<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Migrant Insider]]></title><description><![CDATA[The first and only immigration newsroom in the Washington press corps — covering Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court. Edited by Pablo Manríquez. Est. 2024. ]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!b8c6!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e71d906-d759-4984-8665-f1385ff5739e_257x257.png</url><title>Migrant Insider</title><link>https://migrantinsider.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:12:17 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://migrantinsider.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Migrant Insider LLC]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[migrantinsider@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[migrantinsider@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[migrantinsider@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[migrantinsider@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[The Migrant Congressman Who Won't Say the Word "Dreamer" Anymore]]></title><description><![CDATA[Juan Ciscomani built his career on his own immigration story. Now he won't answer whether other people get to keep theirs.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/the-migrant-congressman-who-wont</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/the-migrant-congressman-who-wont</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 01:47:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/527d331c-39a9-4a74-b5c2-8406b5f416d8_640x480.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Rep. Juan Ciscomani voted on every roll call the House took that week in early June &#8212; except one:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20260609/119380/HMKP-119-AP00-20260609-SD008.pdf" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png" width="1456" height="580" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0YUt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9295d3e-7283-4729-9ff0-2b207931fbd8_1522x606.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20260609/119380/HMKP-119-AP00-20260609-SD008.pdf">Roll Call 14</a> would have shielded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from detention and deportation, with exceptions. Ciscomani, R-Ariz., voted before it. He voted after it. On the DACA amendment itself, he simply didn&#8217;t show up on the board &#8212; a silence that, bracketed by two clean voting records, reads less like an accident than a decision.</p><p>It&#8217;s a decision Ciscomani has now made twice. First on the floor of the House. Then, according to the Arizona Daily <em>Star,</em> at least five more times (<a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_b208cbf7-fc7d-4bc9-8068-f86d0a26eb65.html">1</a>, <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_a143f7ba-b9b3-4888-91ca-fd8ed219d222.html">2</a>, <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_449e9216-01be-430c-b766-e055600c5d83.html">3</a>, <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_761d6880-a06e-4dd7-a620-279dc23456dc.html">4</a>, <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_1bcc3589-393e-41cc-a03b-6fbff155ee22.html">5</a>) &#8212; in response to five separate news inquiries asking a single question: does he still support a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients?</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>A Congressman Who Won&#8217;t Answer</h3><p>Ciscomani built his national profile as living proof that the American Dream survives the immigration system. Brought to the United States from Hermosillo, Sonora, at age 11, he became the first naturalized Mexican-American elected to Arizona&#8217;s congressional delegation &#8212; and in 2023, House Republicans put him at the podium to deliver their Spanish-language response to the State of the Union. He has spoken, repeatedly and publicly, about his father driving a bus so his son could someday sit in Congress.</p><p>That version of Ciscomani has not been available lately.</p><p>The <em>Star</em>&#8217;s five unanswered inquiries did not arrive in a vacuum. They came as one of his own constituents &#8212; a Tucson Dreamer &#8212; was <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_1bcc3589-393e-41cc-a03b-6fbff155ee22.html">detained</a> by immigration officers who, according to the Tucson Sentinel, entered her home aggressively and without a warrant. She wrote Ciscomani an open letter in the <em>Star</em>, asking directly why the congressman who talks about his own immigration story has said nothing about hers. He has not answered that either.</p><p>His Democratic opponent, JoAnna Mendoza, did answer. She posted her support for the detained Dreamer&#8217;s due process rights before Ciscomani said a word.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The Father&#8217;s Visa, Revisited</h3><p>The silence has reopened a story Ciscomani would rather not keep telling: the one about how his own family got here.</p><p>Ciscomani has said his father secured a religious-worker visa. But immigration lawyers &#8212; and members of Ciscomani&#8217;s own family, including his brother-in-law &#8212; have questioned how a man who spent his life driving a bus could have qualified. Tucson immigration attorney Maurice Goldman <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_077771ea-801d-11ef-8408-3f291bb37431.html">told</a> the <em>Star</em> that path required proof the elder Ciscomani entered the country &#8220;solely to work as a minister or in a religious vocation&#8221; &#8212; a standard that doesn&#8217;t obviously square with a career behind the wheel.</p><p>Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration attorney who practiced in Arizona until 1993, <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_077771ea-801d-11ef-8408-3f291bb37431.html">said</a> the loophole Ciscomani&#8217;s family may have used was common in that era. &#8220;There was very little to no oversight,&#8221; Kuck said. &#8220;This was the wild West.&#8221;</p><p>Ciscomani&#8217;s spokesperson called the scrutiny &#8220;insulting,&#8221; saying it sounds &#8220;like you&#8217;re saying, &#8216;Hey, Juan, show me your papers.&#8217;&#8221; It&#8217;s a defense that asks voters to treat questions about a congressman&#8217;s own biography as an attack on his identity &#8212; even as that same congressman won&#8217;t answer whether other people&#8217;s children get to stay.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The District That&#8217;s Watching</h3><p>None of this is happening in a safe seat. Arizona&#8217;s 6th Congressional District &#8212; a border district running through Tucson and southern Arizona &#8212; is one of the most competitive in the country, and roughly one in four of Ciscomani&#8217;s constituents are Hispanic or Latino, according to Census Bureau data. This is not a district where a Dreamer&#8217;s detention is an abstraction. It&#8217;s a district where a Dreamer&#8217;s detention is a neighbor.</p><p>Ciscomani won his seat by threading a needle: a border-district Republican who could speak credibly about immigration because he&#8217;d lived it. Roll Call 14 and five declined interview requests suggest he no longer wants to be asked to.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>A sitting congressman who once symbolized what DACA could become won&#8217;t say if he still believes in it &#8212; while his own constituent gets pulled from her home. Migrant Insider is the only outlet tracking every vote, every silence, and every contradiction on this beat. Subscribe to see what Ciscomani does next, and send this to the one person in AZ-6 who needs to see it before November.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Five Immigration Moves Washington Made Last Week While Nobody Was Watching]]></title><description><![CDATA[From a green-card rule that punishes poverty to a work permit that stopped working overnight, here's what federal agencies did in the shadows this week &#8212; and why it matters to the people living it.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/five-immigration-moves-washington</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/five-immigration-moves-washington</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:06:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1ea2478e-04ed-4b11-b062-4e39438d459b_1100x619.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Ethiopian workers in this country legally went to bed last Monday with a valid work permit. They woke up Tuesday without one.</p><p>That&#8217;s not a metaphor. On August 18, <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/save/current-user-agencies/news-alerts/termination-of-temporary-protected-status-for-ethiopia-release-aug-18-2026">USCIS&#8217;s benefits-verification system flipped a switch</a> and declared thousands of Temporary Protected Status work cards &#8220;no longer valid&#8221; &#8212; effective immediately, no transition window, no public announcement beyond an agency alert most Americans will never see. </p><p>It&#8217;s one of five immigration actions taken by federal agencies in the last seven days that have drawn real estate in law-firm newsletters and trade publications, and essentially nothing from the outlets people actually read. Here&#8217;s what happened, and what it means for the people it hits.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[BREAKING: DHS Loses Bid to Dodge Blame for Dangerous Conditions at Adelanto]]></title><description><![CDATA[A three-judge panel unanimously rejected the government&#8217;s bid to pause a court order over dangerous conditions at Adelanto &#8212; and taxpayers, not GEO, are the ones on the hook for what happens next.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/breaking-dhs-loses-bid-to-dodge-blame</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/breaking-dhs-loses-bid-to-dodge-blame</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 01:58:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/youtube/w_728,c_limit/Ij_qRFyLUo8" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Three federal judges told the Trump administration Thursday what it didn&#8217;t want to hear: contracting out a detention center doesn&#8217;t contract out the Constitution.</p><p>A Ninth Circuit panel &#8212; Judges Margaret McKeown, Michelle Friedland and Eric Miller &#8212; unanimously denied the government&#8217;s emergency motion to stay a preliminary injunction over conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California&#8217;s High Desert, lifting the administrative pause it had granted while it considered the case. The order was first <a href="https://x.com/kyledcheney/status/2090616195808375047?s=20">flagged</a> Thursday by POLITICO&#8217;s ace courts reporter Kyle Cheney.</p><p>The government&#8217;s core argument was simple: don&#8217;t blame us, blame GEO Group, the private prison company that runs the infamously foul Adelanto day to day. The panel wasn&#8217;t having it. </p><div id="youtube2-Ij_qRFyLUo8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;Ij_qRFyLUo8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Ij_qRFyLUo8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><div><hr></div><h2>The Panel&#8217;s Answer: You Signed the Contract</h2><p>Citing the Supreme Court&#8217;s 1988 ruling in <em>West v. Atkins</em>, the judges wrote that contracting out care for people in government custody doesn&#8217;t relieve the government of its constitutional duty to provide it, and doesn&#8217;t strip detainees of a way to vindicate their rights. Even if ICE doesn&#8217;t run Adelanto&#8217;s hallways, the panel found, it is &#8220;ultimately responsible&#8221; for keeping the conditions inside them constitutional &#8212; and it has options if GEO won&#8217;t comply: withhold payment, impose penalties, or move people out.</p><div class="file-embed-wrapper" data-component-name="FileToDOM"><div class="file-embed-container-reader"><div class="file-embed-container-top"><image class="file-embed-thumbnail-default" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Cy0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Fattachment_icon.svg"></image><div class="file-embed-details"><div class="file-embed-details-h1">Adelanto Decision</div><div class="file-embed-details-h2">172KB &#8729; PDF file</div></div><a class="file-embed-button wide" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/88a291b8-b9bf-4b85-8154-bee2496c4741.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div><a class="file-embed-button narrow" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/88a291b8-b9bf-4b85-8154-bee2496c4741.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div></div><p>The government also argued the case ran afoul of <em>Trump v. CASA</em>, the Supreme Court&#8217;s 2025 limit on nationwide injunctions. The panel dismissed that too &#8212; this order covers one facility, one class, nothing universal.</p><p>Most damning: the government never seriously disputed that what the district court found inside Adelanto &#8212; including inconsistent access to potable water and adequate medical care &#8212; was unconstitutional. It just argued someone else should pay for fixing it.</p><div><hr></div><h2>What Was Actually Found Inside</h2><p>The underlying injunction, issued Aug. 12 by U.S. District Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes, followed a lawsuit filed after two men died at Adelanto within weeks of each other last fall &#8212; Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, a former DACA recipient, and Gabriel Garc&#237;a-Avil&#233;s, 56. Attorneys for detainees alleged the GEO Group failed to provide basic medical and mental health care, adequate food and water, and sanitary living conditions for nearly 2,000 people held at the center &#8212; allegations they say have already cost lives.</p><p>California Attorney General Rob Bonta backed the detainees in an amicus brief opposing what he called punitive conditions of confinement at Adelanto, after his office&#8217;s own inspectors documented overcrowding, understaffing and failures to treat urgent medical needs. ICE has disputed the findings &#8212; an agency field director told the court in a sworn declaration that clean water was already flowing 24 hours a day, sourced from the same municipal system that supplies the town of Adelanto itself, according to LAist.</p><p>Sykes wasn&#8217;t persuaded. The Ninth Circuit wasn&#8217;t either.</p><div><hr></div><h2>What This Means for Taxpayers</h2><p>Here&#8217;s where it gets expensive, and not in the way DHS wants you to think.</p><p>GEO Group runs Adelanto under a roughly $400 million-a-year contract that runs through 2029 &#8212; a deal taxpayers already fund in full, ostensibly covering the water, meals and medical care detainees say they never got. That&#8217;s the accountability question sitting underneath this ruling: if the conditions were as bad as a federal judge and the state&#8217;s own inspectors found, taxpayers may have spent years paying full price for a service GEO wasn&#8217;t fully delivering.</p><p>The panel gave the government an out that doesn&#8217;t require new spending &#8212; it can enforce the contract it already has, withholding payment or fining GEO instead of asking Congress or the public for more. Whether DHS actually does that, rather than just absorbing the deficiency and moving on, is the story to watch.</p><p>Two other details matter for the ledger. First, the court noted the government never even tried to show what compliance would cost &#8212; it &#8220;has not provided an analysis that parses the expected costs,&#8221; the panel wrote, which is a remarkable thing to admit when you&#8217;re the one asking a court to let dangerous conditions continue while you appeal. </p><p>Second, the district court waived the bond ordinarily required under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), and the panel upheld that. In plain terms: if the government ultimately wins this case, the detainees who sued won&#8217;t owe DHS a dime for the cost of fixing Adelanto in the meantime. The compliance bill stops with the agency &#8212; and by extension, the taxpayer.</p><p>Meanwhile, the underlying case continues. Opening briefs are due Sept. 17, answering briefs Oct. 15, optional reply briefs Oct. 29 &#8212; more months of federal attorney time, more months of court-appointed monitors, on a contract taxpayers are already paying nine figures a year to keep out of the news.</p><p>The government wanted a pause. It got a bill instead.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>A federal appeals court just confirmed what Migrant Insider has been reporting for months: GEO Group&#8217;s excuses don&#8217;t hold up, and neither does DHS&#8217;s math. We&#8217;re about to find out exactly what taxpayers paid for and didn&#8217;t get &#8212; and that&#8217;s the story that needs paid subscribers behind it. Join the community that keeps this reporting alive, and tell one person who needs to read this.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Questions? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[My first &#8216;Mail Bag&#8217; post at Migrant Insider .]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/questions</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/questions</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:21:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/45ce8d85-8450-4aaa-82f6-a8123e445b91_4895x3268.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Good afternoon, fam. Today we&#8217;re going to try something new here, inspired by my colleague <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Gabe Fleisher&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:697125,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kBpE!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3400e7f-6883-4094-a6c4-7d93b559fb58_286x286.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;a6a4191f-f559-4094-88f4-945ad78d3f5f&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span> who posts from time to time requesting questions from the audience. &#8216;Mail Bag&#8217; is the term for it, which I like because it hearkens the old school. </p><p>As many of you know, I&#8217;ve begun embracing a lot of the old ways of doing things this year, mostly in an effort to reduce my screen time. I bought some fully restored <a href="https://pabloreports.com/p/typewriter-dispatch-from-washington">typewriters</a> for correspondence and dispatches. I also began shooting 35mm film photography. </p><div class="instagram-embed-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;instagram_id&quot;:&quot;Db8cVKJFRfk&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Pablo Manriquez on Instagram: \&quot;Some of my 35mm photos taken in &#8230;&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;@pablo.manriquez&quot;,&quot;thumbnail_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/__ss-rehost__IG-snapshot-Db8cVKJFRfk.jpg&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:93,&quot;comment_count&quot;:6,&quot;profile_pic_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/__ss-rehost__IG-profile-pic-Db8cVKJFRfk.png&quot;,&quot;follower_count&quot;:null,&quot;timestamp&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false}" data-component-name="InstagramToDOM"></div><p>For those of you who don&#8217;t know, a little over a decade ago I was a professional photographer for a hot minute. </p><p>Anyway, the mailbag post is just to ask any question you want. It can be about immigration, Congress, politics, art &#8230; whatever&#8217;s on your mind. I&#8217;ll pick some of the best questions and answer them in a subsequent post. How&#8217;s that sound? </p><p>To ask your questions, just drop them in the comments below or hit me on Signal at pab.202. And as always, stay safe out there, fam. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The ICE Agent Six Members of Congress Now Want the FBI to Investigate]]></title><description><![CDATA[Martin Lagunas pointed his gun at a Virginia mother. DHS sources confirmed his name to Migrant Insider &#8212; and lawmakers gave the FBI until Aug. 31 to answer for him.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/the-ice-agent-six-members-of-congress</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/the-ice-agent-six-members-of-congress</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 23:19:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg" width="1456" height="1092" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cgsc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7a8da26-8f0f-4635-9295-f81cb33f9bfa_5712x4284.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Today&#8217;s press conference with Carolina Molina (Photo by me) </figcaption></figure></div><p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Six members of Congress want the FBI to explain, in writing, why federal agents are allowed to draw a loaded gun on a U.S. citizen sitting in her own car and then lie about why they did it.</p><p>That&#8217;s the blunt ask behind a letter sent Wednesday to Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella &#8212; demanding an immediate FBI investigation and a DOJ Civil Rights Division review into the ICE agents who boxed in Carolina Molina&#8217;s car in Falls Church, Virginia, on Aug. 10 and pointed a firearm at her head.</p><p>Reps. Don Beyer, Suhas Subramanyam and James Walkinshaw of Virginia signed the letter. So did Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee; Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking member of Homeland Security; and Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of Judiciary &#8212; the three committees with jurisdiction over ICE. They gave DOJ and DHS until Monday, Aug. 31, to respond.</p><p><em>Migrant Insider</em> has confirmed, through two DHS sources speaking on condition of anonymity, the identity of the agent who drew his weapon: Martin Lagunas, 40, the leader of an Enforcement and Removal Operations team out of Chicago.</p><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;dc1e3bea-644d-46e9-8587-9f6ab0779f2f&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;WASHINGTON &#8212; Two sources inside the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the name of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who pointed a gun at a U.S. citizen to Migrant Insider.&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;EXCLUSIVE: Two DHS Sources Confirm to Migrant Insider &#8212; The ICE Agent Who Pointed His Gun at a U.S. Citizen in Virginia Is Martin Lagunas&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:21387176,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Pablo Manr&#237;quez&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Editor, Migrant Insider | Reporter, MeidasTouch | Old Dog Person &#127464;&#127473;&#127482;&#127480;&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e0d919bc-fb47-40f6-b85b-6c1ebb9a7c71_743x745.png&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:100}],&quot;post_date&quot;:&quot;2026-08-15T02:23:14.834Z&quot;,&quot;cover_image&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/youtube/w_728,c_limit/X2uciy7zJ5A&quot;,&quot;cover_image_alt&quot;:null,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/p/exclusive-two-dhs-sources-confirm&quot;,&quot;section_name&quot;:null,&quot;video_upload_id&quot;:&quot;ac7a9000-6405-408b-981f-180cc73d1830&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:211257382,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;podcast&quot;,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:249,&quot;comment_count&quot;:39,&quot;publication_id&quot;:2496898,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Migrant Insider&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!b8c6!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e71d906-d759-4984-8665-f1385ff5739e_257x257.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div><div><hr></div><h3>&#8220;I never tried to run you over&#8221;</h3><p>Molina was leaving a Bailey&#8217;s Crossroads shopping center &#8212; where she volunteers as a licensed professional counselor conducting mental health assessments for immigration clients &#8212; when unmarked vehicles pinned her car front and back. Masked agents surrounded her. One drew his gun.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah, you record this. You almost ran us over,&#8221; Lagunas told her, according to video Molina recorded and shared with lawmakers.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t almost run you over,&#8221; Molina said.</p><p>&#8220;You almost ran us over! Stop playing!&#8221; Lagunas shouted back. &#8220;I will arrest you! Keep it up!&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a legal citizen!&#8221; Molina told him.</p><p>&#8220;Keep it up, I don&#8217;t care!&#8221;</p><p>The letter states plainly what the video shows: &#8220;Neither video shows any attempt by Ms. Molina to run over or otherwise endanger the ICE agents.&#8221; DHS&#8217;s own public statement &#8212; that Molina &#8220;attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle&#8221; &#8212; is, per the letter, &#8220;identical to previous claims made to justify the use of deadly force elsewhere that later collapsed after the production of video evidence.&#8221;</p><p>Molina invoked that pattern herself at Wednesday&#8217;s press conference, referencing the January killing of Ren&#233;e Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis &#8212; a case in which agents used nearly identical language before video contradicted them. &#8220;I think my life was in danger at that point,&#8221; Molina said. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t until after I was like, this was a whole Ren&#233;e Good situation again.&#8221;</p><h3>The paper trail Congress wants</h3><p>The letter cites two ICE directives by number. Directive 19009.3 requires agents to &#8220;use force only when no reasonably effective, safe, and feasible alternative appears to exist.&#8221; Directive 19010.3 requires body-worn cameras to be activated at the start of enforcement activity &#8212; and Molina&#8217;s own footage shows at least three agents wearing cameras, one of whom she says she watched press record.</p><div class="file-embed-wrapper" data-component-name="FileToDOM"><div class="file-embed-container-reader"><div class="file-embed-container-top"><image class="file-embed-thumbnail-default" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Cy0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Fattachment_icon.svg"></image><div class="file-embed-details"><div class="file-embed-details-h1">081926 Letter To Doj And Dhs Re Carolina Molina Incident</div><div class="file-embed-details-h2">491KB &#8729; PDF file</div></div><a class="file-embed-button wide" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/f8bd4f76-b9a9-47fa-9f59-a9b786267fc0.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div><a class="file-embed-button narrow" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/f8bd4f76-b9a9-47fa-9f59-a9b786267fc0.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div></div><p>That gives lawmakers a paper trail DHS can&#8217;t easily wave away. The letter&#8217;s ten questions demand the agents&#8217; names and titles, their vehicle-stop training records, any disciplinary history, and &#8220;all complete and unedited body-worn camera footage, cellphone and vehicle footage&#8221; &#8212; footage the agency is legally required to already have.</p><p>Subramanyam, whose district includes Molina, told Migrant Insider that accountability won&#8217;t wait for a Republican-controlled FBI to act. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to do everything possible,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We will hold every single ICE officer accountable. Even if that accountability means public pressure and public shaming, that&#8217;s what needs to happen if there&#8217;s no accountability in ICE.&#8221; He added that Lagunas &#8220;should come before Congress to explain&#8221; himself if Democrats retake the House &#8212; and called a subpoena likely.</p><p>Beyer, in his own interview, said he&#8217;d never seen anything like the ICE buildup in his tenure in Congress: &#8220;My great concern is that they&#8217;re doing the kind of minimal background checks on ICE agents that you&#8217;d get, for example, to join a local police department&#8221; &#8212; rather than screening for &#8220;people that are stalwarts of the community.&#8221;</p><p>Molina, for her part, wants none of the spotlight. Asked what she&#8217;d say to Lagunas directly, she declined. &#8220;I don&#8217;t have a message for him,&#8221; she said. Asked what she&#8217;d tell others: &#8220;Don&#8217;t trust anything, and just move carefully.&#8221;</p><div><hr></div><p><em>&#8220;You watched the video. Now you know the number on his badge and the two directives he may have violated &#8212; because two DHS sources trusted Migrant Insider with it before Congress got an answer. That&#8217;s the beat. Subscribe, and forward this to the one person still asking &#8216;wait, who was that agent?&#8217;</em></p><p></p><div><hr></div><h3>What The Video Shows</h3><div id="youtube2-_DB4IwhmRlo" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;_DB4IwhmRlo&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_DB4IwhmRlo?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Molina was dropping business cards at immigration law offices near Bailey&#8217;s Crossroads on Aug. 10 when she saw ICE agents making arrests in the parking lot. She drove past. She turned around. Unmarked vehicles boxed her car in front and back. Masked agents got out. One drew his gun and pointed it at her.</p><p>&#8220;You almost ran us over,&#8221; the agent said, according to video Molina posted. She hadn&#8217;t. The lawmakers&#8217; letter is blunt about it: &#8220;The claim of a deadly threat is obviously belied by both the video footage and their decision to leave her without detaining or charging her after she told them that she had dashcam footage of the encounter.&#8221;</p><p>DHS&#8217;s version, issued the next day, called Molina an &#8220;anti-ICE agitator&#8221; who &#8220;attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle against them.&#8221; The congressional letter calls that characterization &#8220;particularly concerning,&#8221; noting it mirrors language DHS has used elsewhere to justify deadly force &#8212; language that &#8220;later collapsed after the production of video evidence, just as this one has.&#8221;</p><p>The letter names names the public hasn&#8217;t seen: Ruben Ray Martinez. Renee Good. Alex Pretti. Joan Sebastian Dur&#225;n Guerrero. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Five people the lawmakers say died in incidents that fit the same pattern DHS is now applying to Molina.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The Second Northern Virginian This Month</h3><p>Nine days after Molina&#8217;s encounter, Beyer is asking a second, separate set of questions &#8212; this time about a man who says he doesn&#8217;t remember what happened to him.</p><p>Jos&#233; Mej&#237;a Hernandez, 45, told Telemundo he was walking to a bus stop in Arlington on Aug. 11 when two trucks pulled up and men ran at him. He ran too. He says he was hit with a stun gun from behind. Then nothing &#8212; until he woke up in a D.C. hospital hours later with a brain bleed and a face covered in bruises.</p><p>His attorney says two ICE agents stayed at his hospital bedside the entire time, and that he was never given a private moment with his own doctors.</p><p>DHS disputes essentially all of it. The agency told Newsweek that Mej&#237;a Hernandez has been in the country illegally since 2006, accepted voluntary return, then reentered unlawfully in 2008. It told HuffPost that &#8220;allegations that he was unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed are FALSE,&#8221; insisting officers &#8220;rendered aid&#8221; and followed training after he &#8220;evaded arrest.&#8221;</p><p>Arlington Commonwealth&#8217;s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti isn&#8217;t waiting for that dispute to resolve itself. &#8220;No one is above the law &#8212; not any individual, not law enforcement, and not federal officials &#8212; no one,&#8221; she said in a statement calling for an immediate investigation.</p><p>Beyer, whose district includes both incidents, said Mej&#237;a Hernandez&#8217;s case arrived amid what he called a broader surge &#8212; &#8220;unjustified violence&#8221; and &#8220;apparently warrantless detention&#8221; hitting Northern Virginia over the past 10 days.</p><p>&#8220;ICE agents are here, they are regularly ignoring their training and departmental regulations that call for de-escalation, they are disappearing people, and they are all too frequently becoming out of control or violent,&#8221; Beyer said. &#8220;I urge Northern Virginians to exercise extreme caution.&#8221;</p><div><hr></div><h3>What Comes Next</h3><p>The letter demands ICE turn over body-camera footage &#8212; Molina says she watched an agent activate his &#8212; along with cellphone video, use-of-force reports, and the names of every agent who surrounded her car. It asks whether those agents are still authorized to work the streets of Northern Virginia right now, while Congress waits for an answer.</p><p>They have until Aug. 31.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>&#8220;Carolina Molina had a gun in her face and a dashcam that proved DHS was lying. Jos&#233; Mej&#237;a Hernandez woke up with a brain bleed and no memory of how he got it. Six members of Congress just gave the FBI eleven days to explain both. Migrant Insider will be tracking that deadline &#8212; subscribe so you&#8217;re not finding out from a press release.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Fight Begins Over Student Workers]]></title><description><![CDATA[While ICE raids dominate headlines, the administration is quietly building a case to gut OPT &#8212; the visa program powering Silicon Valley's talent pipeline.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/the-fight-begins-over-student-workers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/the-fight-begins-over-student-workers</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Arjun Singh]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:41:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a2176551-fa76-4b54-99c4-b3effc9022a2_1280x856.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;On July 30, Michelle Hackman of the Wall Street Journal exclusively <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/u-s-weighs-100-000-fee-for-foreign-students-wanting-to-work-after-graduation-d0bf43d9"><span data-color="rgb(56, 101, 115)" style="color: rgb(56, 101, 115);">reported</span></a> that the Trump Administration was considering a step that could, effectively, terminate merit-based legal immigration. The plan is to charge a $100,000 fee for international students to use the controversial Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to work in the country.</p><p>OPT has been in the crosshairs of conservatives for years. They claim the program takes jobs away from American workers and allows unfettered legal immigration. Support for the program, by contrast, brings together progressives, businesses, and industry, who argue that it&#8217;s a lifeline for top talent to stay in America and support cutting-edge innovation.</p><p>As MAGA fights against all forms of immigration, mass deportation raids by ICE and the deaths of migrants in custody are getting the most attention. But the challenge to OPT is an underrated threat to documented law-abiding immigrants. If successful, the assault could have massiv&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[EXCLUSIVE: Two DHS Sources Confirm to Migrant Insider — The ICE Agent Who Pointed His Gun at a U.S. Citizen in Virginia Is Martin Lagunas]]></title><description><![CDATA[Watch now | The Chicago-based agent was already identified on social media and by Unraveled Press. Now, two Department of Homeland Security sources have confirmed his name to Migrant Insider.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/exclusive-two-dhs-sources-confirm</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/exclusive-two-dhs-sources-confirm</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:23:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/211257382/9d486f05dea2f724dbbe951c74d52f32.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Two sources inside the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the name of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who pointed a gun at a U.S. citizen to <em>Migrant Insider</em>.</p><p>The masked ICE officer who stepped out of an unmarked SUV on Monday and pointed his service weapon at Carolina Molina &#8212; a U.S. citizen, seated behind the wheel of her own car, in a parking lot off Columbia Pike in Falls Church &#8212; is Martin Lagunas, according to two DHS sources who spoke to <em>Migrant Insider</em> on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident publicly.</p><p><span>&#8220;This is the same kind of behavior that led to the murder of two American citizens,&#8221; Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) </span><a href="https://x.com/SenRubenGallego/status/2087293508637872454"><span>tweeted</span></a><span> about the incident.&#8221; &#8220;Trump&#8217;s violent goon squad is out of control. We need to completely clean house and rebuild from the bottom,&#8221; he added. </span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png" width="1300" height="1270" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1270,&quot;width&quot;:1300,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:549259,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/i/211257382?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rg8F!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb451e98b-1a35-4eaa-8d06-51657ed6b7da_1300x1270.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>DHS has not named Lagunas in any public statement. The agency&#8217;s official line after the encounter went viral described the officers as agents who feared for their safety during a &#8220;targeted immigration enforcement&#8221; operation. But Molina&#8217;s video shows her car is stationary as Lagunas points his weapon at her window and accuses her, on camera, of nearly running his team over &#8212; a lie ICE agents made after the killing of Ren&#233;e Good in Minneapolis in January. </p><div><hr></div><h4>Confirming a name investigators wouldn&#8217;t</h4><p>Lagunas, 40, was first publicly identified by Elgin-area ICE watchdog Ismael Cordov&#225;-Clough one week ago, and independently verified through voice and visual analysis &#8212; including a distinctive arm tattoo and a frayed &#8220;POLICE&#8221; patch worn across multiple encounters &#8212; in reporting by <em><a href="https://unraveledpress.com/chicago-ice-team-seen-threatening-drivers-has-roamed-from-illinois-to-minnesota-to-virginia/">Unraveled Press</a></em>. <em>Migrant Insider</em>&#8217;s DHS sources corroborate that identification.</p><p><em>Unraveled&#8217;s</em> reported that Lagunas is a Chicago native who led an Enforcement and Removal Operations team first documented making arrests outside Chicago&#8217;s immigration court at 55 E. Monroe Street in May 2025, and later during protests outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois &#8212; the epicenter of last fall&#8217;s Operation Midway Blitz demonstrations. </p><div id="youtube2-X2uciy7zJ5A" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;X2uciy7zJ5A&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:&quot;15s&quot;,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/X2uciy7zJ5A?start=15s&amp;rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>That same team surfaced again in Minneapolis in January, four days after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot the 37-year-old Good &#8212; the case Molina herself invoked at a Wednesday press conference, saying, &#8220;I think my life was in danger at that point. It wasn&#8217;t until after I was like, this was a whole Ren&#233;e Good situation again.&#8221;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg" width="1170" height="1155" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1155,&quot;width&quot;:1170,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:319674,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/i/211257382?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-rM0!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bbfb414-ad31-4023-92b6-b4bbf280818d_1170x1155.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Martin Lagunas&#8217; Facebook profile picture.</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><h4>The &#8220;weaponized vehicle&#8221; playbook</h4><p>DHS&#8217;s account of the Virginia stop &#8212; that Molina &#8220;attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle&#8221; &#8212; repeats a pattern the agency has leaned on before, per <em><a href="https://unraveledpress.com/chicago-ice-team-seen-threatening-drivers-has-roamed-from-illinois-to-minnesota-to-virginia/">Unraveled&#8217;</a></em><a href="https://unraveledpress.com/chicago-ice-team-seen-threatening-drivers-has-roamed-from-illinois-to-minnesota-to-virginia/">s reporting</a>: almost identical language was used to justify the fatal shootings of Silverio Villegas Gonz&#225;lez in Franklin Park, Illinois, and Good in Minneapolis &#8212; claims that video and body-camera footage in both cases failed to support.</p><p>Molina saids the gun in her face made her start filmimg. &#8220;I think that&#8217;s why I took my cell phone out and started recording, because I&#8217;m like, &#8216;yo, this guy is really pointing a gun at my head.&#8217; Like that&#8217;s insane,&#8221; she said.</p><p>DHS&#8217;s statement on the incident does not mention Lagunas by name: &#8220;The operation was targeting criminal illegal aliens, whose crimes included a hit and run and drug trafficking, and illegal aliens with final orders of removal. Fearing for their safety, ICE officers conducted a vehicle stop of the driver. Necessary background information of the driver was taken and she could face criminal prosecution as a result of her actions.&#8221;</p><p>The Fairfax County Commonwealth&#8217;s Attorney&#8217;s Office confirmed this week it is <a href="https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/virginia/fairfax-county/fairfax-prosecutor-reviewing-video-of-ice-agent-pointing-gun-at-woman/">reviewing the footage</a>. Rep. Don Beyer and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam have publicly demanded consequences for the agents involved.</p><div><hr></div><h4>Online Footprint</h4><p>Four days before the Virginia stop, back in Minneapolis, Lagunas told a driver he&#8217;d blocked in with his own vehicle: &#8220;You&#8217;re not gonna like the outcome of this, sir. I guarantee you&#8217;re not going to like the outcome.&#8221; On the day Ren&#233;e Good died, he&#8217;d posted about her death on his own Facebook page. The caption was one word: &#8220;FAFO.&#8221;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg" width="1241" height="2048" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2048,&quot;width&quot;:1241,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:371077,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/i/211257382?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vojL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7d5fb895-79f3-4b7a-b6f6-9037841fa6d2_1241x2048.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This is a developing story.  If you have information about Lagunas or other ICE agents caught on video committing atrocities in our country, let us know at tips@migrantinsider.com or on Signal at pab.202. </p><div><hr></div><p><em>This story is why you pay for Migrant Insider &#8212; we go find the name while everyone else is still calling him 'the masked agent.' Subscribe, and send this to the one person in your life who still thinks this story is about a car.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trump Just Made Leaving the Country Another Trap. Here are the Week’s Immigration Scoops the Big Outlets Missed.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Five under-covered developments &#8212; from a precedent that could blow up DACA travel plans to a quiet rule that could lock rural migrants out of the system &#8212; all sourced straight from the government&#8217;s ow]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/trump-just-made-leaving-the-country</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/trump-just-made-leaving-the-country</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:40:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/11ef0542-bed0-4e61-8683-cf1e6bb56153_1041x694.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Five immigration stories broke this week that should be leading news coverage in Washington. Instead, they&#8217;re sitting in court dockets and the Federal Register, waiting for someone to read them. Migrant Insider did.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[No-Bid Contract Puts Pain-Compliance Gloves on ICE Agents Arresting Migrants With No Criminal Record]]></title><description><![CDATA[DHS wants $2500 gloves that jolt migrants through skin contact alone, deployed by March 2027, with no competitive bidding and no public safety testing.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/no-bid-contract-puts-pain-compliance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/no-bid-contract-puts-pain-compliance</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 23:14:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e100f504-706e-45c6-a2a3-3dd7d633b5b5_4088x2725.avif" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Two thousand five hundred dollars. That&#8217;s the price tag on a pair of gloves built to send an electric jolt through a migrant&#8217;s skin &#8212; and it&#8217;s the only hard number a source familiar was willing to confirm when <em>MeidasTouch</em> came asking.</p><p>The Department of Homeland Security published a procurement notice this month laying out its intent: outfit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers with what the paperwork calls &#8220;conductive distraction and de-escalation devices.&#8221; </p><p>Sold under the brand name G.L.O.V.E. &#8212; Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter &#8212; the equipment is headed for both of ICE&#8217;s operational wings, Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations, on an expedited deployment target of March 2027. The budget ceiling: $10 million to $20 million. The contract mechanism: sole-source, no-bid, awarded without competition to a Lexington, Kentucky, defense and law enforcement vendor.</p><p>If it closes, it will be the largest commercial deal in Compliant Tec&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Aisha Wahab’s Father Told Supporters to “Call ICE” on Her Opponent. Wahab Still Won’t Say He Was Wrong. ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Democratic leaders are demanding answers. Her campaign is offering fake doubt.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/aisha-wahabs-father-told-supporters</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/aisha-wahabs-father-told-supporters</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:36:34 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fe8f0d6a-65ac-4bd7-9b7f-ab73f3b82d85_2000x1333.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Her father&#8217;s photo is the same one she posted for Father&#8217;s Day.</p><p>That&#8217;s the detail that undoes State Sen. Aisha Wahab&#8217;s defense. Not the racist comment itself &#8212; &#8220;Call ice on the Mexican girl she don&#8217;t belong here&#8221; &#8212; but the picture attached to the account that posted it, a picture that matches the man Wahab called her &#8220;toughest critic, but also my biggest cheerleader&#8221; in a 2023 tribute on her own campaign page.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg" width="1195" height="1600" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1600,&quot;width&quot;:1195,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:374033,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/i/210906055?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X3FB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fdf9fdd-969a-4f4f-acb2-ca9346eee9d3_1195x1600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Nine days before Californians decide who finishes out former Rep. Eric Swalwell&#8217;s term, Wahab, D-Calif., is running from a question that has a one-word answer: yes or no. Was that her father? And if it was, is she willing to say, out loud, that what he wrote was wrong?</p><p>She has had two chances to answer. She has answered neither.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Greg Cunningham Calls Two U.S. Citizens Killed by ICE “Collateral Damage”]]></title><description><![CDATA[The GOP nominee for New Mexico&#8217;s 2nd District, who is campaigning on his roots in Albuquerque&#8217;s heavily Hispanic South Valley, says bystanders killed in ICE raids &#8220;got to go&#8221;.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/greg-cunningham-calls-two-us-citizens</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/greg-cunningham-calls-two-us-citizens</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:19:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/efcb286a-251f-4b4f-b6c8-c2f1baaf3ecd_1200x800.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Renee Good was 37. Alex Pretti was 37. Both were U.S. citizens. Both were shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in January &#8212; Good on the 7th, Pretti on the 24th. Greg Cunningham has a word for what happened to them: collateral damage.</p><p>Cunningham, the Republican nominee for New Mexico&#8217;s 2nd Congressional District, is building his campaign around a hometown story &#8212; a South Valley kid, born and raised in one of Albuquerque&#8217;s most heavily Hispanic communities, roughly 82% Hispanic by the numbers. But on camera, in the same weeks federal agents were killing citizens in Minneapolis, Cunningham described the people caught up in ICE operations &#8212; including bystanders who might be family or coworkers &#8212; as expendable.</p><p>&#8220;They got to go, so they are collateral damage to a system that put ICE in the position where they have to go locate this person,&#8221; Cunningham said, describing what happens when agents raid a home or workplace and find others present. &#8220;Chances are there&#8217;s&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Migrant Insider Newsletter Returns August 7]]></title><description><![CDATA[Two weeks off to reset, recharge, and return to the daily newsletter grind on the immigration beat. Paid Subscribers can still access the Migrant Chat, 24-7/]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/august-recess-ama-part-2</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/august-recess-ama-part-2</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 26 Jul 2026 03:12:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7cbe00ee-67f7-42b8-a9de-dd6da331a5a6_2048x1367.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;&#8216;<a href="http://youtube.com/@pabloreports">Pablo Reports</a>&#8217; quietly restarts tomorrow on YouTube with &#8220;REPORTS&#8221; and &#8220;TAKES&#8221; as flagship verticals, which I love because it&#8217;s super simple, easy to remember, goes everywhere with me. Reporting versus opinion. News scoops versus news analysis. Fashun versus press photographers. Anyway, we&#8217;ll discuss when we get back unless you&#8217;re a Paid Subscriber of Migrant Insider, our chat is always open: </p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/migrantinsider/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;migrantinsider&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:2496898,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Migrant Insider&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;Pablo Manr&#237;quez&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZQiq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F669fd823-9546-4400-b154-609a1a4877d6_1122x1110.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><p>Back in two weeks. Deuces, fam. </p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Haley Stevens Voted to Fund and Thank ICE. Now She Wants Michigan to Forget.]]></title><description><![CDATA[As Michigan&#8217;s Democratic Senate primary hits its final stretch, Rep. Haley Stevens is running as an ICE reformer. Her voting record tells a messier story &#8212; and her rival, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, is bettin]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/haley-stevens-voted-to-fund-and-thank</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/haley-stevens-voted-to-fund-and-thank</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:38:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f915e6cc-15a9-4526-aa7b-4db173bac95a_547x365.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Masked ICE agents continued their killing spree this month, gunning down innocent Americans in the street from Texas to Maine. And on Aug. 4 &#8212; eleven days from now &#8212; Michigan Democrats will decide whether the person who votes to rein in ICE should be someone who once voted to fund it.</p><p>Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., wants voters to see her as the woman who told ICE &#8220;not one penny more.&#8221; But as you&#8217;ll read below, her anti-ICE position is newfangled. Before opposing ICE was cool, Stevens voted multiple times to support the rogue agency terrorizing American communities. </p><p>On the other hand, Stevens&#8217; opponent in the Michigan Senate primary, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, has opposed ICE from the jump; but his is a position untested by any voting record. That is, El Sayed&#8217;s never had a job that required him to chose Aye or Nay on things like, say, federal appropriations for the department of Homeland Security. Stevens has that job and like many Democrats, voted Aye for ICE until it was more po&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How One Anti-Migrant Bureaucrat is Quietly Reshaping American Asylum]]></title><description><![CDATA[His name is Judge Paul A. McCloskey. Here's what what we know:]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/how-one-anti-migrant-bureaucrat-is</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/how-one-anti-migrant-bureaucrat-is</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:22:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png" width="1408" height="768" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:768,&quot;width&quot;:1408,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2092117,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/i/207000287?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gKpt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b9e3a1-cf2c-4be5-9e76-7b9ae8c7b7fc_1408x768.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Full Disclosure: I could find literally no photographs of Judge McCloskey online (a first in <em>Migrant Insider</em>&#8217;s extensive <a href="https://migrantinsider.com/t/courts">coverage of the courts</a>), so resorted to making this image using AI. </figcaption></figure></div><p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;If you ever want to see what systemic, calculated hostility looks like in real time, take a trip to the Arlington Immigration Court.</p><p>You won&#8217;t find loud, theatrical outbursts or cartoonish movie villains. Instead, you will find Judge Paul A. McCloskey: a mild-mannered, career-long bureaucrat with no Googleable photos of himself on the Internet whose quiet, procedural precision serves as a highly effective deportation machine.</p><p>For years, local advocates have known McCloskey as the place where asylum hopes go to die. But now, his brand of institutional cruelty has been exported nationwide. His promotion to serve as a Temporary Appellate Immigration Judge on the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)&#8212;the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration law&#8212;is a major blow to&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Five Changes, One Month: How Washington Continues Quietly Rewriting Immigration Law]]></title><description><![CDATA[From a Kremlin draft dodger's asylum claim to Medicaid cards going dark, the federal government spent the past two weeks closing doors most Americans never knew existed.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/five-changes-one-month-how-washington</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/five-changes-one-month-how-washington</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:29:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3d59f544-66e7-436a-9e22-1a341083345c_3840x2560.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Thirty days. That&#8217;s the new grace period for an international student who overstays a visa in Donald Trump&#8217;s Washington &#8212; half of what it was a month ago.</p><p>The number is small. The consequences aren&#8217;t. Across five separate actions &#8212; a DHS rule, two Board of Immigration Appeals decisions, a USCIS alert, and a CMS bulletin &#8212; the federal government spent the back half of July quietly rewriting the terms under which immigrants, asylum seekers and their children live, work and access care in this country. None of it happened in a hearing room with cameras. All of it will reach kitchen tables by fall.</p><p>Here&#8217;s what <em>Migrant Insider</em> found.</p><div><hr></div><h3>DHS puts a clock on every foreign student and journalist in America</h3><p>DHS has finalized a rule ending &#8220;duration of status,&#8221; the decades-old system that let F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors and I-visa foreign journalists remain in the U.S. for as long as their program lasted. In its place: a hard admission date, capped at four years, with language-training students limited to 24 months total. The 60-day grace period that once cushioned the end of a program is now 30 days &#8212; after which unlawful presence starts accruing and future immigration benefits can be barred.</p><p>Buried in the rule are tighter restrictions on school transfers and changes of academic objective, especially at the graduate level, plus new biometrics requirements and stricter rules for keeping work authorization continuous. The effect: categories that functioned for generations as stable, multi-year statuses now require recurring federal sign-off, with a paperwork miss carrying real legal consequences. Foreign correspondents holding I-visas are swept in alongside students.</p><div><hr></div><h3>The BIA tells Russian draft dodgers: conscription alone won&#8217;t save you</h3>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kalshi Wants You to Bet on How Many People ICE Abducts Today]]></title><description><![CDATA[A CFTC filing obtained by Migrant Insider shows the exchange quietly built a market that lets traders wager on ICE's daily arrest count with three confidential appendices the public never saw.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/kalshi-wants-you-to-bet-on-how-many</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/kalshi-wants-you-to-bet-on-how-many</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 23:53:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f7f30e44-f5ad-4a12-8868-5a5becfda422_2048x1365.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Zero to one hundred thousand. That&#8217;s the range Kalshi built into a federal filing nine days before Donald Trump&#8217;s inauguration &#8212; a sliding scale of human arrests, priced in pennies, that traders could bet on one day at a time.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abbott's Answer to a Supreme Court Loss: Go After the Hospitals]]></title><description><![CDATA[Executive Order GA-57 weaponizes licensing boards against "birth tourism" weeks after the Court affirmed birthright citizenship.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/abbotts-answer-to-a-supreme-court</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/abbotts-answer-to-a-supreme-court</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:52:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/75058002-b375-4e99-8876-54cb18dbecf1_1440x960.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Greg Abbott just gave six different Texas agencies the power to pull a doctor&#8217;s license over a billboard.</p><p>The governor signed Executive Order GA-57 on Monday, directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, its Office of Inspector General, the Texas Medical Board, the Board of Nursing, the Department of Licensing and Regulation, and the Department of State Health Services to investigate hospitals, birthing centers and medical staff accused of marketing so-called &#8220;birth tourism&#8221; &#8212; trips by pregnant travelers to the U.S. to give birth. The order lets those agencies revoke licenses, cut off state contracts, deny benefits, and refer cases for criminal prosecution.</p><div class="file-embed-wrapper" data-component-name="FileToDOM"><div class="file-embed-container-reader"><div class="file-embed-container-top"><image class="file-embed-thumbnail-default" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Cy0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Fattachment_icon.svg"></image><div class="file-embed-details"><div class="file-embed-details-h1">Eo Ga 57 Birthright Tourism Image 2026 07 21</div><div class="file-embed-details-h2">525KB &#8729; PDF file</div></div><a class="file-embed-button wide" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/f9ca096b-be50-4bc0-a4b9-5a76d552cd97.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div><a class="file-embed-button narrow" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/f9ca096b-be50-4bc0-a4b9-5a76d552cd97.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div></div><h4><strong>What triggered it</strong></h4><p>The order leans on a Texas Health and Human Services Commission probe Abbott ordered on July 7 after reports surfaced that hospitals were advertising birth packages abroad. HHSC has already referred two Texas hospitals to the state attorney general over billboards placed in a foreign country&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[FBI to ICE Agents: Investigate Your Own Murders of Migrants]]></title><description><![CDATA[Internal guidance moves a key investigative function from an outside agency to ICE's own Homeland Security Investigations unit, even as DOJ and DHS publicly deny anything has changed.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/fbi-to-ice-agents-investigate-your</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/fbi-to-ice-agents-investigate-your</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:12:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/62a0a78f-f009-483b-bf8e-355950ff54dd_1500x1000.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> &#8212;&nbsp;Twenty-two people died in ICE custody last year. At least 30 have been shot by immigration agents since President Trump took office. And now, according to internal FBI guidance, the one federal agency positioned to independently examine those encounters is stepping back.</p><p>FBI field offices nationwide were told in writing that the bureau will no longer take the lead on &#8220;assault on a federal officer&#8221; cases involving ICE and other Department of Homeland Security agents. Those cases &#8212; the routine paperwork that follows any claim an officer was attacked &#8212; have long doubled as the FBI&#8217;s primary window into ICE shootings, since they generate the witness statements, video evidence and forensic work that can later support a civil rights case against an agent who used deadly force.</p><p>Under the new guidance, that work moves instead to Homeland Security Investigations &#8212; ICE&#8217;s own investigative arm, operating inside the same department as the agents whose conduct would be under review.</p><p>DOJ &#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[An Immigration Court Just Asked If It Can Ignore the Constitution]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Board of Immigration Appeals wants outside briefs on whether Supreme Court precedent binds it &#8212; even when that precedent would strike down the law it enforces.]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/an-immigration-court-just-asked-if</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/an-immigration-court-just-asked-if</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:46:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/399c4882-f6a8-47c7-89d2-65cb15b7d946_875x548.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON &#8212;&nbsp;</strong>The Board of Immigration Appeals just asked the public a question no immigration court is supposed to have to ask: whether it&#8217;s bound by the Supreme Court at all.</p><p>In an amicus invitation posted July 14, the nation&#8217;s highest immigration appeals body &#8212; the court of last resort for hundreds of thousands of deportation cases before they ever reach a federal judge &#8212; is soliciting outside legal briefs on whether it must follow Supreme Court and circuit court precedent on constitutional law, even in cases where doing so would mean striking down a statute or regulation as unconstitutional.</p><div class="file-embed-wrapper" data-component-name="FileToDOM"><div class="file-embed-container-reader"><div class="file-embed-container-top"><image class="file-embed-thumbnail-default" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Cy0!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Fattachment_icon.svg"></image><div class="file-embed-details"><div class="file-embed-details-h1">Amicus Invitation 26 14 07 Constitutional Law Due Date 08 13 26</div><div class="file-embed-details-h2">170KB &#8729; PDF file</div></div><a class="file-embed-button wide" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/25dbb30f-448a-42b4-8577-19ffe9654daf.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div><a class="file-embed-button narrow" href="https://migrantinsider.com/api/v1/file/25dbb30f-448a-42b4-8577-19ffe9654daf.pdf"><span class="file-embed-button-text">Download</span></a></div></div><h2><strong>Why It Matters</strong></h2><p>The BIA is not a court in the Article III sense. It&#8217;s part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, an agency housed inside the Justice Department. Agencies typically can&#8217;t declare acts of Congress unconstitutional &#8212; that power sits with the judiciary. But immigration law runs on statutes and regulations that get challenged on constitutional grounds constantly: due process at&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[“Who Are the Assassins?” — Salgado Family and Hill Democrats Want Killer ICE Agents Publicly Named]]></title><description><![CDATA[As ICE agents gunned down two men in six days, a grieving Houston family and a growing bloc of House Democrats are asking the same question Republicans won't touch: who pulled the triggers?]]></description><link>https://migrantinsider.com/p/who-are-the-assassins-salgado-family</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://migrantinsider.com/p/who-are-the-assassins-salgado-family</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pablo Manríquez]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:41:37 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9466f7f9-5adb-4cd6-8262-2dd7f5efbfed_948x529.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>WASHINGTON &#8212;&nbsp;</strong>Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was still breathing when the shooting stopped. His son watched the video after the fact &#8212; his father screaming, still moving, still fighting to live &#8212; hours before anyone in government would confirm he was dead.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://migrantinsider.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>&#8220;I have to, well, all the world has to know, who are the... assassins that killed my dad,&#8221; his son <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=GY1Hup3lWfU&amp;ra=m">told</a> Univision&#8217;s Lidia Terrazas this weekend, the family&#8217;s first extended interview since ICE agents shot Salgado Araujo during a Houston traffic stop. &#8220;Because if that would have happened to any... crime... they would have investigated who was the suspicious, right? But what we have heard is that the agents that were involved... they have moved them to another state.&#8221;</p>
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