Immigration News Today: ICE hired unqualified, problematic candidates amid recruitment drive, investigation finds

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.

ICE hired unqualified, problematic candidates amid recruitment drive, investigation finds: 

A public records review of 40 new hires reveals the agency brought on many individuals with checkered financial and legal histories. —AP

Businesses, Christian groups in red states push back against anti-immigrant bills over economic, ethical concerns:

Among roughly 200 such bills introduced in the past year, less than two dozen have been enacted, according to an analysis. —The Washington Post   

ICE deported 174 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients last year, letter says:

More than 250 “Dreamers” were arrested between January and September last year, according to a letter sent from the agency to Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). —The Guardian

Tufts University grad student arrested by ICE last year returns to Turkey:

Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk was taken off the street by masked agents and held in detention for six weeks last year after co-signing a pro-Palestinian op-ed. “I am very proud to have completed my Ph.D. and to return home on my own timeline,” she said in a statement. —Boston Globe, WGBH, 📄ACLU

Majority of Cubans, Cuban Americans in South Florida disapprove of deportations, poll shows:

Sixty-eight percent of respondents strongly or somewhat disapprove of the Trump administration’s increased deportation of Cubans, and 81% support allowing Cubans to legally migrate to the U.S. —Miami Herald

New York

Progressive lawmakers criticize Hochul immigration proposal, say it appeals to GOP: 

Several lawmakers raised concerns about the governor’s endorsement of local officers cooperating with ICE in cases where there is probable cause a crime was committed, saying it could enable prejudice in enforcement.  —City&State

Children removed from New York migrant shelter after abuse allegations:

The Office of Refugee Resettlement moved the children out of the facility following an audit on Jan. 20, according to a statement from the Health and Human Services Department. —New York Times

Gov. Hochul moves to protect right of undocumented students to attend public school:

New York is one of several states across the country that have moved to enshrine the right, established in a landmark Supreme Court decades ago, as threats mount to migrant children’s education. —Chalkbeat

Washington, D.C.

ICE acting director Todd Lyons to resign in latest DHS shakeup:

His tenure, officially ending May 31, has been marked by an aggressive ramp-up in enforcement operations nationwide and criticism of the agency’s tactics and recruitment practices. —NPR

New DHS website sanitizes Trump’s deportation agenda:

The site frames a so-called “Homeland Security Task Force” as combating transnational organized crime, without mention of immigration, ICE or mass detention. —Mother Jones