With the administration’s new Public Charge rule set to go into effect on September 18, 22 states filed suit in federal court earlier this week in order to stop the rule. In their complaint, the states argue that the new rule “removes any meaningful guidance” regarding what USCIS officers may consider and that the administration is weaponizing Public Charge against immigrants in ways that Congress never intended. They also allege that the new rule, and the guidance that the administration later put out, are arbitrary and capricious in violation of federal law. The suit was filed in New York and the parties will meet with the judge on October 9 to work out scheduling of the case.
In a truly horrifying report, record civil arrests of pregnant women are leading to increasing miscarriages in detention as women are denied routine medical care. However, changes in the way that ICE tracks medical care for detainees mean that the agency has not even been tracking miscarriages since October of last year, by which point at least 18 women had already miscarried in immigration detention under the Trump Administration. DHS would appear to be ignoring a 2021 policy that requires ICE to avoid the detention of pregnant women except in “exceptional circumstances”, and lawyers say they are not receiving any clear explanation from DHS as to how their clients’ cases meet that level. This week also saw the release of a DHS Inspector General’s report that Florida had been using 3’x3’ outdoor cages as “calming areas” at Alligator Alcatraz.
We are still waiting for official word from the administration on TPS for El Salvador. TPS was scheduled to end last week, but the administration has yet to make an official announcement on whether it will continue TPS for El Salvador or not. For the time being, Salvadorans with TPS remain in status and with work authorization, but no one knows how long that will last. Around 200,000 people are now left in limbo, and even employers are concerned about what comes next.
Minnesota authorities arrested Christian Castro, the ICE officer accused of shooting Julio Ceasar Sosa-Celis in January then lying about the incident to federal authorities. Castro had been arrested in Texas after the shooting, and Governor Abbott refused a request from Minnesota to extradite him, leading to his release from jail last month. Federal authorities later charged Castro with lying to government investigators, but not with the underlying shooting. He is scheduled to appear in state court on Thursday afternoon and in federal court on Friday.
