Week of August 13–19, 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.
State Department revokes visas of Brazilian officials over Cuban doctor program
The State Department revoked the visas of two former senior Brazilian health officials, Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, over their role in the Mais Medicos program, which brought Cuban doctors to remote parts of Brazil. Family members were also covered by the action.
The department has accused Cuba's overseas medical missions of coercive labor practices, and said the arrangement enriches the Cuban government while depriving Cubans of medical care at home. Officials from Grenada were included in the same round of restrictions.
Both men worked in Brazil's health ministry under former President Dilma Rousseff, when thousands of Cuban doctors were placed in underserved areas. Visa revocation under this authority is a State Department decision and does not require a criminal charge.
Source: Politico
Rule to end duration of status for student visas clears White House review
A Department of Homeland Security proposal to limit how long international students may remain in the United States cleared review at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The rule would replace duration of status, under which F-1 and J-1 holders are admitted for the length of their academic program, with a fixed period requiring renewal, potentially before a student finishes.
Universities warn that mid-program applications could cause processing delays, gaps in lawful status and interruptions to work authorization tied to study. A similar proposal in the first Trump term, which set two-year and four-year limits by field of study, was withdrawn under President Biden.
NAFSA projects new international enrollment could fall 30 to 40 percent this fall. The rule will be published in the Federal Register for public comment. A separate DHS rule replacing the H-1B lottery with weighted selection also cleared review.
Source: Newsweek
Judge questions federal suit against all 15 Maryland district judges
U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen, sitting by designation because Maryland judges cannot hear the case, expressed skepticism about the Justice Department's lawsuit against all 15 federal judges in Maryland.
The dispute concerns a standing order issued by Chief Judge George Russell on May 21 and updated a week later, which pauses deportation for two business days in cases brought by people at immediate risk of removal so the court can consider them. The department argues Russell had no authority to issue what amounts to a blanket injunction without assessing individual claims.
Cullen questioned whether a lawsuit was the correct vehicle, telling department lawyer Elizabeth Hedges that he does not have a good poker face and has some skepticism.
Source: NBC News
Washington police chief orders officers to notify ICE during traffic stops
Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith issued an executive order allowing officers making traffic stops in Washington to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement about people they believe lack legal status. The order departs from previous department policy and permits referrals of people who have not been detained or charged with any crime.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has said the District is not a sanctuary city because local law enforcement has cooperated with ICE in the past. The District nonetheless has policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration agencies, and another allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Representatives for the mayor's office, the police department and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source: NBC News
Fort Bliss detention site to open after contract cancellations and a worker death
The immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss in Texas is due to open this week with capacity for 1,000 people, after months of setbacks including two investigations into possible improper bidding, two canceled contracts and a death on the construction site.
The site is intended to become the largest immigration detention center in the country and is central to ICE's plan to more than double its national detention capacity. An earlier attempt to use the naval base at Guantanamo Bay did not work out.
An ICE official said the agency is currently holding a record 60,000 people and has run out of space. Another said all ICE field offices are looking for additional detention capacity as arrest numbers rise.
Source: NBC News
Los Angeles schools open with enforcement buffer request and preparedness kits
Los Angeles Unified School District students returned for the new academic year after a summer of immigration raids. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho asked immigration authorities to refrain from enforcement within two blocks of schools from an hour before the school day until an hour after dismissal, saying children who are hungry or frightened cannot learn.
The district added and altered bus routes to reach more students and is distributing family preparedness packets containing know-your-rights material, emergency contact forms and guidance on naming a backup caregiver if a parent is detained.
The district covers more than two dozen cities and enrolls over 500,000 students. The teachers' union estimates that 30,000 are immigrants, about a quarter of them without legal status.
Source: NBC News
US and Paraguay sign safe third country asylum agreement
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez signed a safe third country agreement at the State Department, under which some asylum seekers in the United States can be directed to pursue their claims in Paraguay instead.
Such agreements require applicants to seek protection in the first safe country they reach rather than in the country where they wish to settle. Rubio said the arrangement lets both countries share the burden of managing illegal immigration and shut down abuse of the U.S. asylum system.
Critics of these agreements argue they can return people to countries with inadequate asylum procedures or where they face risk. The deal forms part of wider cooperation between the two governments on security and economic matters.
Source: Newsweek
Tourism analysts estimate $250 visa fee will cost the economy $11 billion
Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics, estimates the $250 visa integrity fee will cost the United States about $11 billion over three years, comprising $9.4 billion in lost visitor spending and $1.3 billion in lost tax revenue, along with roughly 15,000 travel industry jobs.
The Congressional Budget Office projected the fee would raise about $27 billion over a decade, or $2.7 billion a year, from roughly 11 million annual visa applicants. A CBO spokesperson said the office does not incorporate macroeconomic feedback effects into its cost estimates and did not perform a dynamic analysis of the provision.
Tourism Economics calculates the charge is high enough to deter 5.4 percent of international visitors, close to one million fewer visits a year.
Source: Forbes
USCIS memo broadens the good moral character test for naturalization
A memo issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on August 15 directs officers to take a more holistic approach when assessing whether a naturalization applicant meets the good moral character requirement. Officers must account for an applicant's positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct, the memo states.
It encourages officers to weigh convictions beyond the serious crimes that already bar citizenship, including drug use and two or more convictions for driving under the influence, and conduct that is not illegal, such as habitual traffic infractions or solicitation. Repeated criminal conduct undermines moral character unless rebutted by evidence of reform, the memo says.
Positive factors listed include sustained community involvement, caregiving, education and career achievements, payment of taxes and child support, and community testimony. USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said citizenship should go only to the best of the best.
Source: The Hill
USCIS adds anti-Americanism screening to immigration benefit decisions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that officers deciding applications for benefits such as green cards will consider whether an applicant has endorsed, promoted, supported or otherwise espoused anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views.
Agency spokesman Matthew Tragesser said the country's benefits should not go to people who despise it, and that living and working in the United States is a privilege rather than a right. The announcement does not define anti-Americanism or say how and when the standard will be applied.
Elizabeth Jacobs of the Center for Immigration Studies said the agency is being more explicit about what officers should weigh, but noted it cannot require denials, only direct officers to treat such findings as a negative discretionary factor.
Source: AP News