Immigration on CrossGov.com

CRS Report on Credible Fear and Defensive Asylum Processes, Frequently Asked Questions

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Congressional Research Service report examined credible fear and defensive asylum processes for non-U.S. nationals seeking removal from the United States. The report detailed how asylum can be granted based on persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. It also reviewed the expedited removal process and credible fear screenings used during these proceedings.

Asylum and Removal Processes

Non-U.S. nationals may seek asylum during standard or expedited removal processes. Asylum is granted to individuals unable or unwilling to return due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on specific grounds. The Department of Homeland Security charges aliens with immigration violations and processes them for removal. Aliens in removal proceedings can apply for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection from removal under the Convention Against Torture. Section 235(b) of the INA allows for an expedited removal process if an alien lacks valid documents or used fraud. During expedited removal, individuals expressing fear of persecution may undergo credible fear screenings.

DHS Investigates Potential Breach After 41,000 ICE, CBP and CISA Staff Records Published Online

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security says it is looking into a potential breach after a searchable directory of more than 41,000 of its employees and contractors went online on October 28. The records name staff at ICE, CBP, Homeland Security Investigations, USCIS and CISA, with titles, offices, work phone numbers, email addresses, managers and the internal access groups each person belongs to. Some of those groups point to undercover and surveillance work.

CMS Proposes Annual Income and Citizenship Checks Before ACA Subsidies Starting With 2028 Plans

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CMS proposed on October 23 that ACA marketplaces verify income, citizenship or lawful presence, other coverage and residence before paying any premium subsidy, starting with 2028 plans. The proposed rule, CMS-9873-P, carries out section 71303 of the July 2025 reconciliation law, Public Law 119-21. Its sharpest change hits people who renew. Enrollees who don’t come back each year to confirm their details would be re-enrolled automatically, but without financial help.

Justice Department Charges 48 Noncitizens With Election Crimes in Five States a Week Before the Midterms

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Justice Department said on October 26 that it has charged 48 noncitizens with election-related crimes in California, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and Nevada. The cases cover illegal voting in federal elections and false claims of US citizenship made to register or vote.

The charges sit in ten federal districts. California accounts for 28 defendants: 13 in the Central District, six in the Eastern District, five in the Northern District and four in the Southern District. Pennsylvania has nine, split between the Eastern and Middle districts. Florida has six, all in the Middle District. New York has four and Nevada one. The release quotes no official and names no investigating agency beyond “federal agents” who interviewed some defendants.

Social Security Rewrites Its Records With 17 Million Death Dates and 25 Million Citizenship Entries From DHS SAVE

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Social Security Administration said on October 20 that it has added 17 million missing death dates to its Social Security number records and filled in citizenship for about 25 million more, using DHS’s SAVE service. It is correcting another 8.5 million records with wrong citizenship status. All the figures are the agency’s own. SSA released no breakdown, no error rate and no outside review.

Commissioner Frank Bisignano called the database “our country’s books and records.” SSA says it has corrected nearly 15 percent of all active Social Security numbers since the start of the administration, touching nearly 390 million records in all. It describes the work as the largest clean-up in its 91-year history. The death dates came from SSA’s own systems and from State Department data. SSA repeated the totals in an October 23 release on its fiscal 2026 performance.

TPS Terminations Put Immigration Decision Making and Public Notice Under Scrutiny

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An immigration decision is not fully administered when an official signs it. People must be able to understand when it takes effect, employers must know what documentation remains valid, and agencies must explain how litigation changes implementation. Temporary Protected Status brings these obligations into unusually sharp focus because permission to remain and work can depend on a country designation, a government notice and the timing of a court decision.

DOJ Charges 16 People With Noncitizen Voting as Trump Allies Press for Election Emergency Powers and 1,000 Federal Monitors Deploy

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Justice Department announced charges against 16 people for voting or registering to vote as non-citizens, including four in Pennsylvania. The cases cover elections going back several years. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s department has made non-citizen voting a priority before the November 3 midterms.

Votebeat, a non-profit news site that covers elections, calculated that confirmed non-citizen votes amount to about 0.00024% of ballots cast in recent elections. Studies by state election officials, including Republicans in Georgia and Ohio, have found similar rates. The Department of Homeland Security has said its checks of voter rolls against immigration data found about 250,000 potential non-citizen registrants. Election officials say many such matches turn out to be naturalized citizens whose records weren’t updated.

ICE Arrests of Children Have Doubled, With 8,592 Arrested This Term, as Detainees Hunger Strike at Georgia's Largest Detention Center

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 8,592 children since January 2025, including 562 under the age of four, according to an analysis of ICE data by the Marshall Project, a non-profit news organization that covers criminal justice. That’s about double the rate of the previous administration. About 8,700 children have been held in detention over the same period. New York accounts for the most arrests, at 1,336.

Most arrests of children happen when ICE detains families together or picks up teenagers. ICE says it doesn’t target children and that it detains families to keep them together. Under the Flores settlement, children generally can’t be held in unlicensed family detention for more than 20 days. The administration has asked courts to end the settlement.

Supreme Court Agrees to Decide Whether DOGE Must Answer Questions in a FOIA Case, and Takes Up the Asylum Material Support Bar

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Supreme Court on October 13 agreed to hear U.S. DOGE Service v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 25-1103). The case asks whether a judge can order discovery from the White House cost-cutting office in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

CREW sued to get DOGE records, arguing the office acts as a federal agency and so is covered by FOIA. The district court let CREW question DOGE officials and seek documents to establish how the office worked. The administration says DOGE advises the President and is exempt, and that ordering discovery into a presidential advisory body intrudes on the executive branch. It relies on Cheney v. U.S. District Court (2004), in which the justices limited discovery into Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force.

ICE Told to Add 1,000 Arrests a Day Before the Midterms, as DHS Denies Quotas and Mullin Refuses to Pause New York Operations

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

ICE leaders told agents nationwide on October 6 to make 1,000 more arrests a day, CNN reported, citing two sources. That would take the agency back to a goal of 3,000 arrests a day, from a recent average of about 2,000. Agents were also given a weekly target of 19,000 arrests. The highest week so far, in late June, was just over 12,500, according to the Deportation Data Project.

The Homeland Security Department says there are “NO quotas on arrests.” Officials describe 3,000 a day as a goal.

Judge Orders DHS to Pull $20 Million in Taxpayer-Funded TV Ads Featuring Trump Three Weeks Before the Midterms

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On the night of Sunday October 11, US District Judge Jennifer Rochon in New York issued a two-week temporary restraining order requiring the administration to cancel its remaining taxpayer-funded television ads, including any set to air that night. The order bars the government from entering, renewing or expanding any agreement to make, place or air them.

The Homeland Security Department paid $20 million to an ad agency, LMD Agency, for a “National Media Campaign” that began in late September. One ad uses a clip of the President on the threat of communism. One replays a 2024 campaign ad. A fifth, first aired on October 6, covers the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

White House Suspends H-1B and Green Card Processing for Microsoft, Tata, Infosys and Five Other Firms

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The administration said on October 8 it will stop processing new and pending H-1B visa petitions and PERM labor certifications, the first step toward an employment-based green card, for eight companies: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys, HCL and Capgemini.

Vice President Vance called Microsoft the “biggest abuser.” Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said: “We are cutting off the head of the snake.”

DHS and New York City Clash Over the Marble Hill ICE Shooting as a Federal Judge Blocks Oscar Bergal's Removal

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says the man an ICE agent shot in New York on October 8 put his own 5-year-old son in danger. New York’s mayor says the agency should leave the city. Between them sits a federal judge’s order that keeps the man, Oscar Bergal, in the United States for now.

The shooting happened just after 4 pm on Thursday in Marble Hill, in northern Manhattan, during a targeted arrest by plainclothes ICE agents. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at least one agent fired seven rounds. Bergal, 28, was hit once in the neck and is expected to recover. His son was in the back seat and wasn’t hurt. Court filings spell the name Bergal; DHS and the NYPD have used Belgal.

FMCSA's Non-Domiciled CDL Rule Will Push Out About 194,000 Truckers as California's $160 Million Penalty Goes to Court

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rule on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses has been in force since March 16. It ends eligibility for about 194,000 current holders as their licenses come up for renewal.

Two appeals cases heard in September will test it. On September 11 the DC Circuit heard California’s challenge to the Transportation Department’s decision to withhold about $160 million of its highway money. On September 15 the same court heard the challenge to the rule itself. Neither has ruled.

The $100,000 H-1B Fee Is Blocked by Two Courts as Legal Immigration Shrinks: Refugee Cap 17,500, Travel Ban on 39 Countries

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As of early October 2026, employers filing new H-1B visa petitions don’t have to pay the $100,000 fee the President imposed in September 2025. Two federal judges have blocked it.

On June 8, 2026, Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts vacated the fee in a case brought by 20 states, ruling that it is effectively a tax only Congress can levy, and arbitrary. The First Circuit refused to lift his ruling in July. Around September 30, Judge Haywood Gilliam in California blocked USCIS and the State Department from enforcing it in a separate suit by unions, employers and nonprofits. A Washington district court had upheld the fee in December 2025 in a case brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, which is appealing. The administration has extended the fee to September 2027 and in August proposed making it permanent, at about $103,000.

Supreme Court Clears the Way to End Venezuelan TPS as the Refugee Cap Rises to 17,500, Months After It Upheld Birthright Citizenship

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On October 5 the Supreme Court sent back to the Ninth Circuit a ruling that had blocked the end of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans, in light of its June decision limiting court review of TPS terminations. DHS counts about 348,000 Venezuelans under the 2023 designation and about 268,000 under the 2021 one. Work permits extended under a May 2025 order expired on October 2.

Three days earlier, the President’s determination setting the refugee ceiling for fiscal 2027 at 17,500 was published in the Federal Register, up from a record low of 7,500. Most places are reserved for Afrikaners from South Africa, under a February 2025 order.

Border Apprehensions Head for the Lowest Since 1967 as the $46.5 Billion Wall Build Runs at 7 Miles a Week

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Border Patrol made 8,870 apprehensions at the southwest border in August 2026. For fiscal 2026 through August the total was 89,760, putting the year on pace for about 98,000. That would be the lowest since fiscal 1967. In fiscal 2022 and 2023, apprehensions passed 2 million a year.

The Homeland Security Department says it has gone 16 straight months without releasing anyone apprehended by Border Patrol into the US.

ICE Is Funded Through 2029 Outside the Normal Budget: Detention Near 69,000 and 2,365 Local 287(g) Agreements

Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2026 Immigration and Customs Enforcement made more than 48,000 arrests, according to an official speaking to NBC. Around the start of October it was holding about 69,000 people in detention. In fiscal 2025 the average was 42,500.

ICE can sustain that pace through a budget arrangement few agencies have. Its money no longer depends on the annual appropriations fight that just left most of the government on a stopgap. Two reconciliation laws, passed by simple majorities, fund ICE and the Border Patrol into early 2029.

Immigration Court Backlog Falls Below 3.5 Million as 40% of Judges Turn Over and Asylum Grants Hit a Record Low

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In June 2026, US immigration judges granted asylum in 5.5% of the cases they decided, 771 people. They denied 94.1%. At the end of the Biden administration the grant rate was about 32%. The figures come from TRAC, the Syracuse University project that tracks immigration court data.

The immigration courts, run by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, have changed more in eighteen months than in the previous decade. The backlog is shrinking, the bench has been largely replaced, and the outcomes have shifted sharply.