Immigration News Today: US Judge Blocks Trump From Tying States’ Disaster Aid to Immigration Enforcement

Documented

Sep 26, 2025

MTA New York City Transit responds to conditions caused by heavy rains and flooding on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Photo: MTA

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Just have a minute? Here are the top stories you need to know about immigration. This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.

Washington D.C.

US judge blocks Trump from tying states’ disaster aid to immigration enforcement:

A federal judge said an effort by the Trump administration to force states to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollars in emergency and disaster aid is unlawful and unconstitutional.–Reuters

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Lawsuit accuses ICE of illegally arresting immigrants in D.C.:

Four D.C. residents and an immigrant rights group claim in a lawsuit that ICE was unlawfully arresting people the agency perceived to be Latino without warrants and probable cause. –The Washington Post

Under Trump policy, bonds for immigrants facing deportation are vanishing:

The president has limited immigration judges’ power to release detainees facing deportation. Immigrant rights groups say the policy is illegal. –The New York Times

Immigrant rights groups condemn violent rhetoric against officers, and immigrants:

After an immigrant detainee was killed on Wednesday by a sniper at a federal facility in Dallas, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed the shooting on rhetoric against ICE officers. –The New York Times

New York

As Mamdani rises, South Asians emerge as a political force in New York:

Zohran Mamdani’s upstart campaign for mayor of New York City is inspiring the growing South Asian community to be more active in politics. –The New York Times

Judge orders deportation of Bronx high school student in ICE custody, lawyers say: 

Dylan Lopez Contreras, a Venezuelan-born student at Ellis Prep High School in the Bronx, was arrested on May 21 in Lower Manhattan while attending a mandatory immigration hearing tied to his asylum application. –AMNY

Amtrak police arrests surge at Penn bathroom cruising spot

Federal law enforcement turned a person they arrested in the transit hub directly over to ICE. –THE CITY

Decades-old immigration cases brought back into the spotlight: 

Immigration lawyers say the government is trying to put old cases back onto the active docket, putting their clients at the mercy of a slow system. –Spectrum News NY1

Around the U.S

Dallas shooting comes amid growing tensions over immigrant detentions:

The shooting outside a Dallas ICE facility, during which an immigrant detainee was killed, was the culmination of months of rising tensions over the Trump administration’s immigration policies. –The New York Times

Trump’s immigration policy dethrones Mexico’s Modelo Especial as the most popular beer in the United States:

The Mexican brand has been suggesting for months that the drop in its sales is due to immigrants’ fear of even going out for a drink. –EL PAÍS USA

How LA Unified is trying to protect immigrant families: 

The nation’s second largest school district — under the guidance of Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, himself formerly an immigrant living in the country illegally — has emerged as a national model for how school districts can help families. –CalMatters

Immigrant Lahaina fire survivors terrified by ICE presence:

The federal immigration enforcement agency was in West Maui reportedly searching for a non-resident. –Honolulu Civil Beat

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