Immigration tracker: Latest updates on TPS, deportations and other policy changes

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting immigrants to countries with which they have no prior connection, without advance notice or an opportunity to raise fear-based claims.

The ruling, issued March 29, came in response to a lawsuit filed by immigrants and immigrant rights advocates after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a Feb. 19 directive to fast-track the re-detention and removal of thousands of immigrants previously released from custody, even to countries they have no ties to.

Since January, the Trump administration has expanded agreements with Mexico and several Central American nations to accept deportees from other countries. Advocates warned that the ICE directive could result in immigrants being sent to unfamiliar or unsafe nations without the chance to seek protection from persecution or torture.

In his ruling to block the ICE directive, the judge emphasized that immigrants are entitled to due process under U.S. and international law. The restraining order will remain in effect until at least April 10, when the court is expected to hear arguments on a longer-term injunction.

On April 4, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the deportation of one man — Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with a U.S. citizen wife and children — had been carried out without “legal basis.” She ordered the government to return him to the United States by April 7.

However, on April 7, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused that order, after the Trump administration argued the deadline was “absurdly short.” While Roberts briefly paused that order, the full Supreme Court ruled on April 11 that the U.S. must “facilitate” Abrego’s return and ensure his case is treated as if he had never been deported. The case now returns to the district court for further clarification.

More rulings on the broader policy are expected after April 10, and the status of other deportees remains uncertain.

In early April, the administration added over 6,300 immigrants to the list, including at least eight minors, according to internal documents published by The New York Times.

Those affected include migrants who lawfully entered the U.S. under Biden-era programs but have since lost their temporary protections. Marked as “dead” in federal databases, they are now being denied access to essential financial services, including tax refunds, credit cards and housing.

Critics — including former SSA commissioners, legal experts, and immigrant advocates — say the policy is inhumane and potentially unlawful, with a high risk of mistaken listings and lasting financial harm, even for U.S. citizens. One former commissioner called the tactic “financial murder.”

The CHNV program, launched by the Biden administration in 2022, offered temporary legal status and work permits to immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela through a sponsorship-based process. The Trump administration officially ended the program on March 25 as part of its broader rollback of legal immigration pathways.

Beneficiaries whose protections had not yet expired would have lost them by April 24, but a federal judge halted the termination after finding the government’s reasoning “based on an incorrect reading of the law.” While the judge blocked the termination of the program, she also ruled that it will not reopen to new applicants for now.

To maintain legal status, CHNV beneficiaries can apply for other immigration pathways, such as asylum. DHS has advised those without another legal pathway to leave the U.S. before their parole expiration date.

The court case is ongoing, and the Biden-era program remains in legal limbo.

CBP One was a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s strategy to expand legal pathways and reduce unauthorized crossings. Between 2023 and the end of 2024, more than 936,500 people were allowed to enter the U.S. through CBP One appointments at southern border ports. 

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump ended CBP One for new entrants, stranding thousands in Mexico with cancelled appointments. The new revocation notices were delivered via the renamed CBP Home app and warned recipients that they must leave voluntarily or face removal and permanent bars to reentry. DHS has said migrants may only remain if they have another valid legal status.

Asylum seekers with active immigration court cases are not immediately affected by the parole cancellations, but could face enforcement after their cases are resolved.

In one of its most controversial actions to date, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 to target individuals allegedly tied to the Tren de Aragua gang, resulting in the rapid deportation of 238 Venezuelans to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador without due process. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the order the same day, and a federal judge temporarily blocked further deportations. The pause was upheld by an appeals court on March 28. But on April 7, the Supreme Court overturned the block in a 5-4 decision, saying the lawsuit had been filed in the wrong venue (Washington, D.C., instead of Texas). In a win for due process, however, the justices also ruled that detained immigrants must receive timely notice and an opportunity to challenge their deportation through habeas corpus proceedings.

Now, new court rulings in Texas and New York have again blocked the government from removing additional Venezuelan migrants under the policy. A Texas judge halted the removal of any Venezuelans detained in the Southern District of Texas, citing the risk of irreparable harm. In New York, a judge blocked the deportation of two men held in Orange County after their attorneys argued they had fled persecution and were wrongly labeled as gang members.

Meanwhile, more than 230 Venezuelans deported in March remain imprisoned in El Salvador. Some families of those detained in the Salvadoran prison say their detained relatives have no criminal records or gang affiliations, and were targeted for having unrelated tattoos. Lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government are actively working to release them.

Under San Francisco’s sanctuary city ordinance, local law enforcement and public agencies are prohibited from collaborating with ICE to detain or deport immigrants.

On Jan. 20, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to deny funding to so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions. In response, City Attorney David Chiu filed a federal lawsuit against the order on Feb. 7., joined by several other cities and counties. These jurisdictions argue that sanctuary policies improve public safety by encouraging immigrants to report crimes without fear of deportation.

Trump, however, has doubled down on his attacks.

“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World.,” Trump wrote in an April 10 social media post. “Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!”

There are currently 13 sanctuary states and more than 200 sanctuary cities or counties nationwide that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. 
Trump’s first attempt to withhold funds during his first term failed in the Supreme Court. But a 2020 federal appeals court ruling allowed the administration to withhold certain grants from New York and other states — a precedent that could shape what happens next.

On April 8, the Trump administration disclosed in a court filing that the IRS had reached an agreement with ICE to begin sharing taxpayer data of undocumented immigrants under investigation or with deportation orders.

Though the agencies have not exchanged data yet, the move marks a major break from decades of IRS policy prioritizing taxpayer confidentiality, including for people who are undocumented.

The agreement has sparked resignations within the IRS, including top leaders like Melanie Krause, the acting IRS Service Commissioner.

Immigrant rights groups and taxpayer experts warn that the deal could deter millions of undocumented workers from filing taxes, risking their income, tax refunds and legal safety. Undocumented immigrants paid $66 billion in federal taxes in 2023 alone, according to Yale Budget Lab.

Four federal judges have temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order denying automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. unless one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The order, signed on Trump’s first day back in office, would affect children of undocumented immigrants and many temporary visa holders.

A day later, twenty-two Democratic-led states, two cities (including San Francisco), dozens of civil rights groups and several pregnant women filed lawsuits, arguing the order is unconstitutional. The rulings from courts in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington State have temporarily paused the order nationwide while those lawsuits continue.

On March 13, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to lift the nationwide block and allow the policy to proceed in some states. But on April 4, immigrant rights advocates and state attorneys general urged the justices to keep the nationwide pause in place, warning that partial enforcement would cause legal chaos and potentially strip thousands of U.S.-born children of their citizenship.

On March 21, the Trump administration cut funding for a program that provided legal aid to unaccompanied minors, leaving thousands to represent themselves in court without an attorney. The cuts affected a network of legal aid groups that work through the Acacia Center for Justice, eliminating support for both direct legal services and attorney recruitment.

In response, 11 nonprofit legal organizations sued, arguing the cuts violated a 2008 anti-trafficking law that requires the government to ensure legal counsel for unaccompanied children “to the greatest extent practicable.” The lawsuit also cited the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s own rules, which commit to funding legal representation when resources are available.

On April 2, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a temporary restraining order, restoring funding until April 16 while the case proceeds. She ruled that the sudden halt in funding raised serious legal questions and would leave many children, some too young to speak or deeply traumatized, unprotected in adversarial court proceedings. The court will next consider whether to issue a longer-term injunction.

Still, legal aid providers say they still don’t know when or if federal funding will resume. Many have not heard from the government about how it plans to comply with the court’s order, leaving clinics in limbo and forcing some to continue representing clients without federal support.

Earlier this year, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reversed actions by the Biden administration and ended existing protections for Venezuelans and Haitian nationals. The decision put more than one million people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) at risk of losing their legal status in the coming months, including 350,000 Venezuelans that were set to lose protections in April. 

On March 24, a group of TPS holders from both countries asked a federal judge in San Francisco to pause the termination while their lawsuit challenging Noem’s decision is determined. A day later, a coalition of state attorneys general from 18 states also filed a court motion opposing Noem’s decision. 

The San Francisco judge ruled in favor of the TPS holders on March 31, delaying TPS terminations for Venezuelans until he makes a final decision on the case. He has yet to issue a similar ruling for Haitian TPS holders, who are currently slated to lose their protections by August.  

TPS provides deportation relief and work permits to immigrants from 17 countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or other emergencies. Designations last 18 months and can be extended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  

The Trump Administration previously failed to end TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Nepal and Honduras in 2017 and 2018.

A Texas district court ruled in January that parts of the DACA program are unlawful, effectively blocking the federal government from processing new applications. However, existing DACA recipients — often called Dreamers — can still renew their status.

On February 27, a path to citizenship for DACA recipients was reintroduced in Congress. The American Dream and Promise Act of 2025, led by Reps. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), has support from more than 200 members of Congress. The bill would offer permanent legal status to Dreamers, TPS holders and those with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED).

Established in 2012 under President Obama, DACA provides deportation protection and work permits to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The program has transformed the lives of more than 834,000 young people.

Most immigration enforcement in the city has targeted specific individuals, according to reports by Mission Action, a nonprofit organization that runs San Francisco’s Rapid Response Network. Immigration lawyers say this kind of targeted enforcement predates Trump’s return to office.

In contrast, larger-scale operations have been reported in cities like New York City, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and Houston. In Los Angeles, ICE officials reportedly launched a new wave of enforcement on Feb. 23. Just two days later, 120 people were rounded up in a housing complex in Houston.

On Jan. 21, the Trump administration rescinded prior guidelines that had discouraged immigration enforcement in sensitive locations, allowing ICE agents to operate in and around schools, churches and hospitals.

Soon after, several religious groups filed a lawsuit opposing immigration enforcement in churches, and on Feb. 24, a federal judge temporarily blocked ICE agents from entering places of worship and targeting immigrants nearby unless they have a warrant. 

On Jan. 29, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act after it passed by Congress. Under the new law, immigrants must be detained by ICE if they are accused of certain low-level offenses, including theft over $100, burglary and assaulting a police officer. Immigrants in ICE custody for these offenses cannot be released by an immigration judge while their case is pending, a process that can sometimes take years.

Previously, mandatory ICE detention only applied to those charged with more serious crimes, such as murder and drug trafficking. 

Immigrant rights advocates say the law raises serious due process concerns, since immigrants don’t need to be convicted to be detained.