Week of May 21–27, 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.
AP surveys the tools driving the deportation push
The Associated Press set out the main methods the administration is using to increase removals, beginning with enforcement aimed at people it calls "the worst of the worst": those with criminal arrests or convictions, or whom ICE identifies as gang members.
The change from earlier administrations is that officers may now make collateral arrests, detaining others found with a target who have immigration violations of their own. Collateral arrests were not permitted under the Biden administration.
The administration has also pressed third countries to accept people the United States struggles to return home, and has withdrawn temporary protections from hundreds of thousands admitted under Biden-era programs, which makes them removable.
Source: AP News
Georgia student detained after a mistaken traffic stop is granted bond
An immigration judge granted bond to Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old Dalton State College student held by ICE in western Georgia since early May.
Dalton police pulled her over on May 5 and cited her for an improper turn and driving without a proper license. A week later the department dropped the charges, saying officers had stopped the wrong car. ICE kept her in custody after determining she lacked legal status.
Arias-Cristobal was born in Mexico and has lived in the United States since she was four. She was ineligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals because she arrived after new applications were halted. The judge set bond at $1,500, the statutory minimum, and the government did not appeal.
Source: NBC News
Disney places Venezuelan workers on unpaid leave after TPS ruling
The Walt Disney Company placed about 45 Venezuelan employees on unpaid leave and told them they would be dismissed in 30 days unless they obtain other work authorization.
The notices went out a day after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans covered by the 2023 designation, a group of roughly 350,000 people. A Disney spokesperson said the workers were placed on leave with benefits so the company would not be in violation of the law.
The Department of Homeland Security had not yet published a formal termination notice for the 2023 designation. A separate 2021 designation covering about 257,000 Venezuelans runs to September.
Source: Miami Herald
Judge pauses Oklahoma law criminalizing unlawful presence in the state
A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of Oklahoma's HB 4156, which makes it a state crime for a noncitizen to enter Oklahoma without legal status.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones barred enforcement for at least 14 days and set a hearing in early June on a longer injunction, saying the law likely intrudes on exclusive federal authority over immigration. A first offense is a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $500 fine; a second is a felony. Those convicted must leave the state within 72 hours.
The Justice Department sued Oklahoma over the law under President Biden and dropped the case after the change in administration. The ACLU is now litigating it for Oklahoma plaintiffs.
Source: Reuters
Judge finds South Sudan deportation flight violated his injunction
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts ruled that the administration violated his March injunction by removing eight men on a flight bound for South Sudan without letting them raise fears of persecution or torture.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the deportations, saying the men came from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico and South Sudan and that many had violent criminal convictions. The plane left Harlingen, Texas, and landed in Djibouti. "The department's actions are unquestionably violative of this court's order," Murphy said.
He ordered that each man receive a private reasonable fear interview with counsel of his choosing present, with the same access he would have had in the United States.
Source: NBC News
Alabama-born citizen handcuffed at worksite raid after ID called fake
Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen born in Florida, was forced to the ground, handcuffed and held in a vehicle during a worksite immigration raid in Foley, Alabama.
Video aired by Noticias Telemundo shows officers grabbing him while a bystander shouts that he is a citizen. Garcia said officers took his REAL ID from his wallet and told him it was fake. He was released after providing his Social Security number. His brother, who does not have legal status, was arrested.
The Department of Homeland Security said Garcia interfered with an arrest during a targeted worksite operation. Relatives said local lawyers told them suing a federal agent would be nearly impossible.
Source: NBC News
Judge blocks revocation of Harvard's authority to enroll foreign students
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Homeland Security from stripping Harvard University of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.
Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the termination on May 22, saying the university had refused to hand over information about foreign students' conduct and accusing it of fostering antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party. DHS told enrolled visa holders they would have to transfer to keep their status. Harvard enrolls nearly 7,000 international students, about 27% of its student body.
Harvard sued the next morning, calling the revocation a First Amendment violation and retaliation for refusing government demands over its governance and curriculum.
Source: NPR
Third court order in weeks directs the return of a wrongly deported man
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the administration to arrange the return of a Guatemalan man, identified in court papers as O.C.G., who was put on a bus to Mexico in February without a chance to raise fears of torture.
The man says he was raped and targeted for being gay during an earlier stay in Mexico. Mexican authorities then sent him to Guatemala, where he says he also faces threats. U.S. and international law bar removing people to countries where they are likely to be tortured.
It was the third ruling in weeks ordering the government to seek the return of someone improperly deported. In the earlier cases the administration had not brought the person back. A DHS spokesperson defended the removal.
Source: Politico
Agents arrest immigrants outside courtrooms after cases are dismissed
Immigration agents are arresting people in courthouse hallways immediately after judges dismiss their deportation cases, a practice spreading across the country.
In downtown Los Angeles, agents handcuffed Erick Eduardo Fonseca Solorzano in front of his wife and 8-year-old son moments after Judge Peter A. Kim dismissed his case, telling him he would be placed in expedited removal.
The Department of Homeland Security asks to dismiss its own cases, then uses expedited removal, which allows deportation without a hearing for people who cannot show they have been in the country more than two years. That authority was historically used only at the border. A senior DHS official said those with valid credible fear claims will still go through proceedings.
Source: Los Angeles Times
State Department halts new student visa interviews pending social media vetting
A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered embassies and consular sections to stop adding new interview appointments for F, M and J visa applicants while the department prepares to expand social media screening.
"Consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued," the cable said, with that guidance expected within days. Earlier screening requirements were aimed mainly at returning students who had taken part in protests over Israel's actions in Gaza.
The cable does not spell out what the vetting would look for. NAFSA, which represents international educators, criticized the pause, and universities that depend on foreign enrollment face delayed processing.
Source: Politico
Justice Department asks Supreme Court to clear third-country deportations
Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to lift U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy's April 18 order requiring notice and a chance to raise fear of torture before someone is deported to a country they have no ties to.
The filing follows the attempted removal of seven men to South Sudan with only hours of notice. Murphy halted those deportations and ordered the government to keep custody of the men, who are being held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti.
Sauer wrote that the judge's requirements disrupt "sensitive diplomatic, foreign-policy, and national-security efforts" and are "wreaking havoc" on removals. The department argues it has no duty to ask deportees whether they fear a third country.
Source: Politico