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Friday, Feb 27 2026

Full Issue

86 Dreamers Deported, 261 Detained In Immigration Crackdown, DHS Confirms

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients — those who arrived in the United States before the age of 16 — are protected under U.S. law, Democratic senators argued as they called on the Department of Homeland Security to provide more information about the removals.

The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged it has deported dozens of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and have removal protections, prompting outrage from Democrats like California Sen. Alex Padilla. In a letter earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had deported 86 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals from Jan. 1 to Nov. 19, 2025. The program, better known as DACA, began under President Barack Obama’s administration and has shielded some people from deportation if they arrived in the country before the age of 16. (Miranda, 2/26)

The death of a nearly blind refugee in Buffalo, New York, days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a coffee shop alone, has prompted an investigation into the circumstances of his final days and drawn sharp criticism from state and local officials. Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, who spoke little English, had been missing since February 19, when the agents left him at the shop shortly after he was released from the Erie County jail, officials said. His body was found five days later, around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, about four miles from the coffee shop, the Buffalo Police Department said. (Park, Ebrahimji and Hammond, 2/26)

When guards appeared earlier this month outside the room Christian Hinojosa shared with her son and other women and children at the immigrant detention center in Dilley, Texas, she guessed what they might be after. She quickly donned her puffy winter jacket, then slipped a manila envelope inside it. “Thank God the weather was cool,” she said — the jacket didn’t raise suspicions. Then, she said, she was instructed to leave the room while eight to 10 guards lifted up mattresses, opened drawers and rifled through papers. In the envelope were kids’ writings and artwork about life in America’s only detention facility for immigrant families, a collection of trailers and dormitories in the brush country south of San Antonio. She planned to share their letters with the outside world. (Funk and Rosenberg, 2/26)

As the U.S. embarks on a massive expansion of the country’s immigrant detention capacity, a coalition of organizations opposing abortion are calling on President Donald Trump to stop detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrant women. (Einselen, 2/25)

Seventeen measles cases have been reported in El Paso, including 13 at the Camp East Montana Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, health officials said Thursday. (2/26)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday against recommending a bill that would limit abortions in New Hampshire to 20 weeks except in the case of medical emergencies. New Hampshire law currently restricts most abortions at 24 weeks. (Richardson, 2/26)

A planned drug sobering center is set to serve as a testing ground for a new way of funding the fight against San Francisco’s drug crisis. The Board of Supervisors this month approved a 26-month contract for the Arizona-based Connections Health Solutions to operate the RESET Center, a 25-bed site where police can drop off intoxicated people they’ve arrested as an alternative to county jail. (Hodgman, 2/26)

A Fullerton police officer fired a beanbag round that fatally pierced a man's chest in 2024, raising questions about the use of so-called less-lethal weapons. (Harter, 2/26)

Regina is haunted by the specter of mold. She found the insidious spores in the closet, behind the refrigerator, and around the bathtub for two years after the dishwasher flooded her apartment in Asheville, North Carolina. The infestation only got worse after Hurricane Helene. (Myers and Hackett, 2/25)

A prescription fruit-and-vegetable program seeks to stave off illnesses caused by poor nutrition and diet in Maryland’s food-insecure communities. Backed by a $480,000 grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, the program will be developed and tested by researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Hille, 2/24)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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