Judge Sides With Texas Over Minnesota on Extradition of ICE Agent

© David Guttenfelder/The New York Times


© David Guttenfelder/The New York Times

Christian Castro charged with assault after allegedly shooting Venezuelan man and remains in custody in Texas
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent accused of firing his gun and wounding a Venezuelan man in the leg is caught in an interstate extradition dispute between Texas and Minnesota – and could walk out of a Texas jail as soon as Wednesday after a federal judge refused to intervene.
Christian Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime by another, in relation to the incident in which he was involved in the wounding of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.
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© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP


© Katherine Delgado, via Associated Press

Administration moved away from high-profile raids that defined immigration enforcement approach last year but still deported record number of people
The Trump administration arrested and deported a record number of immigrants in July, according to newly released government data – apprehending an average of 1,500 people and removing 1,100 people daily.
This latest data confirms what attorneys and immigrant advocates have been seeing across the US – although the administration has moved away from the high-profile, militarized raids that came to define its immigration enforcement approach last year, it is quietly ramping up its operations.
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© Photograph: Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images

© Photograph: Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images

© Photograph: Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images

Move by state department to limit access is part of Trump’s crackdown on both lawful and undocumented immigration
All US immigrant visa applications have been paused by the Trump administration as the state department moves to tighten restrictions and limit access to applicants who they deem could end up relying on US assistance, a state department official confirmed Tuesday.
The agency launched the initiative at all embassies and consulates in early August, according to the official and visa appointments had to be adjusted to accommodate “in-depth training”, according to the official. The state department has been working on updated guidance and training since early this year, “to ensure all consular officers are fully equipped to evaluate every visa applicant comprehensively and consistently”, they added.
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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Agents arrest women who ‘almost died’ after they were hit by vehicle and their car flipped over four times, family say
An Ecuadorian mother and daughter were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a hospital after a car crash in central Florida.
On 20 August, Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her daughter, Giulianna Mía Carriel Calero, 19, were involved in a car crash in Poinciana, Florida, according to arrest reports reviewed by multiple news outlets.
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© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

Arrest of Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, sparked backlash as he was detained while his son, Joshua, was deployed in Middle East
The father of a US navy sailor who has been deployed in the Middle East for a record-breaking nine months on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has been released from immigration detention, according to his family.
His arrest sparked intense backlash after the Associated Press reported that his son was entering his ninth month on the Lincoln with the navy when his father was detained. The carrier had just set a US military record for uninterrupted time at sea and has raised concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among those serving onboard.
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© Photograph: Joshua Aviles/Facebook/Reuters

© Photograph: Joshua Aviles/Facebook/Reuters

© Photograph: Joshua Aviles/Facebook/Reuters

Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo, deported to Honduras, is latest military spouse to face removal amid Trump 2.0
The wife of an active-duty US soldier was deported on Monday to her native Honduras, according to her family and the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo is at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty US soldier to be deported under the immigration crackdown during Donald Trump’s second presidency.
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© Photograph: Ryan Romero/AP

© Photograph: Ryan Romero/AP

© Photograph: Ryan Romero/AP


© Oliver Contreras/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


© Oliver Contreras/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


© Doug Mills/The New York Times


© Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Exclusive: internal correspondence reveals USCIS anti-fraud officers shifted on to two ‘high-priority’ initiatives
All US immigration officers working for a key anti-fraud unit have been reassigned by the Trump administration to focus on screening South African refugees and alleged “unlawful” voters.
Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) immigration officers have been shifted full-time on to two “high-priority” initiatives, according to internal correspondence seen by the Guardian, leaving US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unable to provide officers to train asylum officers in “the near future”.
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© Photograph: Kayla Wolf/AP

© Photograph: Kayla Wolf/AP

© Photograph: Kayla Wolf/AP


© Katherine Delgado, via Associated Press

The president’s border wall plan could damage or destroy ‘the oldest-known books in North America’
On an overcast summer morning, Carolyn Boyd, an archeologist at Texas State University, stood at the foot of a cave in west Texas, looking up toward a series of towering murals painted on a rock wall. Three massive human-like figures soared toward an overhang that had sheltered the painting from the elements since they were drawn here perhaps 4,000 years ago.
An artist herself, Boyd knows how hard it would have been to paint these long, crisp lines. Before starting, the bands of Indigenous hunter-gatherers who lived in this west Texas valley, where the Pecos River empties into the Rio Grande, would have spent weeks pulverizing gypsum, hematite, limonite and manganese to make paint. They would have gathered massive quantities of sotol stalks to fold its fibers into scaffolding. The painting itself would have required teamwork and precision, with people at the bottom guiding artists on the wall as they painted figures stretching up to 30ft tall.
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© Photograph: Roque Planas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Roque Planas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Roque Planas/The Guardian

Joshua Aviles says he is on a nine-month Middle East deployment and learned his father has been arrested while he was waiting for green card approval
The father of a US sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East during the Iran war has been taken into federal immigration detention, the sailor said.
The border patrol arrested Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after conducting a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson for the US homeland security department said on Sunday.
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© Photograph: Katherine Delgado/AP

© Photograph: Katherine Delgado/AP

© Photograph: Katherine Delgado/AP


© Anna Watts for The New York Times


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© Monika Pronczuk/Associated Press

ICE charter carrying more than 160 Haitian nationals landed in Cap-Haïtien, after temporary protection status was revoked
The first deportation flight to Haiti since the US supreme court upheld Donald Trump’s power to strip 350,000 Haitians – and others – of a key type of legal status in the US landed in the troubled nation on Thursday.
The flight was carrying more that 160 Haitian nationals and landed in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti’s second-largest city, aboard an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charter.
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© Photograph: Matias Delacroix/AP

© Photograph: Matias Delacroix/AP

© Photograph: Matias Delacroix/AP

Pima county figures show highest number of monthly migrant deaths in two years as critics condemn US policy
According to newly released data from the medical examiner’s office in Pima county, Arizona, the remains of 19 migrants, including children, were recovered along the Arizona-Mexico border last month.
The figure accounts for the highest number of monthly deaths in that area since 2024 and brings the number of total remains found to 73 this year, 14 more than the same time period last year.
This article was updated on 21 August 2026 to correct the name of Octavio Fuentes.
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© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Business owner Assim Alkhawaja was arrested by ICE as he dropped off Lyft passengers at a military base. Now he’s stuck in a terrifying fight to stay in the US
Deep within the bowels of San Diego’s federal courthouse, Assim Alkhawaja sat on the floor outside a nondescript office, waiting to be called for his ICE-mandated immigration appointment. He stared straight ahead, his posture tense, his face a mask.
The hallway was brown, as was the carpet. Above Alkhawaja’s head hung a framed stock photo of a waterfall. A few paces away, official government signs encouraged people without legal status to self-deport. “Leave on your own terms,” they read, in several languages. “Claim a free flight and an exit bonus for each member of your family.”
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© Photograph: Amanda Ulrich

© Photograph: Amanda Ulrich

© Photograph: Amanda Ulrich

With plentiful jobs and community support, one Mexico City neighbourhood has become a haven for those who have lived much of their lives in the US
With its wide avenues lined with tall palm trees, its quaint cafes and old-school cantinas, as well as the mix of English and Spanish spoken on the street, the Tabacalera neighborhood in downtown Mexico City has a certain US feel – so much so that it is has become known as Little LA.
The nickname is about more than appearances, however. In recent years, this corner of the metropolis has become a haven for many Mexicans deported from the US, particularly those who spent years or decades living across the border and for whom Mexico feels like a foreign country. In Little LA, they have found a more familiar place to belong.
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© Photograph: Luis Antonio Rojas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Luis Antonio Rojas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Luis Antonio Rojas/The Guardian

DHS says Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Umana is in US illegally after lying to border patrol when he entered in 2007
The captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor, resulting in the death of a woman and her infant daughter, has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the federal agency saying it intends to deport him.
The deadly incident unfolded near the Statue of Liberty on 8 August. Authorities said a 911 call was received at approximately 10.25pm that prompted a major emergency response including multiple boat teams, a scuba team and a helicopter unit.
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© Photograph: Larry Neumeister/AP

© Photograph: Larry Neumeister/AP

© Photograph: Larry Neumeister/AP


© Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters

Agreement is among largest third-country deportations driven by Trump administration’s immigration crackdown
Twenty deportees from the United States arrived in Liberia on Thursday, as part of a new agreement that will see the west African country receive as many as 1,200 people under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The group arrived at the Roberts international airport outside the capital, Monrovia. The Liberia-US agreement is one of the largest third-country deportation arrangements pursued by the administration since Trump returned to office last year.
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© Photograph: Alexander Wiaplah/AP

© Photograph: Alexander Wiaplah/AP

© Photograph: Alexander Wiaplah/AP


© Paul Ratje for The New York Times


© Brenda BazáN/Associated Press


© Annie Risemberg/Associated Press

Family says Venezuelan has pending asylum claim
DHS says 34-year-old faces removal proceedings
San Diego Padres minor-league catching coordinator Oswaldo Pirela remained in federal immigration custody on Tuesday after being detained at an airport in El Paso, Texas, while returning from a work trip.
Pirela’s family said the 34-year-old Venezuelan has a pending asylum claim and has continually renewed his work authorization. The Department of Homeland Security said he does not have legal status and will face removal proceedings.
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© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images


© Christopher Lee for The New York Times

Attorneys for Ábrego, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, say the DoJ’s appeal was ‘flat wrong’
The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to reinstate criminal charges against Kilmar Ábrego García that were dismissed in May by a judge who said the prosecution of the man who unwittingly became a symbol of the White House’s mass deportation campaign was “vindictive in nature”.
In a filing to the US sixth circuit court of appeals, the justice department insisted that human smuggling allegations against Ábrego are genuine – and not retaliation for challenging his wrongful deportation to El Salvador in March 2025.
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© Photograph: George Walker IV/AP

© Photograph: George Walker IV/AP

© Photograph: George Walker IV/AP


© Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Controversial project has faced bipartisan opposition by critics who say it mars pristine environmental area in Texas
Construction on a US-Mexico border project in Big Bend national park has halted, the Trump administration said Monday, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) evaluates the controversial project in Texas.
“CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” CBP’s head, Rodney Scott, wrote in a social media post.
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© Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images


© Moises Saman/Magnum, for The New York Times


© Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times


© Alessandro Grassani for The New York Times


© Brian Finke


© Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Heavy machinery seen operating in famous Santa Elena Canyon amid outcry over new wall infrastructure in beloved Texas park
Bulldozers have begun plowing up ground at the mouth of Big Bend national park’s famed Santa Elena Canyon as part of the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar “smart wall” expansion on the US-Mexico border, according to new footage taken by activists who have been monitoring the site.
Tensions have run high since the Trump administration announced plans to erect new border security infrastructure in the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region of south-west Texas, which includes the Lone Star State’s largest and most-visited national park.
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© Photograph: Hannah Gentiles

© Photograph: Hannah Gentiles

© Photograph: Hannah Gentiles

Facility also had no air conditioning for two days amid extreme heat, according to one of the people detained
People detained at an overcrowded federal immigration camp in Mississippi were sickened by a mystery gas leak, then denied medical care when they complained of headaches and other symptoms, it has been alleged.
A lengthy power outage at Adams county detention center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility run by the private operator CoreCivic, also left it without air conditioning for two days this week, according to one detainee who contacted the Guardian through his family.
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© Photograph: Google Earth

© Photograph: Google Earth

© Photograph: Google Earth

The FBI from the 1950s to the 1970s tried to infiltrate and discredit leftist organizations. Trump seems to be repeating that sordid practice
It is bad enough that the Trump administration blocked a federal criminal investigation when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed Renee Good as she was turning her car away from him in Minneapolis the past January. Just before the shooting, Good and her partner had been observing and protesting against ICE officers.
Instead, it turns out the administration has been investigating progressive and even mainstream groups that have been involved in protests against Donald Trump’s sweeping deportations, according to newly released government documents.
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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP


© Alex Kent/The New York Times

DHS sent undercover agents to meetings and infiltrated chats of groups opposing Trump’s immigration crackdown
Newly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.
Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning non-profit groups.
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© Photograph: Seth Herald/Reuters

© Photograph: Seth Herald/Reuters

© Photograph: Seth Herald/Reuters


© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times


© Library of Congress

José Chajón-Raxón experienced ‘seizure-like activity’ at Delaney Hall and later died after being hospitalized
A Guatemalan immigrant detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Newark, New Jersey, facility suffered a medical emergency and later died after being hospitalized, according to the Trump administration.
José Chajón-Raxón is the third immigrant to die after being held at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center that reopened in May 2025 amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
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© Photograph: Vincent Alban/Reuters

© Photograph: Vincent Alban/Reuters

© Photograph: Vincent Alban/Reuters


© Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times


© Jim Vondruska/Reuters