Policy

Carlos Marte voted for the same congressman five times in a row. Then he didn't. In New York's 2026 Democratic primaries, immigrant voters in Washington Heights helped unseat powerful incumbents — and their reasons were deeply personal: rising rent, fear of losing voting rights, and frustration that no one was fighting hard enough against deportations.

Janeth worked as a nursing assistant in the San Francisco Bay Area for 23 years, winning national awards and helping patients through their worst moments. Then the Trump administration ended TPS — temporary protected status — for Honduras, and she lost everything: her job, her ability to pay her mortgage, and her legal right to stay in the US. Her story is one of thousands, as immigration policy changes in 2026 are quietly pulling healthcare workers out of hospitals and nursing homes across the country.

A cargo worker at LaGuardia Airport fainted in 98-degree heat during a 10-hour shift — and his employer never filed a report. Now, New York City's mayor has signed a first-of-its-kind executive order to protect outdoor workers from deadly heat. For the city's 1.4 million outdoor workers, many of them immigrants, this could change everything.

DACA recipients are waiting longer than ever for their renewals — and many are not getting approved at all. The backlog at USCIS has grown dramatically in 2026, and approvals have nearly stopped. For hundreds of thousands of Dreamers, this means their work permits and protection from deportation may be at risk.

US border officials just blocked all copper shipments from a major Serbian mining company — effective immediately. The reason: strong evidence that workers are being forced to work against their will. This move affects importers, supply chains, and sends a clear message about how the US enforces labor rights at its borders.

Every time a noncitizen crosses a US border — arriving or leaving — CBP can now take their photo and run it through a facial recognition system. This is no longer a pilot program. It is now a final federal rule. If you hold a green card, a work visa, or any other immigration status, this affects your next international trip.

The U.S. government wants to fingerprint your children, collect your DNA, and expand biometric screening to nearly everyone connected to an immigration application. A sweeping proposed rule from USCIS would remove age exemptions, add new biometric types, and — for the first time — allow DNA testing to be required in family visa cases. If you have a green card application, work permit, or family petition in progress, this rule could change what you need to submit.

If you have ever used Medicaid, SNAP, or housing assistance, a new proposed federal rule could affect your green card application. The Department of Homeland Security wants to give immigration officers much broader power to decide who counts as a 'public charge' — someone likely to depend on government support. For millions of immigrants in the US, the stakes could not be higher.

A rule that sat on paper for five years just became real. On December 31, 2025, a new regulation took effect that can bar asylum seekers from protection if the government says they pose a public health risk. If you are in the asylum process — or planning to apply — this change could directly affect your case.

A small Georgia town just forced the federal government to back down. Social Circle, with fewer than 4,000 residents, fought a plan to build a 10,000-person immigration detention center in their backyard — and won. Now, at least six other similar projects across the country are also being cancelled.

A federal judge in Boston just ruled that major lawsuits against Trump's mail voting order can move forward — and could block it before November's midterm elections. The order bans the US Postal Service from delivering ballots to millions of voters not on a federal government list. For immigrants who are US citizens, this could mean their ballot never arrives. For those who are not citizens, the confusion around this order carries serious risks.

Her father spent three years in ICE detention before being deported. Now Aber Kawas is running for the New York State Senate — and she is not alone. Four candidates from immigrant families are challenging Democratic incumbents in next week's primaries, putting deportation defense at the center of their campaigns.

The US government is quietly erasing a set of immigration assistance rules that have been on the books for decades. Officials say the rules are outdated — but some advocates worry that removing them could erase protections for vulnerable immigrants. The public had until May 26, 2026 to stop it.

Ali is an Afghan doctor in rural West Virginia who treated more than 1,600 patients last year — many of them with nowhere else to go. He followed every immigration rule, applied for his green card, and waited. Then the Trump administration froze his application, and this fall his work visa expires. Now the question is not just whether he can stay in the US — it's whether his patients will have a doctor at all.

If you are waiting for asylum in the United States, you may soon have to wait a full year before you can apply for a work permit. The federal government is proposing to double the current waiting period — from 180 days to 365 days. For hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, that could mean a year with no legal right to work.