Federal agency
Appears in 52 stories · Last updated Nov 11, 2026
A Seattle judge's Nov. 5 order bars DHS and DOJ from demanding that Washington officials set aside specific ballots or threatening prosecution. It expires Nov. 19. A separate California order keeps its election-related investigations on hold in nine states.
The Supreme Court refused on Nov. 2 to let the Justice Department set aside about 20,000 California mail ballots. The department dropped its lawsuit on Nov. 6, and a federal judge in Los Angeles closed the case on Nov. 10, writing that the suit tried to "disrupt an ongoing election and create confusion and uncertainty."
Updated Yesterday
Barred from election-related field operations in nine states through Election Day; the order was stayed until 5 p.m. Oct. 23 for a possible appeal.
A federal judge in Miami dismissed a criminal case against a noncitizen accused of illegally voting in 2020 and ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 611, the 1996 law making noncitizen voting a federal misdemeanor, is unconstitutional as applied to her. The Justice Department has appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.
The Supreme Court granted its request for a stay on November 9, allowing Big Bend construction to resume while the case continues.
The Supreme Court let the Trump administration resume border-barrier construction across the Big Bend region on November 9, staying a district judge's injunction while the lawsuit continues. The unsigned opinion said the government was "exceedingly likely to prevail" because the lower court probably had no power to hear the case.
Working with DOJ on the investigation
The Supreme Court refused on Nov. 2 to make California set aside about 20,000 mail ballots until their citizenship could be checked. California held its midterm election the next day with those ballots in the count.
Updated 2 days ago
Parent agency of ICE
Marie Ange Blaise collapsed at a Florida detention center in April 2025. Internal reviewers later found staff did not start CPR even though she had no pulse. A New Republic analysis published Nov. 6, 2026, found that pattern in most of the deaths it reviewed: 23 of 29 detainees received care ICE itself judged outside safe limits.
Named defendant alongside DOJ in the underlying suit
The Justice Department sent California and Los Angeles County a list of about 20,000 registered voters on October 13 and asked officials to set aside their ballots. Both refused. On November 4, an 11-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled 6-5 that the department may keep asking, and may keep warning that counting a challenged ballot is a federal crime.
Eleven Iranian nationals were moved from Arizona detention centers late on Nov. 7 and scheduled for a 4 a.m. charter flight to Pakistan the next morning, according to an emergency court filing. Their lawyers said the government had not given a federal judge the five business days' notice she required before any removal to Iran.
Updated 3 days ago
Parent agency; the executive order directed its Secretary to issue regulations
Starting January 5, 2027, a company importing goods into the United States has to show it is American enough, or hand the filing to a broker certified under a federal security program. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's interim final rule defines a U.S. importer of record as a citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or a company that is at least 51% owned by them or directly holds significant unencumbered U.S. real estate.
Updated 5 days ago
Issued the removal order
The Department of Homeland Security has ordered all US civilian federal agencies to remove DeepSeek products from their systems, including third-party tools built with the Chinese company's AI models. The order, signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on July 24, also blocks agencies from buying DeepSeek services.
Updated Nov 2
Primary implementing agency; central defendant in all major suits
Two federal judges have blocked the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions. A Boston judge ruled in June that the fee is an unlawful tax Congress never authorized, and a California judge ruled Sept. 30 that the administration skipped required rulemaking.
Issued the ratification; defendant in Maria L. v. Mullin
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has retroactively validated every immigration fine issued under its interim civil-penalty rules from June 27, 2025, through October 13, 2026. The October 26 notice covers penalties assessed under 8 CFR part 281, the procedure created by that interim rule. DHS issued it out of caution and says it does not mean the fines would have been invalid without it.
Updated Nov 1
Defendant; funded ads via Customs and Border Protection
A federal judge in New York has blocked the Trump administration from airing taxpayer-funded ads promoting the president through Nov. 20. On Oct. 30 she also ordered three of the ads removed from government websites and social media. A separate Oct. 28 ruling by Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, in a suit by the Democratic National Committee, blocks the government from creating and airing the ads through Nov. 11.
Updated Oct 31
Investigating the breach; asked an Icelandic host to pull the data and warns of risk to more than 40,000 people
On October 28, the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets published Icepick, a searchable archive of more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees and contractors. The files hold names, work phone numbers, office addresses, job titles, supervisors, and the internal permissions tied to each account.
Proposed the OPT fee rule
The Department of Homeland Security proposed a rule on October 7 that would charge schools $70,000 per international student before their first Optional Practical Training (OPT) recommendation, plus $30,000 for each later recommendation. Students now pay a $520 application fee. OPT lets F-1 students work in jobs related to their field.
Updated Oct 28
Defends the third-country deportation policy
More than 25,000 people have been deported by the Trump administration to countries they have no ties to. Two Cuban men NPR spoke to are stuck in the Central African Republic, unsure of their legal status and unable to work.
Bought the warehouses, then abandoned conversion plans
The federal government is selling the Salt Lake City warehouse it bought in March for immigration detention, along with six other buildings U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acquired this year. Commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield lists the seven sites, 5.3 million square feet in all, as its Federal Warehouse Portfolio, and the listing does not mention ICE. Green Street News reported an opening bid of $114 per square foot, about $600 million, roughly 15 percent below what the government paid.
Updated Oct 27
Revoked TPS for Venezuelans; facing legal challenge
Arempas grew from a home empanada business to six locations across Utah's Wasatch Front. In the past year, the Venezuelan chain closed three of them. Owners Fidel and Sandy Arrieta say the federal immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump emptied their dining rooms and halved their workforce.
Updated Oct 26
Won a 10-7 Fifth Circuit en banc ruling on October 23; defending the mandatory detention policy at the Supreme Court
Eight federal appeals courts have rejected the Trump administration's policy of holding immigrants without bond hearings. The full Fifth Circuit broke with them on October 23, ruling 10-7 that the Constitution does not require bond hearings for people detained in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Updated Oct 24
Supplies SAVE citizenship data to SSA and state election offices
The Social Security Administration said Tuesday it has corrected records for nearly 15% of active Social Security numbers, adding 17 million missing death dates and citizenship information to 25 million files. The agency called it the largest cleanup in its 91-year history.
Updated Oct 21
Defendant
Common Cause's 94-page lawsuit, filed Sept. 10 in Washington, D.C., asks a judge to bar the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the FBI from retaliating against people who record immigration enforcement. A federal judge in Ohio dismissed a similar suit from observer Sean Moorman on Oct. 2, saying the court lacked jurisdiction because the officers had left the area. The judge agreed observers have a First Amendment right to record.
Oversees HSI; secretary has publicly cited the investigation
Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home on Oct. 12, 22 days before the Nov. 3 midterms, as part of a criminal investigation into immigration paperwork her family filed decades ago. Omar said on Oct. 21 that she will move out of the apartment because the raid and the attention around it have made her feel unsafe.
Updated Oct 20
As of October 2026: Parent agency named in the lawsuit
A federal judge barred U.S. immigration officers from three enforcement practices after a U.S.-born concrete worker said agents detained him three times, twice at Alabama homebuilding sites and once at his home. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock ruled the policies likely violate the Fourth Amendment, noting agents dismissed his state REAL ID as 'fake.'
Updated Oct 11
As of September 2026: Defendant in the case
The Supreme Court on September 29 let the Trump administration keep deporting immigrants to third countries while it reviews the case, an order three liberal justices dissented from. The court will hear arguments in December on whether the policy is lawful, whether lower courts had authority to block it, and whether it violates the Constitution's due process clause.
Updated Sep 30
As of September 2026: Defendant in the lawsuit; parent agency of FEMA
A federal judge on Monday barred FEMA from withholding anti-terrorism grants from local governments that refuse the Trump administration's election rules. Judge Amir Ali of the District of Columbia struck down conditions that tied 20 percent of Homeland Security Grant Program funds to hand-marked paper ballot audits and citizenship checks through federal databases.
Updated Sep 28
As of September 2026: Oversees USCIS and immigration enforcement; issuing the 2026 asylum rules
A person denied asylum in the United States can no longer file a new application on the same claim. The rule took effect immediately, covering every new and pending asylum application.
Updated Sep 20
As of September 2026: Oversees ICE
The White House withdrew Lance Schroyer's nomination to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on September 17, 2026. The former Oklahoma state trooper's confirmation stalled after Republican Senator Rand Paul blocked a hearing over fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Updated Sep 18
As of September 2026: Finalized the rule July 17, 2026; effective September 15, 2026
F-1 student visas used to stay valid as long as you kept studying, with no expiration date printed on your arrival record. As of September 15, 2026, that changed: U.S. Customs and Border Protection now prints a fixed 'admit until' date, usually the program end date capped at four years, plus a 30-day grace period.
Updated Sep 15
As of September 2026: Holds the decision on Salvadoran TPS
Roughly 200,000 Salvadorans living in the US under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) kept their legal protections when the program's designation expired September 9. But their work permits expired the same day, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not said whether the program will continue or end.
Updated Sep 11
As of September 2026: Has not distributed the $39.6M Congress directed for election security
Two months before the midterms, the federal agency built to protect election systems hasn't spent a cent of the money Congress told it to use. Top Democrats on both election committees are demanding the Department of Homeland Security release $39.6 million earmarked for local election security, with a response due September 9.
Updated Sep 6
As of September 2026: Operation Catahoula Crunch ended prematurely after achieving only 11% of arrest target
On December 3, 2025, President Trump launched Operation Catahoula Crunch, a Border Patrol sweep targeting 5,000 arrests in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi. The operation deployed roughly 250 agents to raid big-box stores, workplaces, and residential neighborhoods while conducting round-the-clock online surveillance of activists, protests, and community organizing.
Updated Sep 5
As of September 2026: Oversees ICE; sets medical screening regulations
Lianyong Wei, a 51-year-old Chinese national, was booked into immigration detention in Saipan on Aug. 22. He was found unresponsive during morning checks the next day and pronounced dead at a territorial hospital at 7:30 a.m. His death marks the 57th detainee fatality since President Trump's second term began in January 2025, and the 24th since Jan. 1, 2026.
Updated Sep 4
As of September 2026: Oversees ICE; awarded Axon contracts
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says it now has enough body cameras to equip every officer and agent. The announcement follows five years of delays, a February count of 3,000 cameras for 13,000 officers, and more than two dozen shootings as ICE arrests climbed under the Trump administration.
Updated Sep 3
As of July 2026: Proceeding with TPS terminations following Supreme Court win
On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe that courts cannot review non-constitutional challenges to TPS terminations. Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion; the three liberal justices dissented.
Updated Jul 24
As of June 2026: Overseeing customs order rollout under Secretary Markwayne Mullin
For decades, importing into the United States mostly meant filing paperwork and paying duties. A June 3 executive order changed that, requiring importers to certify supply-chain compliance, disclose who really owns their business, and hold U.S. assets to cover any duties owed.
Updated Jun 11
As of May 2026: Implementing agency for the proclamation
For 45 years, the Refugee Act of 1980 has guaranteed that anyone reaching US soil—however they got there—can ask for asylum. On the first day of his second term, President Trump signed a proclamation declaring an 'invasion' at the southern border and suspending that right. A federal appeals court just ruled he cannot.
Updated May 31
As of May 2026: 45-day partial shutdown ongoing (record longest in US history) except TSA pay via EO starting March 30; Senate bill pending House, both chambers in recess until mid-April
The U.S. Senate passed a DHS funding bill by voice vote at 2:20 a.m. on March 27, 2026. It ends the partial shutdown that began February 14 for most agencies, but leaves out ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and most U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Updated May 29
As of May 2026: Contract authority and parent of ICE
On May 22, ICE awarded a $25.1 million no-bid contract to Plymouth, Massachusetts firm BI2 Technologies for iris-scanning hardware and continuous access to a database of more than five million booking records. The award is roughly five times the size of the $4.5 million contract ICE signed with the same vendor eight months earlier.
Updated May 27
As of May 2026: Defendant in four parallel TPS litigations; appealing adverse rulings; filing emergency applications with Supreme Court to allow terminations to proceed
Venezuela received Temporary Protected Status in 2021, shielding hundreds of thousands from deportation. In January 2025, newly appointed Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate it—an action federal courts have blocked as exceeding her authority.
Updated May 26
As of May 2026: Funded through February 13 via CR; next lapse possible without reform deal
A three-day partial government shutdown ended February 3 when the House passed a split funding package 217-214 and Trump signed it. The deal provides full-year appropriations for five agencies through September and extends DHS funding through February 13.
Updated May 23
As of May 2026: Defendant in multiple lawsuits; leading Operation Metro Surge
The Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis in what it calls the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. Two months in, two U.S. citizens are dead: Renee Good, 37, shot January 7, and Alexander Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse, shot January 24; DHS claims self-defense in both cases, but witness videos contradict that.
As of May 2026: Coordinating immigration enforcement; proposed new public charge rule
The U.S. has barred immigrants based on economic status since 1882. On January 21, 2026, the State Department suspended immigrant visa processing for 75 countries—more than a third of the world's nations—citing concerns that applicants might someday use public benefits.
Updated May 22
As of May 2026: Named defendant in AAUP v. Rubio; Secretary Noem accused of conspiracy to violate First Amendment
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 gave the Secretary of State power to deport noncitizens whose presence threatens U.S. foreign policy. For seven decades, this Cold War-era statute gathered dust until March 8, 2025, when ICE arrested Mahmoud Khalil—a Columbia graduate student and green card holder—from his apartment for his role negotiating on behalf of pro-Palestinian protesters.
Updated May 21
As of May 2026: 700-agent MN drawdown implemented; school districts lawsuit filed against agency; 50+ advocacy groups calling for Noem impeachment; majority polling supports Noem removal
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order against Operation Metro Surge on February 2, 2026. She cited insufficient proof of constitutional violations, though she acknowledged evidence of racial profiling and excessive force.
Updated May 20
As of May 2026: Seven-day notice policy upheld on procedural grounds, facing impeachment proceedings against Secretary
Three Minnesota congresswomen entered a Minneapolis ICE detention center on January 10 but were ordered out minutes later. They'd come three days after an ICE agent shot 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good in the head during what the Trump administration called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem secretly signed a seven-day notice rule the day after Good's killing—a rule a federal judge had already blocked—and Judge Jia Cobb refused to block it on January 20.
As of May 2026: Joint author and enforcer of the asylum security bar rule
A Trump-era rule takes effect December 31, 2025, letting immigration officials deny asylum to anyone deemed a security threat based on communicable diseases. The rule was first published in December 2020, delayed five times by Biden's DHS, and now becomes law under Trump, despite no active pandemic.
Updated May 18
As of May 2026: Implementing expanded travel restrictions and enforcement quotas
Trump signed his first travel ban seven days into his presidency, blocking entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and igniting protests; courts blocked it within a week. After Supreme Court victories, a Biden reversal, and his return to power, Trump's December 2025 expansion restricts entry from 39 countries—affecting one in eight people worldwide and eliminating exemptions for immediate family.
Updated May 16
As of May 2026: Political and messaging headquarters for the maritime campaign
The U.S. Coast Guard is now chasing a third Venezuela-linked tanker in international waters near Venezuela—under a judicial seizure order. Two other tankers have already been stopped in the past 11 days, including one dramatic helicopter boarding that the administration amplified on social media.
Updated May 15
As of May 2026: Issued the Federal Register notice terminating FRP and setting parole end-dates
DHS just turned a promised “legal pathway” into a ticking clock. A Federal Register notice published December 15, 2025 terminates every Family Reunification Parole program tied to seven countries—and tells people already here that their parole will end on January 14, 2026.
As of May 2026: Defendant in Castañon Nava, appealing court limits on its officers
Federal agents flooded the Chicago area under “Operation Midway Blitz,” arresting thousands in a sweeping immigration crackdown. A little-known consent decree from an earlier ICE raid suddenly roared back to life, and a Chicago judge ordered hundreds of detainees released — until a divided appeals court slammed on the brakes.
As of May 2026: Partnering with military inside National Defense Areas
Donald Trump has quietly turned long stretches of the southern border into de facto military bases. Under a new system of National Defense Areas, soldiers can stop migrants, hold them, and help prosecutors charge them as trespassers on military land.
Updated May 11
As of May 2026: Oversees ICE and designs overarching deportation and detention policy
An ICE officer emailed a Colombian couple in Texas a choice no parent should face: board a deportation flight or risk a 10‑year prison sentence and losing their six‑year‑old to federal custody. They abandoned their trafficking victim visa case and were on a plane to Bogotá within weeks.
As of May 2026: Running both mass deportation campaigns and security vetting for Gold Card applicants.
Donald Trump is now literally selling a fast track to America. His Trump Gold Card program lets wealthy foreigners buy expedited U.S. residency for a $1 million "gift" to the government, plus a $15,000 processing fee. A corporate option costs $2 million per sponsored worker.
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