Caitlin Patler

Protecting all children. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

Greater Minnesota schools felt the fear as ICE presence surged While the surge of federal agents in the Twin Cities grabbed much of the attention the past few months, stories of children hiding at home, crying in class and being detained have quietly gripped some...

While the surge of federal agents in the Twin Cities grabbed much of the attention the past few months, stories of children hiding at home, crying in class and being detained have quietly gripped some Minnesota small towns since January.

Haitian man dies in US immigration custody with untreated toothache, brother says A Haitian man confined at an Arizona immigration detention center for months after the denial of his asylum application has died in the hospital

Emmanuel Damas, another individual killed in ICE custody.

He had a toothache. They ignored it. He died of spesis. Read that again.

Why do we need to fund this murderous agency?

www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...

My hope is that this brief plays even a very small role in supporting the rights of these millions of children & their families, who deserve so much more than what is being thrown at them.
7/7
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

I especially want to thank Alina Pastor-Chermak and Rachel Dempsey and their legal teams at Outten & Golden LLP and Towards Justice. This brief would not have been possible without their careful work, support, and coordination. 6/7

I am deeply grateful to Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Peter Catron, Philip Connor, @chloeneast.bsky.social Erin Hamilton @amyhsin.bsky.social , @cecimenjivar.bsky.social Rob Smith, Jenny Van Hook, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, & Maria-Elena Young, who contributed extensive research, revisions & suggestions
5/7

Finally, we summarize an interdisciplinary body of research on benefits of citizenship & certain harms of relegating millions of children into a heritable & intergenerational unlawful status--the very situation the 14th amendment was created to prevent.
4/7

We provide data to emphasize that the targeted populations are far from "temporary" & in fact have extensive ties & allegiance to the US.
3/7
Link to brief: www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

We draw on peer-reviewed scholarship to debunk the "parade of horribles" presented by the government and its amici as arguments to end BC (e.g. so-called "birth tourism").
2/7
Link to brief: www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

Immensely grateful to share an amicus brief on birthright citizenship, submitted to SCOTUS last week.

We present esta of the impacted child population (4.8 mil children in next 20 yrs alone!) + financial contributions through 2074 under status quo ($7.7 trillion!).
Link: lnkd.in/gGXngCDY
1/7

DURBIN: How does taking dad from child dying of cancer qualify as a violent crime?

NOEM: I don't know what you're speaking of

D: Ruben Torres 2 weeks ago buried his daughter. When he was arrested at Home Depot, he said, 'Please. My daughter is dying.' They deported him. Was he a violent criminal?

This is very, very bad

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

Last May, Tennessee Highway Patrol joined ICE on the streets of Nashville.

We @lighthousereports.com + partners mapped the traffic stops and used 1M+ ICE records, dashcam video, and court files to show how supposed routine encounters became deportations.

Refugee released by Border Patrol found dead, sparking outrage Surveillance video obtained by The Post shows Border Patrol agents releasing the partially blind refugee, who went missing for days before being found dead.

“No one who comes here seeking refuge should be left in harm’s way.”

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a partially blind refugee, was picked up by Border Patrol on Feb. 19. Agents later left him alone in the parking lot of a closed coffee shop in Buffalo, NY. Days later, he was found dead.

911 calls capture kids burning with fever, struggling to breathe at ICE detention center EMS crews were called to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas at least 11 times since September for children in medical distress, records show.

NEW: We obtained 911 audio from the Texas detention center housing hundreds of immigrant kids and their parents.

Since mid-September, EMS crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress.

Burning fevers. Low oxygen. Seizures. A broken leg.

My report:

Breaking News: Immigration agents arrested a Columbia University student after misrepresenting themselves to access a building, the school said. nyti.ms/4u2Z0xw

ICE’s Detention of Pregnant People Continues a Disgraceful American Tradition We are seeing yet another example of state-sanctioned violence against the reproductive futures of those deemed outside the national body.

ICE has ramped up its detention of pregnant women. As Ira Memaj writes, it's part of a long history of violence against the reproductive futures of those deemed unworthy by the state.
https://bit.ly/4u2ey4A

Near-blind refugee found dead in Buffalo after release by US Border Patrol A nearly blind refugee from Myanmar missing since his release from a Buffalo jail into the custody of U.S. Border Patrol has been found dead on a downtown street, city authorities said on Wednesday.

US Customs & Border Protection statement: “He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance."

The man was nearly blind and did not speak English.
www.reuters.com/world/us/nea...

SCOTUS rejects private prison company GEO Group's attempt at avoiding accountability A long-delayed lawsuit challenging GEO Group's treatment of people in immigration detention can proceed again. A unanimous decision that matters — especially now.

NEW: SCOTUS rejects private prison company GEO Group's attempt at avoiding accountability.

A long-delayed lawsuit challenging GEO Group's treatment of people in immigration detention can proceed again. A unanimous decision that matters — especially now.

Tonight, at Law Dork:

As @chrisgeidner.bsky.social explains, this decision, rejecting GEO’s “derivative sovereign immunity” argument, is “a technical, but important, decision — especially as the Trump administration spends billions of dollars on immigration enforcement, with large sums going to contractors like GEO...”

This is the worst case scenario occurring at almost all turns.

- Tased and struck over misunderstanding
- Stays in jail for a year because of slow wheel of justice and ICE fears
- PD screws up in releasing him
- Border Patrol release catastrophically screwed up
- PD blows off missing persons report

As ICE moves to massively expand immigration detention through the purchase of warehouses around the country, the best example of what these places might look like comes from Camp East Montana, which opened in August and now holds over 3,000 people per day in terrible conditions.

Read more below!

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’

A MN protester accused of assaulting ICE officer had case dropped after vids showed no assault.

LA protester accused of assaulting ICE w/ “hat” had case dropped; judge said govt acted in “bad faith”

In Chicago, 92 ppl were arrested for assault/impeding ICE; 0 convicted

DOJ keeps lying and losing:

Just how unprecedented is the ongoing immigration enforcement crackdown? We answer those questions and more in our new NBER working paper.

www.nber.org/papers/w34794

Caitlin Patler | Scholars Strategy Network Patler's research explores citizenship and legal status as axes of stratification that significantly shape opportunities for mobility. She is currently conducting longitudinal mixed-methods research s...

@caitlinpatler.bsky.social (@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social) is currently conducting research on immigration detention, deportation, and the intersections of immigration and criminal law.

Connect with Patler:
scholars.org/scholar/cait...

Minnesota school districts say federal agents still causing daily disruptions School leaders say that ICE activity is continuing to interrupt daily life for students, staff and families despite the announced end of the two-month surge of federal immigration agents.

ICE activity continues to interrupt daily life for students, staff and families, despite the announced end of the two-month surge of federal immigration agents. Students attend school remotely, staff monitor arrival and dismissal, and leaders wonder when they can resume normal school operations.

Congratulations! What a terrific opportunity!

What you need to know about Texas ICE detention deaths Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.

“In the span of just six weeks between December and January, six people died while detained by ICE in Texas — three of them at Camp East Montana.” www.texastribune.org/2026/02/19/i...

This is a truly horrifying memo. It says that the policy of the US government will now be to proactively seek out and arrest likely tens of thousands of refugees who entered legally under Biden and subject them to detention, where they will be interrogated about their status.