Week of April 29 – May 5, 2026
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.
Supreme Court hears the administration's bid to end TPS for Haitians and Syrians
The Supreme Court heard argument on whether the Department of Homeland Security can immediately end Temporary Protected Status for people from Haiti and Syria, in a case testing how far courts may review the administration's immigration decisions.
The Justice Department argued that the homeland security secretary holds the power to end designations and that the statute bars judges from reviewing those decisions. Several conservative justices appeared receptive, with the outcome likely to turn on Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
The government is appealing lower court orders that blocked the terminations. If it prevails, protections could eventually be stripped from up to 1.3 million people from 17 countries, exposing them to deportation. Dozens of TPS holders rallied outside the court during the argument.
Source: AP News
DHS rule sets annual asylum fees, with work permits terminated for nonpayment
The Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final rule codifying immigration fees required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It takes effect May 29, and comments are due by June 29.
The rule sets the asylum application fee and a new annual fee that applicants must pay while their cases are pending, and states that nonpayment will result in the rejection or denial of an employment authorization application, or the immediate termination of a work permit already approved. It also codifies a new Form I-94 fee, sets validity periods for certain categories of employment authorization, and provides that the Form I-589 filing fee is retained for every application.
Comments are accepted through the federal eRulemaking portal under docket number USCIS-2026-0133.
Source: Federal Register
Justice Department sues New Jersey over its ban on masked law enforcement
The Justice Department sued New Jersey over a state law barring most law enforcement officers from wearing masks, a measure written in response to federal immigration operations.
The complaint argues the law violates the Constitution's Supremacy Clause by having state officials control a federal agency, and asks the court to bar its enforcement against federal agents. “To be clear, the Federal Government will not comply with this blatantly unconstitutional law,” the filing says. A similar suit against California produced an order blocking that state's mask ban as applied to federal agents.
Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the law on March 25 alongside measures limiting local police cooperation with immigration authorities and restricting the sharing of immigration status by state and health facilities. The law carries no explicit penalties and immigration agents have continued to wear masks.
Source: Politico
New asylum fee rules could cost work permits for people with pending cases
New fee rules taking effect next month require asylum applicants to pay an annual fee while their cases are pending, with nonpayment leading to rejected applications and the loss of work authorization.
The changes, which flow from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, apply to pending as well as future applicants. Federal data show more than 1.4 million pending affirmative asylum cases, with total applications across the system exceeding two million. The Department of Homeland Security said it will send individual notices about payment obligations.
Ricky Murray, a former senior official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the rule turns fee payment into a compliance trigger. “This allows the government to dispose of cases without ever reaching the substance and facts of the asylum case,” he said.
Source: Newsweek
Illinois commission refers federal immigration agents for criminal investigation
The Illinois Accountability Commission, a nine-member independent board appointed by Governor JB Pritzker that includes a former federal judge, recommended that law enforcement agencies and prosecutors investigate the conduct of federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz, the deportation operation launched in Chicago last year.
Vice chair Patricia Brown Holmes, a former state judge, said the final report identified incidents where there was “reasonable cause to believe that federal agents should be formally investigated” for possible violations of agency policy, state and federal criminal law, and constitutional rights.
The commission interviewed more than 60 witnesses, reviewed about 100 hours of body-worn camera footage from ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers, and held listening sessions in Chicago neighborhoods.
Source: NBC News
Class action challenges the freeze on the diversity visa lottery
A class action filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. challenges the suspension of the diversity visa lottery and the government's failure to issue visas to selectees.
The case will determine the future of at least 1,622 people from 72 countries who are waiting for interviews before their selection round ends on September 30. Curtis Morrison, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said many paid the equivalent of a month's income in fees before the program was frozen.
The administration paused the lottery in December after learning that the man who carried out the Brown University shooting, a Portuguese national, had originally entered the country through the program. It is the second attempt by the administration to halt the lottery.
Source: Axios
Shutdown ends as Trump signs bill funding most of Homeland Security
The longest shutdown of a single federal agency in U.S. history ended when President Trump signed a House-passed bill funding most of the Department of Homeland Security. The administration had warned that pay for thousands of federal security workers would run out after Thursday.
The Senate had passed the measure weeks earlier. It funds most of the department but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol, whose funding House Republicans wanted guaranteed through a separate process that has now begun. Internal Republican divisions over how to structure that guarantee had held up the bill for months.
The final House vote was taken by voice under suspension of the rules. Democrats had triggered the shutdown seeking limits on immigration enforcement.
Source: PBS NewsHour
Judge postpones the end of Temporary Protected Status for Yemeni nationals
A federal judge postponed the termination of Temporary Protected Status for roughly 3,000 Yemeni nationals, which had been set to take effect the following week.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho found that the administration had not followed the procedures the TPS statute requires when ending a country's designation. He wrote that the people affected are “ordinary, law-abiding people who have been granted status to be here because the Government has repeatedly determined, in accordance with the TPS statute, that Yemen is subject to an ongoing armed conflict.”
Several other federal judges have reached similar conclusions about terminations for other countries. The Supreme Court heard argument this week on the terminations for Haiti and Syria.
Source: The Hill
Texas attorney general demands records from nearly 30 firms in H-1B fraud inquiry
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued civil investigative demands to nearly 30 North Texas businesses as part of an investigation into suspected fraud in the H-1B visa program.
The companies named include Tekpro IT, Fame PBX, 1st Ranking Technologies, Qubitz Tech Systems, Blooming Clouds, Virat Solutions, Oak Technologies, Techpath and Techquency. His office said several are suspected of running “ghost offices,” falsely representing active operations in order to sponsor foreign workers.
The demands seek records identifying all employees, descriptions of the products or services the companies provide, financial statements and internal communications. Paxton said he would not allow the program to be used “as a loophole.” The action extends an investigation that has already covered other Texas companies.
Source: Texas Attorney General
Homeland Security adopts a quieter enforcement posture under a new secretary
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told senators at his confirmation hearing that his goal was to keep the department off the front pages, and the administration has since moved away from the highly visible tactics that defined its first year.
Gone are the social media clips of Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, now retired, confronting protesters. Where his predecessor Kristi Noem made arrests alongside ICE officers in New York on her first trip as secretary, Mullin's first was to North Carolina to review hurricane recovery.
Officials insist the shift is presentational and that deportation targets have not changed. Arrests have fallen since January, when immigration officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Source: AP News
Student visa denials could cost Texas universities $133 million a year
U.S. student visa refusals reached a decade high of 35 percent in 2025, and the resulting enrollment declines could cost Texas universities an estimated $133.2 million a year, according to an analysis by Shorelight, a company that helps international students apply to American schools.
Texas is among the states facing the largest projected tuition losses. New international student enrollment fell 17 percent nationally last fall, said Rachel Banks, senior director for public policy at NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
In Texas, the drop in new arrivals alone translated to about $65 million in economic losses. The figure reflects fewer incoming students rather than a decline in the total international student population.
Source: Axios