Week of January 14–20, 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.
State Department suspends immigrant visas for 75 countries
The State Department announced it will suspend processing of immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, on the ground that their citizens are likely to need public assistance in the United States. The pause begins January 21.
"Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits," the department said.
Immigrant visas are the route to permanent residence, including for spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens. The suspension does not cover temporary tourist and business visas, which account for the large majority of applications. It builds on travel restrictions already covering nearly 40 countries.
Source: AP News
Appeals court says district judge could not order Khalil's release
A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit ruled 2-1 that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey "lacked jurisdiction over Khalil's removal proceedings" and therefore had no authority to order the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist the administration has sought to deport.
The majority held that the immigration statutes give Khalil a route to raise his claims later, in a petition for review of a final removal order. The panel directed the district court to vacate his habeas corpus petition, raising the possibility that he could be detained again.
The decision is a win for the administration's effort to remove pro-Palestinian activists who came to the country on student visas.
Source: CBS News
Trump threatens the Insurrection Act over Minneapolis protests
President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law allowing the deployment of troops for domestic law enforcement over a governor's objection, to end protests against federal officers in Minneapolis.
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E.," he wrote, "I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT."
The threat came a day after an immigration officer shot and wounded a man who the government said had attacked him with a shovel and a broom handle. Tension in the city has been high since an ICE agent shot Renee Good in the head the previous week.
Source: AP News
Judge limits force against protesters in Minneapolis
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez barred federal agents in Minneapolis from arresting peaceful protesters and from using pepper spray, similar nonlethal munitions or crowd dispersal tools against people engaged in peaceful, unobstructive protest.
The 80-page order also prohibits agents involved in Operation Metro Surge from stopping vehicles that follow them, provided the vehicles keep a safe and appropriate distance. Residents have used such vehicles to track and film agents during the operation.
"The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly, not rioting," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, adding that the department was taking constitutional measures to protect its officers. The ruling came a week after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good.
Source: Politico
Agents in Minneapolis stop citizens and demand proof of status
Residents of Minneapolis and nearby communities say federal officers have been stopping U.S. citizens, apparently at random, demanding identification and questioning them about their citizenship. Videos of the encounters have spread on social media.
Gage Diego Garcia said he was held for six hours in Columbia Heights after officers approached him as he leaned into a friend's car in an alleyway. "They came off pretty aggressive and asking for my ID. I refused because I had done nothing wrong," he said. Video recorded by a friend shows officers pushing him against a car and pointing a Taser at him.
The stops have drawn criticism across political lines, including from podcaster Joe Rogan, who asked, "Are we really going to be the Gestapo?"
Source: NBC News
Third death in 44 days at the Fort Bliss tent detention camp
ICE announced the death of a third detainee in 44 days at Camp East Montana, the tent facility on the Fort Bliss army base in El Paso. The camp held 2,903 people as of January 8, making it one of the largest detention sites in the country.
The agency identified the man as Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, from Nicaragua, who first encountered ICE officers in Minneapolis. Contract security staff found him unconscious and unresponsive in his room, and he was pronounced dead on Wednesday afternoon. "He died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of his death remains under investigation," ICE said.
Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, of Guatemala, died at an El Paso hospital on December 3.
Source: NBC News
Judge lets DHS require notice before lawmakers visit detention sites
A federal judge in Washington ruled that the Department of Homeland Security may continue to require members of Congress to give a week's notice before inspecting immigration facilities, temporarily allowing the department to keep elected officials out. The same judge had blocked an identical policy last month.
Federal law gives lawmakers the right to make unannounced visits to ICE detention sites funded through appropriations.
The administration advanced two other actions the same day, with Justice Department lawyers urging a federal judge in Minneapolis to let the Minnesota enforcement operation continue in the face of the state's lawsuit, which described the surge as a federal invasion.
Source: The Guardian
Deaths in ICE custody hit a two-decade high in 2025
At least 31 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest annual figure in two decades, according to an Axios review of the agency's news releases. That is nearly triple the 11 deaths recorded in 2024, and more than the 26 deaths reported across the four years of the previous administration.
The next highest recent total was 20 in 2020, when COVID-19 spread through detention centers.
"We've been warning about this for over a year, that conditions have been deteriorating," said Setareh Ghandehari of the Detention Watch Network. A DHS spokesperson said there was "no spike in deaths" and that the rate per detainee has stayed stable as the population grew, adding that everyone is screened for medical needs within 12 hours of arrival.
Source: Axios
Immigration checks of US citizens draw lawsuits and denials
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended officers who have detained U.S. citizens during immigration operations, saying agents conduct targeted enforcement and may ask people near a target to validate their identity. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the encounters circulating online are not racially based.
Citizens are not required to carry documents proving nationality, and agents need individualized probable cause to demand papers. A ProPublica investigation counted at least 170 U.S. citizens detained by ICE through October 2025, a figure Noem disputed.
A Supreme Court order last September allows stops based on a combination of factors including appearance, language and workplace, pending further litigation. Courts in Chicago, Colorado and Washington have since restricted warrantless arrests.
Source: Axios
Senators find medical neglect at California's largest ICE center
Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff toured the California City Detention Facility, a former prison in the Mojave Desert run by CoreCivic under an ICE contract. It opened in late August and now holds more than 1,400 people, with capacity for 2,560.
"The most frequent feedback we got was the inadequacy of the medical care they are receiving," Schiff said, describing a detainee with diabetes who he said had gone two months without treatment. Detainees also described foul-smelling water and a moldy sandwich.
"They're going to have to do something very different if they're going to meet the medical needs of the people here, let alone adding another 1,000 people," Padilla said. Both noted most of those held face civil immigration charges, not crimes.
Source: CalMatters
Nearly 5,000 Haitians in Massachusetts lose status on February 3
Almost 5,000 Haitian immigrants in Massachusetts face deportation after February 3, when the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti takes effect. The state is home to more than 77,000 Haitians, the third largest such community in the country, and many holders work in health care and transportation.
A judge is expected to rule on a challenge to the termination by February 2, a day before the deadline. The previous administration had extended the designation through February 3, 2026, citing violence and political instability.
DHS says the move "restores integrity" to the program and that conditions in Haiti have improved. Senator Ed Markey said gangs control much of Port-au-Prince. TPS holders have no path to permanent residence.
Source: Axios
Reconciliation law is paying for the expansion of ICE
The tax and spending law enacted last year roughly doubled annual Homeland Security funding, adding $170 billion to be spent over four years. ICE, which normally receives about $10 billion a year, was given $30 billion for operations and $45 billion for detention facilities.
The department has told Congress it has obligated roughly $58 billion so far, about $37 billion of it for border wall construction, according to a person familiar with a private assessment.
"I just don't think people have a sense of the scale," said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress. Federal, state and local agencies have entered contract partnerships with Homeland Security to support the operations.
Source: AP News