The Trump administration’s indefinite refugee ban, stop work orders and prolonged delays in reimbursement for resettlement agencies have had a devastating impact on tens of thousands of refugee families and communities across the country and around the world. Welcome to the latest edition of State of Play from Church World Service. This resource will provide regular updates from the CWS Policy Team on the current state of play; updated asks for national, state and local leaders; and the latest headlines and community resources. Subscribe now to receive daily updates on the latest developments and ways to support impacted communities.
State of Play |
The latest: Massive master calendar hearings speed up deportations; suicide deaths in custody surge; ICE looks to buy privately owned detention centers; and new green card policy impacts begin.
“Mega masters” at immigration courts increase deportation orders. Immigrants whose original master calendar hearings were scheduled for 2027, 2028, or 2029 are seeing those initial hearings abruptly moved up with little to no notice, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Since most immigrants do not have lawyers, some may never learn about the changed date and miss their hearing, ending up with a removal order that allows ICE to detain and deport them.
These newly rescheduled hearings now group together 100 or more other people at once, a dramatic increase from the typical few dozen. The Trump administration has simultaneously pursued a replacement strategy for immigration judges, firing more than 100 last year and announcing its largest class of new judges just last week. NPR previously reported that judges who once represented immigrants were more likely to be fired than those who had worked for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Suicide deaths inside immigration detention surge during second Trump term. A new Associated Press (AP) investigation found that at least 10 people have died by suicide in ICE custody since January 2025 – nearly a fifth of the 51 total deaths. The pace far exceeds the growth in ICE’s detained population. Experts cite the intense stress of indefinite detention, fear of being returned to harm, and helplessness worsened by the complexity of the process – all on top of the routinely abhorrent conditions. The AP found that staff ignored signs of distress and failed to monitor and treat people deemed at risk, including in some cases placing them in isolation, which can exacerbate psychological distress.
ICE typically reports zero or one suicide in custody per year. In response to the AP’s findings, which described the death of Colombian 27-year-old Brayan Rayo Garzón, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for the country’s foreign ministry to issue a formal protest and told the U.S. government to “reflect on how its immigration policy is killing Americans and Latin Americans.”
Meanwhile, protests and hunger strikes continue at Delaney Hall in New Jersey and Adelanto in California, urgently demanding the release of people detained and the closing of these facilities.
ICE plans to buy privately run detention facilities to sidestep state oversight. The Washington Examiner learned that ICE intends to buy immigration detention facilities owned by GEO Group and CoreCivic, then contract the same companies to operate them again. This plan would reportedly allow the federal government to avoid unannounced state inspections and bypass state and city regulations, enabling it to better “keep the protesters away or secure the property,” according to a source.
ICE currently contracts with the two for-profit prison companies to operate about 30 detention facilities. It also intends to purchase 10 warehouses to pursue the Trump administration’s mass deportation ambitions, with the goal of ultimately detaining up to 125,000 people in ICE custody (a capacity just below the entire U.S. federal prison system).
Policy requiring heightened scrutiny of green card applicants begins. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started asking some green card applicants why they did not return home when their visas expired and whether anything prevents them from seeking adjustment of status through a consulate, according to immigration lawyers who spoke with the Washington Post. It remains unclear if USCIS’s recent memo requires officers to pose these questions to some or all applicants.
A DHS official told the Post that the policy will “have no noticeable impact on highly qualified applicants and skilled professionals who have followed the law,” and that the administration is prioritizing “immigration that strengthens America culturally, socially, and financially while preventing mass third world migration which hurts our country.”
Should the new policy ultimately require applicants to complete processing outside of the U.S., many will be affected by existing restrictions, such as nationals from the 75 countries with frozen visa processing or those who face a multi-year bar on reentry for overstaying a visa. For example, a Sudanese couple featured in the Post with pending green card applications cannot return to Sudan to complete consular processing, given that the country is affected by the travel ban, lacks a functioning U.S. embassy, and is experiencing severe unrest. There is no confirmation yet that such circumstances will allow USCIS to exercise “administrative grace.”
Stories of Impact |
| Loni is a mother of six children who fled violence and torture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The family’s flight to Houston to reunite with her husband and the children’s father was scheduled for February – but it was cancelled after the ban went into effect. Loni and her children are now stuck indefinitely in Malawi.
The Sung family are refugees from Myanmar who were split up as they fled for safe harbor. Part of the family has been resettled in Texas, and they have been waiting for years as the rest of the family goes through the resettlement process. The flight was scheduled for early February, and the family here bought a four-bedroom home just to accommodate them. Their flight was cancelled at the last minute. Taq, a resettlement caseworker in Ohio, has witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of recent Executive Orders that have halted refugee arrivals, leaving families like his own in limbo. Taq’s cousin and his family were scheduled to arrive in the United States on February 20th but had their flights canceled, and his brothers, who are awaiting asylum interviews, are living in fear. “They are now left stranded…those still in [Afghanistan] have seen their hopes crushed.” Find more stories of impact here, and watch this space for new stories as they arise. Have a story to share? You can share it with us via this form for refugees overseas or this form for refugees, immigrants and service providers in the U.S. |
