Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• USCIS policy memo requiring green card applicants to return to home countries for processing — The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under Department of Homeland Security oversight, issued a policy memo on Friday requiring foreign nationals seeking to adjust immigration status and obtain green cards to do so from outside the United States via the State Department, rather than through the existing "adjustment of status" process available to those already in the country. The policy affects over 1 million immigrants currently waiting on green cards and will likely force applicants—particularly in mixed-status families—to leave jobs, homes, and relationships for unknown periods. The change reverses a process unchanged for over 60 years.

Supporting reports

• Detainees at Delaney Hall ICE facility engage in hunger and labor strike over conditions; families report medical neglect and inhumane treatment — Immigrants detained at Delaney Hall, a private ICE jail in New Jersey run by Geo Group, launched a hunger and labor strike beginning May 22 to protest substandard conditions including medical neglect, expired food, and inadequate sanitation. Elder Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant held for five months, suffered a serious head injury in mid-May and was placed in medical isolation without adequate recovery care. Families report distress over visitation restrictions and fear of retaliation. Congressional oversight visits confirmed detainees' claims. DHS and Geo Group deny allegations while detainees report ongoing threats and discrimination from staff.
• Hunger and labor strike at Delaney Hall enters third week with women joining — The hunger and labor strike at the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, which began May 22 with approximately 300 detainees, entered its third week in June with dozens of detained women joining. Strikers cited medical neglect, spoiled food, lack of sanitation, denial of bond, and coercion to sign deportation documents. Demands include firing a guard accused of sexually assaulting at least 10 detained women. ICE responded by transferring most original hunger strikers to other facilities.
• Hunger and labor strike by detainees at Delaney Hall enters ninth day — On May 22, approximately 300–400 detainees at Delaney Hall immigration detention center began a hunger and labor strike demanding improved conditions, medical care, a meeting with Governor Sherrill, and expedited processing of their immigration cases. The strike continued through the week of protests, with detainees refusing food and work. The strike prompted family visitation cancellations and sparked external protests in support of the detainees' demands.
• Delaney Hall detainees begin hunger strike over case processing delays — On May 22, 2026, approximately 300 detainees at Delaney Hall, the largest detention center in the Northeast, began a hunger strike demanding immediate release of young, elderly, and medically vulnerable detainees and protesting that immigration judges are ignoring their cases. Detainees cited violations of Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights and reported that judges are conducting mass deportations without proper case review, disregarding federal court habeas corpus rulings, and processing cases at an unsustainable rate—one judge handling 74 cases in a single day.

Supporting reports

• "Prevention through deterrence" border policy pushes migrants into remote desert terrain — Veteran borderlands volunteers describe a long-standing federal border enforcement strategy known as "prevention through deterrence," which deliberately makes border crossing extremely difficult by forcing migrants away from ports of entry into remote, dangerous desert regions. Volunteers call this policy "deterrence through death." The strategy has intensified with deployment of concertina wire and other barriers, pushing migrants into wilder terrain where heat exposure and dehydration are more likely to be fatal.

Supporting reports

• Border Patrol agents instructed to vandalize water stations left for migrants in desert — Former border patrol agent Jenn Budd, now an immigrant rights activist, alleges that border patrol agents are trained in the field to vandalize water jugs left in the desert by humanitarian organizations like Humane Borders. Budd claims this policy is framed as preventing illegal border crossing. Border Patrol responded by stating agents carry water and supplies to assist people in distress, and reiterated that "the border is closed."

Supporting reports

• Six deaths from heat exposure in sealed railway car near Laredo, Texas — Six people, aged 14 to 56 from Mexico and Honduras, were found dead inside a sealed Union Pacific railway car near Laredo, Texas. Medical examination indicates at least one died from hyperthermia (extreme heat exposure); the same cause is likely for all six. Investigators believe the group boarded the train near Del Rio and became trapped during transit. The deaths occur as immigration advocates warn of an approaching dangerous summer season for border crossers facing lethal temperatures.