What Happened This Week? 9/14 - 9/20
By Cady Wu and Olivia Chen
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026.
On September 14, 2026, a federal whistleblower said that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents may have broken state laws while investigating voter fraud—according to the whistleblower, agents were required to review at least 40 voters per day, amounting to roughly 12 minutes per case and a high risk of error. The investigation, known as the “Unlawful Voter Initiative,” uses voter data and DHS records to identify potential noncitizen voters; agents have been using private information such as birth dates and partial Social Security numbers to search public state voter websites for voting records. Yet some states explicitly limit website access to voters checking their own records, prompting agents to raise concerns about the legality of the searches, as well as the accuracy of the data, as the investigation’s source database often contains significant errors, including identification numbers for undocumented immigrants that remain even after citizenship is obtained. Following concerns that relying on faulty data could result in false records or improper identification of U.S. citizens as unlawful voters, Senators Chuck Schumer and Alex Padilla called on the Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullion to halt the operation and answer questions regarding the investigation. Still, the DHS’s chief counsel argued that the searches were permissible for the investigation, and DHS leadership told agents that they would not be personally liable if searches were conducted as part of their official duties and properly documented.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026.
On September 14, 2026, 22 different U.S. states, D.C., and several major cities sued the Trump administration over a new policy making it harder for immigrants to obtain green cards if they use public benefits. The policy, set to take effect on September 18, would expand the benefits immigration officers can consider when deciding whether someone is likely to become a public charge and dependent on the government. Although officers previously considered cash assistance and long term institutional care, programs such as SNAP or Medicaid will now be included into the process, which states argue could push immigrant families away from basic assistance while straining emergency rooms, reducing participation in food programs, and costing states billions in federal funding. New York Attorney-General Letitia James led the states’ lawsuit, while a separate suit was led by New York City Major Zohran Mamdani and joined by Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County, and King County. The administration defended the rule as necessary to protect public resources, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)criticized the lawsuits, arguing that immigrants can support themselves. Immigrant advocates, on the other hand, argued that the policy could discourage families from seeking benefits even when U.S.-citizen children are legally eligible for programs such as food stamps and housing aid, and Mamdani said that some families are already forgoing benefits because of the policy. The lawsuits are now seeking to block the policy before it takes effect, as the DHS estimated that about 950,000 people could unenroll in public assistance programs because of the rule.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2026.
On September 15, 2026, a federal appeals court overturned an immigrant’s illegal entry conviction, finding that prosecutors failed to disclose that two Border Patrol agents who testified against him belonged to a private Facebook group that posted racist content. THe case, which involved Jaime Tovar-Duran, a Mexican man arrested in 2019 after crossing into the U.S., surrounded his conviction of improper entry and deportation from 2020. The Ninth Circuit said that the agents’ membership of “I’m 10-15,” a secret Facebook group whose posts included racist material targeting migrants and Hispanic lawmakers, could be evidence of bias against noncitizens and that prosecutors had a constitutional duty to disclose it. Prosecutors initially said that none of the agents were group members, but shortly before trial disclosed that two of the three government witnesses had been members; the agents still argued that they did not remember posting or liking content. Although a lower court had previously ruled that there was still enough evidence to convict Tovar-Duran, the appeals court said that it could not determine whether the undisclosed evidence affected the verdict. The case was sent back to the lower court to determine whether the agents’ Facebook-group membership prejudiced the conviction, highlighting the importance of due process and full disclosure of evidence.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
On September 17, 2026, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer was convicted of sexually assaulting, robbing, and threatening four women at hotels in the Chicago area in 2022. In the case, 45-year-old Luis Uribe was convicted by a federal jury on all charges, including 10 counts of deprivation of rights and one count of brandishing a firearms; prosecutors said that on at least six occasions between February and October 2022, Uribe entered the hotel rooms of four women in Schaumburg and Naperville, showed his CBP badge, and threatened them with a CBP-issued firearm. The victims were all of Chinese descent, with at least two working as prostitutes, and prosecutors said some had sought Uribe’s help with immigration matters, as well as that Uribe had robbed each of them, sexually assaulted two, and attempted to do the same for the other two. Uribe’s lawyers previously attempted to dismiss the federal indictment that began in December 2025 federal indictment, yet failed. Uribe has worked for the federal government since 2009 and remains employed by CBP, although the agency has said that it takes employee misconduct allegations very seriously and expects employees to meet its standards of conduct. He is currently scheduled to be sentenced on January 21, 2027, and faces a minimum of seven years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
Representative María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) released a campaign ad on September 17, 2026, directly criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies as having “gone too far.” Salazar specifically cited July 2026 immigration arrests, saying that roughly half of the nearly 50,000 people detained had no criminal record. Federal data shows 49,571 ICE arrests in July, and more than half involved people with no criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. She warned Trump that Hispanic voters who helped him win the 2024 presidential election “feel betrayed” by current immigration enforcement. Additionally, Salazar emphasized that she is not calling for amnesty. Instead, she said immigrants should be treated with dignity and has previously supported immigration reform that would give some long-term undocumented immigrants a renewable legal work status, particularly those who have lived in the U.S. for years, have no criminal record, and pay taxes. Salazar's district is in the Miami area and is heavily Hispanic, as nearly three-quarters of its population is Hispanic, and her position is notable as she is a Republican member of Congress criticizing a Republican president shortly before the midterms, which is especially unusual for a sitting member of the president’s party. Salazar has been in Congress since 2021 and is seeking reelection in 2026. Her Democratic opponent is Eliott Rodriguez, who won the Democratic primary in August. Interestingly, Rodriguez criticized Salazar's ad and her immigration record, arguing that she remains part of Trump's immigration agenda and that her congressional voting record conflicts with the image presented in the advertisement.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
The White House withdrew Lance Schroyer’s nomination to become director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on September 17, 2026 without any explanation. Schroyer had been nominated by President Donald Trump in June, less than three months earlier, and Trump had then described him as an experienced law-enforcement officer who would help carry out the administration’s immigration-enforcement agenda. Schroyer is a former Oklahoma Highway Patrol major and Marine and had been serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and has helped lead Oklahoma's effort to train more than 700 state troopers to participate in immigration enforcement and cooperate with ICE. He was personally deputized to make ICE arrests himself after completing a 40-hour online training course, which some have questioned whether that training was sufficient for immigration enforcement.The nomination had stalled in the Senate. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) had not scheduled a confirmation hearing. Paul said he was waiting for information from DHS about investigations into civilian deaths during ICE operations. Paul said he did not personally object to Schroyer, but wanted DHS to provide the requested information before proceeding with the hearing. He said he learned about the withdrawal only when the White House announced it publicly. Following the withdrawal, ICE still does not have a Senate-confirmed director. The last Senate-confirmed ICE director was Sarah Saldaña, who left in 2017, and David Venturella is currently serving as acting director. However, Democrats criticize the continued absence of a confirmed ICE director, especially amid increased scrutiny of ICE enforcement operations.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
In a recently conducted poll, a majority of registered voters (53%) say the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement has gone too far. This view has remained around this level since June 2025. Another 23% say enforcement has not gone far enough, while 23% say it is about right. Views differ sharply by party, as 87% of Democrats say enforcement has gone too far, compared to 60% of independents and 43% of Republicans, while 40% of Republicans believe enforcement has not gone far enough. Amongst voters that think enforcement has gone too far, the reasons are divided between 49% believe the government is targeting the wrong people and 45% believing the government is using too much force. Specifically on immigration, Trump’s approval rating has dropped from 48% last summer to 43% now, and it appears that the Republican advantage on immigration has nearly disappeared. Birthright citizenship is also another major division, as roughly 90% of Democrats support it and 60% of independents support it, but about 60% of Republicans oppose it. This poll was conducted from September 11-14, 2026, and the sample included 1,211 registered voters selected from a national voter file. The poll was jointly conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
ICE officer Christian Castro, 52, appeared in a Minnesota state court on September 17, 2026, facing charges related to the January shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a 24-year-old Venezuelan immigrant. Castro faces state charges of assault and falsely reporting a crime, as well as separate federal charges for allegedly lying to investigators. The shooting happened on January 14, 2026, in Minneapolis during a large federal immigration-enforcement operation known as Operation Metro Surge. Prosecutors allege Castro fired through the front door of a house where Sosa-Celis had entered while fleeing. Castro's account of the shooting is disputed by prosecutors, as they say he later told investigators that he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before firing, but prosecutors allege the account as false. The Justice Department initially charged Sosa-Celis and another man with assault following the incident. Those charges were later dropped after authorities acknowledged that officers involved, including Castro, had made untruthful statements about what happened. Castro now faces two separate cases, a Minnesota state case involving assault and false-reporting charges and a federal case involving allegations that he made false statements to investigators. There was an extradition dispute that occurred over bringing Castro from the Texas jail he was being held in to Minnesota to be prosecuted. A Minnesota judge set bail at $400,000, or $200,000 with conditions or signing an agreement that would not allow him to fight extradition. Castro was released on bail on Thursday evening, and his lawyers say he plans to plead not guilty to both charges, having already pled not guilty to six federal counts of making false statements to the FBI on September 18th, 2026.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
A new Trump administration “public charge” policy takes effect September 18, 2026. It changes how immigration officers can evaluate people applying for lawful permanent residence (green cards). The major change is that officers can consider a broader range of public benefits when deciding whether someone is likely to become dependent on the government. Potentially relevant benefits now include: Medicaid, SNAP/food stamps, housing assistance, certain college financial aid, and other means-tested public benefits, which gives officers significant discretion over what is relevant and not. However, using a benefit does not automatically mean someone will be denied a green card. The public-charge determination is supposed to consider the applicant's overall circumstances, including factors such as age, health, family situation, financial resources, education and skills. The rule primarily affects people seeking green cards, including immigrants already in the U.S. adjusting their status and certain people applying through family or employment pathways. It does not directly apply to U.S. citizens, and there are other exceptions, such as for refugees, asylum seekers,and some Afghan nationals working on behalf of the U.S. government. This policy is a reversal of the narrower approach adopted in 2022 where other means-tested programs were not considered and only cash assistance and some government-funded long-term institutional care could be considered. However, the underlying “public charge” concept is much older, as U.S. immigration law has included a public-charge provision since 1882. Currently, the policy is being challenged in court, and DHS estimates that fear of its consequences could cause roughly 950,000 people to avoid or leave benefit programs, including some people who are legally eligible for those programs, known as a “chilling effect.”
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