against vulnerable people—and why we must become the institutions that hold our democracy together.
Why They Mask (Nick Miroff, The Atlantic, November 10, 2025): Veteran ICE officers know face coverings are a bad look. But they’re not coming off anytime soon.
ACTION ITEMS
Love Knows No Borders: Reflections on Immigration, November 17, 7:00 PM at Federated Church Fellowship Hall, 76 Bell Street, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022, featuring Rev. Brenda Grauer, who has led groups most recently to the southern US border to discern the realities of immigration, and Anne Hill, of the Northeast Ohio Friends of Immigrants. Come hear stories and get information about the current reality for immigrants in this country.
Mijente is calling for Univision and Telemundo to take down the ads they are airing which are paid for and produced by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. These commercials promote the same hateful, anti-immigrant agenda pushed by the Trump administration. They are designed to create fear, isolate our people, and pressure families to self-deport. Click here to Apaga El Odio (Stop the Hate) and pull the ICE and DHS ads now.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT Oberlin Community Supporting Immigrants (OCSI): https://oberlincommunitysi.org/