Week of October 15–21, 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.
State Department says it revoked six visas over posts about Charlie Kirk
The State Department announced that it had revoked at least six visas from foreign nationals who celebrated the killing of Charlie Kirk on social media. In a post on X it said it acted against people from Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Paraguay, and published examples of their posts. It did not name the holders or say what type of visas were involved.
"The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans," the department said, adding that it continues to identify such visa holders.
The revocations follow Secretary of State Marco Rubio's warning that foreigners praising the killing should prepare to be deported and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau's instruction to consular officers to monitor social media. Immigration attorney Eric Lee said the Consular Accountability Project would represent affected people at no charge.
Source: Politico
Judge orders body cameras for immigration agents in the Chicago area
US District Judge Sara Ellis ordered that all federal agents operating in Operation Midway Blitz wear body-worn cameras and keep them switched on. She said she was startled by televised images of agents using tear gas and other force against protesters.
"I live in Chicago if folks haven't noticed," Ellis said. "And I'm not blind, right?" She added that she had concerns about whether her earlier order was being followed.
The previous week Ellis had required agents in the area to display badges and barred them from using certain riot control measures against peaceful protesters and journalists. More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested in the Chicago area since September. A separate judge blocked the administration's attempt to deploy National Guard troops in the state.
Source: NBC News
US Chamber of Commerce sues over the $100,000 H-1B charge
The US Chamber of Commerce sued the administration over the $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions, arguing that the president exceeded his authority. The complaint says Congress struck a careful balance in setting fees for the program and that the proclamation contradicts those statutory levels.
"The Proclamation is not only misguided policy; it is plainly unlawful," the suit reads, adding that presidential authority over entry is bounded by statute and cannot override laws passed by Congress. It argues the fee countermands Congress's decision to allow up to 85,000 people a year into the program.
President Trump signed the proclamation in September to push employers toward American workers. The announcement caused confusion in the technology sector, with several large firms telling H-1B employees to stay in the country or return immediately.
Source: The Hill
DHS begins collecting a $1,000 fee from anyone granted parole
The Department of Homeland Security announced that it will begin assessing the $1,000 immigration parole fee created by the reconciliation law enacted in July. The notice took effect on October 16, 2025.
The fee attaches each time parole is granted and effectuated under section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, including initial parole from abroad, parole in place, re-parole and parole from DHS custody. It is not due when an application is filed or a travel document issued, but when the person appears at a port of entry or is already in the country.
Because the trigger is the grant rather than the filing, the charge applies to requests submitted or pending before the effective date. The statute lists ten exceptions, including where the person is paroled because of a medical emergency that cannot be treated abroad.
Source: Federal Register
Administration asks the Supreme Court to permit Guard deployment in Illinois
The administration asked the Supreme Court to lift lower court orders blocking the deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois, saying they are needed to protect federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement. The Seventh Circuit had ruled against the government again the previous day.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote that federal agents have repeatedly been threatened and assaulted in Chicago and in Broadview, where the ICE processing facility is located, and that agencies have been forced to operate under the constant threat of mob violence. Local officials dispute that account.
Governor JB Pritzker said he would continue to defend the sovereignty of his state, calling the militarization of communities against their will un-American and dangerous for democracy.
Source: NBC News
Enforcement drive pulls workers out of an already slowing labor market
The enforcement campaign is removing workers from the US economy at a point when hiring is already weakening. A Nicaraguan woman identified as Maria, 48, who cleaned Florida schools for $13 an hour, lost her job when the administration terminated the Biden humanitarian parole program that gave work permits to Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans.
"I feel desperate," she told the AP, saying she had $5 in her account and shares a house with five other families.
The AP reports that the administration is restricting immigration at both ends, removing low-wage laborers while discouraging skilled workers from coming. Economists say the inflow of foreign workers had eased labor shortages and reduced upward pressure on wages and prices in recent years.
Source: AP News
ICE hires more than 40 medical staff as deaths in detention climb
The Department of Homeland Security is recruiting more than 40 doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, pharmacists and health administrators for immigration detention centers. ICE has reported 20 deaths in custody since January, the highest annual figure in decades, against 24 across the four years of the Biden administration.
The 2025 count came from the office of Representative Pramila Jayapal, ranking member of the House subcommittee overseeing DHS. The death rate remains lower than in past years because the detained population, now above 60,000, is at a record high.
Public health officials say overcrowding and hastily built facilities such as tent camps make it easier for communicable disease to spread and harder to manage chronic illness. Oversight has weakened as layoffs hit the DHS offices that investigate abuse and neglect complaints.
Source: Politico
Asylum seekers cannot work out how to pay the new annual $100 fee
More than three months after the reconciliation law created an annual $100 fee for pending asylum applicants, immigrants and their lawyers say they cannot establish whether they owe it or how to pay. Payment notices have gone out sporadically and misinformation has spread on social media.
Some asylum seekers have paid $100 to the immigration courts without knowing whether that is the correct channel or whether the government will bill them again, according to court filings and interviews.
"It just feels like people are being cornered from every angle, and the lack of clarity just causes that much more fear and intimidation," said Robin Nice, an immigration attorney in Boston. Advocates fear the fees will become grounds to deny claims and remove people quickly.
Source: Politico
ICE directs part of its $75 billion toward biometric and phone surveillance
ICE is spending a substantial share of the $75 billion it received under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on surveillance technology rather than only on hiring and detention beds. The purchases include a contract with Clearview AI for facial recognition and a multimillion-dollar contract with BI2 for its IRIS system, which identifies a person from a photograph of the eye.
The agency also restarted a contract with Paragon Solutions, whose software can remotely access data on a smartphone. The Biden administration had barred Paragon as an unethical spyware vendor.
Congress presented the funding as money for new agents and detention capacity. The expansion gives ICE identification and tracking tools that reach well beyond the immigration enforcement context.
Source: Axios