Day 395
February 18, 2026
3 incidents
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
ICE Directed to Detain Lawfully Admitted Refugees Who Lack Green Cards After One Year (February 2026)
A directive dated 18 February 2026 from acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow instructs DHS to treat a refugee's one-year anniversary in the United States as "a mandatory re-vetting point": refugees who have not yet become permanent residents must "return" to custody for inspection or be "returned" through enforcement action, and may be held for the duration of the review. The memo reverses longstanding ICE policy that failure to adjust status within a year was not, by itself, a reason to detain. Six refugees and two Massachusetts resettlement agencies sued on 27 February 2026, saying the policy permits warrantless arrest of people the US itself vetted and admitted.
- Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Deportation & Immigration
California court orders bond hearings restored
The court in Maldonado Bautista ordered the government to stop denying bond hearings to immigrants who entered without permission and are not otherwise subject to mandatory detention.
From: Systematic Elimination of Bond Hearings and Indefinite Immigration Detention
- Serious Rights Violation Extrajudicial Killing
Federal involvement surfaces
Newsweek reports ICE records, obtained by American Oversight through FOIA, showing an HSI agent killed Martinez; his death had been reported locally without identifying federal involvement.