Weekly Update for February 22, 2026

1 detention reported to the PIRC hotline 2/16-2/22

We attribute this drop in large part to ongoing enforcement in other parts of the country and also to the incredible combined efforts of Innovation Law Lab and community documentation of ICE’s illegal detention practices.

Thanks to the documentation that you all provided, Innovation Law Lab was able to file a class action lawsuit “MJMA and Victor Cruz Gamez vs Hermosillo” in federal court on behalf of the hundreds of immigrant neighbors detained since September 28th  by ICE’s warrantless civil immigration arrests.  A federal judge issued an emergency order declaring “No judicial warrant = No authority to detain first and identify people later” on February 4th, and we are seeing lower numbers of community based detentions as a result! This is a huge win for our community and we are deeply grateful to our partners’ tireless work to file this lawsuit, and of course to each of you who have recorded and reported warrantless arrests over the last several months

We know that this lull is fleeting and that this administration will work to find other strategies to detain our neighbors. One such strategy we are seeing implemented is the sharp increase in “Pretermission” - where an Immigration Judge orders asylum seekers removed without ever having a chance to have a hearing on their claims. This creates a fast pathway to dismiss someone’s asylum case without a day in court to tell their story, and that leads to detention and deportation to a third country, often where folks lack legal protection and remain at high risk of harm. 

Advocates and attorneys across the country are working hard to fight this illegal and immoral practice. If you have a pending asylum application and you receive a letter called a “motion to pretermit” in the mail, or an ICE lawyer says they want to pretermit your case out loud at your hearing, you should call your lawyer right away. 

If you cannot afford an attorney please reach out to ECO to enroll in services and let them know you received this document: 

1-844-626-7276