President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda has captured, but not necessarily deported, headlines over the past year. While Minneapolis has been the center of attention throughout much of 2026 so far, the Trump administration is moving to shield sovereignty and safety across the nation, and left-wing activists and federal judges are moving just as quickly to undermine the president’s actions. Here’s the latest on immigration enforcement.

Safer Streets

An operation run by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and state law enforcement partners has resulted in hundreds of foreign commercial drivers being removed from U.S. roads and over 1,000 trucks being put out of commission. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy touted the results of Operation SafeDRIVE, which saw FMCSA inspectors and state and local law enforcement officials make over 8,000 inspections across 26 states, removing over 1,200 vehicles from the roads and placing over 700 drivers out of service, including nearly 500 drivers placed out of service for failing to meet English proficiency standards. Additionally, nearly 60 arrests were made, mostly for drunk-driving offenses and illegal presence in the U.S.

“Operation SafeDRIVE shows what happens when we work together with our law enforcement partners to pull unqualified drivers and vehicles off American roads,” Duffy said of the three-day operation in a statement. “We need a whole-of-government approach to ensure the Trump Administration’s strong standards of safety are in place to protect American families and reduce road accidents.”

Duffy and the Transportation Department have focused their energy over the past year on foreign drivers, including illegal immigrants, who have been illegally furnished with commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) by blue states, including California, Minnesota, and Washington. An investigation discovered that California alone has illegally issued nearly 20,000 CDLs to foreign drivers, accounting for one quarter of CDLs the state has distributed in total. Duffy has subsequently withheld tens of millions of dollars in federal funding from California, forcing the state to revoke thousands of illegally-issued CDLs.

Setting the Record Straight

According to a CBS News report, fewer than 14% of the illegal immigrants arrested during Trump’s first year back in office “had violent criminal records,” while fewer than 60% “had criminal charges or convictions” of any kind. Violent offenses enumerated by CBS News included homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, arson, robbery, burglary, weapons offenses, dangerous drugs, and driving while intoxicated and driving under the influence of alcohol, among other crimes.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was quick to respond to the report, criticizing CBS News for downplaying the seriousness of “non-violent” crimes committed by illegal immigrants. “Horrendous crimes such as the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, burglary, fraud, human smuggling, even being in a gang like MS13 or Tren de Aragua or being a known or suspected terrorist are considered ‘non-violent crimes’ by the media,” the official DHS social media account posted.

The White House rapid response team also responded to the CBS News report, saying, “Fake News. Here’s a few crimes categorized as ‘non-violent’: Drug trafficking, human smuggling, child porn, fraud, DUI, burglary, etc.” The White House noted that, even by the news outlet’s own admission, at least 60% of illegal immigrants had been charged or convicted with crimes, although it is not clear whether CBS News was referring to crimes committed within the U.S. or those committed prior to entering the country. The White House added, “They’re CRIMINALS and they’re NOT welcome here.”

Quid Pro Quo?

In New York, the Big Apple’s foreign-born Muslim mayor is being accused of brokering a deal with the state’s governor to spend taxpayer dollars on illegal immigrants and their children. In an appearance on Breitbart News’s “The Alex Marlow Show,” Beck and Stone senior consultant Emma-Jo Morris reported that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s (D) socialist “wish list” includes taxpayer-funded pre-school for illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants.

“He’s talking constantly about trying to get money that they don’t have in order to have universal pre-K,” Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow reported. “We’re going to have government preschool for illegal aliens specifically. That’s been his priority list. In the meantime, people are literally dying, they can’t get their trash picked up [from] the street.”

Morris noted that Governor Kathy Hochul (D) has managed to find the funds Mamdani has requested for school programs for illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants — in exchange for Mamdani’s endorsement. “She gave him universal pre-K,” Morris said. Referring to a New York Times article in which Mamdani endorsed Hochul, she continued, “It’s crazy, he explains like the hostage-taker explains what he’s received in ransom in the New York Times, where he endorses her and he talks about how, ‘No, we work so well together, she found all that money for me to do that campaign thing and gave me the W.’”

Mask Up

A federal judge decided on Monday to block a California law from taking effect that would have prohibited Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing face masks while on duty. Judge Christina Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said in an in-chambers order that California’s “No Secret Police” Act is unlawful and violates the Supremacy Clause by “discriminating against the federal government,” in particular by imposing a prohibition on federal agents that is not imposed upon state and local law enforcement officers.

“Supremacy Clause immunity and the intergovernmental immunity both arise out of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and are employed by the federal government to challenge the enforcement of state laws,” Snyder, appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton, wrote. “The intergovernmental immunity doctrine prohibits imposing such a regulatory burden, albeit minimal and incidental to operations, in a discriminatory manner against the federal government.” While the judge determined that the “No Secret Police” Act was unconstitutional, she did not grant the Trump administration’s request to block parts of the “No Vigilantes” Act, which requires federal officers to wear identification — denoting agency, badge number, and even name — while on duty.

Saved by the Bell

Another federal judge is blocking the Trump administration from deporting an academic activist critical of Israel. According to Courthouse News Service, a federal immigration judge terminated removal proceedings for Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national studying at Tufts University. In March, Ozturk and other Tufts students wrote an op-ed in the school’s newspaper calling on university leadership to “disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel,” further accusing the Middle Eastern nation of committing “deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide.” Ozturk was subsequently arrested, detained, and slated for deportation. However, an immigration judge determined late last month that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not adequately proven that Ozturk is eligible to be deported.

“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” Ozturk said in a statement this week. “Though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail after all,” she continued. “When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail.”

All Aboard

Another pair of cases is centered on reversing deportations, bringing illegal immigrants back to the U.S. after having already removed them. Judge Dana Sabraw of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issued an order last week requiring DHS to pay to return several illegal immigrants who the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues were wrongly or illegally deported during Trump’s first term. According to the DHS, the two families Sabraw ordered returned to the U.S. voluntarily departed. The judge, however, argued that the families were coerced into leaving and that the federal government must therefore spend taxpayer dollars returning the families to the U.S. who left on their own years ago.

The ACLU is involved in a similar case before James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and a vocal opponent of the Trump administration. Last year, Boasberg blocked the president from invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to detain and deport Venezuelan nationals affiliated with the international criminal and foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA). The U.S. Supreme Court quickly reversed Boasberg’s restriction, ruling that the judge has no jurisdiction over the matter since the only legal complaint that can be lodged against the president’s use of the AEA is a habeas corpus petition. However, since the Trump administration refused to comply with Boasberg’s initial order, he threatened to hold the president and his deputies in criminal contempt and ordered that over 100 deported Venezuelans be returned to the U.S. A later prisoner swap, when the deported Venezuelans were traded to the Venezuelan government in exchange for American prisoners, effectively rendered the case moot.

Boasberg, however, has revived contempt proceedings and is still attempting to pressure the administration into un-deporting deported TdA affiliates. In a hearing on Monday, the anti-Trump judge pointed to the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and MS-13 gang affiliate who the Supreme Court ordered un-deported, as the possible basis for negotiating with Venezuela to return illegal immigrants and TdA affiliates. Arguing that the Venezuelan nationals were wrongfully deported, Boasberg pointed out that “the remedy has to be the same” as in Abrego’s case. The Justice Department pledged to immediately appeal any injunction Boasberg issued demanding the return of deported illegal immigrants.