Week of August 6–12, 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.
USCIS may place family-based green card applicants into removal proceedings
New guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services allows the agency to begin removal proceedings against people without legal status who apply for permanent residence through a spouse or other family member. The change took effect immediately and applies to pending requests as well as those filed on or after August 1.
The policy manual now states that applicants and their sponsoring relatives should be aware that a family-based petition confers no immigration status and does not bar removal.
Adjustment of status through a citizen spouse has been one of the main routes to a green card for people already in the country. Elora Mukherjee, who directs the Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, described it as one of the most important avenues available for obtaining lawful permanent residence.
Source: NBC News
Travel industry warns $250 visa fee will deter World Cup and Olympic visitors
The U.S. travel industry says the new $250 visa integrity fee could deter millions of international visitors as the country prepares to host the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The charge, created by the reconciliation law signed in July, applies to most nonimmigrant visa applicants, including tourists, students and temporary workers, regardless of how short the trip is.
Industry groups describe the provision as a stealth junk fee that could damage inbound tourism, arriving as the United States prepares for its 250th anniversary year and two major sporting events. Critics say the cost will fall on ordinary visitors making short trips rather than on any group the measure was meant to deter.
Source: Axios
DHS lifts age limits for ICE recruits to speed hiring
The Department of Homeland Security removed the maximum age for people applying to join Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Secretary Kristi Noem said in a television interview that there is no longer a cap on how old an applicant can be and that recruits will be trained and equipped for street work.
The department is also detailing some Federal Emergency Management Agency staff to ICE for 90 days to help hire and screen applicants, and is offering signing bonuses of up to $50,000 along with student loan repayment assistance.
The changes reflect the scale of hiring required to approach the stated goal of one million removals a year at an agency that has struggled with retention and retirements. The administration has also expanded cooperation agreements with state and local police.
Source: Politico
Administration asks Supreme Court to lift limits on roving immigration stops
The administration petitioned the Supreme Court to lift a district court order restricting immigration stops across Southern California. U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled on July 11 that agents in the Central District of California may not stop people without reasonable suspicion that they are in the country illegally, and that suspicion cannot rest on race or ethnicity, language, location or type of work, alone or in combination.
The Ninth Circuit upheld the order the previous week. In its filing the government argued the ruling threatens the ability to enforce immigration law by raising the prospect of contempt over every investigative stop.
Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel, representing three immigrants and two U.S. citizens caught up in the arrests, said the brief asks the court to permit stops of anyone in Los Angeles who happens to be Latino.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Crime victims waiting on U visas are being detained by ICE
Some immigrants with pending U visa applications are being taken into immigration custody. Domingo Mendoza Mendez, a 45-year-old Mexican national, was detained on July 10 when he attended a scheduled appointment with ICE and is being held at the Freeborn County Correctional Facility in Minnesota.
He was the victim of a violent robbery in Minnesota in 2013, an offense on the USCIS list of qualifying crimes, and has been in the U visa process since 2021. The U visa is available to victims of certain crimes who assist law enforcement with the investigation.
Mendoza Mendez, who is married with three children, said he has followed the rules of the process and does not know why he was detained. He has not seen his family since the day of the appointment.
Source: NBC News
USCIS narrows Child Status Protection Act rules for aging-out dependents
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reversed a February 2023 policy under the Child Status Protection Act that had let children of green card applicants keep their place in line if they turned 21 while a parent's case was pending. Protection will again apply only when a visa number becomes available through the State Department.
The agency said the earlier policy produced inconsistent treatment between people adjusting status inside the country and those applying for immigrant visas abroad. Around 200,000 children and young adults could be affected.
With long waits for adjustment of status, particularly for H-1B and other temporary visa holders, a dependent who turns 21 can lose status and may have to leave the country. The guidance applies to requests filed after August 15; cases already pending are not affected.
Source: Newsweek
No farm labor policy imminent despite repeated presidential assurances
The White House has not settled on a policy to address agriculture's reliance on unauthorized workers, according to aides, farm lobbyists and people familiar with the discussions, despite repeated statements from the president that a solution is coming.
Border czar Tom Homan told reporters this week that no formal policy had been agreed. One person close to the White House said officials still have not put pen to paper, and suggested the president might issue an executive order directing agencies to devise a plan, though the approach remains under discussion.
Growers have grown frustrated with the delay as enforcement operations reach farms and packing plants. Any accommodation for unauthorized workers carries political risk with supporters who oppose anything they regard as amnesty.
Source: Politico
Two raids in one day at a Van Nuys Home Depot raise court order questions
Federal agents detained day laborers outside a Home Depot on Roscoe Boulevard in Van Nuys in two operations on Friday morning, at about 7:35 a.m. and again at 11:50 a.m., according to Maegan Ortiz of the Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California, which runs a day laborer center next to the store.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the operations, describing them as targeted immigration raids that led to the arrest of seven people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said four had criminal records, including for driving under the influence, disorderly conduct and failure to comply with removal orders.
The location is among those covered by a court order barring stops based on race, language, location or occupation. McLaughlin said targeting is based on immigration status, not appearance.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Congress begins scrutinizing the $170 billion enforcement expansion it funded
The tax and spending law signed on July 4 gave the Department of Homeland Security close to $170 billion, roughly doubling its annual budget and financing the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across the country.
Border czar Tom Homan and other officials pressed Capitol Hill for the money within weeks of the inauguration. The funds now underwrite arrests at workplaces and on city streets, and Homeland Security confirmed over the weekend that ICE is working to set up detention sites at some military bases.
Members of Congress have begun asking how the money is being spent and under what oversight, as the scale of the operation and reports about conditions in detention draw attention on both sides of the aisle.
Source: AP News
Challengers urge Supreme Court to leave Los Angeles stop restrictions in place
Lawyers for immigrant rights groups, U.S. citizens and undocumented immigrants asked the Supreme Court to leave in place Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong's July 11 order barring immigration stops in the Central District of California without reasonable suspicion.
Frimpong held that agents cannot rely on any combination of four factors to establish that suspicion: apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or accented English, presence where undocumented immigrants are known to gather, and work in occupations such as landscaping or construction.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices the order puts a straitjacket on law enforcement. Elaine Goldenberg, for the challengers, replied that the order broke no new legal ground and still permits agents to rely on those factors alongside other facts. The district covers about 20 million people.
Source: SCOTUSblog
Judge orders improvements at Manhattan ICE holding facility
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the government to improve conditions in ICE holding cells at the Manhattan federal building by August 26, requiring more space, a bedding mat for each person held overnight, hygiene supplies and thorough cleaning at least three times a day.
Kaplan also ordered officials to allow private calls with lawyers within 24 hours of detention and to give each person a printed notice of rights within an hour of being placed in a holding room, including the right to request bottled water and an additional meal.
The suit was brought by Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, a Peruvian citizen living in New Jersey who was detained after appearing for a court date at the building. Kaplan indicated he will next consider a longer-term injunction and class certification.
Source: Politico
US citizen detained during Los Angeles raid says she was held without water
Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen and production coordinator for a shoe company, was detained by immigration officers in downtown Los Angeles on June 24 and charged with assaulting a federal officer. The Justice Department later dismissed the case without prejudice.
Velez said her mother and sister had just dropped her off at work when agents moved in. She said someone grabbed her and put her on the ground, and that when she told the plainclothes officer she was a citizen he replied that she was interfering and would be arrested.
She said she was held for about 24 hours without being given water. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on the dismissal.
Source: NBC News