Case Law

The Justice Department charged 48 noncitizens — nearly all of them green card holders — with illegal voting and false citizenship claims across five states in October 2026. Many were also accused of lying on their naturalization applications, a felony that can permanently end any path to U.S. citizenship. The cases show federal prosecutors are now cross-checking voter rolls against immigration records going back more than two decades.

A lawful permanent resident from Mexico was found at the Nogales, Arizona port of entry with 208 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in her car — and told immigration officials she had no idea it was there. The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in October 2026 that her story did not hold up, reversed the Immigration Judge who had believed her, and sent the case back to immigration court. The decision shows how hard it is to win a "blind mule" defense when your own testimony keeps changing.

The US government tried to force California to pull mail-in ballots from over 20,000 people it labeled "likely noncitizens" in the 2026 federal midterm election. When the district court didn't rule fast enough, the government appealed — and the Ninth Circuit dismissed that appeal in October 2026, saying it had no jurisdiction. The case now returns to the district court, but the legal fight over noncitizen voting records has real consequences for immigrants.

The Tenth Circuit dismissed Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez's challenge to her deportation order in October 2026, ruling she missed the 30-day deadline to appeal. The court found that a 2025 Supreme Court decision — Riley v. Bondi — changed when removal orders become final, catching many immigrants off guard. If you are fighting removal and also have a pending withholding case, this ruling directly affects your deadline to file.

An Iranian couple spent years waiting for a US immigrant visa decision — and when a federal court finally got involved, the State Department refused their applications under a presidential travel ban. In October 2026, a Washington DC federal judge dismissed their lawsuit, ruling the court had no power to override the refusal. The case shows how Proclamation 10998, which bars most Iranian nationals from entering the US, can stop an approved EB-2 National Interest Waiver petition dead in its tracks.

A bisexual Russian man fled violence, police threats, and forced resignation in Russia — then had his US asylum case denied because an immigration judge ruled he hadn't proven his sexual orientation. In October 2026, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, finding the judge fundamentally misunderstood bisexuality and denied the applicant a fair chance to present his evidence.

You were stopped by police, handed to ICE, and locked up — with no judge ever deciding whether you actually needed to be held. In October 2026, the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immigrants detained under federal immigration law while awaiting removal proceedings have no constitutional right to an individualized bond hearing. The decision reversed lower court orders that had freed three men and could affect thousands of detained immigrants across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to halt noncitizen voter investigations in nine states, finding the government relied on deeply flawed data and that its agents were intimidating naturalized citizens and election workers. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled the probe must stop until polls close on November 3. Naturalized citizens in the affected states were among those wrongly flagged and visited at home.

A mother's EBT card was drained by fraudsters — she found out only when her groceries were declined at the register, and had to borrow money to feed her children. In October 2026, the Justice Department and USDA announced charges against more than 40 defendants in a nationwide SNAP fraud enforcement surge, with nearly $42 million in stolen food benefits at stake. Immigrant families who rely on SNAP are among the most targeted — and need to know how to protect themselves.

Your mailbox was full, the hearing notice came back undeliverable, and you never knew you had a court date. The BIA ruled in October 2026 that when that happens, immigration courts have no duty to find you — and a removal order issued in your absence can stand. The decision affects anyone in removal proceedings across the country.

You applied for FEMA disaster relief and got a denial letter with no real explanation — no formula, no criteria, just a rejection. In October 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that FEMA may be using secret internal rules to make those decisions, in violation of federal transparency law, and sent the case back to a lower court for further review.

A federal court in Washington, DC, dismissed Timofey Sluev's lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio in October 2026, ruling that 28 months in visa administrative processing was not long enough to be "unreasonable" under federal law. The decision shows that courts rarely force the State Department to act unless a visa has been stuck for five years or more. For thousands of applicants waiting on family reunification visas, the ruling sets a sobering benchmark.

Kaveh Abedi came to the US from Iran as a child, was granted asylum, and spent more than 20 years checking in with ICE every time it asked. Then, in June 2025, officers showed up at his front yard in Kansas, handcuffed him, and drove him away in an unmarked van. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in October 2026 that the government made serious legal errors when it detained him — a decision that could protect others in similar situations.

Gaye Tyndale-Simpson, a Jamaican national living in New Jersey, pleaded guilty in October 2026 to voting illegally in the 2024 U.S. presidential election — a federal crime that carries up to six months in prison and can trigger deportation for any non-citizen. The case, prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office's Election Integrity Task Force, is a warning: voting while ineligible can end your path to a green card or citizenship.

A federal appeals court ruled in October 2026 that 27 religious organizations can continue their lawsuit challenging ICE enforcement operations at churches and other houses of worship. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a lower court decision that had blocked the case from moving forward. For undocumented immigrants who rely on faith communities for shelter, food, or legal aid, the outcome of this lawsuit could determine whether those spaces remain safe from ICE arrests.