Right of asylum

Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton met on CNN for a debate ahead of California's Nov. 3 gubernatorial election, moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. The exchange was widely panned as lackluster, with both candidates drawing criticism for weak performances. Becerra, the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, repeated claims that he has "fought all my life to defend immigrants," a record critics dispute given his quiet stance during the Obama administration's deportation policies. He also accused Hilton of wanting to "welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me," a remark Hilton called "disgraceful."

Hilton, a former Fox News host who received Donald Trump's primary endorsement, avoided directly answering whether he'd direct state law enforcement to assist federal immigration enforcement. Polling from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows Becerra with a substantial lead and more favorable overall ratings than Hilton heading into the final weeks of the race.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether immigrants already living in the United States are entitled to a bond hearing before being detained indefinitely, a case with direct implications for Leonel Bolivar Linares, a 29-year-old Venezuelan former custodian for the St. Johns County School District in Florida. ICE detained him near St. Johns Parkway on Aug. 6, and he has since been held for roughly six weeks, moved from Baker County to El Paso, Texas, and now New Mexico.

Court records show Bolivar Linares entered the U.S. legally in 2023 with federal parole, later received Temporary Protected Status under Venezuela's designation, and had a pending asylum application with approved work authorization through 2027. His TPS ended when the Trump administration terminated Venezuela's designation in October 2025. His attorney filed a petition arguing he is entitled to a bond hearing. Federal appeals courts have split on the underlying legal question, prompting Supreme Court review. Arguments are expected in coming months, with the ruling likely to affect detention policy for many immigrants nationwide.

Kansas health officials say 1,445 immigrants enrolled in KanCare, the state's Medicaid program, will lose coverage starting Oct. 1 due to eligibility changes enacted under H.R. 1. Those affected include refugees, asylum seekers, humanitarian parolees, and survivors of human trafficking or domestic violence, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).

KDHE said impacted enrollees were first notified by letter in June, with additional notices sent through September asking them to submit updated immigration documentation to remain eligible. Members who failed to respond received further letters warning that a final notice would precede termination of coverage. State officials say updated documents can still be submitted at any time, including by phone, and are urging affected residents to act quickly through the KanCare website. The rollout reflects broader federal Medicaid eligibility restrictions tied to immigration status now taking effect nationwide.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Ho Yin Mo, a field representative for California Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco, on September 17 while he was traveling through Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Mo, a former Bay Area TV reporter from Hong Kong who previously anchored Chinese-language newscasts at KTSF and studied at UC Berkeley, remains held at ICE's Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump.

The Department of Homeland Security said Mo entered the U.S. legally through Los Angeles International Airport in January 2020 but overstayed his visa, and was arrested during a "targeted enforcement operation," adding that pending work authorization does not confer legal status. Stefani disputed the characterization, calling Mo a legal employee and "selfless public servant" who helps constituents access health care, childcare and food assistance, and urged his release. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli publicized the case on social media, saying no one is exempt from immigration law.

The arrest is part of a broader escalation in airport-based ICE enforcement targeting travelers with visa or status complications, coinciding with record monthly arrest totals under the Trump administration.

New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County, King County and 22 states and the District of Columbia — including Illinois, California, Colorado, Washington and others, plus Pennsylvania's governor — have sued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over a Department of Homeland Security rule change to the "public charge" standard set to take effect Friday, Sept. 18. The rule lets immigration officials deny green cards or visas to applicants deemed likely to use any means-tested public benefit, including SNAP, Medicaid, housing vouchers or school lunch programs, reversing a narrower 2022 rule limited to cash assistance. It applies to family- and employment-based visa applicants; refugees, asylum recipients, TPS holders and certain trafficking or domestic violence victims are exempt. A similar policy from Trump's first term was blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020.

Plaintiffs, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and joined by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and Illinois Deputy Attorney General Cara Hendrickson, call the rule unlawful, "arbitrary and capricious," and lacking clear standards for how benefit use counts against applicants. They warn it could push eligible immigrant and mixed-status families, including U.S. citizen children, away from benefits out of fear, straining local health, housing and school systems and costing states billions. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Colorado AG Phil Weiser led public criticism. DHS and USCIS defend the rule as protecting taxpayers from subsidizing dependent immigrants and dismiss the suits as politically motivated.

The mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case has spiraled into a political and media controversy after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis offered to provide "asylum" to the lone holdout juror whose vote led to an 11-1 deadlock. Clancy, the Duxbury mother accused of killing her three children, does not dispute the killings but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible; a mistrial was declared September 4 after nearly 38 hours of deliberations.

NBC10 Boston reported the holdout juror had a 2021 domestic assault charge, later dismissed, and an active restraining order sought by a nephew. DeSantis accused the outlet of trying to smear the juror and pledged Florida's support if he faces harassment. Critics, including a retired judge, called the report an unwise instance of "trial by social media," while a First Amendment advocate said the key question is whether the juror was truthful during jury vetting. Clancy's defense attorney has since filed a motion seeking a not-guilty finding.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly defended the lone holdout juror who prevented an acquittal for Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with murdering her three children. After a seven-week trial in which Clancy's defense argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, the jury split 11-1 in favor of a not-guilty verdict on grounds of mental disease or defect, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. It remains unclear whether prosecutors will seek a retrial.

The identity of the holdout juror has not been officially confirmed, though other jurors described him as a Black man in his 30s. A report surfaced that he had been charged in 2021 with assaulting his then-wife, a charge later dismissed. DeSantis accused media outlets of running a smear campaign against the juror and offered him asylum in Florida if he faces harassment, framing the holdout as standing up against letting Clancy "get away with it."

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.