Beyond the Border: Two deaths in ICE custody, a 72% drop in citizenship approvals and a court ruling allowing detention without bond

Here's what happened this week in immigration news.

Written by Emma Chen, Edited by Kate Morrissey

Welcome to another edition of Beyond the Border, which summarizes immigration news from across the country in a weekly roundup. Did we miss something? Message us via kate@daylightsandiego.org or on Instagram.

Want to support this work? Consider donating to Daylight San Diego or email lauren@daylightsandiego.org if you're interested in sponsoring this newsletter.

A short update from Kate: I wrote earlier this week about a Salvadoran man deported to Mexico. He has since set up a GoFundMe for those interested in supporting him.

ICE-related deaths 

Daylight San Diego reported that a 43-year-old Guatemalan man died at Otay Mesa Detention Center on Oct. 24 after staff found him unresponsive in his cell.

San Diego County supervisors demanded that federal officials and private prison operator CoreCivic cooperate with an investigation into the man's death, citing ongoing concerns about medical care and detention conditions, Daylight San Diego reported.

The Guardian reported that a 48-year-old Salvadoran immigrant died at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, amid a hunger strike protesting prolonged detention, poor conditions and mistreatment of detainees.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that the parents of Alex Pretti, whom federal immigration officials fatally shot in Minneapolis in January, accused federal officials of withholding evidence and obstructing accountability nine months after their son's death.

Deportations

A Migration Policy Institute analysis estimated that the Trump administration deported 980,000 people during its first 18 months, increasing removals but falling short of its stated goal of 1 million deportations annually, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Sahan Journal reported that a Minnesota Hmong family is struggling to adjust after ICE deported the father to Laos in May, leaving his wife to raise their five sons while he maintains their morning routines through video calls.

CBS News reported that ICE deported a Texas father to Ghana, where authorities subsequently sent him to Mali despite a U.S. immigration judge's order protecting him from deportation to his home country over fear of persecution.

ICE detained and ultimately deported a Bay Area nurse to Kenya despite her plans to relocate legally to Canada for a health care job, separating her from her husband and two children, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

ICE routinely transfers detainees across state lines within 24 hours of their arrests, leaving families and attorneys struggling to locate them through an unreliable federal tracking system, The Marshall Project reported.

ICE arrests

Federal officers detained a restaurant owner and beloved community member in Paris, Illinois, disrupting the life he had built with his wife and four children in the small community that voted for President Donald Trump, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Santa Barbara Independent reported that federal immigration officers detained and injured a 20-year-old U.S. citizen student with special needs who is nonverbal as he walked to Santa Maria High School, leaving him with a broken wrist that required surgery after officers racially profiled him.

ICE arrested more than twice as many immigrant children during the first seven months of 2026 as during the same period in 2025, bringing the total number of children arrested during Trump's second term to more than 8,500, The Marshall Project reported.

The Associated Press reported that ICE has detained Phillip James, a 39-year-old man with schizophrenia, since January despite birth records and previous U.S. passports supporting his claim to American citizenship.

The Washington Post reported that White House border czar Tom Homan visited Puerto Rico amid intensified ICE activity that prompted concerns from immigrant advocates over arrests, traffic stops and potential civil rights violations.

Community effects 

NBC Chicago reported that Chicago voters will decide whether city officials should seek financial compensation from the federal government for economic losses and public expenses associated with the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz.

The Washington Post reported that more than 40 agricultural organizations warned President Donald Trump that his administration's immigration crackdown is disrupting food production, worsening labor shortages and threatening to increase grocery prices.

Residents of Chicago's South Shore neighborhood are seeking accountability after more than 300 federal officers raided an apartment complex in September 2025, entering homes at gunpoint and restraining residents, including U.S. citizens, Latino USA reported.

ICE use of force 

The New York Times reported that an ICE officer shot Honduran immigrant José García-Sorto during a traffic stop in Phoenix last year, leaving a bullet lodged in his spine before authorities detained and deported him to Honduras, where he continues to suffer serious health complications despite facing no criminal charges related to the encounter. The outlet followed García-Sorto for months to show what happened to him. 

KING 5 reported that witnesses photographed an ICE officer carrying a rifle during an immigration arrest in South Seattle, while another observer said that an officer pointed a handgun at him during a separate encounter, leading community members to worry that ICE officers are growing more aggressive in the region.

Local police are investigating after an immigration officer's SUV struck a man who documents ICE activity in Woodland, California, CNN reported. Federal officials initially claimed that the man jumped onto the vehicle, but video footage contradicted that. 

The New York Times reported that video footage showed an ICE vehicle swerving toward a U.S. citizen as he rode his bicycle in Long Beach, California, contradicting the agency's denial that officers struck him and prompting the city's mayor to demand an independent investigation.

A U.S. citizen volunteer who monitors immigration enforcement activity said ICE officers chased her car through Santa Maria, California, and detained her at a local ICE field office despite her repeatedly stating that she was a U.S. citizen, The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.

Video footage shows ICE agents slashing the car tires of volunteers monitoring and recording ICE activity in Hillsboro, Oregon, Common Dreams reported. The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding an investigation into retaliation against legal observers.

Detention conditions 

More than half a dozen transgender immigrant women accused staff and fellow detainees at ICE facilities in Louisiana and Texas of sexual assault, harassment, humiliation and denial of medical care, Nómadas reported.

Georgia Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff demanded a federal investigation into medical neglect and retaliation against hunger-striking detainees at the Folkston ICE detention facility, including reports that staff placed protesters in solitary confinement, WABE reported.

ICE routinely transfers detainees across state lines within 24 hours of their arrests, leaving families and attorneys struggling to locate them through an unreliable federal tracking system, The Marshall Project reported.

Mother Jones reported that the GEO Group earned nearly $90 million from Pennsylvania’s Moshannon Valley Processing Center between January 2025 and May 2026. The ICE detention facility held more than 1,600 immigrants at a time, 85% of whom had no criminal record, and the facility faced allegations of mistreatment and prolonged detention.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immigrants who entered the United States without permission do not have a constitutional right to bond hearings during deportation proceedings, allowing the Trump administration to detain them regardless of their community ties or lack of criminal history, El Paso Matters reported.

Seven former immigration detainees filed a nationwide class-action lawsuit accusing ICE of withholding passports, work permits and personal belongings after their release, preventing some from working, driving or supporting their families, Newsweek reported.

Targeting voters 

The Washington Post reported that U.S. citizenship approvals dropped 72% during the first eight months of 2026, leaving hundreds of thousands of applicants in limbo and preventing some prospective voters from gaining citizenship before the November midterm elections.

Federal prosecutors charged a 66-year-old Syracuse resident with illegally voting in federal elections after she recently discovered that she was born in Germany and never obtained U.S. citizenship despite living in the United States since childhood, Syracuse.com reported.

A federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to halt voter fraud investigations across nine states after finding that officials relied on unreliable data and artificial intelligence tools that risked targeting eligible U.S. citizen voters, inewsource reported.

Hundreds of volunteer groups across the United States are organizing patrols, monitoring ICE activity and preparing to document potential voter intimidation near polling places during the November midterm elections, WIRED reported.

Other stories to watch 

WIRED reported that federal immigration investigators deployed roughly 120 officers, including undercover operatives, to monitor anti-ICE activists in Minnesota and other states, using surveillance tools, infiltrated communications and financial records to investigate political organizing.

LAist reported that immigrant legal aid organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging an ICE policy that conceals the locations of detainees with final deportation orders, arguing that the change prevents attorneys from locating and representing their clients. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that ICE arrests contributed to an estimated $811 million in lost consumer spending in Philadelphia as ICE arrests discouraged residents from visiting local businesses.

Oregon Live reported that Oregon State Police asked ICE to stop using its parking lots for immigration enforcement, while police departments in Hillsboro and Forest Grove also restricted federal officers' access to local resources amid increased immigration enforcement activity across the state.

ABC News 4 reported that Charleston animal shelter Pet Helpers urgently requested additional foster homes to help because of newly arrived dogs from an ICE deportation case. 

Six Democratic senators urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse a policy that would allow government attorneys to represent unaccompanied immigrant children in deportation proceedings, warning that the arrangement creates conflicts of interest and threatens children's legal rights, Mother Jones reported.

Mission Local reported that San Francisco educators and volunteers have accompanied 137 students and immigrant families to immigration appointments since January, helping families navigate ICE check-ins without any of those accompanied facing arrest.

MPR News reported that Minnesota journalists Mukhtar Ibrahim and Ubah Ali launched The Somali Brief, a digital news outlet that aims to combat misinformation and expand reporting on Somali American communities.

Thanks for reading! Take care and stay well.

— Emma