- The Senate took the first in a series of votes on Wednesday afternoon to pass a reconciliation bill that would add $70 billion to immigration enforcement. Senate leadership had planned to pass the funding last month, but faced a revolt in their own party against billions in funding for the president’s ballroom and “anti-weaponization” slush fund. The current bill is limited only to DHS funding, but Senators will spend much of Thursday voting on various amendments before moving towards a final vote. Such amendments have the potential to further delay the process as reconciliation bills must be limited to funding issues and cannot include any policy changes. Congress had already added $150 billion to DHS funding through reconciliation 11 months ago.
- The Trump Administration failed to make a timely decision on Temporary Protected Status for Lebanon, meaning that the status is automatically extended for six months through November 27, 2026 (the day after Thanksgiving). Employment authorization is also automatically extended for six months ending November 27. To show an extension of work authorization to employers, employees should use their existing Employment Authorization Document with the May 28, 2026 expiration date along with a copy of the Federal Register notice announcing the automatic extension.
- Protests continued this week against the inhumane conditions at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall Detention Center. Over the weekend, detainees released a fourth letter detailing the abuses inflicted on them, and the state filed suit earlier this week for the state’s health department to gain access for necessary health and safety inspections. Advocates are also challenging conditions at other detention facilities around the country, with a coalition of organizations filing suit against conditions at the recently-built Camp East Montana in Texas.
- The Associated Press is continuing to dive deeply into conditions at immigration detention centers around the country. Last week, they noted the stark increase in suicides among civil detainees. This week, working alongside Kaiser Family Foundation Health News, the AP documented the horrific medical neglect that contaminates the entire civil immigrant detention system. KFF Health News and the AP reviewed records related to thousands of habeas petitions and also conducted interviews with dozens of family members and lawyers to obtain a less opaque view of how our nation treats immigrants. Many who spoke directly to the outlets did so anonymously for fear of retaliation. Medical neglect certainly existed under previous administrations, but attorneys were often able to shame ICE into providing adequate care. With the current administration, lawsuits are often the only way to ensure that sick detainees receive the treatment they need, and even that assumes that ICE is honoring court orders.
- DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin raised eyebrows this week when he refused to commit to honoring judicial orders during a Congressional hearing. Pressed on the issue by Senators, the secretary accused the judiciary of being politicized rather than applying the rule of law. Earlier this year, the chief judge for the US District Court in Minnesota, who was a George W Bush appointee, accused ICE of violating 96 court orders in his district just in the month of January, and an AP review has found scores of other violations by the administration.