DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMIGRATION POLICY THIS WEEK
Here, we summarize some of the most important recent developments in immigration policy on the federal, legal, state, and local levels.
Federal
White House Seeks to Expedite Deportations Without Due Process as Missing Venezuelan Migrant Cases Draw Scrutiny
President Trump and his administration challenged the notion that undocumented immigrants deserve due process before deportation with the president declaring this week, “We can’t have a trial” for all migrants facing removal. “We’re getting them out, and a judge can say, ‘No, you have to have a trial.’ The trial will take two years,” Trump stated from the Oval Office on Tuesday, adding that providing everyone a trial would “take, frankly, 200 years.” These comments come as a newly obtained memo, issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 14, informs law enforcement that immigrants deemed “Alien Enemies” are “not entitled to a hearing, appeal or judicial review” and authorizes police to enter suspects’ homes without warrants under certain circumstances.
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach has alarmed legal experts who maintain that constitutional due process protections extend to all persons in the United States. “The thing about due process is that it either applies to everyone present in the United States or it applies to no one,” explained Amy Grenier of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. While White House adviser Stephen Miller has claimed that immigrants who entered illegally are only “entitled to deportation,” legal scholars counter that even expedited removal processes include minimal protections, such as allowing migrants to express fear of persecution if returned to their home countries.
Meanwhile, concerns about the administration’s deportation practices have intensified following reports of multiple Venezuelan migrants who have seemingly disappeared after being marked for deportation. Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a 32-year-old father who entered the U.S. legally through the CBP One app in November 2024, was apprehended in January after accidentally crossing into Canada while working as a food delivery driver in Detroit. Though DHS eventually confirmed he was sent to El Salvador on March 15, his name does not appear on the list of 258 deportees, and he was missing from all government tracking systems for over a month. Similarly, Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel, who was detained in Texas after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents claimed his tattoos indicated gang affiliation, vanished from ICE’s online system two days after his arrest. “I’ve been to the ICE office. I’ve contacted the FBI. The DEA. Everyone told me the same thing: He was deported,” his girlfriend told reporters. “But where to? He never arrived in Venezuela.” Immigration scholars call these cases unprecedented in current memory, with Cornell Law School’s Stephen Yale-Loehr saying, “I have not heard of a disappearance like this in my 40-plus years of practicing and teaching immigration law.”
DOGE Receives Expanded Access to Sensitive Immigration Data
The Justice Department is reported to have granted representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to a data system that contains sensitive information, such as home addresses and case histories, of millions of legal and undocumented immigrants. The Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts and Appeals System (ECAS) houses the records of immigrants who have interacted with the immigration system, including court testimony and interactions with law enforcement. Neither DOGE nor the DOJ has clarified publicly why this sensitive information was requested, although the implications are immense. DOGE’s newly reported access comes alongside reports that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DOGE are seeking to use information from a Medicare database to aid in deportation efforts. That database, the Integrated Data Repository (IDR), houses Medicare claims, beneficiary information, and other personal data. Critics have alleged that DOGE is aiming to construct a “cross- agency master database” of immigrants’ sensitive information for the purposes of tracking and enforcement, and concerns have grown that it may extend to all Americans’ personal data, citizens, legal residents, and non-citizens alike.
Judge Arrests Echo Dropped Case from Trump’s First Term
On April 25, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual from arrest after she allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade federal immigration agents in her courtroom. The arrest came just one day after another judicial arrest in New Mexico, where former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife were taken into custody by ICE for allegedly harboring a suspected member of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang by employing her as the family’s nanny. These arrests mirror a case from 2019, during President Trump’s first administration, when Massachusetts Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph was charged for helping an undocumented immigrant escape through a courthouse basement. Those charges were ultimately dropped in 2022 as part of an agreement requiring Joseph to refer herself to the state’s judicial conduct commission. Cano and Dugan’s arrests occurred several months after the DOJ directed federal prosecutors to investigate and potentially charge local officials who impede immigration enforcement.
Pope Francis’ Legacy as a Champion for Displaced and Migrant Communities
The world continues to mourn Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, leaving behind a profound legacy of advocacy for migrants and refugees. From his first papal trip to Lampedusa in 2013, where he condemned the “globalization of indifference” to migrants drowning in the Mediterranean, to his final months when he challenged the second Trump administration on deportation policies, Francis consistently centered the plight of displaced persons in his ministry. His simple yet powerful message “to welcome, to protect, to promote, and to integrate” became a guiding framework for the Catholic Church’s response to migration worldwide.
Pope Francis’s unwavering advocacy for refugees and migrants resonated across faith communities and borders. Bishop Jorge Rodriquez Auxiliary Bishop of Denver said, “Because the kind of pope Pope Francis was, that was always pushing the cause of immigration, immigrants, refugees…the people, the Hispanic people felt very embraced, understood and supported.” As Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, shared: “We are thankful Pope Francis used his voice for people who are vulnerable, including refugees and migrants, and called the world to respond to the displaced millions around the globe.” His advocacy resonated deeply with migrants themselves, like Dianela Abano, a Filipino expatriate in Rome, who recalled her encounter with the Pope: “In Pope Francis’s eyes, we are not merely migrants; we are all the same, not defined by our nationalities.” As world leaders gather for his funeral, his powerful message continues to remind us that behind every statistic is a human being with dignity and worth.
Legal
Courts Intensify Scrutiny of Alien Enemies Act Deportations as Abrego Garcia Case Continues
Federal courts continued to scrutinize the Trump administration’s deportation practices this week, addressing both the ongoing Kilmar Abrego Garcia case and separate legal challenges to removals conducted under the Alien Enemies Act. On April 23, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued an excoriating eight-page order accusing the administration of “a willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations” in the Abrego Garcia’s deportation case. The following day, Judge Xinis granted the DOJ a seven-day extension until April 30 to provide testimony and documents related to the case. The extension came “with agreement of the parties.” Court documents revealed that Abrego Garcia has been transferred from the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) to a lower-security facility in Santa Ana, where he reportedly has “a room of his own with a bed and furniture.”
Meanwhile, federal judges in multiple jurisdictions moved to block the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. On April 22, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Colorado granted a temporary restraining order preventing the removal of individuals detained in Colorado facilities under the Act. Her order requires the government to provide written notice in a language the individual understands, inform them of their right to judicial review, and allow them to consult with an attorney. Similarly, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York extended by two weeks an order requiring immigration officials to give individuals targeted for removal both notice and an opportunity for a hearing. During arguments, Judge Hellerstein remarked; “This is not the Inquisition, it’s not medieval times. This is the United States of America.”
These court actions follow the Supreme Court’s April 20 overnight order temporarily blocking the administration from removing Venezuelan detainees held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Texas. The ACLU had filed an emergency appeal after reports that dozens of detainees were placed on buses headed toward an airport before abruptly turning around. The administration has claimed these individuals are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, but relatives and lawyers have denied these allegations, saying the men were never given an opportunity to contest the claims. While Justices Thomas and Alito dissented from the Supreme Court’s order, the majority directed the administration not to “remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.”
Trump Administration Reverses Course on Student Visa Terminations After Intense Judicial Scrutiny
The Justice Department announced on April 25 that the Trump administration has restored the student visa registrations of thousands of international students who had their legal status terminated earlier this month due to minor or dismissed legal infractions. The wholesale reversal came after weeks of extensive judicial scrutiny, with judges in at least 23 states issuing more than 50 temporary restraining orders against the administration, finding the mass terminations from the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database “flagrantly illegal.” The terminations had sparked more than 100 lawsuits nationwide, with dozens more judges prepared to follow suit before Friday’s reversal.
The abrupt cancellation of student records had affected more than 1,100 students at 174 colleges and universities, though the American Immigration Lawyers Association estimated the total number of terminated records may have reached 5,000. Many students reported going into hiding, with some afraid to leave their homes even for food, while others suddenly lost their ability to attend classes, conduct research, or work, often just weeks before graduation. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously stated the government was targeting students acting “counter to national interests,” court filings revealed many students were targeted for minor infractions like traffic violations or charges that had been dismissed.
State & Local
Bill Seeking to Block Access to Education for Undocumented Students Fails in Tennessee State Legislature
A controversial bill that would have allowed Tennessee school districts to deny enrollment to undocumented students or charge them tuition has stalled in the state legislature. House Bill 793, sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland), was halted after concerns emerged that it could jeopardize approximately $1.1 billion in federal education funding under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The bill had previously passed the Senate despite bipartisan opposition, with two Republican senators voting against it, citing their belief that children should not be punished for their parents’ actions.
The legislation was designed to challenge the 1982 Supreme Court decisionPlyler v. Doe, which guarantees free public education regardless of immigration status. Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, called the bill’s failure “a major victory” that “belongs to all the children, parents, educators, faith leaders, business owners, veterans, partner organizations, and the bipartisan coalition” who opposed it. Though the bill is dead for the 2025 session, both sides expect the debate to return when the legislature reconvenes in 2026.
19-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Detained in Arizona by DHS for Nearly 10 Days
Multiple reports confirm Jose Hermosillo, a U.S. citizen, was wrongfully detained by ICE for ten days outside Tucson, Arizona. Hermosillo, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was visiting family in Tucson when he was arrested by a Border Patrol agent and taken into custody. The 19-year old’s family says that they made multiple calls searching for Hermosillo’s whereabouts before they discovered that he had been detained at the Florence Correctional Center, and that ICE officials refused to release him or provide them with any information. Only after the family gave officials Hermosillo’s birth certificate and social security card was, he released from custody.
The Department of Homeland Security has argued that the 19-year old’s arrest was “a direct result of his own actions and statements,” posting a copy of his sworn statement on X in which Hermosillo indicated “yes” when asked if he had entered the country illegally. Hermosillo’s parents told CBS News that their son has intellectual disabilities, cannot read or write, and that he would not have understood what he was signing when he was arrested. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is now requesting more information from ICE about Hermosillo’s arrest, “for answers on how this was allowed to happen to an American citizen.”
This is not the only case of U.S. citizens being wrongfully detained by ICE in recent months. An American citizen, Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was arrested in Florida and held by immigration officials even after his mother showed a judge his birth certificate proving his citizenship. In Chicago, U.S. citizen Julio Noriega, 54, was arrested and held overnight at an ICE processing center. He was never questioned by immigration officials about his immigration status and was let go after agents looked at his ID.
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have been in recess since Monday, April 14, and will reconvene on Monday, April 28. The U.S. Senate will be in session Monday, April 28, through Friday, May 2, while the House of Representatives will meet Monday, April 28, through Thursday, May 1.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Here, we round up congressional hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington.
Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Rodney Scott, of Oklahoma, to be Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, Vice Chris Magnus
Date: Wednesday, April 30at 10:00 AM ET (Senate Committee on Finance)
Location: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Witnesses: Rodney Scott
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
The Forum is constantly publishing new policy-focused resources that engage with some of the most topical issues around immigration today. Here are a few that are particularly relevant this week:
Venezuelan Adjustment Act: Bill Summary
The Venezuelan Adjustment Act (H.R. 1348), introduced on February 13, 2025, by Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Florida-27) and Darren Soto (D-Florida-9), would allow eligible Venezuelan nationals who have resided in the U.S. since December 31, 2021, to obtain lawful permanent resident status. This summary provides an overview of the bipartisan bill that would create a permanent pathway for approximately 400,000 Venezuelans who fled political instability and are already living and working in the United States.
Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025: Bill Summary
The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025, introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) in the Senate (S. 304) and Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) in the House (H.R. 569), aims to end the long-standing, constitutional practice of granting United States citizenship to U.S.-born children, independent of the immigration status of their parents. This summary provides an overview of the bill and its potential impact.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Fact Sheet
Our updated resource provides relevant information on TPS, a government protection granted by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to eligible foreign-born individuals who are unable to return home safely due to conditions or circumstances preventing their country from adequately handling their return.
*As of publication (4/25/25 at 3PM ET)
This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Nicci Mattey, Senior Policy & Advocacy Associate at the National Immigration Forum, with questions, comments, and suggestions for additional items to be included. Nicci can be reached at nmattey@immigrationforum.org. Thank you.