- On Friday, a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court ruling that the Trump Administration could not end TPS for the 350,000 Haitians living under the status in the US. The administration had appealed the early-February ruling, which had granted a last-minute reprieve to Haitians with TPS, to the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC. Because of the back-and-forth on TPS, many employers are unsure of whether or not their workers maintain their work authorization. To combat this confusion, Governor Healey and Attorney General Campbell have released Guidance for Employers Regarding Immigration and Work Authorization, that covers topics such as I-9 audits and the status of Haitian and Venezuelan TPS recipients. Adding to this back-and-forth, the administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to stay the appeals court decision as well as a similar decision regarding TPS for Syria.
- A review of court records by Politico reveals a slight drop in petitions for habeas corpus by detained immigrants following the shooting of Alex Pretti in January. Habeas petitions are intended to challenge unlawful detentions, which have surged along with the administration’s belligerent immigration enforcement tactics across the country. The outlet’s analysis of the data shows that habeas petitions reached a peak of over 400/day in early February, but had dropped below 300/day by early March as the administration lightened its touch. Pro Publica recently ran a similar analysis using weekly data rather than daily. They found that habeas petitions averaged less than 100/week through the middle of August 2025, then jumped significantly over the next six months, reaching a peak of over 2,200/week by early February of this year before dropping slightly to 1,700/week by early March. The surge in unlawful detentions has placed a great strain on the federal courts as civil cases against the government take up more and more of their workload, crowding out criminal cases. Meanwhile, anti-immigrant forces, including former government officials, CEOs, and FAIR have joined together to form the Mass Deportation Coalition to advocate for a return to the administration’s previous policies.
- President Trump has recently been pushing hard for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, which would require all voters to provide proof of citizenship. The problematic bill had passed the House last year, but has yet to be brought for a vote in the Senate because leadership does not believe it would overcome a filibuster. However, Trump has been pressuring Senate leadership to move forward with the bill, calling for the elimination of the filibuster and arguing that he would not sign any other legislation until the SAVE Act is passed. While leadership has so far resisted pressure to get rid of the filibuster, there is support in the chamber for holding a vote regardless to place legislators on the record.
- Over the weekend, a federal court blocked an interim final rule that would have made appeals of immigration decisions nearly impossible. The rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on Monday March 9, would have placed numerous procedural obstacles in the path of anyone wishing to appeal a negative decision by an immigration judge to the Board of Immigration Appeals, an agency within the Department of Justice. The District Court was quick to act on this case; the plaintiffs filed an emergency motion to stay the rule on February 26, the court heard the case on Friday March 6 and issued its opinion on Sunday March 8.