Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Federal judge blocks New York's ban on ICE officers wearing masks — US District Judge Mae D'Agostino of the federal court in Albany issued a preliminary ruling blocking enforcement of New York's law that banned ICE agents from wearing face coverings and required visible identification. The judge found the state law likely violates the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, which bars states from regulating federal law enforcement. However, D'Agostino allowed New York's separate ban on local police cooperation with ICE (287(g) agreements) to remain in effect, finding it a legitimate exercise of state authority over resource allocation.
• Federal judge blocks New York mask-and-ID rule for ICE agents — U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino blocked New York's requirement that ICE agents uncover their faces and display identification during enforcement operations, while refusing to block the state law ending local police cooperation with ICE. The judge acknowledged legitimate state concerns about masked, unidentified federal agents but ruled that states cannot regulate how federal officers conduct their duties.

Supporting reports

• DHS/ICE sought court orders to force-feed at least 10 hunger strikers in immigration detention — Between 2025 and 2026, Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials obtained court orders to subject at least 10 detained immigrants to involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding via nasogastric tubes, intravenous forced hydration, and involuntary blood draws. Court records show procedures were definitely performed on at least three detainees and probably on two more; five others ended their hunger strikes before procedures began. Cases span facilities in Texas, Florida, Washington, and Arizona. Many detainees lacked legal representation during proceedings.
• ICE force-feeding of detained hunger strikers revealed in at least 10 cases — Since Trump's return to office in January 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has subjected at least 10 detained immigrants to involuntary force-feeding procedures, including an Afghan man force-fed for nearly six months, a Ukrainian man whose force-feeding was stopped by legal intervention, and a Saudi woman who broke her strike under threat of the procedure. ICE obtained emergency court orders, often without the detainee's legal representation, to restrain hunger strikers and insert nasogastric tubes. Medical experts and human rights organizations characterize the practice as torture.
• ICE force-fed at least 10 detained hunger strikers — A Guardian investigation of court records identified at least 10 cases in which ICE sought to subject detained hunger strikers to involuntary medical procedures, with at least three and possibly five individuals force-fed. A Kurdish asylum seeker at Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Texas was force-fed for nearly eight months; another endured six months. The procedure involves guards restraining detainees while medical staff insert a tube through the nose into the stomach and pump liquid nutrition. Human rights organizations classify force-feeding of competent hunger strikers as torture.

Supporting reports

• ICE detainee releases video of contaminated drinking water at Adelanto facility — Carlitos Ricardo Parias, detained at the Adelanto ICE facility in California (operated by private company Geo Group), released video footage showing a water bottle apparently contaminated with worm-like creatures. The footage emerged weeks after a federal judge ordered ICE to ensure 24-hour access to clean drinking water following a class-action lawsuit alleging dangerous conditions including insufficient food, contaminated water, and inadequate medical care. DHS and Geo Group disputed the contamination claims, stating water comes from municipal sources and meets FDA standards.

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed — State of New York v. Administration for Children and Families (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-02726) — New York and 24 other states plus the District of Columbia filed a complaint challenging a System of Records Notice (SORN) issued by the Administration for Children and Families on June 23, 2026. The SORN authorizes disclosure of TANF recipients' Social Security numbers, immigration status, marital status, and other personal information to the Department of Homeland Security and other entities. Plaintiffs allege the SORN exceeds statutory authority, violates confidentiality protections, was adopted without required Privacy Act procedures, and imposes an unforeseeable condition on states' receipt of TANF funds. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief and vacatur of the SORN.

Supporting reports

• Immigration courts accelerate case processing, leading to missed hearings and deportations — The Trump administration has accelerated case processing through immigration courts, resulting in historically high numbers of missed court dates. Overworked judges are deciding hundreds of cases daily, often in less than five minutes per case. Individuals who miss their court dates are immediately ordered deported. The rapid processing denies immigrants adequate opportunity to present their cases or obtain legal representation.

Supporting reports

• ICE confirmed forced medical treatment of detained hunger striker — A budget filing from ICE's Health Service Corps, surfaced by the Guardian, revealed that at least one detained hunger striker was subjected to force feeding, hydration, forced urinary catheterization, or involuntary blood draws. Homeland Security declined to specify which procedure was used. ACLU attorney Eunice Cho noted that authorizing court orders often function as rubber stamps because many detainees lack legal representation to challenge them.

Supporting reports

• Trump administration ends federal legal funding for unaccompanied immigrant children — The Trump administration severed ties with nearly 100 legal organizations providing immigration counsel and ended a federal contract providing legal representation to over 20,000 unaccompanied children, effective July 31, 2026. Federal officials refused to reimburse organizations for $65 million in completed work unless they violated client confidentiality by disclosing sensitive medical and immigration data. The cuts are forcing legal nonprofits into layoffs and closures, leaving children to face immigration court without attorneys. Experts warn children without counsel win relief less than 10% of the time and face expedited deportation proceedings.
• Legal representation contract for immigrant children expires; no-bid contract offered to Trump-connected firm — The Trump administration allowed a contract for legal representation of immigrant children to expire on July 31. The administration then offered a $150 million no-bid contract to a small Texas law firm with no experience in immigration law but with close ties to Trump. Following public outcry, the law firm declined the contract. The action left immigrant children without guaranteed legal representation during deportation proceedings.

Supporting reports

• Pima County reports 19 migrant deaths in Arizona desert during July 2026 — The Pima County medical examiner's office released data showing 19 migrant remains, including children, were recovered along the Arizona-Mexico border in July 2026. This represents the highest monthly death toll in that region since 2024 and brings the year-to-date total to 73 remains, 14 more than the same period in 2025. Experts attribute the deaths to US border policies that have closed legal asylum pathways and forced migrants into dangerous desert crossings. The true death toll is estimated to be significantly higher due to undiscovered remains.

Supporting reports

• Community rally against planned ICE detention facility in Japantown — Organizers and South Bay officials rallied Wednesday outside the historic Issei Memorial Building in opposition to a planned ICE detention facility near Gilroy. Susan Hayase of San Jose Nikkei Resisters drew parallels to Japanese American resistance during World War II internment. Santa Clara County had sued in June to block the facility, which would provide detention space for 150 people.

Supporting reports

• Court-appointed monitor finds California City ICE facility failed to comply with judge's healthcare order — A federal court-appointed monitor, Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar, filed a report on July 28 finding that California's largest ICE detention facility at California City was out of compliance with all eight healthcare standards ordered by US Judge Maxine Chesney in February. The facility failed to provide adequate emergency care, timely medications, proper health screenings, and disability accommodations. The monitor concluded the facility "lacks a reliable system to consistently provide adequate health care, placing individuals at serious risk of both immediate and long-term harm."

Supporting reports

• ICE arrests immigrants at airports with expired visas, including spouses of U.S. citizens — The New York Times reported that ICE has started arresting immigrants at airports whose visas have expired, including spouses of U.S. citizens, despite many of them having active applications to stay in the country. Some individuals had done nothing wrong; their visas expired only because of government processing delays.

Supporting reports

• ICE paused vehicle stops after fatal shootings, then Trump reversed the pause — Following two fatal ICE shootings of men in vehicles in Texas and Maine in July 2026, ICE paused most vehicle stops as a safety measure. However, Trump swiftly reversed the pause, resuming aggressive vehicle-stop operations despite the documented pattern of shootings and wrongful charges.

Supporting reports

• ICE plans to target Haitians as Temporary Protected Status ends for 300,000 — CBS News reported that ICE is planning to expand operations to arrest and deport Haitians as hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti, which is experiencing widespread unrest, are set to lose their legal status following a Supreme Court ruling in June allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status programs for Haitians and Syrians.

Supporting reports

• Twenty-five states and D.C. sued federal government over conditional disaster and homeland security funding — Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island challenging FEMA and DHS conditions on billions of dollars in annual disaster relief and homeland security grants. The conditions require states to convert to paper ballots, conduct manual audits, reconcile voter registration lists, verify citizenship of all registered voters, assist DHS in immigration enforcement, and accept DHS authority to withdraw all grants at will. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha characterized the conditions as "unlawfully withholding billions in critical funding" to coerce election and immigration policy changes.

Supporting reports

• Undocumented immigrants lose work and income during ICE crackdown; DACA renewals cost $1,000 — During an ICE crackdown in Minneapolis, many undocumented single mothers were afraid to leave their homes and lost months of work, creating financial hardship for themselves and their children. Additionally, some immigrants authorized to work under DACA status are now being forced to pay upwards of $1,000 to renew their status. The enforcement actions and renewal costs are creating economic precarity for vulnerable populations.

Supporting reports

• US appeals court rejects Trump administration bid to redetain Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri — The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration's attempt to redetain Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University arrested by ICE in March 2025 for pro-Palestinian social media speech. The 2-1 decision upheld a lower court's bail release and rejected the government's motion to move the case from Virginia to Texas, affirming that detained immigrants retain habeas corpus rights to challenge detention in federal court even during pending removal proceedings.

Supporting reports

• House Democrats received ICE briefing on excessive force complaints — House Homeland Security Committee Democrats received a closed-door briefing from ICE officials on excessive force complaints. ICE disclosed 56 complaints of excessive force against officers, with 32 cleared, one officer referred for possible disciplinary action, and the remainder under investigation. Rep. Seth Magaziner called the single referral out of 56 complaints "defying belief." Two fatal shootings occurred in the prior week in Maine and Houston; deaths in immigration enforcement encounters have risen since 2025 deportation surge began.

Supporting reports

• ICE vehicle stop policy reversed by presidential statement — ICE had announced a suspension of most vehicle stops following a fatal shooting in Maine, implementing a policy requiring lights and sirens before approaching vehicles. However, the President issued a statement directing officers to continue stopping cars to check for immigrants, reversing the suspension the next day. The policy change was conveyed orally to officers and had not been reduced to written directive, creating operational inconsistency.

Supporting reports

• Twenty-five Democratic attorneys general sue Trump administration over politicized FEMA disaster aid conditions — Twenty-five Democratic state attorneys general, led by California's Rob Bonta, filed a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island challenging the Trump administration's imposition of "unlawful" conditions on over $740 million in federal disaster preparedness and counter-terrorism grants. The conditions require states to implement federal voter citizenship verification systems, conduct post-election audits, and assist ICE in deportation operations. The lawsuit also challenges FEMA's new authority to cancel grants if states are deemed misaligned with agency priorities. A Trump-appointed judge previously ruled similar conditions "unconscionable and unlawful."
• Twenty-five states and D.C. sued federal government over conditional disaster and homeland security funding — Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island challenging FEMA and DHS conditions on billions of dollars in annual disaster relief and homeland security grants. The conditions require states to convert to paper ballots, conduct manual audits, reconcile voter registration lists, verify citizenship of all registered voters, assist DHS in immigration enforcement, and accept DHS authority to withdraw all grants at will. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha characterized the conditions as "unlawfully withholding billions in critical funding" to coerce election and immigration policy changes.
• Complaint filed — State of Illinois v. Federal Emergency Management Agency — On July 23, 2026, 25 states, the District of Columbia, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island challenging FEMA's new Fiscal Year 2026 Homeland Security Grant Program conditions. The conditions require states to transition to hand-marked paper ballots, conduct post-election audits, verify voter and election worker citizenship using federal immigration databases, and comply with other election and immigration-related mandates as a prerequisite to receiving over $1 billion in federal preparedness funding. Plaintiffs allege the conditions exceed FEMA's statutory authority, are arbitrary and capricious, and violate the Spending Clause. They seek declaratory judgment, vacatur, injunctive relief, and a writ of mandamus.

Supporting reports

• Department of Justice sues Colorado over in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants — The Department of Justice filed suit against Colorado, alleging that state laws providing in-state tuition and financial aid to undocumented immigrants violate federal law by discriminating against U.S. citizens and creating incentives for illegal immigration. The complaint seeks to enjoin enforcement of Colorado statutes that extend in-state tuition rates to all residents regardless of immigration status. DOJ characterized this as its 14th such lawsuit and cited prior favorable orders in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed: Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights v. Mullin — The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and Legal Services for Children (LSC) filed a complaint in the Northern District of California challenging a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy designating the $250 fee for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petitions as categorically non-waivable. The plaintiffs, representing abused, neglected, or abandoned immigrant youth who risk losing SIJS eligibility upon turning 21, allege the fee-waiver ban is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and was adopted without required notice-and-comment rulemaking. They seek vacatur of the policy and injunctive relief requiring USCIS to process SIJS fee-waiver requests under its ordinary framework.

Supporting reports

• Trump blamed immigrants for fire at Federal Building in New York set by U.S. Army veteran. — Trump attributed a fire set at a Federal Building in New York to immigration policy, stating "this is what's happening with the people that they're allowed to come into our country. They shouldn't have allowed them to come in." The actual arsonist was identified as a U.S. Army veteran born in New York, contradicting Trump's immigrant-focused narrative.

Supporting reports

• United Airlines employee threatens to call ICE on Mexican American customer at San Francisco airport — A United Airlines employee at San Francisco International Airport threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Julio Varela, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Mexican American descent, during a dispute over a ticket-name correction that had caused a three-hour wait. The employee told Varela "you don't act like a citizen" before threatening the ICE call. The incident was recorded and went viral. United Airlines stated it is "looking into" the interaction but offered no further details or disciplinary announcement.

Supporting reports

• Civil rights groups sue HHS over childcare funding restrictions and FOIA non-compliance — The ACLU, National Women's Law Center, and allied civil rights organizations filed suit against the Department of Health and Human Services for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request regarding the Trump administration's January 2026 freeze of over $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds across five states. The freeze, justified by unsubstantiated fraud claims against Somali childcare providers originating from a viral social media video, was halted by federal court order in January 2026. The lawsuit seeks disclosure of communications between federal officials and the video's creator, and demands transparency on the administration's stated rationale for the restrictions.
• FOIA lawsuit filed: American Civil Liberties Union et al. v. Department of Health and Human Services — The American Civil Liberties Union, National Women's Law Center, and National Center for Law and Economic Justice filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services in federal district court (D.D.C.), alleging the agency failed to timely process, grant expedited review, conduct adequate search, or release responsive records following a March 11, 2026 FOIA request. The request sought records concerning the legal and factual bases for HHS restrictions on federal child care and family-assistance funding imposed in December 2025 and January 2026, including communications with state recipients and records concerning alleged fraud allegations. HHS had released no responsive records more than 130 days after submission. Plaintiffs seek court-ordered production of records, a Vaughn index of withheld materials, waiver of fees, and attorneys' fees.

Supporting reports

• Consumer brands donate to Congressional sponsors of ICE-expansion legislation — Popular Information analyzed corporate PAC donations to members of Congress who sponsored or co-sponsored 40 bills expanding ICE's power during the 119th Congress. SpaceX's corporate PAC donated $589,000 to 63 such members; Home Depot donated $536,500 to 77 members; Walmart donated $308,000 to 88 members; Toyota donated $262,500 to 75 members; and Google donated $257,500 to 48 members. The analysis identified 110 House members and 37 Senators as sponsors or co-sponsors of ICE-expansion bills, with Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) sponsoring or co-sponsoring 12 bills.
• Google corporate PAC funds Congressional ICE-expansion bill sponsors — Google's corporate PAC donated $257,500 to 48 members of Congress who sponsored or co-sponsored legislation expanding ICE's power during the 119th Congress. In 2017, Google's CEO signed a letter calling for legislation to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, but the company has not publicly opposed any of Trump's immigration policies during the second administration.
• Home Depot corporate PAC funds Congressional ICE-expansion bill sponsors — Home Depot's corporate PAC donated $536,500 to 77 members of Congress who sponsored or co-sponsored legislation expanding ICE's power during the 119th Congress, according to FEC filings analyzed by Popular Information. This represents the second-largest corporate PAC contribution to this group of legislators after SpaceX.
• Toyota corporate PAC funds Congressional ICE-expansion bill sponsors — Toyota's corporate PAC donated $262,500 to 75 members of Congress who sponsored or co-sponsored legislation expanding ICE's power during the 119th Congress, according to FEC filings analyzed by Popular Information.
• Walmart corporate PAC funds Congressional ICE-expansion bill sponsors — Walmart's corporate PAC donated $308,000 to 88 members of Congress who sponsored or co-sponsored legislation expanding ICE's power during the 119th Congress. The article notes that in 2017, Walmart's CEO signed a letter calling for legislation to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, but the company has not publicly opposed any of Trump's immigration policies during the second administration.
• Corporate donors bankroll House and Senate sponsors of ICE expansion bills — Since January 2025, 110 House members and 37 senators have sponsored or cosponsored 40 bills to expand ICE's power. Popular Information identified the corporate donors providing the most support to these politicians, including SpaceX, Home Depot, Walmart, and Google. The investigation documents the financial relationships between major consumer brands and lawmakers advancing immigration enforcement expansion.