Week of April 23–29, 2025
Reconstructed. This week was compiled in September 2026 from the reporting published at the time, each item linked to its source. Rules and figures reflect that week; several have changed since.
Judge blocks funding cutoff to 16 sanctuary cities and counties
A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal funding from 16 cities and counties that limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued a preliminary injunction on April 24 in a suit led by San Francisco and joined by Minneapolis, New Haven, Portland, St. Paul, Santa Fe and Seattle, among others. He found that the funding threat likely imposed conditions on federal money without authorization from Congress, and that the jurisdictions faced irreparable injury through budget uncertainty and damage to trust with the communities they serve.
Orrick blocked a similar order during Trump's first term in 2017, a ruling later upheld by the Ninth Circuit. "Here we are again," he wrote.
Source: Reuters
Administration says Alien Enemies Act deportees get 36 hours to object
The Trump administration told a federal court that people removed under the Alien Enemies Act are given 36 hours to challenge their deportation.
According to a declaration from an ICE field office director in Texas, detainees have at least 12 hours to say they intend to file a habeas petition, then at least 24 hours to file it. The filing was the administration's first public answer to a Supreme Court ruling requiring that people facing removal under the 1798 law get reasonable notice and a chance to contest it.
Nearly 300 men, most of them Venezuelans accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, have already been sent to the CECOT prison in El Salvador. Many deny the gang allegations.
Source: Axios
FBI arrests Milwaukee judge over courthouse immigration arrest
The FBI arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on April 25, alleging that she helped a man evade federal agents who came to her courthouse to detain him.
Dugan was charged with obstructing a proceeding before a federal agency and with concealing a person to prevent his arrest. Prosecutors say she escorted the defendant and his attorney through a nonpublic jury door. Agents took her into custody in the courthouse parking lot at about 8:30 a.m.; she appeared before a federal magistrate the same day and was released on bond, with a further hearing set for May 15.
Dugan retained former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic and said in a statement that she would defend herself and expected to be exonerated.
Source: NBC News
ICE restores legal status for international students it had terminated
Government lawyers told courts on April 25 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will restore the records of international students whose legal status had been terminated in recent weeks.
More than 1,200 students nationwide lost status or had visas revoked, often over minor infractions or for reasons never explained to them. Some left the country, others stopped attending class. Judges had already ordered records restored in dozens of lawsuits.
A statement from a government lawyer said ICE is developing a framework for terminations in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System and that, until it is issued, records will remain active and will not be terminated solely on the basis of a National Crime Information Center result.
Source: AP News
Registration mandate for immigrants raises racial profiling concerns
Immigrant rights advocates said the administration's registration requirement for people in the country illegally is stirring fears of racial profiling, including among legal residents.
Under the rule, which took effect April 11 after a federal judge declined to block it, everyone 14 and older without legal status must register with the government, give fingerprints and an address, and carry proof of registration. Parents and guardians must register younger children. Failing to do so is a crime that can carry fines and jail time.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the department is enforcing a requirement that has been law for decades. Advocates in Arizona said the rule is ambiguous in practice and risks pushing immigrants away from contact with police.
Source: AP News
AP-NORC poll: immigration is Trump's strongest issue, but half say he has gone too far
A survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of President Trump's handling of immigration, nearly ten percentage points above his ratings on the economy and on trade.
About half of respondents said he has gone too far in deporting people in the country illegally. Respondents were divided on the removal of Venezuelan men accused of gang membership to El Salvador, and more opposed than supported revoking foreign students' visas over pro-Palestinian activism.
Approval was concentrated among Republicans, about 8 in 10 of whom backed his immigration approach. The results were close to those of an AP-NORC poll conducted in March.
Source: AP News
Filings show Mahmoud Khalil was arrested without a warrant
Court documents released this week show that immigration officers arrested Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil without an arrest warrant.
Khalil, a Syrian-born lawful permanent resident and pro-Palestinian activist, was detained on March 8 after returning from an Iftar meal during Ramadan. Homeland Security attorneys wrote that officers had "exigent circumstances to conduct the warrantless arrest," saying Khalil would not cooperate and intended to leave the scene, and that they believed he was a flight risk. Video of the arrest shows him telling officers, "Yes, I'm coming with you."
He remains in immigration detention in Louisiana while the government seeks his removal.
Source: NBC News
White House weighs exemptions for Afghan Christians facing parole revocation
Administration officials have discussed letting some Afghan refugees stay in the United States, days after Customs and Border Protection emailed a group of Afghans revoking their humanitarian parole and ordering them to leave within seven days.
The notices went out on April 11 to people who entered after the Taliban takeover in 2021. The Department of Homeland Security would not say how many were affected or whether any of the emails were sent in error.
Christian leaders and nonprofit groups have pressed the White House to protect several hundred at-risk Afghan Christians, and officials have floated an exemption list for those most in danger. Two officials said no final decision has been made. Muslim Afghans, including many who worked alongside U.S. forces, are unlikely to benefit.
Source: Politico
Lawyers say ICE deported three U.S. citizen children with their mothers
Attorneys said Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported three children who are U.S. citizens, ages 2, 4 and 7, along with their Honduran-born mothers, and separately removed the Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old girl, separating them indefinitely.
The women were arrested at routine check-ins at ICE offices and deported within three days or less, according to their lawyers, with almost no chance to speak with attorneys or family members.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Project and allied groups called the removals an abuse of power, saying the mothers were given no real opportunity to decide whether their citizen children would stay in the United States.
Source: AP News
Trump orders a federal list of sanctuary jurisdictions
President Trump signed executive orders on April 28 escalating the confrontation with Democratic-led states and cities that limit cooperation with immigration agents.
One order, "Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens," directs federal agencies to publish a list of sanctuary jurisdictions and states that local officials who obstruct federal immigration law engage in "a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law." Jurisdictions named on the list could face the loss of federal funds.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the orders would "unleash America's law enforcement to pursue criminals" and that the administration would "continue to forge ahead with this mass deportation campaign." The signings came days before Trump's 100th day in office.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Judge bars warrantless Border Patrol stops across much of California
A federal court issued a preliminary injunction forbidding the Border Patrol from carrying out warrantless immigration stops across a wide area of California.
The order bars agents from stopping people unless they have reasonable suspicion of an immigration violation, and from making warrantless arrests unless they have probable cause that the person would flee before a warrant could be obtained.
The ruling came in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed after El Centro sector agents ran a three-day sweep in Kern County in January, detaining day laborers and farm workers in a Home Depot parking lot, outside a convenience store and along a highway. "You just can't walk up to people with brown skin and say, 'Give me your papers,'" U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston told government attorneys at a hearing in Fresno.
Source: CalMatters
House Republicans propose new immigration fees to pay for deportations
The House Judiciary Committee's section of the Republican reconciliation bill would create a set of new immigration fees, with much of the revenue directed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and removal work.
Asylum applicants, who pay nothing to apply today, would owe at least $1,000, plus $550 for work authorization and at least $100 for every year an application is pending. People paroled into the country would face a minimum of $1,000, and Temporary Protected Status applicants at least $500. Renewing work authorization would cost at least $550 for a period of six months or less.
Sponsoring an unaccompanied child would cost at least $3,500, rising to $5,000 if the sponsor fails to appear in immigration court. The fees are indexed to inflation.
Source: Forbes