Federal
Trump Directs DHS to Pay Furloughed Workers as Shutdown Continues
President Trump signed a memorandum on April 3 directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use previously appropriated funds to immediately pay all DHS employees who have gone without compensation since the partial shutdown began on February 14. The memo expanded on Trump's earlier, narrower order to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees and extended back pay to more than 35,000 additional workers, with Trump stating that the ongoing lapse represented "an emergency situation compromising the Nation's security." DHS notified employees that paychecks covering back pay from February 14 onward would be deposited between April 10 and April 16, though the order does not end the shutdown and roughly 8 percent of the department remain on furlough.
The legal basis for using previously appropriated funds to pay employees during an active funding lapse remained unclear, and a new DHS internal memo warned TSA workers that paychecks could stop again after the current pay period if Congress fails to pass a funding bill. Republican congressional leaders announced a two-track strategy to resolve the standoff: first, advance the bipartisan Senate bill that funds most of DHS, then pursue a separate party-line reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement agencies. However, significant Republican divisions have delayed progress, while Senate Democrats have warned they will oppose any measure that funds ICE without accountability reforms. Congress is scheduled to return from recess on April 13 with the shutdown still unresolved.
Army Soldier's Newlywed Wife Detained and Released After ICE Arrest at Military Base
Annie Ramos, a Venezuelan national and the newlywed wife of an active-duty U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Johnson in Louisiana, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on the military base on April 2 while visiting her husband, sparking immediate outcry from military families, veterans advocates, and members of Congress. Her husband, Specialist Jonathan Ramos, had been attempting to sponsor her for a spousal visa and said he was on duty when agents detained her, leaving him with no immediate recourse through official channels. The arrest drew particular attention because it occurred on a federal military installation, raising questions about coordination between ICE and the Army and whether the longstanding norm of treating military bases as sensitive locations for immigration enforcement purposes had been set aside.
Ramos was released from immigration detention within days following intense public pressure and congressional intervention, with several lawmakers contacting DHS Secretary Mullin directly on her behalf. Her release was framed by DHS as a discretionary decision rather than an acknowledgment of error, and her underlying immigration case remains open. The episode follows a pattern of high-profile ICE enforcement actions against individuals with direct ties to the U.S. military, including the detention of a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient traveling to visit his premature baby and the deployment of ICE agents to screen families at the Marine Corps graduation ceremonies at Parris Island in late March, fueling a broader debate over whether the administration's enforcement posture is undermining military readiness and recruitment among immigrant communities.
TSA Tipped Off ICE for More Than 800 Arrests at U.S. Airports
Internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data obtained by Reuters revealed on April 7 that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shared the records of more than 31,000 travelers with ICE from the start of the Trump administration through February 2026, leading to the arrest of more than 800 people. The TSA gathered the records through its Secure Flight Program, a counterterrorism initiative launched in 2007 that cross-references passenger names and birthdates against federal watch lists. Under the current administration, the program has been repurposed to flag individuals with final orders of removal and share that information with ICE ahead of their scheduled travel, allowing agents to intercept targets at airports or en route. Reuters could not determine how many of the 800-plus arrests took place inside airport terminals, though immigration attorneys told reporters that tips from TSA were instrumental in identifying when individuals would be traveling.
The scale of the data-sharing program became public weeks after a widely circulated video showed ICE agents arresting Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, a Guatemalan mother, and her nine-year-old daughter at San Francisco International Airport in late March. Internal government documents later confirmed that TSA had alerted ICE days before the flight that Lopez-Jimenez was traveling and had a final deportation order. DHS defended the arrests as lawful, saying all individuals detained had received final orders of removal from immigration judges, while a coalition of more than 40 Democratic representatives wrote to DHS Secretary Mullin warning that the presence of ICE officers at airports causes "confusion and fear" among travelers. Critics also noted that one lawyer's account of an Irish couple with pending green card applications who were detained and deported while flying domestically suggests enforcement is not limited to those with criminal records or long-standing removal orders.
Immigration Restrictions Sideline Foreign Doctors Amid Physician Shortage as H-1B Fees and Visa Delays Take Hold
A December 2025 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy freezing visa renewals for nationals of 39 travel ban countries has forced thousands of foreign physicians across the United States to stop seeing patients, compounding a staffing crisis in hospitals and clinics, particularly in rural and underserved areas where American-trained doctors are scarce. More than 10,000 physicians hold H-1B visas and more than 17,000 work on J-1 visas, with many concentrated in specialties and regions where they are the sole provider of their type of care; one doctor told reporters he was the only practitioner in his specialty in a rural Pennsylvania county. Many physicians have paid the $2,965 expedited processing fee that is supposed to yield a decision within two weeks, but months have passed without updates, and USCIS has requested additional documentation including years of pay stubs and license verifications with no expedited processing resulting. Additionally, a Venezuelan physician working in Texas who lost his job after his visa was caught in the freeze and was subsequently detained by Border Patrol agents.
The visa freeze compounds a separate Trump administration policy announced in September 2025 raising the fee for new H-1B applications to $100,000, up from a prior range of $1,700 to $4,500. The Texas Hospital Association and the Healthcare Association of New York State have urged Congress and DHS to exempt medical workers from the fee, and both the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians wrote to DHS in February warning that visa pauses "force physicians to stop seeing patients, disrupt hospital staffing, and interrupt continuity of care."
Legal
Judge Blocks Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Ethiopians, Citing Procedural Failures
A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled on April 8 to postpone the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia, extending protections for approximately 5,000 Ethiopians while litigation continues. The court found that the administration terminated Ethiopia's TPS designation "without adhering to the procedures established by Congress," and concluded that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary failed to consult with appropriate agencies as required by the TPS statute, and that the decision was pretextual. The ruling continues a stay first issued by the same court in January 2026, which had temporarily blocked the termination that DHS announced in December 2025 with a February 13, 2026 effective date.
The decision is the latest in a string of court orders blocking the Trump administration's sweeping rollback of TPS, which has sought to terminate the designation for 13 of the 17 countries that held it when President Trump took office in January 2025. Courts have now issued injunctions or postponements blocking TPS terminations for Ethiopia, Haiti, Syria, Burma, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua, and others, with the Haiti and Syria cases currently before the Supreme Court for expedited argument. DHS issued updated employer guidance on April 7 confirming that Ethiopian TPS beneficiaries retain valid work authorization and directing employers to update Form I-9 and E-Verify records accordingly.
Judge Upholds Order Barring Deportation of Abrego Garcia Despite Administration's Push to Remove Him to Liberia
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man at the center of one of the most closely watched immigration cases of the Trump administration's second term, remained in the United States after a federal judge upheld her order blocking his deportation to Liberia, rejecting the administration's request to dissolve the injunction. The case began in March 2025 when Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order that found he faced a clear probability of gang-related persecution if returned there. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled unanimously that the administration must facilitate his return to the United States, which it eventually did.
Since his return, the administration has sought to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country, settling on Liberia after negotiations with that government, and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons asked the court to dissolve the injunction blocking that removal. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have argued he should instead be removed to Costa Rica, which has agreed to accept him and has signed a broader agreement with the United States to receive deportees, and the court noted that Costa Rica was a viable alternative. A new timeline was set for briefs to be submitted by April 20, with a hearing scheduled for April 28.
BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to reimburse each State and local first responder agency for the cost of responding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Dave Min (D-California) (3 cosponsors)
04/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Min
04/09/2026 Referred to the Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Ways and Means
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit return to a county of concern with an asylum application
Sponsored by Rep. Thomas Tiffany (R-Wisconsin) (0 cosponsors)
04/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Tiffany
04/09/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to be in session from Monday, April 13, through Friday, April 17. The U.S. House is scheduled to be in session from Tuesday, April 14, through Friday, April 17.
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
The Forum is constantly publishing new policy-focused resources that engage with some of the most topical issues around immigration today. Here are a few that are particularly relevant this week:
Fact Sheet: Immigrants and Public Benefits in 2026
Explainer: U.S. Border Patrol Authorities and the 100-Mile Border Zone
Explainer: Operation PARRIS and Refugee Arrests and Re-Vetting
*As of publication (4/10/26 at 1:30 PM EST)
This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Nicci Mattey, Senior Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum, with questions, comments, and suggestions for additional items to be included. Nicci can be reached at [email protected]. Thank you.
