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Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park, Texas — Photo: Yinan Chen, public domain

Policy Watch|United States

DHS makes its fast-track fines for migrants who ignore removal orders permanent, after issuing about 176,000 under the interim rule

A joint DHS–Justice final rule, published 14 October 2026 at 91 FR 65390, adopts the June 2025 interim rule that lets ICE and CBP issue civil fines directly and moves appeals from the Board of Immigration Appeals to a DHS supervisor. The only change: ICE may accept a late appeal if documented mail delays caused it. Fines run up to $998 a day for willfully failing to leave after a final removal order. The rule is effective on publication.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Massachusetts State House, Boston — Photo: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0

Policy Watch|United States

DHS proposes a $70,000 fee on schools for each foreign student they recommend for OPT work, and $30,000 for each repeat

A proposed rule from DHS/ICE, published in the Federal Register on 8 October 2026, would charge SEVP-certified schools $70,000 per F-1 student recommended for initial Optional Practical Training and $30,000 for any later OPT, including the STEM extension. DHS says schools may pass the cost on to students, all students, or employers. Comments close 9 November. Nothing changes until a final rule takes effect 60 days after publication.

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Abstract accountability illustration — The Daily Teabag

Accountability|United States

DHS watchdog: ICE received 3.1 million visa-overstay leads in 2021–24, and lead-driven investigations produced eight arrests

A DHS Inspector General audit (OIG-26-38, 29 September 2026) found ICE rated 104,049 overstay leads as potential security or safety concerns, deemed 21,885 viable, investigated 496 and made eight arrests from those investigations. A 2021 enforcement-priorities memo narrowed the work, and bad address data got in the way. ICE separately arrested thousands of overstays through other operations.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
West facade of the Supreme Court of the United States — Photo: Matt H. Wade, CC BY-SA 3.0

Accountability|United States

SCOTUS grants cert in Rhoney: ICE mandatory detention inside the U.S. heads for argument

On 1 October 2026 the Supreme Court granted the petition in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, No. 26-104 — whether noncitizens apprehended inside the United States may be held without a bond hearing under the administration’s mandatory-detention reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Certiorari is not a merits win for either side.

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