Troops have been patrolling D.C. for a year. Experts are worried about elections. A year into an open-ended National Guard deployment declared over a "crime emergency," legal experts and former military officials warn the normalized troop presence raises concerns for how the 2026 midterms and 2028 election play out. Posted on Aug 11, 2026 | NPR
Trump declines to rule out declaring a national security emergency to control the 2026 election Pressed by a far-right host on whether he would invoke emergency powers to seize control of the midterms if the SAVE Act stalls in the Senate, Trump said "stranger things have happened." Posted on Aug 11, 2026 | CNN
As ICE Detention Expands, Deaths Reach a 22-Year High A JAMA-sourced analysis finds the fatality rate in ICE custody at its highest in 22 years as the detained population has grown roughly 70% under Trump, even as the agency scales back what it discloses about detainee deaths. Posted on Aug 10, 2026 | Time
State Department says it has revoked more than 175,000 visas under Trump The State Department says it has revoked more than 175,000 visas since Trump returned to office, a pace outstripping all of 2025, citing law-enforcement encounters and immigration violations. Posted on Aug 10, 2026 | Washington Post
ICE will release body camera video only when seen in the agency's 'best interests,' policy says ICE says it will finish equipping officers with body cameras by the end of September, but its policy leaves release of any footage, including from shootings, to the agency's own discretion: video will be released only when officials determine it is 'in the agency's best interests.' The rollout follows President Trump's January 2025 rescission of an earlier body-camera mandate and comes amid pressure from recent fatal ICE shootings, including in Texas and Minnesota. Posted on Aug 7, 2026 | Click2Houston
Trump tries new route to restrict birthright citizenship after loss Weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his first birthright citizenship order, Trump signed two narrower executive actions targeting children of foreign government employees and "birth tourism." Posted on Aug 6, 2026 | The Washington Post
ICE Detains Relatives of U.S. Troops During Immigration Crackdown An AP investigation found ICE has detained more than 50 spouses and parents of active-duty U.S. service members since Trump's return, ending a decades-old bipartisan protection for military families; at least six have been deported and eight remain in custody. Posted on Aug 5, 2026 | The Daily Beast
California judge holds Homeland Security in contempt in case over LA immigration sweeps U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong held DHS in contempt and fined the government $500 a day for slow-walking a court order to image the personal phones of hundreds of ICE and CBP agents involved in last year's Los Angeles immigration raids. Posted on Aug 4, 2026 | CalMatters
Democrats unveil sweeping proposal to combat Trump authoritarianism Sen. Jeff Merkley unveiled the 417-page "For Our Republic Act," a 10-part package aimed at defending independent watchdogs, protecting nonpartisan civil servants, reasserting Congress's power of the purse, and safeguarding elections against what he calls Trump's authoritarian takeover, though it has virtually no path through a Republican-controlled Congress. Posted on Aug 4, 2026 | MS NOW
ICE detentions set Trump-era high in July, as immigration crackdown widens Internal DHS data obtained by CBS News shows ICE took more than 46,000 people into custody in July, a second-term monthly record surpassing June's roughly 43,000, with the detained population approaching the all-time high of over 70,000 set in January. Posted on Aug 3, 2026 | CBS News