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November Immigration Briefing

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On Tuesday, November 18th, the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights hosted a virtual Immigration Briefing with our community partners. The briefing covered Illinois legislative updates, some good news on ongoing federal litigation, and updates on USCIS processes.

As always, none of the below should be considered legal advice! The federal policy and legal landscape around immigration is changing rapidly, so any of the information below may soon be out of date. If you’re concerned that any of these updates may impact you, we recommend getting an immigration screening from an attorney. Visit Illinoisimmigrationinfo.org to get connected with legal support.

Federal Immigration Enforcement Updates

After their campaign of terror over the past several months––which in the past month resulted in the abductions of hundreds of immigrants with no criminal records, tear-gassing of neighborhoods, the detention of a daycare teacher in front of the children she teaches, and unprecedented use of force against immigrants and citizens alike––the Department of Homeland Security has vacated the Great Lakes Naval Station. 200 National Guard members have also left, after their deployment was halted last month by a federal judge. 

While this is great news, the campaign of deportations in Chicago has not been halted. ICE is still very much in Chicago, and may continue to use similar tactics––including racial profiling, the detention of outdoor workers like landscapers, contractors, and street vendors––to detain and deport the people of Chicago.

Federal Litigation Updates

Last month, the Castañon Nava Consent Decree––which limits ICE from conducting vehicle stops or warrantless or collateral arrests––was extended until February 2, 2026. This month, a federal judge has ordered the release of hundreds of immigrants whose arrests likely violated the consent decree.

This order applies to federal immigration arrests from June 11th–October 7th. The judge has ordered the DHS to provide a complete list of arrests by November 19th. The National Immigrant Justice Center is partnering to secure funding through the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund to pay the bonds for everyone who can be released under Castañon Nava.

While this is a huge win, it is also important to mention that in the interim, over 1,000 immigrants from the Chicago area have been deported (or pressured to voluntarily depart) without due process.

If a family member of yours was detained, and you’d like to know whether they may be released, you can call ICIRR’s family support hotline at 1-855-435-7693. If you witness what appears to be a warrantless arrest, and you have access to the detained person’s information, please fill out NIJC’s referral Form.

Broadview Processing Center

MacArthur Justice Center, ACLU of Illinois and Eimer Stahl filed an emergency class lawsuit against ICE and CBP due to the inhumane conditions at the Broadview ICE facility. The lawsuit is in defense of detained people at the facility who are being denied water, food, medical care, hygiene and other basic necessities, including access to their attorneys––which is a violation of their constitutional rights.

A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order requiring ICE to provide basic sanitary conditions to detainees, including space to sleep, clean bedding, access to showers and clean toilet facilities, three meals a day, water with each meal, and hygiene supplies, and medications.

How to Report Violations

While all these legislative updates represent wins thanks to the dedication of the immigration and civil rights attorneys who have been working tirelessly on these cases, it is not guaranteed that the federal government will follow these orders. You can report any violations using the resources below:

  • Report violations of the temporary restraining order restricting ICE/DHS use of force: tinyurl.com/chicagotro
  • Report other civil rights violations by calling the Illinois Civil Rights hotline at 877-581-3692 or submitting a civil rights complaint form
  • Report instances of license plate swapping from federal agents by calling the Illinois Secretary of State Plate Watch at (312) 814-1730
  • Report a violation of the Castañon Nava consent decree by filling out NIJC’s referral Form.

In addition to the above, Governor Pritzker has established the Illinois Accountability Commission, an independent board tasked with capturing and creating a public record of federal law enforcement agents’ conduct to hold the federal government accountable. There is currently no clear way of reporting directly to the commission, but we will update this page if-and-when that changes.

Legislative Updates

State Immigration Omnibus

This past month, the Illinois State Assembly passed HB1312, an Immigration Omnibus in response to ICE enforcement. The legislative package covers the following:

  • Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act: prohibits civil arrests inside, on the way to, or coming home from any IL courthouse, and protects both individuals attending and a list of related persons
  • Hospitals: restricts sharing of patient data, and requires that hospitals implement policies and trainings on how to handle immigration enforcement activity
  • Public colleges and universities: prohibits the sharing of personal info, requires that schools implement policies and trainings on how to handle immigration enforcement activity
  • Licensed daycare centers: restricts disclosure of immigrant status info and requires daycares to address immigration enforcement, including late pickup policies to accommodate if and when a family member is arrested
  • Illinois Bivens Act: allows individuals to sue over civil immigration enforcement actions that violate state or federal constitutional rights, including agents’ use of facial coverings, crowd control measures like tear gas, vehicles with non-IL plates or no license plates, and body camera use.

Immigration Policy Updates

Enforcement seems to be ramping up at USCIS field offices across the country, including increased reports of arrests at adjustment of status interviews. It is largely applicants that are without status that are being detained, but there are still more approvals of those petitions than detentions. Currently, there is no clear pattern for who they are detaining.

In addition to the uptick in USCIS arrests, USCIS is also making it more difficult for people to renew work authorizations, and to apply for immigration relief.

End of Automatic Renewal of Employment Authorization Documents

Renewals of Employment Authorization documents no longer have auto-extension; this new rule is applied to applications filed on/after October 30, 2025.

Employment Authorization Documents have had automatic extensions in several immigration benefit categories, which was put in place to address long backlogs on USCIS processing of petitions. The government is claiming that automatic extensions result in improper vetting and it was a security threat––which is almost certainly not the case, given the significant background checking that goes into initial immigration processing. 

The end of automatic renewal of EADs affects a large number of people:

  • Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders
  • Asylum seekers
  • Adjustment of status Applicants
  • Spouses of H-1B holders
  • VAWA self-petitioners
  • And more

Given USCIS’s backlogs, it is likely that people will lose their authorization to work while waiting for renewal. As a result, we expect more families to have a harder time making ends meet.

Fees

The administration is also continuing to put hurdles in place for those seeking asylum and other legal pathways to immigration. 

As of October 28th, people seeking an immigration benefit must submit a form to authorize their payment via credit card or debit card (Form G-1450 or G-1650). This requirement is likely to increase hardship, however, there are some exceptions possible, including no access to banking services or electronic payment systems; if electronic payment would cause undue hardship; or if an electronic transaction could affect national security of law enforcement actions.

The newly instated Annual Asylum fee has been stayed by the court while litigation is ongoing. The fee would require a $100 fee for each calendar year the asylum application is pending––if applicants fail to pay the fee, their asylum claim could be denied. Due to the chaotic rollout of the fee––which included no guidance on how or when to pay them––a federal court temporarily paused the requirement while litigation is ongoing. However, applicants must still pay the initial $100 asylum fee.

On October 15th, DHS implemented a new immigration parole fee of $1,000, required under the HR1 Reconciliation Bill. As of October 16th, anyone who is paroled into the U.S. will be required to pay this fee (which will be adjusted annually with inflation) unless they qualify for one of ten exceptions.

Calls to Action

As always, there are so many ways you can get involved to help protect our neighbors!

Support Chicago Loves Local

Chicago Loves Local is a campaign to promote local businesses, many of which have been impacted by immigration enforcement. The initiative is a partnership between the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, Chicago Is With You Task Force, Rogers Park Business Alliance, and the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Follow Chicago Loves Local on Instagram, and learn more at the Chicago Loves Local website or via the linktree!

As always: please continue speaking up for immigrant rights! Visit the CIRR Protecting Immigrant Rights page and Illinois Immigration Info to find out how you can get more involved.

The next immigration briefing is on Tuesday, December 9th at 1pm. Register at bit.ly/CIRRBriefing! 

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