Chile

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida officials announced felony charges against 20 more people accused of illegal voting, bringing total arrests and prosecutions by the state Office of Election Crimes and Security to more than 100 since its creation four years ago. Attorney General James Uthmeier said 12 of the 20 had been arrested as of the announcement, with "dozens more investigations" ongoing. Most of those charged are not U.S. citizens; four others were convicted felons allegedly voting while still on probation. Florida's Amendment 4 restored voting rights to many felons in 2018, but requires completion of sentence terms and payment of fines before eligibility.

DeSantis also unveiled a new group, the Association of State and Local Election Officials, to be led by Secretary of State Cord Byrd, aimed at promoting "election integrity" nationally. Nearly 3,500 complaints were filed with the state office in 2025 alone. Earlier prosecutions from the office's initial 2022 roundup have faced legal setbacks, with several cases dismissed over jurisdiction disputes now pending before the Florida Supreme Court.

Sister Rose Patrice Kuhn, a 78-year-old Philadelphia-based nun with the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, has spent the past year attending weekly federal immigration court hearings in Harlingen, Texas, offering prayer and moral support to immigrants and their families facing deportation proceedings. Kuhn, who has lived in the Rio Grande Valley since 2022 and previously worked in Chile, focuses particularly on unaccompanied minors, though she now reports roughly a third of young people she encounters are opting to self-deport rather than continue their cases.

Court observations show most adult defendants are also requesting cancellation of removal orders in favor of voluntary self-departure, encouraged partly by a Department of Homeland Security program using the CBP Home Mobile App, which offers travel assistance, a cash exit bonus, and fine forgiveness. Kuhn also noted a growing pattern of judges granting asylum contingent on relocation to third countries rather than immigrants' homelands, including cases separating families across different destination countries.