Immigration

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to provide a full account of the legal basis for its attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student whose case has become a political flashpoint over free speech and immigration enforcement.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three U.S. officials said on Tuesday, as part of his immigration crackdown and despite Washington's past condemnation of Libya's harsh treatment of detainees.

Two of the officials said the U.S. military could fly the migrants to the North African country as soon as Wednesday, but stressed that plans could still change.

A Harvard Medical School researcher currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement says she should have reviewed customs protocols before attempting to enter the US with “non-hazardous” frog embryo samples but insists what she told immigration agents was misunderstood.

“I never provided false information to any government official,” Kseniia Petrova, a Russian national, said in a statement issued Thursday. “Some of my words were misunderstood and inaccurately reflected in the statement that the officer presented for my signature.”

The Trump administration has started paying illegal migrants to $1,000 each to “self-deport” from the US, and the Department of Homeland Security said it will save taxpayers up to $1 million per family.

Immigrants can avoid arrest by federal immigration agents if they choose to use the Trump administration’s CBP Home app. The DHS will pay for commercial flights out of the US, and then send cash once they confirm they’ve left.

Despite shelling out the cash, DHS projects that taxpayers will save 70% over the cost of rounding up and deporting each illegal migrant.

The Trump administration has announced a new program offering a $1,000 payment to people in the US without immigration status as an incentive to return to their home country voluntarily.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) outlined the initiative on Monday, pledging “financial and travel assistance” to undocumented immigrants who agree to leave the country using an app called CBP Home.

The Trump administration will offer a $1,000 stipend and travel assistance to migrants who elect to voluntarily "self-deport" from the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday.

The stipend and potential airfare for migrants who voluntarily depart would cost less than an actual deportation, the agency said. The average cost of arresting, detaining and deporting someone without legal status is currently about $17,000, according to DHS.

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President Donald Trump’s ability to accelerate his lagging deportations agenda hinges on congressional Republicans figuring out what they’re going to cut to pay for it.

White House border czar Tom Homan has pleaded with GOP lawmakers for more money for months as the White House has struggled to launch the mass deportation campaign the president promised. Top administration officials have been in close touch with the Hill about the figures they need to ramp up removals...

The Trump administration has approached far-flung countries to aid its mass deportation effort, asking nations like Angola and Equatorial Guinea to accept migrants who are not their citizens, according to internal federal government documents obtained by CBS News.

The talks are part of an intense diplomatic campaign by the Trump administration to convince as many nations as possible — including those with controversial human rights records — to receive deportees from the U.S., such as migrants whose home countries won't take them back. 

The federal government has enforcement authority over federal crimes like crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, even if they happen on tribal land. AllSides highlights content from Gigafact, a network of newsrooms that respond to online claims. View the full fact brief on The Colorado Sun.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that President Joe Biden can end a program put in place by his predecessor former President Donald Trump, which forces non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court dates. read more

Here are some answers to questions about how we got to this point and what happens next:

Trump, a Republican, launched the program officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), and commonly called "remain in Mexico," in 2019 as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration and asylum seekers.