Parole in 2026: What the Statute Allows, What Was Terminated, What the Courts Restored, and What a Parolee Can Still Do
Parole is permission to be physically present without being admitted, granted case by case and revocable on notice. In 2025 the government ended every categorical parole program and terminated the parole of hundreds of thousands of people by email. Two of those terminations have since been blocked by federal courts and one was upheld. What the status still confers, what it now costs, and where each program stands in September 2026.
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Browse by topic →Appeals and Motions in 2026: The 30 Days That Survived, the $1,030 Fee, the Vacated Summary Dismissal Rule, and Where a Stay Actually Comes From
An appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals now costs $1,030 and is decided by a 15-member Board on a 20-day simultaneous briefing schedule with no reply brief. The February 2026 rule that would have made summary dismissal the default and cut the deadline to 10 days was vacated in March. What is in force, what a motion to reopen costs and when it is allowed, and the three places a stay of removal can be obtained.
What ICE Is Looking For: Priorities, Places, Data, and Who Is Most Exposed in 2026
The official answer since January 2025 is that there are no priorities: anyone removable may be arrested. The practical answer is in the numbers, the places, and the databases. Where arrests happen, what records ICE reads, and who sits at the top of the list.
Finding and Helping a Detained Person: The Locator, the Officer, the Money, and the Oversight That No Longer Exists
The first task after an arrest is finding the person, and the government's own tool is exact-match, adult-only and hours behind. What the locator needs, how to reach the deportation officer, how money and calls work, and where to complain now that the detention ombudsman has been shut.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in 2026: The State Court Order, the 21st Birthday, the Visa Queue, and the End of Deferred Action
A child abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent can obtain a green card through a state court order and a petition filed before the 21st birthday. The petition is decided in 180 days; the visa behind it takes years. Since May 10, 2026 the wait comes with no deferred action and no work permit, and a denied request for either can now end in immigration court.
Stopped or Arrested by ICE: What to Say, What Never to Sign, and What Happens in the First 72 Hours
The right to remain silent belongs to everyone in the country and must be said out loud. There is no appointed lawyer. Three forms served in the first hours can end a case before it begins. A precise account of the encounter, the paperwork, and the two-year rule that now applies nationwide.
VAWA Self-Petitions and the I-360: Who Qualifies, What "Any Credible Evidence" Means, and a Backlog of 259,529
An abused spouse, child or parent of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident can petition for a green card without the abuser's knowledge, at no fee, and adjust despite entering without inspection. The petition is Form I-360, the standard is "battery or extreme cruelty," and the rule of evidence is unusually generous. What is not generous is the queue: 259,529 self-petitions were pending at the end of March 2026, and the first half of the fiscal year produced 911 approvals.
ICE at the Door: The Warrant That Lets Them In, the One That Does Not, and What to Say Through It
Agents may knock, speak and arrest without a judge. They may not enter a home without a judicial warrant or your consent, and ICE's own handbook says so. How to tell the two warrants apart through a closed door, what consent looks like, and what changed in 2025 and 2026.
U Visas and T Visas in 2026: The Certification, the Bona Fide Determination, the 10,000 Cap and the 5,000 Cap
A crime victim who helps the police can petition for a U visa, and a trafficking victim for a T visa, at no fee at any stage. The U visa cap of 10,000 has been met every year since 2010, so the real product for most petitioners is the bona fide determination, a four-year work permit and deferred action that USCIS reached in a median 18.5 months this year. Since May, deferred action is officially "extraordinary.
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- How a Memphis Gambling Raid Became a Sweeping Immigration Operation
- Embedding with the state troopers carrying out Trump’s immigration crackdown
- Federal court dismisses Trump DOJ’s lawsuit over ICE activity in NJ
- Trump administration to host immigration hearings at FEMA headquarters
- Column | The shame in a photo of an asylum seeker before his death belongs to us all
- 5 EU nations agree on model to send rejected migrants to ‘return hubs’ as early as 2027
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- Immigration judges915 judges at 72 courts: how often each denies asylum, against the court and the country, with the official biography.
- Dealing with ICEThe knock, the stop, the search for a detained person, the way out, and the family plan. With ICE's own releases, week by week.
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Procedure and documents
Cancellation of Removal Explained: Ten Years, Seven Years, the Stop-Time Rule, the 4,000 Cap and a $1,640 Fee
Cancellation of removal is the relief most people in immigration court actually qualify to request. The permanent resident version needs five years with a green card and seven of residence; the other needs ten years of presence and hardship to a citizen or resident relative that the Board now polices closely. The clock stops with a valid Notice to Appear, Congress allows 4,000 grants a year, and since February the application costs $1,640.
Naturalization in 2026: The N-400 Arithmetic, the $760 Fee That May Become $1,330, and What a Denial Now Triggers
The N-400 still costs $760 on paper and $710 online, with a $380 reduced fee and a full waiver for those who qualify. A rule proposed in June would take it to $1,330 and abolish both. The residence and presence arithmetic has not moved, but the median wait has risen to 7.1 months, neighborhood investigations are now in the Policy Manual, and a denial can end in immigration court.
Public Charge in 2026: The Rescission That Takes Effect September 18, Which Benefits Count From That Day, and Who Is Exempt
On September 18, 2026 DHS's rescission of the 2022 public charge rule takes effect, USCIS's new Policy Manual guidance replaces it, and a new I-485 edition becomes mandatory with no grace period. Applications filed before that date are decided under the old test, which counted only cash assistance and long-term care. What is in force, what is only guidance, what the consulates are doing, and who the statute exempts.
Marriage-Based Green Cards in 2026: Concurrent Filing, the Bona Fides File, the Separate Interview, and the Two-Year Card
A spouse of a citizen files the petition and the green card application together and pays $2,115 before a work permit. A spouse of a resident can file now under September's chart. What USCIS demands as proof of a real marriage since October 2025, what the separate interview is, what a fraud finding costs, and what a marriage under two years old at approval means for the next two years.
USCIS Processing Times Explained: The 80 Percent Figure, the Case Inquiry Date, and the Four Ways to Move a Case That Has Stopped
The number on the USCIS processing-times page is the time it took to finish 80 percent of cases in the last six months, and the date on which you may ask about your case is computed from a different figure, the 93rd percentile. What each number means, what an e-Request, an expedite, a congressional inquiry and the Ombudsman can and cannot do, and when a $405 federal complaint becomes the only lever left.
The Visa Bulletin Explained: Two Charts, One Country of Birth, and What Happens to a Green Card Application When the Date Moves Backwards
The September 2026 bulletin put the spouse-of-resident category at August 2026 for final action and made it current for filing everywhere, while EB-2 India sits at "unavailable" and the State Department warns of retrogression before October 1. How the two charts work, which one USCIS accepts each month, why a spouse's birthplace can move a case years, and what a pending application does while the number is gone.
Where TPS Stands in August 2026: Four Countries Left, One Million Protections Ended, and the Alternatives That Remain
Seventeen countries held Temporary Protected Status designations when the administration took office. As of this month, four do, and one of those ends on September 9. A country-by-country close of the ledger, the Supreme Court decision that settled the litigation, and what a person losing TPS can still file.
Asylum Referral Without an Interview: The July 28 Rule, Who It Reaches, and Why the Written Application Is Now the Whole Case
Since July 28, 2026, an asylum officer may send an affirmative application straight to immigration court on the paper record alone. DHS estimates 130,000 referrals a year, most of them on the one-year deadline. What the rule strikes from the regulations, who is exposed, and how to file as if no one will ever ask you a question.