Media monitoring by Susan Manuel, 10-17 September 2026
ICE arrests are soaring; not deportations
Reuters reported on 14 September that immigration arrests have soared in recent months due to more local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, increased use of technology to track people, and enhanced data sharing between federal agencies. But deportations have not kept up due to legal and logistical limits. As arrests reached nearly 51,000 in August, deportation numbers held steady at about 1,200 a day.
The disconnect is partly due to who is being targeted: there are a growing number of people with no criminal conviction or charge and no deportation order, according to the Deportation Data Project. Many being arrested had pending asylum or other legal claims, meaning they could not be immediately removed from the country unless they agreed to waive their rights and voluntarily deport. A lack of available flights and limits set by receiving counties are also factors. (In the past month, ICE detained 2,200 immigrant residents in New York state.)
Among the easiest people to find are those who have shared information with the U.S. government in trying to get legal status, i.e., immigrants on track for green cards or with asylum claims or (previously) with Temporary Protected Status. Those with active cases are not so easy to deport. They may also have better access to an attorney and may be more aware of their rights. Many who can’t afford a lawyer have languished in detention.
Dropped and deserted in Liberia. CBS News traveled to Liberia to interview deportees sent there last month. “They described being in limbo and feeling stateless, unable to return to the U.S. where many have spouses and children, and scared of being persecuted if they go back to their homelands.” Among those sent to the West African country are men and one woman from Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela, as well as Cameroon and Eritrea.
“Most of the deportees who agreed to be interviewed won legal protections from American immigration courts, preventing ICE from deporting them to their home countries because of concerns they could be persecuted or tortured there. …. But under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance posture to illegal immigration, those with such cases are being targeted for deportation to third countries as they still lack a valid permanent immigration status, despite their limited legal protections.”
The deportees were given no chance to contest their removal to Liberia, a place few had heard of previously. While DHS had maintained they were sending hardened criminals to those countries, CBS News could not find a criminal charge or conviction for the vast majority. DHS told CBS that they could have opted to self deport and receive a $3000 stipend. Liberia is not detaining the deportees, who are staying in a small hotel, and being assisted by the U.N. International Organization for Migration.
In the past month, ICE detained 2,200 immigrant residents in New York state.
Schools gear up for immigration enforcement
Media reportedon preparations by New York State school districts to adopt updated policies on protections for immigrant students. The state is requiring all school districts to put the policies in place by Sept. 21. School districts are affirming all students’ right to an education regardless of immigration status and outlining federal protections for records with sensitive information. Gov. Hochul’s Executive Order 170.1 prohibits immigration officers from conducting operations on a school campus without a judicial warrant. The protection remains despite the Trump administration’s removal of schools from a list of designated sensitive spaces.
The Albany Times Union reported that school districts in the capital region are priming staff and families on how to respond when federal immigration actions impact students. In addition, Albany schools are working closely with outside stakeholders including local law enforcement, elected officials, and not-for-profits supporting immigrant communities.
Experts have warned that immigrant communities are living in a “culture of fear,” which impacts academic performance and convinces parents to keep children home. “’There’s a whole generation of folks experiencing trauma right now,’” said social worker Liz Espinoza.
“Albany school district families and students have felt the impact of nationwide immigration enforcement as recently as last month, when two young children who attended Delaware Community School were detained with their parents,” the paper wrote. But parents continue to trust the schools: Albany schools anticipated lower attendance rates this year, but “attendance has actually ticked up.” …. “What we continue to see is school being one of the safest places for kids,” said Joseph Hochreiter, superintendent of Albany schools.
The district is working with local not-for-profits to help families moving to and from campuses. The Albany Public School Teachers’ Association with its state and national affiliates are conducting training for teachers, and the Capital Region Sanctuary Coalition has been advising immigrant families on sending kids back to school. Schools are also considering actions if a student’s caregiver is detained.
Note: The Times Union article was featured on the paper’s Facebook page. As of Monday morning, there were 482 comments, nearly all critical of immigrants and supportive of ICE.
Other districts get ready. Hudson Valley One reported that on Sept. 8, the Saugerties school district adopted an official policy on support for the rights of immigrant students. In addition to the new state guidance, Trustee Sakinah Irizarry cited the “groundswell of community activism and support for school boards and the county to have resolutions committing themselves to safeguarding immigrant students’ rights.” Superintendent Gwendolyn Roraback said the new policy “doesn’t change anything because our teachers and our staff have been doing this all along.”
The Daily Catch reported that the Red Hook Board of Education adopted four new policies to bring the district in line with the state. The policies strictly limit immigration enforcement on school grounds and provide guidance for staff if a student’s family member is arrested. Guidelines state that authorities cannot detain a student just because their parents were detained. Staff are barred from using school resources to aid immigration enforcement and collecting or sharing information about a student’s or family’s citizenship status. Nor can they delay or deny enrolling non-citizens or exclude them from school activities.
The Rhinebeck Central School District submitted its compliance verification to the state on 2 Sept. That district already had policies in place that conformed with state law. The Kingston School District adopted a strongly-worded protective resolution in January.
Experts have warned that immigrant communities are living in a “culture of fear,” which impacts academic performance and convinces parents to keep children home.
Here in Ulster County, the Immigrant Women’s Academy held a Spanish-language workshop on helping children cope with fear and trauma. View the video (40 minutes) on UIDN’s website or YouTube channel in Spanish with English subtitles. Download an English transcript.
Another court upholds bond hearings
Media reported that the 4th Circuit Court (covering Maryland and Virginia) has joined eight other circuits holding that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act does not allow noncitizens living in the U.S. to be detained without a bond hearing. The ruling contradicts a 2025 Justice Department announcement that noncitizens are subject to mandatory detention. Citing the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, Judge Nicole Berner wrote, “Mass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history.”
Bond hearings are required if the government seeks to continue detention before removal proceedings. At bond hearings, the government must prove a noncitizen poses a danger to the community or is a flight risk. The issue was expected to reach the Supreme Court in October. However, the Court has dismissed the relevant case after U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer notified the court that the case is moot as one of the two men involved left the U.S. and the other man (detained for 21 months) had been released and then pardoned by NY Gov. Kathy Hochul. Sauer said he hopes to find another case that can be rushed to the justices in the coming months. (Washington Times)
“Mass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history.” — Judge Nicole Berner, U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
More on ICE
New Jersey coalition goes after warehouse, again. Project Saltbox reports that a coalition of community groups in New Jersey has asked the state attorney general to bring the federal government to court over a Morris County warehouse that has been used to hold and transfer immigrants arrested in a nearby raid. The Roxbury warehouse has been the subject of a federal lawsuit since March, and a subsequent court order limits what the government can do with the building pending an environmental assessment.
ICE is using the property as a ‘de facto detention and transfer facility’ to support raids across northern New Jersey, contends David Broderick, legal advisor for Project NINJA –No ICE Northern Jersey Alliance. The order called on the Justice Dept. to provide a status update by Sept 18. Agents arrested seven people in Dover on September 4. Volunteers traced some of the detainees to the Roxbury warehouse where they were held at least temporarily before being transferred elsewhere.
DHS purchased the warehouse in February for $130 million to be converted into a detention center. The town opposed the plan, the state sued, and the court in May paused construction. In June DHS indicated it would sell or transfer the warehouse. NY Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared victory on X. However, DHS Secretary Mullin replied minutes later, “DHS will never back down. We will be keeping this site for a detention center.”
Agents leaving. Last year’s surge in ICE hiring was so fast and superficial that the agency has been quietly firing some of the recruits, the Washington Post reported on 15 September. Reasons include poor performance and/or red flags unnoticed during the hiring process. One Philadelphia recruit had been fired from two previous law enforcement jobs and had smashed an immigrant car window during his year with ICE. He shot himself outside an ICE office in August after getting notice he would be fired, according to the Philadelphia police office. His family alleges he was killed by police officers.
After DHS’s Office of Inspector General announced last year it would audit ICE hiring practices, an ICE unit chief warned that the agency was failing to vet applicants. While ICE says vetting is mandatory and diligent, a whistleblower from the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility said job offers were made before preliminary vetting was complete and recommended the hiring stop until compliance with government standards was restored. “They failed to engage in basic vetting requirements which led my client to be alarmed that they were putting agents on the street without knowing anything about their backgrounds,” said Kevin Owen, the whistleblower’s attorney. “The basic processes weren’t followed.”
ICE denies any problems, stating, “ICE is hiring the best of the best to go after the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens including drug traffickers, murderers and pedophiles. When individuals fall short of that standard, personnel decisions are made. This is standard practice in almost every American workplace.”
Not at the polls. The Washington Post also reported that two major Latino civil rights groups, a voting rights organization, and the city of Denver have sued the Trump administration to keep armed immigration enforcement agents away from polling places, citing a Civil War era criminal law that prohibits federal officials from bringing ‘troops or armed men’ to voting locations. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that ICE agents would not patrol polling places but would go if there were a threat or if they were serving a warrant on someone they’re tracking. But at least three Republican gubernatorial candidates have called for armed federal agents and National Guard at voting sites. And Trump administration officials have also stated that ICE agents would be at the polls.
The plaintiffs argue that armed federal agents would intimidate voters—particularly Latinos and naturalized US citizens—and could encourage confrontations at polls. The military also denies any plans to visit polling places. “’I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming Nov. 2026 midterm elections,’” wrote General Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a letter to Senator Elissa Slotkin.
Madhuri Shukla, Detention Watch Network, via JustSeeds.org