Immigration

  • December 17, 2025

    Biggest Colorado Cases Of 2025

    In 2025, a Colorado federal judge blocked U.S. immigration agents from conducting warrantless arrests in the state without determining probable cause. Elsewhere, Colorado's justices articulated for the first time the burden of proof required for plaintiffs bringing tort cases against public entities. And Xcel Energy agreed to pay $640 million to settle claims that it caused or contributed to the state's 2021 Marshall Fire. Here's a look at some of the biggest decisions and cases that affected the state this year.

  • December 17, 2025

    The Spiciest Quotes From Massachusetts Courts In 2025

    Massachusetts courts were replete with high-stakes cases throughout the year, with memorable lines from lawyers and judges alike, including jabs, thoughtful reflections and one defendant "blinded by love."

  • December 16, 2025

    Trump Adds Travel Restrictions To 20 Countries, Palestinians

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded his travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, increasing the number of African and Muslim-majority countries subject to limits on who may travel and immigrate to the U.S.

  • December 16, 2025

    Mass. Judge Considers Nixing 3rd-Country Removal Accounts

    A Massachusetts federal judge said he may strike accounts detailing the experiences of noncitizens removed to countries where they have no ties as he considers whether the federal government's third-country removal policy is unlawful.

  • December 16, 2025

    Cuban-Born Wrestler Claims NCAA Denied Him College Career

    An international wrestling champion who defected from Cuba in 2022 has accused the NCAA of robbing him of a chance to compete at a U.S. college because his years attending school in his home country counted against his eligibility.

  • December 16, 2025

    States Ask 5th Circ. To Uphold Wartime Removal Powers

    A group of 24 states urged the Fifth Circuit to let the Trump administration use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, saying any injunction would endanger their states' own security.

  • December 16, 2025

    Trump Executive Order Calls Fentanyl A 'WMD'

    President Donald Trump has declared fentanyl a "weapon of mass destruction," according to an executive order that explicitly calls on the military to respond to "chemical incidents in the homeland."

  • December 16, 2025

    Feds Say Nat'l Guard Shooting Warrants Special Visa Pause

    The Trump administration asked a D.C. federal court to pause its processing of special immigrant visas for Iraqi and Afghan individuals who assisted American troops overseas, pointing to the November shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House.

  • December 15, 2025

    Coalition Slams SSA For Feeding Data Into DHS Database

    More than a dozen consumer advocacy groups are calling on the Social Security Administration to immediately halt its sharing of personal information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for citizenship and immigration verification, arguing that the agency can't seek "retroactive authority" for its allegedly "sweeping violation of privacy and voting rights."

  • December 15, 2025

    3rd-Country Removal Relief Is Proper, Immigrants Tell 1st Circ.

    Immigrants challenging the Trump administration's authority to abruptly deport people to third countries urged the First Circuit on Friday to restore an order that required some notice to allow for claims asserting fears of torture or persecution.

  • December 15, 2025

    Judge Willing To Take 'Heat' For Blocking ICE Arrest, Jury Told

    A Wisconsin judge was willing to "take the heat" for using a staff hallway to usher an unauthorized immigrant out of her courtroom, a federal jury heard Monday, as a defense attorney argued she can't be found guilty by association just because someone in her courtroom tried to flee immigration agents.

  • December 15, 2025

    DC Judge Blocks ICE Plan To Funnel Teens To Adult Detention

    A D.C. federal judge blocked a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy aimed at transferring people who entered the country as unaccompanied minors into adult immigrant detention centers once they turn 18 and age out of Office of Refugee Resettlement custody.

  • December 15, 2025

    ICE Accused Of Detaining Mom, Kids Without Checking ID

    A Boston-area mother and her two children lodged an administrative civil rights complaint Monday against immigration agents who detained them outside a courthouse earlier this year allegedly without checking their legal status.

  • December 12, 2025

    Mich. High Court Backs Rejection Of Farmwork Comp Suit

    A closely divided Michigan Supreme Court on Friday let stand a lower appellate court holding that a nonprofit's legal challenge to a state policy denying workers' compensation pay to unauthorized immigrants was filed too late.

  • December 12, 2025

    7th Circ. Halts Release For Hundreds Of Ill. ICE Detainees

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday halted a Chicago federal judge's order requiring the release of hundreds of immigrants arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the Trump administration was likely to succeed in arguing he should have conducted individual determinations about whether their arrest violated a consent decree it had previously entered in the case.

  • December 12, 2025

    20 States Sue Trump Admin Over $100K H-1B Visa Fee

    A coalition of 20 states, led by the California attorney general, sued the Trump administration Friday to challenge a new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, saying the fee goes against Congress' intent for the work visa program.

  • December 12, 2025

    Md. Judge Probes Limits Of Review In ICE Church Raids Suit

    A Maryland federal judge on Friday seemed unsure whether a coalition of religious organizations have a viable Administrative Procedure Act challenge to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy loosening restrictions on where immigration enforcement can take place.

  • December 12, 2025

    Mass. Restaurants Settle OT Claims For $225K

    Two Massachusetts eateries have agreed to pay a total of $225,000 to resolve the government's allegations that they failed to pay workers for overtime hours and tried to prevent them from speaking with U.S. Department of Labor representatives investigating possible labor violations, according to a consent judgment entered Friday in federal court.

  • December 12, 2025

    5th Circ. Tosses Chinese Citizen's Suit Over Texas Land Law

    The Fifth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a Chinese citizen's suit challenging a Texas law that bars residents and entities domiciled in specific countries, such as China, from buying property in the state, ruling the plaintiff lacks standing to sue because China is not his permanent home and he does not "intend to return." 

  • December 12, 2025

    Mass. Judge Pauses Haitian TPS Suit For Separate Appeal

    A Massachusetts federal judge paused a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's revocation of temporary protected status for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants, pointing to a similar case that he said is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • December 12, 2025

    DHS To Revoke Temporary Protected Status For Ethiopians

    U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will revoke temporary protected status for Ethiopian immigrants, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday.

  • December 11, 2025

    Democrats Say DOD Diverts $2B To Immigration Enforcement

    The Pentagon has diverted at least $2 billion in obligated funds to support immigration enforcement efforts across the country instead of the agency's core national security functions, according to a report released by Democratic lawmakers on Thursday. 

  • December 11, 2025

    Trump Admin Defends 'Authority' To Cancel Migrant Parole

    The Trump administration told a Massachusetts federal judge Thursday it has "discretionary authority" to revoke removal protections and work authorizations for nearly 1 million immigrants who entered the country using the federal government's CBP One app.

  • December 11, 2025

    DOJ Wants Declarations Struck In 3rd Country Removals Case

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge to strike some two dozen declarations detailing grim experiences with its policy of removing noncitizens to countries they don't have ties to, characterizing their filing as blatant "gamesmanship" with a court hearing days away.

  • December 11, 2025

    Md. Federal Judge Orders ICE To Release Ábrego García

    A Maryland federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to release Kilmar Ábrego García from immigration detention, ruling that his continued detention violates his due process rights and federal immigration law.

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Expert Analysis

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • H-1B Fee Guidance Is Helpful But Notable Uncertainty Persists

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    Recent guidance narrowing the scope of the $100,000 entry fee for H-1B visas will allow employers to plan for the hiring season, but a lack of detail about the mechanics of cross-agency payment verification, fee exemptions and other practical matters still need to be addressed, say attorneys at Klasko Immigration Law Partners.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Border Czar Bribery Probe Spotlights 'Public Official' Scope

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    Reports that border czar Tom Homan allegedly accepted cash from a federal agent prior to his appointment raise important questions for government contractors about when a private citizen can be prosecuted as a public official under federal bribery laws, say Gregory Rosen at Rogers Joseph and Jason Manning at Levy Firestone.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • Federal Grantees May Soon Face More Limitations On Speech

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    If courts accept the administration’s new interpretation of preexisting case law, which attempts to graft onto grant recipients the existing limitations on government contractors' free speech, a more deferential standard may soon apply in determining whether an agency’s refusal or termination of a grant was in violation of the First Amendment, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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