Week of September 24–30, 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.
Proclamation text confines $100,000 H-1B payment to new entries for 12 months
The proclamation restricting H-1B entry was published in the Federal Register, setting out details absent from the announcement. It bars entry of specialty occupation workers unless the petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment, took effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on September 21, 2025, and expires 12 months later unless extended.
The restriction applies only to people who enter or attempt to enter after that date. DHS is directed to withhold decisions on petitions filed without payment for workers who are outside the United States. Employers must obtain and retain proof of payment before filing, and the State Department must verify receipt.
The Secretary of Homeland Security may exempt an individual, a company or an entire industry where hiring is judged to be in the national interest. The proclamation relies on sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Source: Federal Register
California attorney general weighs suing over the H-1B fee
California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office said it is closely monitoring implementation of the $100,000 H-1B fee and its effects, which will determine whether the state sues. A spokesperson said the change will harm California businesses and make the country less competitive in science, technology, engineering and medicine.
Bonta told Bloomberg that an agency action "can't be arbitrary, it can't be capricious," and that his office has brought cases on that basis before and might do so here, though it was still assessing.
Industry groups in Washington were separately weighing litigation. California's technology sector, a large share of the state's economy and tax revenue, is among the heaviest users of the visa.
Source: Politico
Gunman fires on ICE detainees in Dallas, killing one and wounding two
A gunman fired from an adjacent rooftop into the sally port of the ICE field office in Dallas, hitting three detainees who were restrained inside a van and could not get out. One died and two were left in critical condition. The shooter, identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn of Fairview, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Acting US Attorney Nancy Larson said on September 25 that Jahn left notes describing ICE officers as human traffickers and saying he wanted them to feel terror. She called the attack the definition of terrorism and said he acted alone, with no evidence of ties to any political group.
The FBI said he legally bought an 8mm bolt-action rifle last year and had planned the attack for months. ICE identified the detainee killed as Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, 37, of El Salvador.
Source: The Texas Tribune
Executive order sets up the Gold Card as a paid route to an immigrant visa
An executive order directs the Commerce Department, with the State Department and DHS, to build a Gold Card program in which a person who makes an unrestricted gift of $1 million to the Commerce Department, or $2 million if a company gives on their behalf, becomes eligible for an immigrant visa through an expedited process.
The order tells the State Department and DHS to treat the gift as evidence of extraordinary ability under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 1153(b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national interest waiver. Existing statutory visa number limits still apply.
The agencies have 90 days to establish an application and adjudication process and to name the date gifts may first be submitted. Funds go into a separate Treasury account to promote commerce and American industry.
Source: Federal Register
Lawyers and families describe crowded conditions at Broadview ICE facility
The ICE processing center in Broadview, Illinois has become the focal point of the Chicago enforcement surge, with relatives, lawyers and advocates saying it now functions as a de facto detention center. Advocates say up to 200 people are held there at a time, some for as long as five days, in a building with no showers or cafeteria.
Detainees report limited food, water and medication, and restricted contact with attorneys. Erendira Rendon of The Resurrection Project, which has fielded requests from nearly 250 arrested immigrants, called the site a black hole where no one can be reached by phone.
The Department of Homeland Security called the accounts false and said detainees are briefly processed before transfer. Protests outside the building have grown, with federal agents using chemical agents and force against demonstrators.
Source: AP News
Senate Judiciary leaders press ten large employers on H-1B hiring and layoffs
Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote to executives at Amazon, Apple, Cognizant, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Deloitte, JPMorgan Chase, Tata Consultancy Services and Walmart asking why they hire H-1B workers while conducting layoffs.
"We are concerned about some troubling employment trends in the tech industry," the senators wrote to Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy, adding that with American talent on the sidelines they found it hard to believe the company could not fill the roles domestically.
The letters ask how the firms advertise H-1B roles, whether they make a good faith effort to recruit Americans first, and whether US workers have been displaced by visa holders. The inquiry is bipartisan and follows the new $100,000 fee.
Source: The Hill
State Department revokes the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro
The State Department said it would revoke President Gustavo Petro's US visa over what it called reckless and incendiary actions. Petro, in New York for the UN General Assembly, told a Gaza protest on Friday that US soldiers should not point their rifles at humanity and should disobey orders from President Trump.
Petro returned to Colombia on Saturday as planned under a September 18 decree delegating his powers during the trip, and said on X that he learned of the revocation on arrival. He argued that international law grants him immunity to attend the United Nations and that there should be no reprisal for expressing an opinion.
The State Department did not say whether the revocation would affect future visits. Petro is Colombia's first leftist president.
Source: AP News
Venezuelans with valid TPS detained despite court ruling, families say
Immigration officers have continued detaining Venezuelans who hold Temporary Protected Status even after a San Francisco federal judge upheld the extension of the designation through 2026. Jeferson Pacheco Cruces was detained at a routine check-in three days after that ruling; his partner said he presented documents showing his TPS and was told they were not valid.
Lawyers and Venezuelan advocacy groups tracking cases told the Miami Herald that hundreds of Venezuelans have been arrested nationwide over the past four months. The paper interviewed 30 relatives of detained TPS holders in Florida, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma, California and Pennsylvania.
Pacheco, 39, had lived in Tulsa since 2021 and bought a home with his partner in August 2024. He holds a Venezuelan degree in sports education.
Source: Miami Herald
Second detainee shot at the Dallas ICE facility dies
Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, died after being taken off life support, his wife said in a statement released through the League of United Latin American Citizens. He was one of three detainees shot on September 24 while shackled inside an ICE van in Dallas.
Garcia-Hernandez came from San Luis Potosi in central Mexico with his parents and three brothers and worked as a house painter. The New York Times reported that he had lived in the United States for two decades and was in the process of obtaining legal residency, and had been detained after a traffic stop weeks earlier.
Norlan Guzman-Fuentes of El Salvador died shortly after the shooting. The third man wounded, Jose Andres Bordones-Molina of Venezuela, a delivery driver who was applying for asylum, remained in critical condition.
Source: The Texas Tribune
Texas stops issuing commercial driver's licenses to DACA holders and refugees
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it will no longer issue or renew commercial driver's licenses for DACA recipients, refugees or people granted asylum, and will terminate pending applications from those groups. The agency described the step as part of its commitment to road safety.
The state classifies such licenses as non-domicile. Of the 220,430 commercial licenses Texas issued last year, 6,265 were non-domicile, just under 3 percent. The American Immigration Council estimates refugees make up about 1.2 percent of truck drivers in the state and DACA-eligible people about 1.1 percent.
The move follows a federal policy issued the previous week restricting commercial licenses for noncitizens, with the threat of withheld federal funds for states that do not comply, and Governor Greg Abbott's order to strictly enforce English proficiency rules for commercial drivers.
Source: The Texas Tribune
Justice Department proposes reopening DACA to first-time applicants outside Texas
The Justice Department filed a proposal that would let the government process initial DACA applications for the first time in four years, in every state except Texas. It was submitted in the long-running lawsuit before US District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville and awaits his decision.
Under the plan, Texas residents who already hold DACA would keep protection from deportation but would lose eligibility for work authorization, and would not be considered lawfully present. Recipients who move into Texas would risk losing the right to work; those who move out could requalify for a two-year work permit.
DACA grants deportation protection and work permits to people brought to the United States as children. The filing states that the proposals do not limit DHS from making other lawful changes to the program later.
Source: Los Angeles Times