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Good afternoon, 

Welcome to the Forum's policy bulletin. Every week, our policy team rounds up key developments around immigration policy in Washington, D.C., and across the country. The bulletin includes items on the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as well as some coverage at the state and local levels. 

With Congress in recess in August, we’ll be publishing the bulletin every other week on Thursdays.  

You can find the online version of the bulletin here:  

Policy Bulletin — Thursday, August 6, 2026        [link removed] 

With hope,

Nicci

**Federal**

******July Marks New Peak in ICE Detentions Amid Expanding Crackdown and Condition Concerns **** ** ICE arrested [link removed] roughly 51,000 people in July 2026, the highest single-month total in the agency's history and the second consecutive record-breaking month after June's approximately 43,000 arrests, averaging about 1,645 arrests per day. The agency booked in more than 46,000 people into detention last month, averaging 1,500 new detainees daily, and by early August was holding about 68,000 people in custody, nearing the record [link removed] of more than 70,000 set in January. The surge follows a significant dip earlier this year after federal agents killed two American citizens during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis, and it has been driven in part by expanded activity at airports and traffic stops, along with the deployment of newly hired agents nationwide. 

The widening crackdown has coincided with mounting scrutiny of detention conditions. In New Jersey, a 41-year-old Salvadoran man, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, died [link removed] August 1 at the privately run Delaney Hall facility in Newark after what Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) described as a medical emergency. His family said he had gone without medication for chronic conditions including diabetes and epilepsy in the weeks before his death. His death is at least the 22nd fatality [link removed] in ICE custody so far this year and the second confirmed death at Delaney Hall since it opened last year, and it came as a member of Congress separately disclosed a third, unreported death at the facility in late July involving a man who had a seizure shortly after being processed. To keep pace with the expanded detention population, DHS has pursued [link removed] a strategy of acquiring existing private prisons rather than building new facilities, including a $1.5 billion purchase of two former contractor-run sites in California, with contract language asserting that state and local licensing, inspection, and oversight laws do not apply to facilities the government acquires.  

******Military Spouses Face Detention and Deportation**** ** An investigation [link removed] released on August 5 found that the Trump administration has detained more than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops. Notably, of those detained, six have been deported [link removed] and eight remain in federal immigration custody. According to an April 2025 memorandum [link removed] from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), "U.S. military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws." In a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), DHS further confirmed [link removed] that "a total of 282 aliens comprised of both former members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their immediate family members were placed in removal proceedings" between January 2025 and January 2026. 

At the same time, however, the military continues to advertise its Parole in Place (PIP [link removed]) benefits [link removed] to attract enlistments. Under the program, DHS may grant parole on a case-by-case basis to certain military family members. However, some family members of active-duty service members have been detained [link removed] despite having pending PIP applications, while others have been arrested during appointments to adjust their legal status. 

Importantly, these detentions have had consequences beyond immigration enforcement. According to the investigation, some service members have been forced to delay [link removed] deployments or alter military responsibilities in order to care for their children while their spouses remain in detention.  

**Legal**

******Mass Deportation Hearings Push Immigration Courts into Breakneck Pace**** ** Immigration courts nationwide have increasingly been utilizing [link removed] "mega master" calendar hearings that pack dozens or even more than 100 cases before a single judge on the same day, with more than 1,300 such hearings held in June 2026 alone. Courts have simultaneously slashed the lead time immigrants receive to prepare for hearings, from roughly six months down to about a month in many cases, contributing to a doubling of the national no-show rate, from about 20% at the start of the administration to 40% by June. The compressed schedules and shrinking notice periods have driven a sharp rise in deportation orders: monthly removal orders climbed [link removed] from about 33,000 in January 2025 to roughly 79,000 in June 2026.  

In Chicago, in-absentia removal orders jumped [link removed] nearly fivefold in four months, from 1,267 in February to 6,012 in June, with the city's completed cases resulting in in-absentia orders at a rate of 78.5%, among the highest in the country. Attorneys and advocates describe [link removed] the practice as functioning like a "deportation machine," warning that packed dockets, last-minute schedule changes, and judges spending an average of five minutes or less per case leave many immigrants unable to learn of hearings in time or to present their claims at all. 

The Justice Department has defended the approach, saying courts are prepared to handle larger calendars and that removal orders are issued only after judges confirm proper notice was given, while the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) says it is making scheduling adjustments and hiring more judges. Even so, the national court backlog remains immense, with more than 3.4 million pending cases as of late July, underscoring the scale of the challenge the accelerated hearings are meant to address. 

******Federal Judge Blocks New York’s Ban on ICE Agents Wearing Masks**** ** \A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on August 3 blocking [link removed] New York's state law that prohibited immigration agents from wearing masks and required them to display identification while on duty, siding with the Justice Department's argument that the state provisions unconstitutionally regulate federal officers. The judge, based in the Northern District of New York, found [link removed] that the state's face-covering and identification requirements likely violate the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, writing that "settled law establishes that federal, not state, authorities make the policies that animate the enforcement of federal immigration laws". The ruling acknowledged the state's underlying concerns, noting that masked, unidentified officers "may" create dangerous situations the law sought to address, but concluded that resolving the constitutional question was the court's task. The decision followed [link removed] similar rulings against comparable mask restrictions in California, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. 

In the same ruling, the judge declined to block a separate, narrower provision of New York's law banning formal 287(g) cooperation agreements [link removed] between local police departments and ICE, finding the state has legitimate authority to control how its own law enforcement resources are deployed. Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James called [link removed] the mixed ruling a partial win, saying they still believe masked agents do not make New York safer and are reviewing further legal options, while the broader 287(g) ban is set to take effect August 25.

**State and Local**

******26-Employee Texas Firm Wins Major Federal Contract to Represent Migrant Children in Immigration Court**** ** The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding [link removed] a $150 million, one-year contract to a 26-employee Houston firm to provide legal orientation, consultation, and attorney-of-record representation for unaccompanied migrant children during immigration proceedings while they remain in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody. The firm's stated practice areas center on administrative law, white-collar defense, commercial litigation, and securities matters, and its founder [link removed], Marcella Burke, is a former Trump appointee at the EPA and Interior Department. The agreement, set to run through August 14, 2027, replaces the prior arrangement with the Acacia Center for Justice, a network of nonprofit legal aid groups whose contract the administration allowed to expire after months of withholding funding. 

The federal government has been required [link removed] to help facilitate legal counsel for unaccompanied children in ORR custody since 2008. Immigrant legal aid groups have raised [link removed] alarm that the new contract covers only the roughly 1,800 children currently held in government shelters, leaving no clear legal services arrangement for the nearly 22,000 unaccompanied children living with sponsors outside the shelter system. Advocates also warned [link removed] that the transition creates a coverage gap, since the previous contract lapsed before the new agreement takes effect on August 15, and that children could be left without adequate representation as the administration accelerates deportation efforts. 

**BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED** **H.R. 10040** [link removed] 

**No TSA Data for ICE Act** 

The bill would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from accessing or utilizing certain information to carry out certain functions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from carrying out certain actions regarding Trusted Traveler programs 

Sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) (25 cosponsors [link removed]) 

08/03/2026 Introduced by Rep. Tlaib 

08/03/2026 Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Ways and Means 

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR  ** The U.S. House will return from recess on August 31. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to be in recess from August 7 through September 14. 

****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: 

**Bill Summary: Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026** [link removed]  **Explainer: Final Duration of Status Rule Establishes Limited Periods of Admission for International Students and Journalists** [link removed]  **Explainer: 2025 Proposed Rule on Public Charge** [link removed]  **Current Status of DACA: Explainer** [link removed]  **Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Fact Sheet** [link removed]  *As of publication (8/6/26 at 4:30 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].** mailto:[email protected]

**Thank you.** 

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