Tag: TPS

JHISN Newsletter 06/27/2026

Posted on June 27, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

When good immigration news is hard to find, we look harder. The notorious Alligator Alcatraz detention camp in Florida is fully shut down as of this week, less than a year after it opened with sadistic fanfare from Trump’s minions. We hope, with many of you, that the expansion of Mayor Mamdani’s political power with this week’s primary victories will strengthen a pro-immigrant, anti-authoritarian agenda. And a Trump lawsuit targeting four NJ cities for allegedly “unconstitutional” sanctuary policies was just tossed out by a federal judge.

But the bad news is really terrible. Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that allows the federal government to continue stripping Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from hundreds of thousands of US residents is a nightmare. Most immediately, 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians are now facing the reality of losing their TPS legal status by July 1—a loss that will affect everyone who is their neighbor, co-worker, healthcare patient, or friend.   

Our newsletter covers some of the mixed good/ bad immigration news out of this year’s NYS legislative session, which ended in early June. We then update you on the ongoing legal campaigns—and harassment—of two high-profile international students from Columbia University targeted for deportation.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. NY State Legislature gestures toward immigrant protections
  2. Deportation threats to Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil

1. Latest NY State Legislation Falls Short On Immigrant Protection

On May 21, NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie noted that the 2026-27 state fiscal budget includes legislative provisions, signed by the governor, that protect our neighbors throughout New York from aggressive federal immigration enforcement. He suggested that local governments will be prohibited from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement officers and private detention facilities. He highlighted provisions that “will protect children in their schools and establish sensitive locations within our communities.” The official press release received endorsements from various elected officials, including Queens Assembly Member Catalina Cruz.

The perspective of immigrant justice supporters of the New York For All Act—proposed legislation which was never brought to a vote in the state legislature—was markedly different. The multi-organization coalition advocating for New York For All said, “The lack of political courage and moral leadership in Albany – and the failure to take a bold stand in the face of rising xenophobia – means that New York’s immigrant communities will continue to live with the threat that any encounter with government agencies can result in separation from their families.” 

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) outlined some of the Enacted Budget’s key elements, explaining which protections were included or fell short:

  • State and local employees may not gather information about immigration status, and cannot share personal data of NY residents with ICE…but the police are excluded from this restriction.
  • “Sensitive locations,” including hospitals, churches, and private homes, can deny entry to ICE agents. 
  • The right to free public education for children, regardless of the family’s immigration status, was established.
  • State and local agencies may not rent space to ICE for immigration detention nor financially support immigration detention facilities.
  • New Yorkers can sue local, state, and federal officials in state court when their constitutional rights are violated using the newly established Office of Immigrant Trust.

Republicans claim that these new protections mean that “New York is now a sanctuary state on steroids.” But there are, in fact, at least three significant elements missing from the new budget that progressive forces had fought for. First, although the formal 287(g) agreements that allow local governments to work with ICE (previously signed by twelve New York law enforcement agencies) were banned in New York, informal collusion between local police and immigration enforcement was not prohibited—that was called for in the New York For All Act. Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, noted, “The legislative package falls short of offering comprehensive protections by continuing to permit informal law enforcement collusion with ICE and Border Patrol.”

Second, state-funded counsel for immigrants facing deportation, part of the Access to Representation and the BUILD Act, was not included in the budget package. Although some money was secured for immigrant legal services, it was less than half of the $175 million called for by immigrant advocates.

Finally, the new measures banning face coverings for state, local, and federal officers in New York still allow for “tactical equipment” that covers faces.  Even with this legal loophole permitting ICE to deploy with tactical face masks, the federal government initiated a lawsuit against New York four days before the face mask ban was scheduled to go into effect. The Department of Justice has also initiated legal action against New Jersey, California, and Virginia, which sought similar mask restrictions. 

The New York Bar has explained why many of the items demanded and signed into law do not violate federal laws about police power and preemption. None of those explanations will stop the threats from Homeland Security to conduct an ICE surge in NYC. Passing the entire New York For All Act would help strengthen legal action against the overreach and violations of basic rights by ICE and border patrol federal agents.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Deportation Threat Ongoing for Palestinian Student-Activists at Columbia University

 “[T]he administration is abusing immigration law to silence me for speaking the truth about Palestinian suffering and genocide. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow.” —Mohsen Mahdawi (June 10, 2026)

In Spring of 2025, Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil, both Columbia University students, became two of the most prominent faces of international student-activists targeted for their Palestine solidarity work. The newly-installed Trump regime quickly weaponized immigration law and accusations of antisemitism to incarcerate both young men in its broader campaign to silence and punish university-based mobilizations against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Both men are Palestinian. Khalil was born in a refugee camp in Syria; Mahdawi in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Khalil is a graduate of Columbia’s prestigious School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA); Mahdawi is currently enrolled in the MA program at SIPA. Both are green card holders and legal US residents. Both were accused of nothing beyond the “memos” from Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that their presence in the country might undermine US foreign policy goals. Both were eventually released from detention after public outcry and legal challenges. 

And … both are still threatened with deportation through legal proceedings pursued by the federal government, even as their names have faded from most headlines.

Their ongoing legal battles differ. An immigration judge in February 2026 ruled that the deportation case against Mohsen Mahdawi be dismissed. Trump’s DOJ fired that immigration judge (unlike other judges, immigration judges serve at the will of the federal government) and appealed the decision. The US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that the deportation case could go forward, and Mohsen’s case went to a second immigration judge who this month issued an order of removal that would send Mohsen to Jordan. Nevertheless Mohsen remains in the US while his legal team challenges the deportation order in the First Circuit Court on constitutional grounds. Mohsen declared:

“… I’m going to cut to the core of this issue, which is an issue that is related to the First Amendment. Do I have, as a green card holder, as a lawful permanent resident for 12 years, never committed a crime — do I have the rights that actually the citizenship questionnaire that I get tested on states that I do … do I have the right to free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression?” —on Democracy Now! (June 12, 2026)                                                              

Mahmoud Khalil’s case is on a different track, though he also is protected for now from a deportation removal order that has been set in motion. His legal team made a second appeal in May 2026 to the US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to dismiss the deportation case against him, after new revelations of government misconduct. The Trump regime is accused of “secretly engineering” the outcome of his case. The allegations of misconduct are corroborated by statements from former immigration judges, former BIA workers, and accumulating evidence that top government officials pressured judges to “decide” cases with predetermined outcomes in spotlight cases like Khalil’s, and to expedite deportation orders. One legal decision against Khalil was handed down by the BIA in a mysteriously speedy nine days. 

Meanwhile, a legal challenge in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals was decided in late May against Khalil, and a new challenge was immediately filed by his team in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also separately requested a Supreme Court review of the Third Circuit decision. “We hope the Supreme Court will recognize how dangerous the Third Circuit’s decision was, not just for Mahmoud but for other non-citizens the administration has its vengeful sights upon,” said Baher Azmy, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Regardless of the outcome of their cases, Mohsen and Mahmoud remain targets of merciless legal harassment through a federal government campaign to deport them—and to silence, repress, and frighten others who would speak out.  

Columbia University has to date made no public statements in support of Mohsen, a current student, or Mahmoud, a recent graduate. The University has been operating since July 2025 under an unprecedented “settlement”’ with the Trump regime, in which the University paid the government $221 million, and agreed to a set of institutional changes demanded by the federal government. One of those demands was that the University start asking all international applicants “questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States.” Or, in the words of Marco Rubio, “we are not going to be importing activists into the United States.” 

WHAT CAN WE DO? 
  • Join the weekly vigil every Monday at 12pm near Columbia’s campus to protest DHS and ICE targeting of students, organized by CUIMC Stands Up.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 01/24/2026

Posted on January 24, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Yesterday, New York City joined protests around the country, standing with striking Minnesotans who have risen in the cold as a powerful anti-ICE voice. They represent a people’s resistance against the always escalating, harmful, militarized tactics of Homeland Security. The entire nation watched a federal agent shoot and kill Renee Good—a poet, mother, and citizen who refused to ignore the inhumane federal deportation operations in her Minneapolis neighborhood.  The president, and others in the administration and blamestream media, peddled the lie that Good was a domestic terrorist who was the cause of her own death. The person who clearly killed Renee Good was not a newly hired agent who lacked training: Jonathan Ross served more than 10 years in ICE’s elite Special Response Team.

While many agree that ICE (established less than 25 years ago) should be abolished, most Democrat leaders appear to be following the guidance of a “Don’t Say Abolish ICE” memo. Written by a former Customs and Border Protection official who is now a corporate consultant for the defense and surveillance sector, the memo advises reforming and retraining ICE. Fortunately, our new Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, remains strong in his stance. He stated on ABC’s, The View, “I am in support of abolishing ICE…We’re seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it’s doing is terrorizing people”. 

Today’s newsletter reports on NYC’s now ex-mayor’s veto, just as he left office, of City Council legislation promoting immigrant and economic justice. We then offer an update on battles over Temporary Protective Status (TPS), including the good news of a recent court decision that reverses the Trump regime’s cancellation of protections for Nepali TPS holders. 

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Eric Adams vetoes immigrant justice in cruel exit act
  2. Temporary Protective Status (TPS) under attack: Update

1. Eric Adams’ Last Betrayal

“It is unsurprising that this mayor is ending his term by demonstrating, once again, that protecting and supporting working-class New Yorkers is not his priority. His vetoes put special interests above greater affordability and opportunity for hardworking New Yorkers, and public safety.” — Outgoing City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams

On his last day in office, Eric Adams—a mayor we have long criticized for scapegoating immigrants—vetoed three key pro-immigrant legislative packages that had been passed by large majorities in the City Council. The bills were among a total of 19 measures Adams vetoed, as a final New Year’s Eve “drop dead” to the lawmakers and the people of New York.

One of the vetoed packages aims to regulate and reform street vending. Among its provisions is the long-delayed raising of the cap on the number of vending licenses. Local Councilmember Shekar Krishnan had praised passage of the package as “a historic day for workers.” The legislation became urgent after Mayor Adams, who had promised to raise the cap and dial down punitive enforcement against vendors, made a quick 180-degree turn, joining with right-wing forces in a campaign to uproot and intimidate vendors in Corona Plaza, Roosevelt Avenue, and other parts of the city.

Another veto casualty was Tiffany Cabán’s Safer Sanctuary Act. This would outlaw the establishment of ICE offices on Rikers Island, something that has been contentious throughout Adams’ tenure. That act would also close a loophole in the city’s sanctuary laws, making it clear that the restrictions they place on cooperation with federal authorities would apply to all immigration enforcement agencies, not just ICE.

Adams’ third anti-immigrant veto gave a thumbs down to badly-needed legislation defending deliveristas from a wave of arbitrary “deactivations”—firings—initiated by delivery app companies. The Council measure requires that delivery workers be given a reason for deactivation, the right to appeal, and a 120-day notice before permanent deactivation.

According to city law, once the vetoes were formally registered, which happened on January 7, the Council has 30 days to override them, a process which requires a 2/3rds majority vote. The clock is ticking, with many other priorities competing for legislators’ attention in the new year.

New Council Speaker Julie Menin can strongly influence the fate of the vetoed bills, since she largely controls legislative scheduling and agendas. In practice, she seems unlikely to run out the clock on these three measures, which were all passed with “veto-proof “ majorities. For instance, the measure lifting the vendor license cap was passed by a margin of 39-9, as was the Safer Sanctuary Act. The bill defending deliveristas passed 40-8. Menin is a supporter of sanctuary laws, and was actually a co-sponsor of the street vendor bill.

However, Menin has refused to commit to overriding all of Mayor Adams’ vetoes, saying only that “the Council will consider next steps on these bills.”

NYC lawmakers have been given further impetus to act by ICE’s arrest of one of their own staffers, Venezuelan immigrant Andres Rubio Bohorquez, at a routine asylum interview. Menin and many other Council members have expressed concern and anger at ICE over the data analyst’s detention. This attack on one of their own employees is likely to concentrate the Council’s attention, bringing home how much is at stake for immigrants in their deliberations.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. The Ongoing Weaponization Of TPS

“The harm already caused by the administration’s cruel, lawless actions cannot be undone, but we are hopeful that, with this ruling, the new year will bring a measure of justice and peace to the TPS holder community.” —Jessica Bansal, attorney at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)

The new year started positively for Adhikaar, the Queens-based group that serves and supports the Nepali-speaking community in NYC. They shared welcome news that a Northern California District Court judge ruled that the Trump administration had illegally ended TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. Adhikaar applauded the work of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and other members of the National TPS Alliance who argued the legal case, which affects around 60,000 people nationwide, including thousands of Queens residents.

Ama Frimpong, the Legal Director of CASA, stated that the ruling clearly showed TPS cannot be terminated based on racialized political narratives. Frimpong continued, “This decision is not only a victory for TPS holders from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal, but an encouraging signal for TPS holders from Venezuela, Cameroon, Afghanistan, and beyond who are fighting to protect their families and their futures.” 

Two days later, after US forces captured and removed the president of Venezuela, Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem announced that Venezuelans in the US under TPS had the opportunity to apply for refugee status. There was no hint as to how more than 600,000 people could do that when the US government has limited the total number of refugees per year to just 7,500. A few hours after her announcement, the Homeland Security eX-twitter account denied that Noem had ever said that, and instead reaffirmed that she had ended TPS for more than 500,000 people. The post suggested that, “now they can go home to a country that they love.” Even those Venezuelans who are happy about Maduro’s removal say returning is an extreme risk.

Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the US. Just days after a weekend of national protest in the wake of the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, and Homeland Security’s brutal tactics in the Twin Cities, Trump announced the termination of TPS for Somalis. Ignoring the economic destabilization it will bring, he declared legal protections for Somali nationals enrolled in the TPS program will be ended in two months, on March 17. He claimed that country conditions had improved, an opinion easily contradicted by the work of Freedom House, which has monitored the state of global freedom for 85 years: currently, they give Somalia a Global Freedom Score of 8 out of 100; the US score is 84. 

The day after Trump’s Somalia announcement, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments for the second of the National TPS Alliance lawsuits, defending Haitians and Venezuelans. A Federal Judge has indicated she will not rule on the Haitian TPS case until February 6, which is just one day before that protection is set to expire. Just as the year began, and our article started with hope from NDLON, so these recent fraught weeks have ended with Ahilan Arulanantham, the Co-Director of UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law & Policy (CILP) stating, “We hope the court will insist the administration comply with the law as Congress intended it to by engaging in an objective assessment of the country conditions in Venezuela.” 

We wonder, is “hope” really enough?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 10/25/2025

Posted on October 25, 2025 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Rarely do we start with a set of asks, but extreme times give our newsletter a sense of urgency. So first, please take a few minutes to fill out our JHISN reader survey, and share how you might imagine and participate in neighborhood defense if escalated ICE raids land in central Queens. Thanks to all of you who have already responded.

Next, please check out and circulate this new state government portal to report disturbing or violent actions you witness by ICE and other federal agents in NYC; photos and videos can be uploaded to the site. The public portal was created by the NYS Attorney General one day after the militarized ICE attack on immigrant street vendors—and New Yorkers who came to their defense—on Canal Street this week. 

Our newsletter below looks more closely at the role of citizen immigrants, our own Jackson Heights-based organization DRUM Beats, and immigrant politics more broadly in Zohran Mamdani’s historic campaign for NYC mayor. And we give an update on the precarious situation affecting members of our Nepali community in Queens who have had their Temporary Protective Status terminated by the Trump regime—part of a larger campaign to rip away the legal status of hundreds of thousands of TPS holders nationwide. 

Newsletter highlights: 
  1. Zohran Mamdani: immigrant organizing boosts support for an immigrant mayor
  2. Update on cancellation of TPS for Nepali residents

1. Mamdani’s Campaign Success: Grassroots Immigrant Organizing

“[Trump] just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.”—Zohran Mamdani

Jackson Heights group DRUM Beats, the sibling organization of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), was featured by many news organizations this year for its political advocacy work. You may have seen them last weekend at Jackson Heights Farmer’s Market doing henna tattoos, canvassing for Zohran Mamdani, and providing voting registration assistance. They are a major contributing factor to the success of Mamdani’s campaign to become the next, and first Muslim and South Asian, mayor of New York City, and, as he says himself, the first immigrant mayor in generations. DRUM Beats was one of the first grassroots groups to endorse him. Along with CAAAV Voice, the political arm of the CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, South Asian residents were engaged across all five NYC boroughs in support of Mamdani’s campaign. Turnout for the primary saw a 40% increase in South Asian voters for the Democratic Socialist candidate. This came less than a year after many of those same populations appeared to swing right by supporting Trump for president. One reason for Mamdani’s success is his showing up in person in their districts.

30% of the election districts won by Trump in 2024 supported Mamdani in the June 2025 Democratic primary. Many of those districts are in majority Asian neighborhoods. Indeed, across all immigrant-majority neighborhoods, Mamdani won by 7 points. New York Communities for Change has announced that a coalition of organizations representing 50,000 working-class Black and immigrant New Yorkers endorsed Mamdani. Make The Road New York officially endorses him, as does Congressmember Adriano Espaillat, an influential Latino leader for upper Manhattan and the Bronx. He also secured support from the head of the NYPD Bangladeshi American Police Association at a time when 13 other law enforcement organizations had backed the incumbent and former policeman, Mayor Adams, before he dropped out of the race. Despite having higher financial earnings than the working-class immigrants campaigning for Mamdani, many young, well-paid, white collar workers in New York’s tech sector are also giving him their support; they also worry about the affordability of life in the city. 

Mamdani, who worked as a housing counselor with the local immigrant services and housing support organization Chhaya CDC, does not include an “immigration” section on his campaign website. He clearly is a strong supporter of our sanctuary city status, but his platform emphasizes affordability, housing and food security, health, and education as the critical issues facing working-class populations. His policy memo about Trump-Proofing New York is not just about standing up to the ICE invasion, but about protecting all vulnerable New Yorkers from the multiplicitous attacks by Trump. During the first Mayoral debate last week, the topic of immigration and our sanctuary city laws was raised—Mamdani distinguished himself from the others by being more personal and talking of the horrific and ongoing abduction activities conducted by ICE at 26 Federal Plaza.

In private, Trump has indicated he thinks Mamdani is unbeatable. Trump has threatened to withhold federal money from New York if Mamdani is elected Mayor and has already moved forward to cut federal counterterrorism and transit funds. The president has stated that he will arrest Mamdani if he tries to stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors. Trump, along with Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles, also questioned Mamdani’s citizenship. Ogles has been called out for censure for his bigoted and racist speech, including his letter asking the Justice Department to denaturalize and deport Mamdani. (Vickie Paladino, a Queens Council member, who also called for Mamdani to be deported, was met with minimal criticism from city officials and the current mayor.) After Mamdani won the Democratic primary, Tom Homan, Trump’s so-called Border Czar, said that ICE would double up and triple up agents in New York (and this week we watched New Yorkers defend their street vendors from ICE on Canal Street). 

These are the actions of authoritarians who will use any means, even if illegal, to silence and punish the people opposing their anti-democracy political dogma, which is hidden behind a show-of-force facade of nationalism and patriotism. Meanwhile, Mamdani was interviewed on Fox News and stated he will lead this city by building partnerships with people, and that he would do so, “not only in Washington, D.C., but [with] anyone across this country.” He has already proven he can do that by building a multi-asian coalition of support, which has expanded further and made him the current leader in the election polls.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Be inspired by The Queensborough restaurant and organize a fundraising event for your favorite local immigrant-led support organization. After the No Kings March, The Q raised over $600 in cash for NICE (New Immigrant Community Empowerment).
  • Help DRUM Beats continue their political advocacy by making a financial donation. 

2. Brief History of TPS for Nepal, and Its Termination

As of 2023, there were more than 200,000 Nepalis in the US, with almost 17,000 living in Jackson Heights, many with Temporary Protective Status (TPS). As of October 2025, more than 12,000 Nepalis residing in the US–some of them our neighbors here in Queens–have had their legal TPS status abruptly canceled by the Trump administration. 

TPS was created by the Immigration Act of 1990, and grants permission for people to stay in the US if conditions in their country are unsafe from a natural disaster, an armed conflict, or some other unusual and temporary situation making it unsafe for people to return. TPS protects people from deportation, and they can be authorized to work in the US. TPS is granted for 18 months, and at the end of that time it can be extended or revoked for another 6, 12, or 18 months. At least 60 days before the period ends, the Secretary of Homeland Security must review conditions in the target country and publish the decision in the Federal Register.

In April 2015, there was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal, followed by several strong aftershocks. There was extensive damage throughout the country: 755,000 homes were damaged; 9,000 people died and 22,000 were injured. That is why TPS was granted for Nepalis residing in the US until June 2018. Then, in 2017, serious flooding and landslides impeded food production and reconstruction of the earthquake damage. As a result of two separate court cases (Bhattarai v. Nielsen and Ramos v. Nielsen), TPS for Nepal was extended three times until June 2024. 

However, in 2018, Trump revoked the TPS status for Nepal, which was quickly challenged in court. Then, in 2023, DHS under Biden rescinded that termination and extended TPS until June 2025. On June 6, 2025, DHS Secretary Noem terminated TPS for Nepal, effective August 5, 2025. She claimed “there are notable improvements in environmental disaster preparedness and response capacity, as well as substantial reconstruction from the earthquake’s destruction such that there is no longer a disruption of living conditions and Nepal is able to handle adequately the return of its nationals.”

In July 2025, the National TPS Alliance and individual plaintiffs with TPS status challenged Secretary Noem’s actions as arbitrary and capricious, failing to provide the required 60-day notice, and violating the equal protection portion of the Fifth Amendment because the motivation was partially racial animus. On July 31, US District Judge Trina Thompson granted the plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the cancellation. The court ordered that TPS remain in effect until at least November 18, 2025. But on August 20, 2025, the District court’s stay was overridden by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing TPS cancellation for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua to go forward. 

Meanwhile, in September 2025, there was a political crisis in Nepal when economic dysfunction and disillusioned youth led to widespread protests, government buildings burned, a national curfew, and finally the installation of a new president, Sushila Karki, the first woman president of Nepal.

It is not clear if that political crisis will have any bearing on the status of Nepalis in the US. With the removal of work authorization and the threat of deportation the Nepali community is in danger.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Make a donation to our local immigrant-led organization Adhikaar which represents the Nepali-speaking community. 

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 07/26/2025

Posted on July 26, 2025 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Like many of you, we find ourselves at risk of being overwhelmed every week, sometimes daily, by immigration news. Much of it bad and some of it almost unbelievable. We continue to publish our monthly newsletter with a local focus whenever we can—looking at both the forces aligning against immigrant lives, and those allied with solidarity, resistance, and community-based care. None of it makes any sense without you, our readers, taking this news and acting when and where you can, for immigrant justice and power. Thank you for continuing to read the newsletter—and for using it as a tool in our common struggle.

Today’s issue takes on systematic wage theft—disproportionately experienced by immigrant workers—while highlighting how common it is in our own neighborhood. The newsletter also returns to the urgent issue of the Trump regime’s attempts to cancel Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of legal immigrant US residents, including many in the Nepali community here in Queens.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Wage theft is all around us
  2. Temporary Protective Status (TPS) under assault: an update

1. Wage Theft is All Around Us

Wage theft is rampant in industries that employ large numbers of immigrant workers. These include agriculture, building maintenance, garment assembly, hotel, restaurant and food service, construction, nursing homes, nail salons, warehouses and car washes. Inequality.org states the obvious: “Undocumented workers are particularly vulnerable to wage theft as they are often the least likely to report violations due to fear of retaliation, job loss, or exposure of their immigration status.” This has become an even more pressing consideration as the terror of the Trump regime’s mass deportation accelerates.

The Center for Popular Democracy reports that “An estimated 2.1 million New Yorkers are victims of wage theft annually, cheated out of a cumulative $3.2 billion in wages and benefits.” Wage theft among New York City’s 300,000 low-wage workers is reported to be roughly $18.4 million per week. The widespread nature of wage theft in the state and city can be visualized by clicking on Documented’s Wage Theft Monitor. The Monitor is based on state and federal data acquired through Freedom of Information requests. It records thousands of final wage theft settlements—large and small, in every neighborhood—including hundreds of findings against businesses in our area. 

Examples of wage theft in Queens alone seem endless:

  • In 2020, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) organized a large protest outside Sona Chaandi, one of the largest jewelry stores on 74th Street. Demonstrators accused the owners of sexual harassment, as well as wage theft. Nargis, an immigrant DRUM member and former employee, told the rally that she was harassed, paid $50 to $75 for 10 hour days, and forced to take care of the owner’s elderly parent without pay. The Documented Wage Theft Monitor shows that Sona Chaandi was eventually ordered to pay $65,000 to two unnamed workers.
  • Some local eating and drinking establishments with immigrant work forces have faced large wage theft settlements. El Picosito Bar on Roosevelt was ordered to pay $237,621 to 10 workers a few years back. La Boina Roja Steakhouse was recently ordered by the state to pay $221,130 to 11 workers, according to the Wage Theft Monitor. National chain restaurants are also implicated. For instance, Chipotle on Northern Boulevard was ordered to reimburse 85 workers in a wage theft case filed in 2023.
  • In 2022, Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement of more than $90,000 in favor of several Astoria laundry workers. The Laundry Workers Center, which primarily represents immigrant women of color, did the initial investigation on the case and pushed it to the AG’s office.
  • That same year, James also won a $130,000 settlement for two building superintendents in Flushing who were paid no wages at all—the owners had decided that a rent-free apartment would serve as their only compensation.
  • Last year, Make the Road New York was instrumental in publicizing and filing a disturbing wage theft complaint by Ecuadorian migrants at a tobacco packaging factory in Queens. Workers assert that they were paid about $4 an hour, working in sweatshop conditions 10-13 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • This summer, Assemblymember Shekar Krishnan took the lead in trying to terminate lucrative city contracts handed out to Griffin’s Landscaping, a firm accused of repeated wage theft and other illegal behavior.

Unfortunately, many ripped-off immigrant workers never get a legal settlement, or any kind of justice. Even those bold enough to file complaints with state or federal authorities face an uphill struggle. They may win their cases, which often take years, and yet the employer stalls, refuses to pay the judgement, hides, or declares bankruptcy.

“Hildalyn Colón Hernández, deputy director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment, a New York-based worker advocacy organization, said, ‘Employers are operating with no consequences’….Colón Hernández added that her organization now trains its employees on how to investigate wage theft because it would take too long if they had to rely on federal or state investigators to recover back wages.”  —ProPublica, 8/22/23

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. The Impact of TPS Changes for NY

“The law is very clear that once the TPS extension has been granted, it cannot be taken away en masse. This is the first time in the 35-year history of the TPS statute that anyone’s ever tried to do that.” –Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director, Center for Immigration Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law

The Brookings Institute warned that Trump’s campaign promises targeting immigrants “would have disproportionate impacts on U.S. cities and urban areas, given that most foreign-born individuals live and work in these places.” Among US counties with undocumented populations, Queens is ranked the sixth-largest and has over three TPS holders per 1,000 people. (With a population of about 2,250,000, that amounts to over 6,750 TPS holders.) The Trump regime, led by Stephen Miller’s hard-line propaganda, aims to abruptly end TPS status for hundreds of thousands of US residents, which disproportionately threatens people living here in Queens and NYC.  

About 40% of the migrants who arrived in NY in 2022-23 came from Venezuela under TPS protections. New York City has the second-largest TPS-eligible Haitian population in the nation, which comprises about 3% of the city’s population. Among other TPS recipients, New York City also has the largest Honduran population and, residing in both Woodside and Jackson Heights is the second-largest Nepali migrant population in the country. Around Flushing and Kew Gardens, there is a large population of Afghan immigrants in Queens. 

These groups combined comprise 87,000 TPS holders in New York state who are specifically under threat from the questionable legal actions spearheaded by the Trump administration to strip their legal authorization to remain and work in the US, making them all detainable and deportable. The inappropriately named One Big Beautiful Bill, which barely received enough votes to become law, supplements these attacks by requiring higher fees for individuals to submit forms necessary to file in court to fight against potential deportation. The Showcase of Nepalis in New York (NepYork) published the full details of these cost increases. NepYork also reported on a recent NJ event organized to discuss increased deportation threats and the imminent termination of TPS for Nepalese immigrants. 

“TPS is ending on August 5 [for Nepal], and thousands of lives are hanging by a thread. We organized this not just because the law is changing, but because our families are suffering silently. Many don’t know their rights. Many are scared. We have organized this event to help them find a way and let them know they are not alone.” Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar, Program Director at Hudson S.P.E.A.K.S.

Pushback against TPS terminations includes Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s SECURE Act, introduced last month along with 30 other senators. The bill would secure a pathway to permanent residency and is supported by numerous unions, CASA, the National TPS Alliance, and the National Network for Arab American Communities. Additionally, in February, the Dream and Promise Act was resubmitted—a bipartisan bill supported by nearly 200 representatives that would protect DACA recipients as well as TPS holders.  

On Monday, July 28, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards will hold a rally at 6:00 PM at Queens Borough Hall to support community members who are deeply affected by the terminations of Temporary Protected Status. Haitian-American City Councilmember Farah Louis has also spoken out against the efforts to end TPS. She notes that people fled their dangerous home countries, came here for a better life, they work for local businesses, and invest in the economy here—and now all that is about to be snatched away. Brad Lander, the NYC Comptroller, has published Protecting Our Neighbors, describing the humanitarian costs of cancelling TPS. His report also highlights the defunding by the Trump and Adams administrations of vital legal services used to protect over 1,800 children whose lives will be disrupted by this change.

Hundreds of thousands of TPS recipients, along with family members and supporters, await the outcome of the numerous challenges made in court by the National TPS Alliance, CASA, Haitian Americans United Inc., and the Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association as the clock ticks down towards deadlines that threaten to end their legal status. 

Country Designation Date Most Recent Action Expiration Date # Individuals
Afghanistan* May 20, 2022 Termination (5/13/25) July 14, 2025 11,700
Cameroon* June 7, 2022 Termination (6/4/25) August 4, 2025 5,200
Haiti* Jan. 21, 2010 Termination (7/1/25) Sept. 2, 2025 348,187
Honduras* Jan. 5, 1999 Termination (7/8/25) Sept. 8, 2025 72,000
Nicaragua* Jan. 5, 1999 Termination (7/8/25) Sept. 8, 2025 4,000
Nepal* June 24, 2015 Termination (6/6/25) August 5, 2025 12,700
Venezuela* Oct. 3, 2023 (re-designation) Termination (2/5/25) Not applicable 348,202

Table compiled by bhfs 7/22/2025
* Asterisks denote ongoing litigation 

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Local group DRUM has been organizing for 25 years and supports the Nepali population under threat from TPS terminations. Join their 25×25 campaign and have 25 of your own contacts donate $25 to support their work.
  • The National TPS alliance includes, among others, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), Adhikaar and the Haitian Bridge Alliance. If you are able, consider donating to any or all of these organizations.
  • Attend the rally this Monday, July 28, at 6pm at Queens Borough Hall to demand continued TPS protections for immigrant neighbors. 

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 06/28/2025

Posted on June 28, 2025 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

The recent primary election of Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic party candidate for New York City Mayor was a defeat for the tired ideas, negativity, and Trump-lite style of divisiveness of Andrew Cuomo’s campaign. During his victory speech, Mamdani spoke of how the power of the Mayor can be used to “reject Donald Trump’s fascism, to stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors and to govern our city as a model for the Democratic Party.” 

Our first article examines a possible national turning point as New Yorkers pit themselves against inhumane immigration enforcement being wielded against families and neighbors. We follow with an article about the decision to suddenly strip thousands of Nepali immigrants in Queens and beyond of their legal status in the US, and how the local group Adhikaar continues to be a strong voice against the drastic changes being made to the TPS program.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Immigration Court Deportations Provoke Outrage 
  2. Local Nepali TPS Holders Suddenly Stripped of Legal Status   

 

 Copyright Stephanie Keith

1. Is NYC’s Federal Plaza struggle a turning point?

The Trump regime’s mass deportation campaign has arrived in New York City, and its spearhead is the deception and abduction of peaceful residents at the immigration courts in Federal Plaza. The Department of Homeland Security is blindsiding immigrants attending supposedly routine appointments by suddenly dismissing their cases. This unusual legal maneuver is meant to short-circuit the due process protections that immigrants normally retain as they petition for asylum or other legal status. In many cases, court dismissal exposes immigrants to “expedited removal”. The immigrants most at risk of immediate deportation are those who have been in the US for less than two years. This includes more than 900,000 people who entered the US with explicit government permission using Biden’s mobile app and appointment program, CBP One. (Trump’s DHS has twisted it into a self-deportation app called CBP Home.) 

What’s happening in the immigration courthouses in Federal Plaza is essentially an ambush. DHS picks out vulnerable immigrants, and the courts instruct them to come in for what seem like normal check-in appointments. Immigration “judges” (who are employees of the federal Department of Justice) are instructed to dismiss cases as soon as the government lawyer makes the request, without allowing the usual two-week time period for a legal response. Swarms of masked ICE agents, prepped with lists and photographs of their targets, lurk in the hallways to handcuff immigrants (including an 11th grader from Queens) and take them away to detention.

Abducted immigrants are jammed into crowded bedless holding cells, bathrooms, and offices inside the Federal Plaza buildings. They are reportedly forced to sleep on the floor or while sitting upright, denied showers, changes of clothes, medical care, communication with their families, legal representation or proper food for days before being transferred to immigration jails. Although members of congress have the legal right to inspect immigration detention facilities, ICE has denied US representatives access to the Federal Plaza holding areas, claiming they are “sensitive transit zones.”

Immigrants who are quick to overcome shock, fear, and language barriers, who are prepared in advance, or who are fortunate enough to have legal counsel with them, can sometimes avoid or delay expedited removal. They are advised by advocates to object immediately to the unexpected dismissal of their case, making it clear that they reserve the right to appeal the decision. They are counseled to say that they are afraid of returning to their country, to request asylum, and to request a fear interview. But as a fact sheet from the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project makes clear, it can be difficult to prevent expedited removal, depending on the judge, the timing, and other circumstances, including the availability of community support.

The brutal ICE arrests of law-abiding immigrants in NYC, along with parallel workplace and street raids in Los Angeles, have set off a wave of public revulsion and militant protest. They have further exposed the dishonest premises and cruelty of mass deportation, and in particular demonstrated how broadly it affects all residents.

Most New York families include at least one immigrant. About 40% of NYC residents were born outside the US. One million New Yorkers live in a household that includes an undocumented person. To Trump and Stephen Miller, that makes the city look like a target-rich environment for mass deportation. But for millions of immigrant residents, and millions more who care about them, the spectacle of masked Homeland Security thugs tricking, arresting and brutalizing law-abiding immigrants attending scheduled check-ins is galvanizing. The current demonstrations outside immigration courthouses include many highly motivated family members, intent on protecting their loved ones. Concern over ICE arrests has radiated outward in concentric circles, drawing in friends, neighbors, teachers, activists and ultimately, even mainstream politicians like Kathy Hochul and Jerome Nadler. Ordinary NYC residents and city officials like Comptroller Brad Lander are showing up at immigration courts to accompany endangered people out of the building and pass out legal advice leaflets.

The press, including the New York Times, The City, and other outlets, has played a key role in raising awareness of ICE’s deception and abduction of immigrants at Federal Plaza. Special mention must go to Documented, a non-profit newsroom reporting “with and for immigrant communities,” which appears in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Haitian Creole. Their intensive coverage took an inside track when their reporters argued and pressured their way into the Ted Weiss Federal Building, where surprise immigration court arrests were happening. The result was vivid firsthand testimony, including a series of stunning photographs by photojournalist Stephanie Keith, often showing the actual moment of ICE arrests. One striking feature of the photographs is the manifest dignity of the abducted immigrants, some of whom stare directly at their captors with resolute anger as they realize what’s been done to them.

There is some evidence that national sentiment is shifting towards immigrants. As recently as January, a disturbing Times/Ipsos poll had found that 55% of Americans supported Trump’s call for mass deportation of every undocumented person in the US.  But two recent polls, The Economist/YouGov poll, taken June 13-16, and a June 11 Quinnipiac Poll, show that a majority of residents now oppose Trump’s handling of immigration. This is a modest but significant turnaround on what has been considered the president’s strongest issue.

In the meantime, Mahmoud Khalil and other immigrants kidnapped by ICE as retribution for their political views have been released by judges. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, still under indictment, has at least been returned to the US after he was “disappeared” into a Salvadoran gulag. Employers are pleading with the Trump regime to stop rounding up their most valuable workers, as whole towns become ghost zones. A recent series of national demonstrations, totaling roughly 4-6 million people, rebuked mass deportation and authoritarianism. And there are other signs of growing opposition to Trump’s attacks on immigrants in the interior of the country.

But it’s too soon to say what will happen. Is the political battle at Federal Plaza part of a turn towards immigrant justice? Or is it a launch pad for further authoritarian escalation?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

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2. TPS Abruptly Cancelled for Nepali Immigrants

April 2015—A catastrophic earthquake hits Nepal, killing over 8,000 Nepalis and damaging infrastructure throughout the country.   June 2015—The US government grants Temporary Protective Status (TPS) to 15,000 Nepali immigrants. TPS is a humanitarian program allowing people from designated nations to live and work legally in the US when returning to their home country is too dangerous due to war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances.  2018—The Trump administration attempts to terminate TPS for Nepalis but is challenged in federal court, and the Department of Homeland Security rescinds its termination efforts.  2020-2024—TPS is extended at regular intervals for Nepalis.  June 5, 2025—The Trump administration announces the cancellation of TPS for Nepalis.

Of the estimated 12,700 Nepalis whose legal status is now threatened by the Trump regime’s abrupt revocation of their TPS protections this month, several thousand are neighbors, workers, and community members here in Woodside and Central Queens. Adhikaar, our local women-led immigrant justice organization serving the Nepali-speaking community, played a significant role in keeping TPS in place for Nepalis in 2019 and again in 2023. Now, in June of 2025, they once again commit to that same cause: “The Trump administration has turned its back on Nepali TPS holders. But we will not back down. Adhikaar condemns this cruel decision and stands with our community—fighting for dignity, justice, and the right to stay.” Despite DHS claims to the contrary, Nepal continues to suffer aftereffects of the 2015 disaster. The country remains weakened by catastrophic flooding, fragile infrastructure, and the ongoing socio-economic costs of climate damage.

While DHS historically grants a six-month window between the announcement of a TPS revocation and the end of legal protections, the DHS announcement on June 5, 2025, gives only 60 days: by midnight on August 5, 2025, all Nepali TPS holders are required to ‘self-deport,’ in the words of DHS.  

Together with recent TPS revocations for Cameroon, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Venezuela, the termination of TPS for Nepal follows a pattern of federal actions targeting immigrants of color, especially working-class immigrants from the Global South. The Trump regime’s cancellation of this humanitarian program—established by Congress in 1990 with bipartisan support—affecting hundreds of thousands of TPS holders, joins up with mass deportations, the proposed hyperfunding of ICE, and new restrictions on and dismissal of asylum claims as an emerging architecture of fascist anti-immigrant policies in the US. 

The termination of TPS designations for Cameroon and Afghanistan is being challenged in court, and a ruling is expected soon on a separate legal challenge to the termination of TPS for Haiti. But there is yet no known legal action against the cancellation of TPS for Nepal.

The removal of TPS protections for Nepalis coincides with the Trump State Department’s suspension of interview appointments for new student visas. For 8,000 Nepali students approved for study in the US this year, this demands a drastic reorientation of their education plans; many are instead now seeking to travel to Canada, Japan, Australia or the UK for their university education.  

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

 

JHISN Newsletter 05/31/2025

Posted on May 31, 2025 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

With ICE thugs stalking our streets and universities and Eric Adams selling out to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, the NYC mayoral election is unfolding in the middle of a human rights crisis, for migrants and for the city. Few of the candidates vying to replace Eric Adams address the issues of immigration and mass deportation with the urgency it demands. JHISN does not endorse candidates, but we ask that you pay attention to their platforms and use your ranked-choice vote to support candidates who will fight for immigrant justice. The mayoral primary will be held on June 24, with early voting running from June 14-22. Given how ranked-choice voting works, if you want to maximize your vote against a particular mayoral candidate, the best strategy is to fill in all five ranked slots (rather than just 2 or 3) provided on the ballot—while not listing/ranking the candidate you are trying to defeat! 

Our newsletter today addresses palpable fear. We begin with the voice of one of our city residents who shares personal stories of fear, not just for how families will be torn apart by executive priorities, but also the fear of speaking out against Enforcers. We then look at the confusing and contradictory information about arrests, detentions, and deportations. We see how the clickbait social media productions from official government accounts attempt to spin a narrative of criminal deportations which is simply false.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. “Due process be damned”—living in constant alert
  2. Trump regime twists the narrative re: deportation numbers

1. The Voice of a Neighbor and Concerned Citizen

Under the draconian practices of this regime, fear has gripped undocumented New Yorkers. But many citizens also live in fear. A citizen, and former resident of Jackson Heights, has suffered and learned so much about our immigration system after successfully bringing her deported husband to the US that she decided to volunteer for an organization that provides free (pro bono) legal advice to people held in immigration detention centers. While studying to become a lawyer herself, she has developed a private paralegal clinic and handles a few cases that don’t require an attorney. 

Here is her anonymous testimony about what she is experiencing, feeling, and the state of constant alert in which she lives:

“I have a client from Honduras—let’s call her Claudia M. She came around 10 years ago to the United States, fleeing violence and gangs in her native country. Honduras has the highest femicide rate of all the countries in Latin America, which also affected her since she was fleeing her aggressive domestic partner. When Claudia left Honduras, she left her three children behind with her mother. 

“Her oldest child—let’s call him Diego, who is now 23 years old—had a childhood friend who was killed by the MS-13 gang around three years ago. That is when Claudia decided to pay for his voyage to come to the United States. She also financed the trip for her two other children to come to the United States. 

“During the 10 years that Claudia was here, she had been in a relationship. As that relationship was coming to an end, she got a letter for her last court appearance regarding her asylum petition. During the turmoil of her breakup and fearing deportation, she missed her final immigration appointment. Due to this, the judge automatically gave her an order of deportation. Every day, she lives with fear that she will be deported. She is scared when she has to drive to work or pick up her kids from high school. 

“One of the hardest parts for me is not being able to help her file paperwork with USCIS because of my fear of “activating” her case. 

“When Claudia’s two youngest children were held in ICE detention in Texas, they were released to her care, and her address is listed on that release form. If we begin to move one of their cases along by applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), I am afraid that she might end up on a list of people with active orders of removal. 

“Her second oldest son is doing very well in high school and is getting ready to go to college. However, he is unable to apply to be admitted to college or get financial aid without a work permit and Social Security Card. In order to do this, he needs to file a petition under TPS. Once that is approved, then he might be eligible to get a work permit and Social Security card. However, under this current administration, by trying to do the right thing for her son, I might inadvertently negatively impact his mother. 

“This is the same fear that my own family felt when I was getting ready to do an interview about my own experience of being the wife of a deported husband, and that might be watched by current immigration officials. Since my husband was deported about 10 years ago and then given a waiver and pardoned, I am afraid of speaking out. It seems to me that this administration will stop at nothing to quiet people who oppose their methods. If by speaking out, I am harming my husband’s chance at staying in the United States and becoming a US citizen, then I would rather stay quiet. I can not rip him apart from my daughter’s life and go back to the way things used to be before. He is here now, and we are grateful for that. 

“Currently, many immigrants do not feel free to speak openly about things done to us by the previous or current government. Even my mother, who is a citizen, also fears losing benefits she got from the government. They might take any chance to send anyone back. They might be looking for any excuse. Due process be damned.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Deportation Misrepresentations Generate Fear

We repeatedly watch President Trump’s deception in action, particularly his lies about immigration. He states that actions will be taken, based on invalid or inaccurate source material, and then, regardless of the actual outcome, declares the outcomes met his stated goals. We see this again in the way his administration reports on immigrant deportations. While campaigning he promised the largest deportation program of criminals in US history. Now elected, he strives to control that narrative and claim he is delivering on that promise—despite facts and reality to the contrary. 

In the first weeks of his presidency, Homeland Security posts on ex-Twitter showed daily immigrant arrest numbers that made Trump look tougher than the Biden administration. A 627% increase in monthly arrests makes an impressive headline, but the DHS Press Release related to that post plays with nuanced deportation terminology, comparing different types of arrests while implying they are the same. Those headline-grabbing posts stated average counts of 800 arrests per day, but research by Hearst media suggested the daily numbers were closer to 300 arrests per day, similar to Biden. Also, back in 2021, the Government Accountability Office documented how DHS arrests and detentions of US citizens—which are taking place under Trump—have happened before. What is new is the self-aggrandized and inhumane reporting of immigration enforcement activity shared by DHS just to instill fear.

“While DHS has stopped reporting monthly data on removals, NBC reported that ICE removed 4,300 noncitizens from the U.S. interior in February, a slightly higher pace than the average 3,200 per month from FY 2021-24, under Biden, but lower than the 6,800 in the first Trump administration and well below those of the Obama administration, when ICE carried out about 12,900 removals from the interior per month.” —Migration Policy Institute, April 24, 2025

We are seeing how the Project 2025 blueprint is being implemented as the administration seeks to dramatically increase the number of people who can be targeted for removal. This month the Supreme Court ruled the administration can end Temporary Protective Status for over 800,000 people. Yet to be addressed are the threats made to cancel DACA for 540,000 Dreamers, and to end the asylum parole status for 240,000 Ukrainians. Also under threat are international students and green-card holders whose visas could be revoked. All these conditions set the foundation for yet more deportation increases in the future. But during these first months, the more accurate story is that ICE arrests in the US interior have increased while Border Patrol arrests have dropped significantly, as shown by TRAC-obtained data. This switch in arresting agencies has kept the overall numbers of arrests similar to the Biden administration. 

Source: Austin Kocher

This means that Trump’s success in dissuading people from attempting to cross the border has negatively impacted the deportation numbers he desperately wants to show are growing. In the chart below, note the three short red lines (on the right) for Feb, March, and April 2025 showing that attempted SW border crossings have dropped from well over 100,000 to less than 12,000 monthly encounters. 

Southwest Border Encounters. Source: NBC News

So how has Trump kept his overall arrest numbers slightly higher than Biden’s? The data shows, “ICE’s enforcement surge has largely targeted immigrants without criminal convictions or criminal charges, contrary to the Trump administration’s baseless public assertions.”  Throughout January 2025 the distribution of ICE detainees was steady at around 62% with criminal convictions, 32% with pending criminal charges, and just 6% with no criminal violation. But by April 20 the data shows that 18% of  ICE detainees have no criminal convictions (triple the percentage in January), while only 45% have criminal convictions. This is actually just a continuation of the Biden approach when, in 2021, the majority of people in ICE custody first started to have no criminal record.

 Source: WDSU – Hearst Media

Just because the current administration lies about their deportation numbers does not in any way suggest that the actions they are taking to reshape immigration law–sidestepping Congress–are not heinous. In week one of Trump’s ICE raids, 100 NYC immigrants were arrested, and little is known about their current situation. New York City’s rapid response immigration hotline tracked a 68% increase from prior months with 140 requests for help in January, 35 of which were for people in immigration detention. As if life was not hard enough as a street vendor, “vending without a license“ can be prosecuted in NYC as a criminal summons or misdemeanor rather than as a civil liability, which also puts vendors at risk of deportation if they encounter police. The fear of being deported has caused many vendors to stop working.

“It’s not about public safety anymore. It’s just about this volume number. And we are less safe for that.”
—Former ICE Chief of Staff, Jason Houser

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from
JHISN.