President Donald Trump's administration appears to be recalibrating its centerpiece policy of mass deportations after a series of major immigration enforcement operations in American cities soured the public's mood on it. But that doesn't mean the Republican administration is giving up on its ambitious deportation goals. While the high-profile surges appear to have subsided for now, the Trump administration has quieter tools it can use to meet its targets. Immigrant advocates are bracing for the Trump administration to turn its attention more intently to stripping away protections for migrants with temporary legal status. Conservatives want more enforcement of workplace restrictions.

A U.S. appeals court has blocked President Donald Trump's executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border. The court ruled Friday that immigration laws allow people to apply for asylum at the border, and the president cannot bypass this. The decision stems from Trump's action on Inauguration Day 2025, declaring the border situation an invasion and suspending asylum. The court found that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn't give the president authority to override asylum procedures. The White House says the asylum ban was within Trump's powers, but the Department of Justice plans to seek further review.

The White House is releasing details of President Donald Trump's 2027 budget, including a $1.5 trillion defense spending request. That's the largest of its kind in decades. The Republican president had indicated even before the war against Iran that he wanted to increase defense spending to modernize the military. He's also calling for a 10% cut in non-defense discretionary spending. The president's annual budget does not carry the force of law. Instead, it reflects an administration's priorities and provides a road map to Congress, which handles spending issues. But Congress is free to reject it and often does.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Trump administration's push to end legal protections for people fleeing war and natural disaster from countries around the world, including Haiti and Syria. The justices refused to immediately lift the protections for hundreds of thousands of people Monday, allowing them to live and work in the U.S. legally for now. The court is expected to hear the case next month. The conservative-majority court has sided with the Trump administration on the issue before and allowed the end of similar legal protections for a total of 600,000 people from Venezuela while lawsuits play out, exposing them to potential deportation.

The Trump administration has issued a sweeping new order that could lead to the arrest of tens of thousands of refugees who are lawfully in the United States but do not yet have permanent residency. A memo filed by the Department of Homeland Security ahead of a Thursday federal court hearing in Minnesota says refugees applying for green cards must return to federal custody one year after they were admitted to the U.S. for reviews of their applications. DHS "may maintain custody for the duration of the inspection and examination process," said the memo, which was filed Wednesday.