Week of November 5–11, 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.
Detainees testify about overflowing toilets and 150-person cells at Broadview
US District Judge Robert Gettleman heard testimony about conditions inside the ICE processing building in Broadview, Illinois, where people arrested in the Chicago operation are held. Felipe Agustin Zamacona, 47, an Amazon driver who has lived in the United States for decades, said 150 people were held in one cell and that he once took the sleeping spot of a man who got up to use the toilet.
Zamacona said water from the sink "tasted like sewer." He told the court, "I don't want anyone else to live what I lived through."
A lawsuit filed the previous week alleges the government denies proper access to food, water and medical care and pressures detainees into signing documents they do not understand, causing them to give up rights without private access to a lawyer.
Source: NBC News
Immigration agents detain a teacher inside a Chicago preschool
Federal agents detained a teacher inside the Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center on West Addison Street in Chicago's North Center neighborhood at about 7 a.m. Video posted online shows two agents removing her from the building while she says she has papers.
Representative Delia Ramirez said the woman, referred to publicly as Diana, was being held at the Broadview facility, and that her office and Representative Mike Quigley's contacted the family and the Colombian consulate. Quigley said the agents entered without a warrant. Ramirez said footage showed agents questioning another woman and taking her to a locker room to check documents.
"They went into multiple rooms asking and looking for teachers while children were present," Ramirez said. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop of a Colombian national.
Source: WTTW News
DHS terminates Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan
The Department of Homeland Security terminated the Temporary Protected Status designation for South Sudan, which was due to expire on November 3, 2025. The termination takes effect at 11:59 p.m. local time on January 5, 2026, after which South Sudanese nationals holding the status lose protection from removal and work authorization.
South Sudanese citizens have qualified for TPS since the country became independent in 2011, most recently under a Biden administration extension citing ongoing armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis.
DHS acknowledged continuing inter-communal violence, border disputes and ethnic polarization but said the country has not returned to full-scale civil war. It also cited compelling foreign policy reasons, noting that the South Sudanese government plans to cooperate with deportations.
Source: Federal Register
Judge restricts agents' use of force, finding Border Patrol chief not credible
US District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction restricting federal agents' use of force in the Chicago area, saying a senior Border Patrol official leading the operation repeatedly lied about threats from protesters and reporters. "I don't find defendants' version of events credible," she said.
The order bars tear gas, pepper balls and similar riot control weapons unless force is objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat, prohibits shoving protesters and journalists to the ground, and requires two warnings before riot control weapons are used. Ellis said the order prevents a chilling of First Amendment rights.
The suit was brought by news organizations and protesters. The operation has produced more than 3,000 arrests. A DHS official said the department would appeal, calling the ruling an extreme act by an activist judge.
Source: AP News
Judge orders ICE to clean cells and provide showers at Broadview
US District Judge Robert Gettleman issued a temporary restraining order requiring ICE to clean the holding cells at its Broadview processing facility at least twice a day, hand out soap and toothbrushes and allow detainees to shower.
"People shouldn't be sleeping next to overflowing toilets," Gettleman said before issuing the four-page order. "They shouldn't be sleeping on top of each other. They shouldn't be sleeping in plastic chairs. They shouldn't be sleeping on concrete floors."
The ruling followed a day of testimony from detainees who said they were pressured into signing voluntary departure forms to get out of the overcrowded building. The facility was designed to hold people for no more than 12 hours.
Source: Capitol News Illinois
ICE weighs buying warehouses to build mega detention centers
The administration is exploring the purchase of large warehouses to convert into immigration detention facilities, according to a Homeland Security official and a White House official. A DHS official described them as future mega detention centers.
ICE is looking at sites in the southern United States near airports used for removal flights, which the DHS official said would increase efficiency in deportations. The buildings average more than twice the size of existing ICE facilities. A purchase is past the early stages but not final, and specific properties have not been chosen.
The warehouses were built by developers for Amazon but never used or leased by the company. Officials said Amazon would not take part in or profit from any deal, and an Amazon spokesperson said the company is not in discussions with DHS.
Source: NBC News
About 268,000 Venezuelans lose Temporary Protected Status
Roughly 268,000 Venezuelans who became eligible for Temporary Protected Status under the March 2021 designation lost it at the end of Friday, leaving them without lawful status or work authorization and exposed to removal.
The loss lands as the United States weighs strikes on targets in Venezuela and has been destroying boats in the Caribbean and off Latin America's Pacific coast, saying they carry drugs. Those affected face return to a country in humanitarian and economic crisis under political repression.
"Every Venezuelan, or any immigrant who isn't a legal resident or citizen, feels distressed and anxious," one activist losing status told the Miami Herald, asking that her name be withheld for fear of deportation. Many of those affected live in South Florida.
Source: Miami Herald
Judge permanently bars National Guard deployment to Portland
US District Judge Karin Immergut issued a permanent injunction barring the administration from deploying National Guard troops on the streets of Portland in response to protests against immigration policy.
"This Court arrives at the necessary conclusion that there was neither 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion' nor was the President 'unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States' in Oregon when he ordered the federalization and deployment of the National Guard," wrote Immergut, whom President Trump appointed in his first term.
The ruling followed a three-day trial with more than 750 exhibits over whether protests at the Portland ICE building met the statutory conditions for domestic military deployment. Oregon and the city sued in September. The administration can appeal.
Source: NBC News
Supreme Court hears detention contractor's bid for an immediate appeal
The Supreme Court heard argument in The GEO Group v. Menocal, on whether a government contractor denied immunity by a district court may appeal that ruling immediately rather than waiting for the case to conclude.
Detainees at an ICE detention facility sued GEO, which operates it under contract, alleging that the facility's work program amounted to forced, unpaid labor in violation of federal and state law. The district court held that GEO's arrangement with ICE did not shield it from the suit.
Government contractors can often defend such claims by showing their contract required the conduct at issue. GEO appealed before trial, arguing its immunity claim entitles it to an early appeal. The outcome affects how quickly detainees can bring conditions and labor claims against private operators to trial.
Source: SCOTUSblog
Trump defends H-1B visas, saying the US lacks certain talents
In a Fox News interview broadcast Tuesday night, President Trump defended the H-1B program, saying the country has to bring in talent because American workers do not have "certain talents" for some kinds of work.
Host Laura Ingraham told him, "We have plenty of talented people here." Trump replied: "No, you don't have -- you don't have certain talents. And you have to -- people have to learn."
The remarks come less than two months after he imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions and as his administration proposes weighting the visa lottery toward higher-paid workers. He linked the argument to foreign investment in automobile and artificial intelligence manufacturing, suggesting some American workers are not prepared for certain stages of production.
Source: NBC News