The number of encounters Border Patrol agents are having with human smugglers along the U.S.-Mexico border indicates a rise in organized, cross-border transports of migrants. Stricter enforcement has driven these human smugglers to implement technology and hidden routes in attempts to illegally transport immigrants across the border, officials said.

The Supreme Court said it would take up a case challenging the reach of federal immigration enforcement policies. At issue was a directive setting deportation priorities favoring undocumented immigrants with serious criminal convictions and deprioritizing those who had no criminal records.

The Biden administration has announced the expansion of the humanitarian parole program that allows people from selected countries to enter the U.S. on a temporary basis for urgent reasons. It is meant for people who are fleeing war, natural disasters, or other humanitarian crises in their homelands.

A federal court has ruled to curb the powers of states detaining people on immigration-related charges, forcefully reiterating that immigration is essentially a federal prerogative. In a ruling on the lawsuit filed against a state law that allowed local law enforcement to detain individuals suspected of violating immigration laws without involving federal authorities, the court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, citing the supremacy of federal authority over immigration matters.

Communities along the southern border of the United States are increasingly struggling to cope with a growing number of migrants arriving at their borders. Local governments and nonprofit organizations say they are being stretched beyond capacity by the sheer number of people seeking entry, many of whom need shelter, medical attention, and legal aid.

The Senate is debating a proposal to grant recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program a pathway to citizenship. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States as children and have spent most of their lives in this country could be granted legal status.

The Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to open new migrant processing centers along the southern border. The new facilities are meant to accelerate the processing of migrants and ease congestion at the detention facilities. This plan will streamline asylum claims without sacrificing humane treatment for individuals in custody.

House Republicans have introduced legislation meant to tighten the standards for asylum seekers, emphasizing a need to reduce what they refer to as "abuse of the system." The legislation would introduce stricter eligibility, such as a requirement to prove direct persecution, and expedited removal for those who do not pass an initial screening.

Amid a growing frustration with the federal immigration court backlog, some states have proposed creating state-led immigration courts to preside over select cases, residency appeals, and minor violations. Supporters say the decentralization of parts of immigration adjudication would reduce delays and enable states to deal with regional issues more adequately.

Congress is weighing legislation that would end the use of immigration detention facilities for families with children and instead use community based alternatives. Supporters of the bill said it would be inhumane to detain families and could have psychological repercussions for children that may last a lifetime.