Immigration News Today: Florida’s Notorious ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center is Now Closed

Just have a minute? Here are the top stories you need to know about immigration. This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.

Around the U.S.

Florida’s notorious ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center is now closed, governor says:

The facility, broadly criticized by both human rights and environmental advocates, deported 21,000 people, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference. —AP

Federal policies fuel nationwide uptick in absenteeism, research shows:

A study finds that foreign-born students were as much as 6% more likely to miss school than non-foreign-born students in 2025, following Trump’s inauguration. —K-12 Dive, 📄Study

ICE awards $200 million contract to Virginia firm to locate unaccompanied migrant children:

Savvy Professor LLC, a firm that was launched in April, is one of over a dozen other companies the Trump administration has tasked with tracking down foreign-born children. —Project Salt Box 

DOJ sues Kansas to block in-state tuition for immigrant students:

The state’s attorney general also joined the Trump administration in challenging a 2004 law that grants lower tuition rates to Kansas residents that are undocumented. —KCUR

Washington, D.C.

SCOTUS hands down two major decisions on asylum seekers and TPS, backing Trump’s immigration policy:

The new Supreme Court rulings allow U.S. officials to turn away asylum seekers at the border in a policy known as “metering,” and permit the termination of protected status for Haitian and Syrian nationals. —The Hill, SCOTUSblog

Judge rules ICE cannot make arrests at immigration courts:

In a fiery ruling, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts said the Trump administration’s new arrest policies stemmed from a “complete lack of decision-making.” —Courthouse News

New York

Former chief-of-staff to Adams, three others arrested over migrant shelter bribery scheme:

Frank Carone has been accused of taking a $120,000 bribe from a hotel owner in Long Island City in exchange for helping the owner secure a multimillion-dollar contract. —The City Reporter, justice.gov

Federal judge tosses lawsuit over sanctuary policies in four NJ cities:

The DOJ sued Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark and Paterson alleging policies limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement to be unconstitutional. —Gothamist

Erie County bans use of facial recognition tech in businesses, driven in part by immigration enforcement concerns:

The new law, among the most restrictive in the country, comes at a time when federal authorities are expanding their use of biometric data and AI-powered tech to track people down. —Prism Reports