In a deportation system filled with backlogs, where a win might not produce a green card immediately, all previous administrations, (including the first Trump admin!) have had some basic forbearance policies to align the intent of the law with the reality of execution. No longer.

Congress created Special Immigrant Juvenile Status as a protection against deportation — yet because of procedural quirks, there is a lag/limbo between SIJS and a green card, and a person can have both a removal order AND a SIJS grant. This admin is pushing forward with removal during this lag time.

Gift link The Peril of a White House That Flaunts Its Indifference to the Law The White House has made no legal argument explaining its bald claim that the president has wartime power to summarily kill people suspected of smuggling drugs. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...

“The service members who conduct attacks have to live the rest of their lives with the memory.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...

people chant "we stand with you!" as Letitia James tries to speak outside a courthouse in Virginia

Yesterday, I went to an ICE check-in with 16-year-old Joel Camas and his lawyer, who expected him to be out in time for school by 8am because he has special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) status. Instead, he was detained. Here is what happened (free link): www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/n...

On a normal day, Canal Street in Lower Manhattan brims with licensed and unlicensed street vendors peddling purses, watches, sweatshirts and all manner of tchotchkes. Wednesday was not a normal day. Free link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/n...

There are at least 170 incidents where ICE held US citizens against their will. This includes 20 children, including two with cancer. That includes four who were held for weeks with their undocumented mother and without access to the family’s attorney until a congresswoman intervened.

Nearly 450 people registered for @ire.org’s #AccessFest25, which just kicked off! Grateful to the staff and volunteers focusing on our affordability and accessibility goals with this event! #IREforAll

If you’re attending @ire.org’s #AccessFest25, don’t miss my keynote with @wendyluwrites.bsky.social at 12:30 PM ET today. We’re going to talk about disability and journalism (surprise)!

Voters Favor Deporting Those in U.S. Illegally, but Say Trump Has Gone Too Far ( free link): www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

A hallway on the 12th floor at 26 Federal Plaza, the site of immigration courtrooms in Manhattan, descended into chaos after 2 women got into an elevator with masked agents and a journalist. After a brief melee, another journalist ended up in the hospital. Free link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/n...

Immigrant dead, ICE officer injured in Chicago www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09...

NEW: I went to an ICE job fair in Texas this week and spoke to 15 applicants. Here's snapshot of who is joining Trump's deportation force, and why they're signing up: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

love this new york times clip. they recently did a story about how sesame street's set has changed over the years, along with our urban politics. IG nytimes

NEW: An Irish tourist visiting the US was jailed by ICE for 3 months after overstaying 3 days due to medical issue. Thomas agreed to be deported, but instead went to federal prison where he recounted horrific conditions + no medical care. “Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"

Demonstrations over US immigration raids escalated for a third day in the Los Angeles area, as thousands of protesters clashed with security forces and tear gas filled the air outside a downtown federal detention center.

NEW: ICE has quietly rescinded a policy requiring agents to ensure courthouse raids don't clash with state and local laws. WIRED detected the missing language in a superseding memo posted to ICE's website this week. by me and @dmehro.bsky.social:

SCOOP: A deputy U.S. marshal was mistakenly detained by immigration agents inside the federal building that houses Tucson's immigration court, U.S. Marshals Service officials confirmed on Thursday. @tucson.com tucson.com/news/local/b...

“Afraid of being next amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, some laborers have not left their homes for weeks except to go to work.” @la-ley.bsky.social‬ www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/n...

'Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat,' Says General

One year ago today, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in NY criminal count. I spoke to @jonesieman.bsky.social about his great new book, Dragon on Centre Street, which tells the story of the trial through the eyes of a reporter who was there for it all: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

As the FBI assigns hundreds of additional agents to focus on arresting people for deportation, agents "have been told by supervisors not to document moving resources away from high-priority cases toward immigration-related work." www.cnn.com/2025/05/29/p...

NEW from me — ICE is actively searching for job candidates with backgrounds in construction management and engineering via a third party recruitment agency. This comes on the heels of the @aclu.org uncovering ICE's plan to expand their detention facilities in 10 states. My report:

NEW -- Trump's eroding immigration approval rating follows an iron law of ICE enforcement: the more Americans see what it looks like, the less they tend to support mass deportation www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

It appears they're already preparing celebrations downtown

On May 2nd, in Western NY, federal immigration agents stopped a bus of farm workers from Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms. They had a list of names, including UFW worker leaders who have been organizing to unionize their workplace. Those workers were detained. 1/ #WeFeedYou

While we were all sleeping: The Supreme Court, in an order issued in the middle of the night, ordered the Trump administration to not remove anyone under the Alien Enemies Act until other legal steps play out in the lower courts. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

Some personal news: the Department of Homeland Security has given me, an immigration lawyer born in Newton, Massachusetts, seven days to leave the U.S. Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?

New: Migrants who were temporarily allowed to live in the United States by using a Biden-era online appointment app have been told to leave the country "immediately," officials said Monday. It was unclear how many beneficiaries would be affected. apnews.com/article/immi...

Q: 60 Minutes found 75% of the migrants who were sent to El Salvador do not have criminal records. That true? BONDI: They're not Venezuelan migrants. They're illegal aliens from Venezuela who should not have been in our country Q: So you're confirming they didn't commit a crime? BONDI: *leaves*

Local news media organizations uncover corruption. They are essential.

Slightly more than half of all immigrants in the US are naturalized citizens Citizenship acquisition has long been viewed as a significant positive not only for immigrants and their families but the broader US society Want to understand the process? ➡️ bit.ly/NaturalizedC...

Big huge streets news: The federal pandemic relief money that funded open streets has run out, and it is unclear if City Hall is going to replace it in the upcoming budget nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/04/03/o...

Students at the American University of Afghanistan in Qatar fear having to return to their Taliban-ruled homeland after aid and visa cutoffs by the Trump administration. “If we go back,” one student said, “they will label us as spies, sent to infect Afghans against the Taliban.” nyti.ms/42rj00G

It’s difficult to fathom how a 23-year-old could wield so much influence on popular culture. And yet Selena Quintanilla, who was killed 30 years ago this week, did just that. See photos of the things that made Selena Selena. nyti.ms/445eJBl

Wrote this re: Khalil but applies to other students. Speech considerations make detentions likely unconstitutional, but operationally everything gov is doing — arrests with no judicial warrant, out-of-state transfers — is completely legal, empowered by natsec state we’ve let get way out of control

NEW—After a day of uncertainty on where agents took Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, she appears to be in a Louisiana facility. 1400+ miles from Somerville, Massachusetts, where she was taken. A judge ordered to not take her out of state without 48 hour notice. She was detained last night.

SCOOP—State Dept. now requires "enhanced" social media vetting for student visa applicants suspected of "ties to terrorist orgs/activity" or applicants who previously held a visa starting Oct. 7th, 2023. Source: "Pretty clear immediate target is anyone who participated in pro-Palestinian protests."

NEW: The DC Circuit Court of Appeals, 2–1, DENIES the government's request to block Judge Boasberg's TRO. No alleged members of Tren de Aragua will be deported under the Alien Enemies act for now. Judge Henderson writes that the gov't hasn't met its burden. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I'm really happy to share this review from Publisher's Weekly of my book "Dragon on Centre Street," out in May! They call it a "meticulous, fly-on-the-wall account" complete with nail-biting stakeouts and salacious testimony. Here's the review: www.publishersweekly.com/9798893310382

WHOA. On March 15, a Cornell PhD student with UK and Gambian citizenship, here on a student visa, filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Trump's EO aimed at foreign students accused of "antisemitism. Last night, the DOJ emailed asking him to come to ICE to be detained and put into removal proceedings.

Trump administration lawyers argue that an 18th-century wartime law that he has invoked to deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang allows federal agents to enter homes without a warrant. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

“Her ordeal bore similarity to several other seemingly unexplained detentions at the border, which have grabbed headlines and put people like Ms. Mooney into a legal purgatory of an ever-changing immigration system under the Trump administration.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/u...

The latest on the case of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, the Brown Medicine doctor deported Friday night despite a valid visa. DHS says she had attended the Hezbollah leader's funeral. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u...

As he moved through the world, Mahmoud Khalil could often come across as the adult in the room — a model student at Columbia University. His decision to literally be the face of a deeply divisive movement on campus would have huge consequences. Free link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/n...

NEW: Family of Mahmoud Khalil just released footage of his arrest “Stop resisting” “He’s not resisting” Agents seen continuing to ignore Mahmoud’s wife as she asks basic questions

President Trump made Mexico a clear target of his attacks on the campaign trail. Yet lately, Trump has praised President Claudia Sheinbaum, even as he excoriates more seasoned world leaders. He’s called her “a wonderful woman” with whom he has a “very good” relationship. nyti.ms/4bwnbLK

Howell raises Mahmoud Khalil's arrest, noting there was no evidence he was advocating for the gov't to be overthrown. Mizelle, who, recall, is AG Pam Bondi's chief of staff, replies: "There are a lot of facts in that case that are tricky and not all public." No evidence; just smearing in a court.

This is, in its own way, as aggressive as the Khalil arrest. This couple have one form of legal protection (TPS). They have an application in for another (asylum). And now they’re being charged for entering the country illegally…two years ago. Def one to watch. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...