Week of October 14–20, 2026

A federal judge in San Diego ordered the State Department on Oct. 14 to reopen registration for the fiscal 2027 diversity visa lottery, the program that makes up to 55,000 green cards a year available to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The department paused the program in December 2025, never opened the FY 2027 entry window, and then argued in court that it was too late to do so.

US District Judge Jinsook Ohta granted a preliminary injunction in Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, a suit filed in August by a Southern California law firm that helps immigrants enter the lottery.

Under the order as later modified, the department must publish registration details by Oct. 29, open the entry period by Nov. 1 for about 30 days, and notify selected entrants by Dec. 3. The government is expected to appeal.

Source: Courthouse News Service

DHS published a final rule on Oct. 14 that permanently ends the automatic extension of employment authorization documents for many renewal applicants. The rule adopts, without substantive change, the interim final rule issued on Oct. 30, 2025, and took effect the day it was published.

Before the change, filing a timely Form I-765 renewal in certain categories extended an expiring EAD for up to 540 days. For renewals filed on or after Oct. 30, 2025, there is no automatic extension: work authorization generally ends on the date shown on the current card unless USCIS approves the renewal first or the person is authorized to work on another basis. Renewals filed before that date keep the old 540-day extension.

DHS said the change prioritizes vetting and benefit integrity, and acknowledged that applicants may face temporary gaps in work authorization if processing backlogs persist.

Source: Federal Register

Source: Federal Register

An interim final rule published by DHS on Oct. 14 shortens the time a refugee has to respond to a Notice of Intent to Terminate from 30 days to 10 days. The rule took effect immediately, with public comments accepted until Nov. 13, 2026.

The procedure applies when DHS concludes that a person admitted as a refugee did not meet the statutory definition of a refugee at the time of admission. The agency said the faster timeline is meant to restore integrity to the system, address national security and public safety risks, and prevent fraud.

For people who hold refugee status, the practical effect is that far less time is available to gather documents, obtain counsel, and submit a rebuttal before status is terminated, a step that can lead to removal proceedings.

Source: Federal Register

Source: Federal Register

USCIS proposed on Oct. 14 to delete the regulation at 8 CFR 214.1(c)(5), which generally directs officers to defer to a prior approval involving the same parties and the same underlying facts when deciding a request to extend a nonimmigrant petition or stay.

The agency said the burden of proving eligibility rests on the petitioner or applicant in every filing, and that removing the deference policy would strengthen adjudicatory review and support benefit integrity.

If adopted, extension filings in categories such as H-1B, L-1 and O-1 would be examined afresh rather than treated as presumptively approvable, which practitioners expect to mean more requests for evidence and more denials of extensions that were previously routine. Comments on the proposal are due by Nov. 13, 2026.

Source: Federal Register

Source: Federal Register

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Oct. 14 that California may not enforce the No Vigilantes Act, a state law requiring federal immigration agents to display identification while on duty. Writing for the panel, Judge Mark J. Bennett said the law "attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions" and that no set of circumstances would make it valid.

The Justice Department sued in fall 2025 to block the ID requirement along with a companion law banning masks for federal agents and local police. A district judge had blocked the mask ban but allowed the ID rule to stand before the appeals court reversed.

More than a dozen states have pursued similar statutes in response to masked and unidentified agents during immigration operations. The ruling signals those laws are vulnerable without authorization from Congress.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Source: Los Angeles Times

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said on Oct. 14 that surveillance video appears to show an ICE officer deliberately driving into Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old Mexican construction worker, during an enforcement operation in northwest Houston on Oct. 10. "That vehicle jumped a median, drove into a parking lot and drove directly at and then over Mr. Parra," Teare said.

ICE called the allegation "reckless" and "false," saying Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle while fleeing officers. He underwent surgery for a broken leg and remained in ICE custody at the hospital, his lawyer said.

Teare said the officer drove the SUV away before county investigators could impound it and download crash data, which he said destroyed potential evidence. His office is weighing charges including assault with a deadly weapon.

Source: AP News

Source: AP News

Six legal service providers sued the Trump administration on Oct. 15 in federal court in Maryland, arguing that the accelerated handling of unaccompanied children's immigration cases is unlawful. The complaint calls the current system "a deportation assembly line depriving them of their rights."

The providers say that since Aug. 1, 2026, they have collectively received more than 600 notices of asylum interviews scheduled in rapid succession, sometimes with attorneys expected to appear at multiple interviews on the same day. They ask the court to restore prior practice, including at least 21 days notice before an asylum interview, citing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.

The suit follows the administration's decision this summer to end a long-standing contract for children's legal services. The government denies that cases are being fast-tracked, saying it prioritizes timely completion.

Source: CNN

Source: CNN

A predawn search of Representative Ilhan Omar's home stemmed from an expanding investigation into immigration paperwork filed when her family arrived from Somalia as refugees in 1995, three people familiar with the case told Reuters. The sealed warrant listed conspiracy, false statements on immigration paperwork and immigration fraud as potential crimes.

Homeland Security Investigations agents seized Omar's cell phone, and prosecutors issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to at least one relative. One person said a possible aim is to strip Omar of citizenship and deport her. Omar has denied wrongdoing and called the search political intimidation.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the case but said citizenship "must be obtained lawfully and honestly." Former officials said denaturalization investigations are rare and search warrants in them are highly unusual, since the government already holds the underlying immigration records.

Source: Reuters

Source: Reuters

The United States admitted 16,292 refugees in fiscal year 2026, and 16,287 of them were from South Africa, according to State Department data reported by Axios on Oct. 16. The only other arrivals were five Afghans.

The administration first set the FY 2026 ceiling at 7,500, a record low, then raised it to 17,500 in May through an emergency presidential determination that prioritized Afrikaners, citing claims of racially motivated violence in South Africa. A South African court and independent researchers have said no such campaign of killings is occurring.

The FY 2027 ceiling is also 17,500, with admissions again to be allocated primarily to Afrikaners. Texas, Florida and California received the most arrivals last year. Resettlement agencies say more than 100,000 fully vetted refugees remain waiting abroad.

Source: Axios

Source: Axios

Immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan enrolled in Temporary Protected Status will keep protection from deportation and their work authorization for now, DHS told CBS News on Oct. 18, a day before the designations were set to terminate. The department said final decisions on both programs will "be made at the appropriate time" and that enrollees "retain protection" until then.

More than 100,000 Ukrainians and roughly 1,800 Sudanese nationals were enrolled as of March 2025. The Ukraine designation dates to spring 2022; the Sudan program has existed since the late 1990s.

The decision is an exception to the broader pattern of this administration, which has revoked TPS for more than 1 million people from over a dozen countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti and Venezuela. A similar last-minute reprieve was given to Salvadoran TPS holders last month.

Source: CBS News

Source: CBS News

Mahmoud Khalil filed a petition at the Supreme Court on Oct. 19 asking the justices to overturn a Third Circuit ruling that federal district courts cannot review the legality of immigration detention until immigration court proceedings are complete.

Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and former Columbia University graduate student, was detained in 2025 over his role in pro-Palestinian protests after the government said his presence harmed US foreign policy interests. He spent more than three months in custody before a New Jersey judge found the detention unconstitutional and ordered his release. He remains free while the Third Circuit ruling is on hold.

The Fourth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in the case of Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri, and the government has asked the Supreme Court to review that decision. A split among appeals courts can increase the odds of review.

Source: PBS NewsHour

Source: PBS NewsHour

Federal prosecutors announced charges on Oct. 19 against 28 lawful permanent residents in California, alleging they registered to vote or cast ballots illegally. Of the 28, prosecutors say 22 voted in at least one election, five only registered, and one submitted a provisional ballot in 2020. Several are also accused of making false statements on naturalization applications.

Officials said about 113 noncitizens have been charged in 20 states over the past two months. The announcement came days after the administration sued California and Los Angeles County officials seeking to keep up to 20,000 suspect ballots from being counted, and 15 days before the Nov. 3 election.

Attorney General Rob Bonta noted the defendants represent about 0.0001% of California's 23.1 million registered voters. Noncitizen voting is a federal crime and can lead to removal and loss of eligibility for citizenship.

Source: CalMatters

Source: CalMatters