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.
Trump signs two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship, one month after SCOTUS blocks its termination:
The new order bans “birth tourism” and adds limits to who can be eligible for birthright citizenship. –Axios, CBS News
Work slowdown in Trump admin. immigration offices generating record backlog, while deportation orders hit new highs, agency data shows:
The backlog for citizenship, green cards and work permits has hit 7.5 million, while the time applicants have waited for decisions has, on average, nearly doubled between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026. Deportation orders surged to 79,000 in June, up from 58,000 in May. —Bloomberg, Axios, American Immigration Council
Feds threaten sheriffs with prosecution over access to inmates subject to deportation:
County sheriffs in Minneapolis and Chicago have received letters threatening criminal charges. Sheriff Dawanna Witt of Hennepin County has called the move a “scare tactic.” —The Minnesota Star-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, New York Times [Paywall]
More than 50 military spouses, parents detained in Trump admin. immigration crackdown, investigation finds:
At least six family members of active-duty U.S. troops have been deported during the second Trump administration, and at least one person has self-deported. —AP
New York
End of Haiti TPS hits Brooklyn’s Little Haiti, New York nursing homes:
Businesses have been forced to lay off employees, while nursing homes are facing staffing shortages as Haitian workers have lost their work permits and deportation protections. —ABC7, Gothamist
Around the U.S.
Small Texas law firm gets $150 million contract to represent migrant children in immigration court:
Burke Law Group, which has just 26 employees, has been awarded a federal contract to provide legal services for some 24,000 unaccompanied children. Just two lawyers at the firm specialize in immigration law. —NPR, POLITICO
Texas authorities still investigating December shooting of Mexican migrant, continue to withhold details:
Border Patrol agent Armando Flores said he shot Isaias Sanchez Barbosa, a 31-year-old Mexican national, in self defense, according to court records. Citing the ongoing probe, authorities have refused to release bodycam footage and other evidence related to the shooting. —Texas Tribune, Cato Institute
California judge holds DHS in contempt over delay in releasing digital copies of over 800 agents’ cellphones:
Plaintiffs in an ongoing case related to immigration raids in Los Angeles last year allege that the phones contain evidence of racial profiling. —Cal Matters, LA Times [Paywall]
Massachusetts signs new law limiting ICE access to schools, hospitals and other sensitive locations:
Gov. Maura Healey said in a signing ceremony for the Protect Act that the law also permits parents to pre-arrange guardianship for children in the event that they are detained or deported. —WBUR, CBS News
LA-based legal organization teaching immigrants in detention how to fight for release:
Immigrant Defenders Law Center has been distributing an information packet, translated into Spanish, to help migrants file their own habeas petitions and avoid costly legal fees. —El País
