The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says it will challenge state laws that make it easier for President-elect Trump to adopt his mass deportation plan and urge other states to put up legal roadblocks to slow mass raids.

Why it matters: The ACLU — the nation's largest civil liberties organization — has the reach to mobilize activists, with chapters in many states, and is expected to be the main litigate to lawsuits against mass deportations.

The big picture: ACLU officials at its southern border affiliated chapters vowed Tuesday it would undergo legal challenges to the construction of new mass detention centers and any effort to erase due process for immigrants facing deportation.

• Officials also say the ACLU will launch a "robust challenge" to expedite removals of immigrants that Trump plans to expand.
• During the first Trump term, the ACLU sued to stop his Muslim travel ban and fight allegations of abuse at immigration detention centers. It brought more than 400 cases against the first Trump administration.

State of play: Arizona and Texas have passed state laws that will make it easier for any mass deportation plan, ACLU advocates say.

Case in point: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in 2023 that authorizes state officials to arrest and seek the deportation of migrants who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without legal authorization.

• Critics say it is unconstitutional and could lead to racial profiling.

The other side: Abbott and other GOP governors say the state laws were needed because the federal government under President Biden wasn't doing enough to enforce federal immigration laws.

Reality check: U.S. immigration courts are on pace to decide record numbers of deportation cases — and order the most removals in five years — under Biden's push to fast-track asylum decisions.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 271,000 people last fiscal year — the most in nearly a decade, according to an annual report released last month.

The intrigue: ACLU officials say they expect some Democrats in Congress to support the Trump administration's harsh immigration policies, such as the Laken Riley Act.

• That law would require the detention of undocumented immigrants arrested for certain non-violent crimes such as theft.
• The ACLU says it will embark on a public campaign to highlight immigrant voices and "change the narrative."

The ACLU's Border Humanity Project launched last week a new multimedia campaign in southern border states highlighting the stories of asylum seekers who have fled Mexico, El Salvador and Cameroon.

• The "Letters to America" campaign uses the voices and images of immigrants who have escaped violence in their former countries.
• ACLU staff also are conducting "know your rights" workshops in various cities to educate immigrants and advocates on how they can defend themselves.

Behind the scenes: The ACLU is pushing its "Firewall for Freedom" initiative, which advises cities, states, and district attorneys on how they can limit collaboration with federal immigration authorities.

• The plan suggests that governors and legislatures can protect immigrant communities through legal assistance funds, pardon processes and new laws.

A historic Black community that grew out of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s is among the communities wiped away by devastating wildfires charring through Los Angeles County.

The big picture: The Eaton Fire has all but flatted the many Black-owned homes and businesses in the unincorporated area of Altadena, California, in San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions.

Zoom in: The community of 42,000 residents — 18% are Black — has been among the hardest hit by wildfires that so far have claimed 24 lives and burned away over 12,000 structures across the county.

• The Eaton Fire alone charred more than 1,000 structures and killed at least five people in Altadena, per the Los Angeles Times.

Octavia E. Butler, the late-pioneering Black science fiction novelist who wrote about a wildfire from climate change starting on February 1, 2025, in her novel "Parable of the Sower," is buried in an Altadena cemetery.

• The cemetery caught fire, the LA Times reports.

Zoom out: Satellite images of burning buildings in Altadena examined by Axios show that last week, a large portion of the community was in flames or burned to ash.

• The images give clues to how quickly the fire moved to long-protected communities because of high winds and drought conditions.
• The whole community was ordered to evacuate when the Eaton Fire began last week and has since claimed many of the community's churches, landmarks and much of its downtown.

State of play: Much attention on the wildfires has focused on the destruction of homes in wealthy areas and of celebrities, but Altadena's devastation shows how middle-class areas and communities of color were also hit.

• In the days after the Eaton Fire started, Black residents returned to homes passed down by family members only to see them gone as the fire burned block.
• The community, where 58% of residents are people of color, also saw many Latino and Asian American residents return to rubble.

Among those returning to ash in Altadena was Shawn Brown, a Black homeowner. She told The Associated Press she lost her home and a charter school she founded.

• She had a message for fellow Black homeowners in the wake of despair: "I would tell them to stand strong, rebuild, continue the generational progress of African-Americans."

Flashback: In 1960, 95% of Altadena's residents were white, according to Altadena Heritage, a nonprofit organization that seeks to preserve the community's history.

• After President Lyndon Johnson signed several civil rights bills, including The Fair Housing Act of 1968, Altadena's Black population grew from 4% in 1960 to 27% in 1970.
• Altadena was one of the few communities offering housing and loans to Black Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. As a result, it became a popular community for a growing Black middle class seeking to escape discrimination elsewhere.

Stunning stat: Before the fire, the Black homeownership rate stood at 81.5% — nearly double the national rate for Black homeowners, per the AP.

What we're watching: Recovering and rebuilding efforts typically overlook communities of color, who struggle amid the maze of insurance bureaucracies and federal disaster relief programs.

• Communities like Altadena near wildfire-prone areas may consider building fire-prevention walls or barriers, as Octavia E. Butler foresaw in her futuristic novels.

More from Axios:

• Climate change plays key contributing role in L.A. fires
• L.A. fires could be the U.S.' worst natural disaster, Newsom says
• L.A. County fires already among most destructive ever recorded in California

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum clapped back at President-elect Trump on Wednesday and said parts of the U.S. should be called "América Mexicana," in response to Trump's proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America" at a press conference on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The response, using a troubled history of the U.S.-Mexican War in 1846-8, signaled that the Sheinbaum administration would not be intimidated by Trump's antics and threats.

The big picture: Sheinbaum's playful reaction came as Mexico has sent serious messages that it will defend the human rights of Mexicans in the U.S. who may be abused during Trump's planned mass deportations.

• Other Latin American leaders such as Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino have also rebuked Trump for social media posts about the Panama Canal and migration.

Zoom in: During a press conference Wednesday, Sheinbaum stood in front of a 1607 map showing the territory of northern Mexico and part of the present-day United States mixed together.

• Sheinbaum said without prompting from reporters that the joint region that used to belong to Mexico should be called "América Mexicana," or "Mexican America."
• "Why don't we call it "Mexican America?" It sounds nice, right? Since 1607, the Constitution of Apatzingán was of Mexican America. So, let's call it that."

Context: Trump said during Tuesday's press conference that the Gulf of America "has a beautiful ring."

• His remarks, which raise questions about how the renaming process would work, are the latest example of Trump flexing his power on the global stage before he takes office.
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) later said she plans to introduce legislation renaming the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America."

Yes, but: Sheinbaum said that the Gulf of Mexico is registered by international institutions, and many countries recognize its name.

• She asked José Alfonso Suárez del Real, a historian and political advisor, to explain the origins of the name Gulf of Mexico.
• "Between Florida and Yucatán, the Mexican Gulf is recognized as a fundamental nautical point for navigation from the 17th century onwards," he said.
• The historian also pointed out that the name "Mexican America" existed before the first group of British colonists arrived in present-day Virginia.

Flashback: Much of the present-day American Southwest and West used to be territory under New Spain and later Mexico until the U.S. invaded in 1846 to seek more land for slavery.

• The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo — which ended the U.S.-Mexico War — greatly expanded U.S. territory and made unkept promises to its new Mexican American citizens.
• They instead faced racial discrimination and racial violence and have for decades used the treaty as a tool to seek civil rights.

The intrigue: Some conservatives and white supremacists have promoted the "reconquista theory," claiming Mexican Americans wanted California, New Mexico and other swaths of the region to be given to Mexico.

• They have equated migration from Mexico to "an invasion," which is what Trump also has repeated.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a new multimedia campaign in southern border states highlighting the stories of asylum seekers who have fled Mexico, El Salvador and Cameroon.

Why it matters: Immigrant rights and civil liberties groups are preparing a public relations and court challenge blitz ahead of President-elect Trump's mass deportation plan in hopes of slowing down immigrant removals.

• The ACLU — the nation's largest civil liberties organization — has the reach to mobilize activists, with chapters in many states and the ability to rally less-funded grassroots groups.
• Protests could put pressure on Democratic-controlled states and cities to refuse to assist the Trump administration's mass deportation push.

Driving the news: The ACLU's Border Humanity Project unveiled Tuesday its "Letters to America" campaign that uses the voices and images of immigrants who have escaped violence in their former countries.

• A video previewed by Axios shows an immigrant mother telling her story by reading a letter to the U.S. public, ending with pleas not to force her and her daughter to return to a violent village overrun by gangs.
• The video spots will run on digital sites in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Jonathan Blazer, director of border strategies at the ACLU, tells Axios the campaign seeks to humanize immigrants beyond the caricatures and stereotypes politicians use.

• "There've been falsehoods and lies that are most easily dispelled when you actually meet and hear directly from people about their stories and why they come," he said.
• Blazer says the immigrants tell Americans they were not coming to cause harm but to contribute and give back.

State of play: Trump has repeatedly and falsely blamed the jump in violent crime during the pandemic on immigrants.

• He and his surrogates have said mass deportations will begin with removing immigrants with the most violent criminal past — something the Biden administration is already doing.
• The newly installed House on Tuesday passed the Laken Riley Act, which would require the detention of undocumented immigrants arrested for certain non-violent crimes such as theft.

Reality check: Less than 0.5% of the 1.8 million cases in immigration courts during the past fiscal year — involving about 8,400 people — included deportation orders for alleged crimes other than entering the U.S. illegally, an Axios review of government data found.

• Immigrants arrested for homicides also accounted for less than 1% of "at-large" arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the last six years, another Axios review found.
• New data released last month by the Brookings Institution suggests that the homicide surge of 2020 was primarily driven by men and teen boys who were either laid off or saw their schools close during pandemic shutdowns.

The intrigue: The ACLU last month released details of its "Firewall for Freedom" initiative, which advises cities, states, and district attorneys on how they can limit collaboration with federal immigration authorities.

• The plan suggests that governors and legislatures can protect immigrant communities through legal assistance funds, pardon processes and new laws.

The bottom line: The federal government can't enact any large-scale deportation of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants without the cooperation of state and local law enforcement.

• To get that support, the incoming Trump administration will need broad public backing in blue states like New Mexico and California and major blue cities like Los Angeles and Houston.

President Biden has signed a bill that renames the U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles after the Latino parents who helped end legal school segregation in California and set up the 1954 landmark Brown vs. Board of Education ruling.

The big picture: Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez U.S. Courthouse comes decades after Latino activists tried to draw attention to the pre-Brown case, which set the stage for racial desegregation nationwide.

Zoom in: It's the first federal courthouse in U.S. history named after a Latina and sits just blocks from where the 1947 Mendez v. Westminster case was originally decided.

• U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) sponsored the renaming bill as part of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 that Biden signed Monday.

Flashback: In 1945, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez sued a school district in Westminster that refused to enroll their children, who were Mexican American and Puerto Rican, because of their dark skin color.

• The case brought together Black and Latino intellectuals and lawyers. Education scholar George I. Sanchez and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, then with the NAACP, soon started corresponding about future school desegregation strategies.

The result: The case went to trial in federal court in Los Angeles and the plaintiffs won.

• On April 14, 1947, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision. Two months later, then-California Gov. Earl Warren outlawed school segregation in the state.

Yes, but: The Mendez case was for decades forgotten outside of historian, legal and academic circles since it was overshadowed by the more well-known Brown vs. Board of Education case.

Zoom out: The May 17, 1954, Supreme Court Brown decision ruled that "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place" in U.S. society.

What they're saying: "This courthouse will serve as a lasting tribute to their civil rights advocacy and the enduring Latino American legacy in our nation's history," U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) said in a statement.

• Gomez, who sponsored the bill, said the Mendez couple had the courage to fight school segregation and bring equality across the U.S.
• "I could have never imagined that one day there would be a law honoring my parents and the four other brave families' fight for equality," said Sylvia Mendez, one of the children at the center of the Mendez case.

The CIA monitored Mexican American and Puerto Rican civil rights activists fighting for equal education and to honor the late Martin Luther King, Jr., — and against police brutality and the Vietnam War, newly released CIA documents show.

Why it matters: The documents confirm Latino civil rights pioneers' long-held suspicions that the federal government was monitoring — even disrupting — their activities.

• The documents from 1968 to 1983 were released in late December deep on the CIA's website at the request of Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Jimmy Gomez (D-CA).

The big picture: The cache of documents gives a glimpse into how the CIA viewed activists' work as threats.

• That includes Denver-based activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales and farmworker union leader Cesar Chavez.
• Documents also show how the CIA sought to keep tabs on Mexican American student activists in Arizona, California and Colorado, even having undercover agents infiltrate student groups.
• The documents primarily relate to Operation CHAOS — a CIA domestic espionage project targeting American citizens that operated under former Presidents Johnson and Nixon.

Zoom in: The CIA kept close tabs on Gonzales, a leader in the radical Chicano Movement of the 1970s, as he pressed for equal rights and called for "the potential formation of independent local, regional, and national Chicano political parties," documents show.

• Like the Black Power Movement, the Chicano Movement focused on racial pride, nationalism and fighting poverty.
• The CIA also was monitoring if Chavez would attend demonstrations organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in New York City on the 3rd anniversary of King's 1968 assassination.
• The CIA was following Salvatore H. Castro, a teacher and advisor in the 1968 Los Angeles high school walkouts over discrimination.
• The agency also tracked members of the Brown Berets, a Chicano militant group.

Documents show the CIA and the University of Arizona had an agreement to monitor students apparently making demands for Mexican American studies classes.

• University of Arizona spokesman Mieczyslaw J. "Mitch" Zak did not immediately have a comment about the newly released documents after Axios sent him a link.

What they're saying: "This document release is an important window into the government's efforts to surveil and disrupt peaceful Latino organizing in the 1960s and 1970s," Castro said in a statement to Axios.

• Castro praised CIA director William J. Burns for the transparency.
• "I'm hopeful that these documents will help us build a better record of past overreach and establish stronger guardrails to protect against unwarranted surveillance in the future."

Yes, but: The FBI has not released any documents on Latino civil rights leaders as requested by Castro.

Between the lines: Historians in recent years have uncovered quite a bit about FBI surveillance of Latino leaders through open records requests, Brian Behnken, an Iowa State University history professor, tells Axios.

• The FBI monitored the works of civil rights leader Héctor P. García; the New York-based Puerto Rican Young Lords Party; and later the activities of the Chicano Movement.
• Works by scholars and activists over the years have also uncovered that the FBI has monitored Chicano Movement leaders Gonzales, Reies López Tijerina, José Angel Gutiérrez, and Dolores Huerta.

Little was known about how active the CIA was involved in monitoring Latino civil rights groups and leaders.

• Some Latino leaders and their families may not even know about the FBI files and wouldn't know they needed to file open records requests.

The intrigue: Castro's mother, Rosie Castro, was monitored by the FBI for her activities in the Chicano Movement, files show.

• An FBI informant noted that Rosie Castro "was observed buying two small posters of Angela Davis for 50 cents each, which were mentioned by Rosie Castro as having been printed in Cuba," the San Antonio Express-News reports.

President Biden has signed a bill designating the Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida, a commemorative site and part of the African American Civil Rights Network.

Why it matters: The move means the oldest stadium in use in the minor leagues, where Robinson made history, is getting closer to being possibly designated a National Historic Landmark.

The big picture: Robinson first suited up for the Triple-A Montreal Royals at the ballpark on March 17, 1946, making him the first Black American to play in modern white organized baseball.

• After a season with the Royals, Robinson was called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, breaking the modern-day color line in Major League Baseball.
• The ballpark opened in 1914 and is already on the list of the National Registry of Historic Places.

Zoom in: Under the bill signed Saturday, the incoming Secretary of the Interior will conduct a study to evaluate its significance and the feasibility of designating it as a National Historic Landmark.

• The designation will give it access to more federal funds for preservation and restoration.
• Jackie Robinson Ballpark is currently home to the Single-A Daytona Tortugas and Bethune-Cookman University baseball.

Flashback: Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey chose Daytona Beach as the Dodgers' spring training site because it had fewer discrimination problems than other Florida cities.

• The city had Black bus drivers and a sizable Black middle class — something Rickey felt Robinson needed to feel comfortable in the early days ahead of the discrimination he would later face.

Yes, but: Newlyweds Jackie and Rachel Robinson were bumped off two flights from Los Angeles to Florida to allow white passengers to have their seats, Rachel Robinson told NPR in 2010.

• Before arriving at the spring training site, the couple had to sit on the back of the bus on their trip from Pensacola to Jacksonville, Florida, because of segregation.

Zoom out: Robinson was the 1947 Rookie of the Year and 1949 MVP. His MLB ranks across his first seven seasons: stolen bases (1st), runs (2nd), hits (2nd), WAR (2nd), batting average (4th).

• His courage paved the way for Black athletes across all sports.
• Robinson was friends with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and spent his post-playing career as a civil rights activist.

A new film looks into the growing trend of Native American tribes disenrolling members, which victims call "cultural genocide" but tribes say is necessary to weed out non-Indigenous people from its records.

Why it matters: Around 11,000 tribal members from 80 tribes have been kicked out of Native American nations over the last 15 years amid growth in casinos and intratribal fighting.

Zoom in: "You're No Indian," which is expected to premiere at a film festival this winter, explores how disenrollment is dividing tribes and affecting members across the country.

• The seven-year project by director Ryan Flynn examines how tribal members in California and the Pacific Northwest have used disenrollment to quash dissent and increase casino revenues for fewer members.
• The film shows how disenrolled members become isolated and rarely speak out in hopes of regaining their enrollment while the federal government seldom intervenes.
• Carla Foreman, a disenrolled member of the Redding Rancheria in California, said her father's health declined and he eventually died after their lineage was disenrolled despite DNA evidence.

How it works: Tribal governments can remove members for any reason since they are sovereign nations.

• Not only can they disenroll members, they can kick out deceased members, thereby ending tribal membership for all their descendants. Tribes can also reject documents and DNA tests with no comment.
• Disenrolled members then no longer have access to the federal Indian Health Service, Native American housing, tribal schools or a share of gaming revenues.
• They can no longer vote in tribal elections and can no longer claim they are Native American, in many cases.
• Tribal members who speak out on behalf of removed members can face disenrollment themselves, even if they are the last speakers of their dying tribe's traditional language.

What they're saying: "I think there's a weaponization of fear at play here," Flynn tells Axios.

• Flynn attempted to talk to tribal leaders, many of who refused to speak on camera, while some supporters of disenrollment decried interracial marriage.
• "Very few people who are proponents of disenrollment actually spoke to us because it's hard to justify."

Yes, but: Donna Featherstone of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians in California says in the film that it's not that hard to prove that you're a member of the tribe.

• "You shouldn't have to go...through a huge book to find some thread," Featherstone says in the film.
• "It's not a disenrollment problem. It's an enrollment problem."
• Featherstone supported a faction that, in 2014, attempted a violent seizure of the tribe's casino and documents in a dispute about tribal enrollment.

The intrigue: Flynn was set to premiere "You're No Indian" with two screenings at the Palm Springs International Film Festival this weekend, but the festival abruptly canceled the screenings due to "scheduling errors."

• The festival is in Palm Springs, California, near tribes that have practiced disenrollment. "It feels like censorship," Flynn said.
• The Palm Springs International Film Festival did not respond to an email from Axios.

What we're watching: "You're No Indian" is scheduled to appear on streaming services later this year, Flynn said.

• It's expected to draw opposition from some tribes and bring out disenrolled members who have yet to speak out.

California's Native American tribes are seeking to stop non-tribally owned casinos from offering Las Vegas-style card games like blackjack in a legal challenge that could dramatically upend the state's gambling industry.

Why it matters: The challenge could shut down card games in small, privately owned gambling halls scattered across California near urban centers. It threatens millions of dollars in local revenue and jobs in small cities while creating more jobs at tribal casinos.

• Seven tribal nations filed a lawsuit Thursday in California Superior Court against dozens of small casinos just hours after a new state law went into effect allowing tribes to dispute the legality of certain games.
• A court ruling in favor of the tribes could also redirect lucrative card game revenues back toward Native American communities that have struggled with poverty and inequality for decades.

Catch up quick: California card rooms have operated for years despite opposition from federally recognized tribes in the state who say they only have exclusive rights to "banked" games.

• "Banked" games, such as blackjack, baccarat, and pai gow, are ones where a single player or entity takes all comers, pays all winnings, and collects all losses.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in September signed the Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act, which allows one-time state court action to determine whether these controlled games operated by commercial cardrooms violate state law.
• Court action could also decide if "banked" card games run by private casinos infringe upon tribal exclusive gaming rights.

Zoom in: The lawsuit filed in Sacramento alleges that California card rooms and their partner third-party proposition players have ignored the law and refused to recognize tribes' exclusive rights.

• "Instead, they have reaped illegal windfalls by offering banked games that are barred by the California Constitution, California Penal Code, and relevant judicial decisions," the lawsuit says.
• The lawsuit argues the California court system should declare these games at private casinos illegal under state law.

The other side: The California Cardroom Alliance says the state's cardroom-operated games have been authorized and approved by the state's Department of Justice and lawfully played since 1983.

• "The California Cardroom Alliance opposes challenges to these games, which would imperil thousands of living wage jobs around the state and create deep deficits in municipal government budgets," the group says on its website.
• The group did not immediately return a message from Axios after the lawsuit was filed.

What they're saying: "California's prohibition on banked games in card rooms can't be just another broken promise to California's Indian tribes," Adam Lauridsen, an attorney for the tribes and for Keker, Van Nest & Peters, said in a statement.

• "The fact that card rooms are making lots of money from breaking the law is no defense."
• Lauridsen says the state receives significant revenues from tribal gaming in return for guaranteeing the tribes the right to run their gaming operations exclusively.

Between the lines: The cardroom challenge comes as more Indigenous tribes nationally assert themselves over issues of sovereignty, political representation, and how they should define who a tribal member is.

• The Cherokee Nation, one of the nation's largest Indigenous tribes, is seeking to change a 140-year-old federal law that governs criminal jurisdiction of tribal citizens on reservations based on "blood quantum."

Fun fact: California is considered the birthplace of tribal casinos largely due to the 1987 Supreme Court ruling in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, which affirmed that tribes have the sovereignty to operate casinos on reservation lands that fall outside state jurisdiction, Axios San Francisco's Shawna Chen previously reported.

• Today, over 70 of the state's tribes own gaming casinos. Tribes without them receive a portion of the revenue through a shared trust fund.

U.S. immigration courts are on pace to decide record numbers of deportation cases — and order the most removals in five years — under President Biden's push to fast-track asylum decisions.

Why it matters: The increases in the first two months of fiscal 2025, if they continue, will help reduce a backlog of 3.7 million immigration cases that could take four years to resolve.

• But Biden's fast-track system — in which immigration judges are hearing and ruling on asylum requests in a matter of minutes — stands to be overrun by President-elect Trump's plan for mass deportations.
• Without significant increases in immigration court personnel and other resources for asylum claims, Trump's plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants could create decades-long backlogs in immigration courts.

By the numbers: Immigration courts are on pace to rule on 852,000 deportation cases from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, according to an analysis of case data by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University.

• That analysis reviewed the pace of court rulings in October and November, the first two months of the government's fiscal 2025.
• If that pace continues, immigration judges will rule on more deportation cases in 2025 than in any previous year.

Zoom in: So far in fiscal 2025, immigration judges have ordered removals or voluntary departures in 45% of the cases that came before them — up from 39% in 2024 and the highest rate since 2020.

• That means immigration courts are on pace to issue 383,400 orders for removals or voluntary departures in FY 2025.
• According to court records, only 0.7% of the most recent cases sought deportation orders based on any alleged crimes by an immigrant, apart from allegedly entering the U.S. illegally.

At the end of November, about 1.7 million out of the 3.7 million cases in the immigration courts' backlog were for asylum applicants awaiting hearings or decisions.

Zoom out: Immigration courts ruled in nearly 850,000 deportation cases in fiscal 2024, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

• In those cases, 331,500 people were ordered to be deported or leave the U.S. voluntarily.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 271,000 people last fiscal year — the most in nearly a decade, according to an annual report released this month.

• The report marked a 90% increase in deportations from 2023, even as Republicans assailed Biden as weak on the border during the presidential campaign.

Between the lines: The Biden administration launched a series of initiatives to speed up the pace of immigration court rulings.

• The administration in May unveiled its fast-tracked asylum system for people who recently had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and were headed to any one of five major cities in the U.S.
• The plan allowed judges to more quickly reject some asylum candidates who were considered a threat to public safety or national security.
• The administration also adopted visa restrictions for Colombians and Nicaraguans in an attempt to target those who profit from migrant smuggling.

Illegal border crossings declined steadily in 2024 after a sharp drop at the start of the year, according to Department of Homeland Security data obtained by USA Today and CBS News.

What we're watching: Most of the nation's 734 immigration judges are seeking to reinstate their union ahead of the expected boom in cases once Trump launches his plan for mass deportations.

• The Trump-controlled Federal Labor Relations Authority stripped away the judges' union in 2020. The two sides could be headed for another legal showdown in the coming months.
• A federal appeals court said immigration judges were entitled to union representation.

Almost half of Republican voters believe the U.S. military should round up undocumented immigrants and put them into detention camps until they can be deported, a new survey finds.

Why it matters: President-elect Trump has suggested that he'll use the military in immigration raids and turn to a 1798 law to put immigrants in camps.

• His base appears to support those plans despite the likely fierce opposition from most Americans.

By the numbers: 46% of Republicans endorse using the military in mass deportation raids and placing immigrants in camps, according to a nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) post-election survey.

• That's more than double that of independent voters (19%) who agree with the idea.
• And that's more than five times as Democratic voters (8%) who supported this policy.

What they're saying: "There have been questions in the Trump era where I've thought...I can't believe that we need to know the answer to this question," Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI, tells Axios.

• "I guess the good news is that three-quarters of the country rejects this idea that we should be putting immigrants in the country illegally into internment camps guarded by the military."
• Jones said the bad news is that nearly half of people who consider themselves members of a mainstream political party do.

State of play: Trump said in his recent TIME "Person of the Year" interview that he would be open to using camps to hold detained immigrants in the U.S.

• Trump in the TIME interview suggested deporting 21 million people, which would likely require an increase in detention centers to hold people suspected of being in the U.S. without authorization before they're deported.

Reality check: Study after study shows there are 11 million undocumented people in the country, not 21 million, as Trump has repeatedly and falsely said.

• There are roughly 24.5 million noncitizen immigrants in the U.S., including those here awaiting asylum decisions or otherwise here lawfully, according to the Pew Research Center.
• The U.S. immigration system's backlog of 3.7 million court cases will take four years to resolve at the current pace — but that could balloon to 16 years under Trump's mass deportation plan, according to an Axios analysis.

Zoom in: The PRRI survey also found that American voters who hold highly authoritarian views were six times as likely to endorse putting undocumented immigrants into such camps than American voters who reject authoritarianism (48% v. 8%).

Methodology: The American Values Survey was conducted online Nov. 8 and Dec. 2, 2024. The poll is based on a representative sample of 5,772 adults (age 18 and older) living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia who are part of Ipsos' Knowledge Panel®.

• The margin of sampling error is +/- 1.72 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.

The fatal beating of a Black man by white corrections officers at an upstate New York prison that was caught on body cam video has sparked anger, investigations and planned protests.

The big picture: New York State Attorney General Letitia James on Friday released body cam footage showing correction officers attacking, punching and choking inmate Robert Brooks as he lies in a semi-conscious state.

• Brooks was pronounced dead in Wing Hospital in Utica, New York, the day after the Dec. 9 attack, officials said.

Catch up quick: In the footage from four officers, the 43-year-old Brooks is seen exiting a prison transport van and entering a medical exam room with prison staff at Marcy Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y.

• Brooks is shown with his hands cuffed behind his back as several corrections officers, who all appear to be white, take turns beating him.
• James said during a Friday video statement that none of the corrections officers had activated their body cams, so videos have no sound.

State of play: The death of Brooks comes more than four years after the murder of George Floyd prompted a racial reckoning and demands for reform in how law enforcement interacts in communities of color.

• Federal police reforms died amid political bickering in a divided Congress and momentum for reforms halted amid rising crime during the pandemic.
• President Biden bought back pattern and practice investigations into police departments — something President-elect Trump halted during his first term. However, none of the dozen probes have led to any reform agreements.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday she ordered a full investigation into the death of Brooks and asked officials to begin the process of firing 14 people involved in the attack.

• "Like all New Yorkers, I was outraged and horrified after seeing footage of the senseless killing of Robert Brooks," she said in a statement.
• "The State of New York has zero tolerance for individuals who break the law, and I am committed to holding everyone involved fully accountable."
• James said her office also has opened an investigation.

Zoom out: The corrections department on Saturday provided a list of 13 employees, including correctional officers, sergeants and a nurse, who have been suspended without pay and another correctional officer who has resigned, per AP.

Context: Brooks had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault since 2017, according to the corrections department.

• He was transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility to Marcy Correctional Facility, both in Oneida County.
• It's not known why he was handcuffed, what prompted the attack or what was said during the beating.

What we're hearing: Civil rights and advocacy groups are planning demonstrations around New York in reaction to the Brooks case. One is scheduled for Monday outside the New York State Governor's Mansion.

• Activists say that his death is part of a larger culture of violence within the New York Department of Corrections.
• "Robert Brooks is the latest victim of a system that continues to fail," Ana María Archila and Jasmine Grippe, co-directors of the New York Working Families Party, said in a statement.

Mexico is launching a smartphone app that allows Mexican migrants to warn relatives and instantly alert the nearest consulate if U.S. immigration agents detain them, officials said Friday.

Why it matters: The announcement came as part of a broad warning from the administration of Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum that the nation will defend the human rights of Mexican citizens in the U.S. amid President-elect Trump's mass deportation plans.

Zoom in: Mexico Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente said at a press conference that the "emergency notification" app will go live in January.

• "I have personally attended several open meetings where the key message is to tell our fellow citizens that they are not alone and will not be alone," De la Fuente said.

Zoom out: De la Fuente said Mexico's "Know Your Rights" program will be part of a rapid response to possible enforcement scenarios or "other intimidating actions."

• Mexico's legal protection program includes 329 legal advisors at all 53 consulates in the U.S., along with voluntary support from consultants and law firms across the country, he said.

State of play: Trump has said his mass deportation plan will likely include U.S. citizens who are the children of undocumented immigrants and the erection of new detention camps around the country.

• More than two dozen Republican governors also said that they'll use "state law enforcement or the National Guard" to help with mass deportation, raising alarm from advocacy groups.

The intrigue: Mexico is encouraging all Mexican citizens with children born in the U.S. to register them with the consulates.

• "Not everyone has done this yet. We strongly encourage everyone to register with our consulates as this enables us to provide legal protection when needed," De la Fuente said.

Reality check: These mass deportations will also likely encounter several procedural roadblocks, and the estimated $150 billion to $350 billion cost of executing them is steep.

• Currently, the U.S. does not have enough holding cells to house millions of people placed in deportation proceedings.
• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) tells Axios that temporary holding centers will likely be inhumane and poorly built and the group plans on monitoring them.

Flashback: Trump said last month he spoke to Sheinbaum about stopping migration into the U.S.

• Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had "a wonderful conversation" with Sheinbaum, claiming she "agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border."
• In a statement, Sheinbaum said she and Trump discussed Mexico's strategy on migration and that she told him Central American caravans are not arriving at the northern border as they're being taken care of in Mexico.

The bottom line: Any mass deportations would entail expelling people into Mexico, which would draw pushback because it'd overwhelm the country's capacity to manage the flow.

A Colorado man who allegedly attacked an AAPI TV reporter and demanded to know whether the journalist was a U.S. citizen, saying, "This is Trump's America now," is facing bias-motivated charges.

Driving the news: Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested on Dec. 18 in Grand Junction, Colorado, after police said he stalked KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja'Ronn Alex's vehicle for around 40 miles.

Zoom in: Egan tackled and choked Alex before several people intervened and restrained the suspect until officers arrived on the scene, Grand Junction police said.

• According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the AP, Egan, driving a taxi, had pulled up next to Alex at a stoplight and asked: "Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump's America now! I'm a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!"
• The attack occurred outside of the television station and was caught on camera, the arrest affidavit said.
• Egan was transported to the Mesa County Detention Facility and charged with bias-motivated crimes, second-degree assault, and harassment.

Egan's lawyer, Ruth Swift, did not immediately return an email from Axios.

Zoom out: Alex is a native of Detroit. KKCO/KJCT reported that he was driving a news vehicle at the time.

• Alex told police that he believed he had been followed and attacked because he is a Pacific Islander, per the AP.

Context: The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, recently shared with Axios new data that showed 2023 hate crimes overall hit records across 10 of the nation's largest cities, rising 16%.

• Hate crimes against all Asian American communities have been on the rise since the pandemic, with 1 in 3 Asian American adults reporting being the subject of a hate act last year.

Grand Junction is around 250 miles west of Denver.

U.S. homelessness increased 18% this year, according to federal data released on Friday, with children being the age group that experienced the largest increase.

The big picture: Homelessness among nearly all populations reached record levels this year, but of the exacerbating factors have balanced out since the survey was conducted in January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said in its report.

By the numbers: More than 770,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2024, per the point-in-time survey.

• Nearly 150,000 children experienced homelessness when the survey was taken, reflecting a 33% increase over 2023.
• Black people were 32% of the population identifying as homeless, despite making up 12% of the total U.S. population, HUD said. This figure decreased from 37% in 2023.
• Veterans reported continued declines in homelessness, decreasing by 8%.

Context: The migrant crisis, wildfires in Maui, Hawai'i that displaced thousands and high housing costs contributed to the stark rise and record high in the HUD report.

• "In the 13 communities that reported being affected by migration, family homelessness more than doubled," per HUD. Meanwhile, "in the remaining 373 communities, the rise in families experiencing homelessness was less than 8%."
• Chicago and Denver both announced an end to their migrant shelter systems this fall in response to decreases in shelter censuses.

Zoom in: "This report reflects data collected a year ago and likely does not represent current circumstances, given changed policies and conditions," HUD said in a statement.

• The survey was taken at the end of significant rental cost increases. Since then, rents have flattened or decreased.
• Rental costs have also stabilized since Maui wildfires exacerbated the housing crisis.
• And migration that rose 39% from 2023 to 2024, dropped later this year with more control on border crossings, HUD said.

Zoom out: Issues around poverty and homelessness got almost no attention during the 2024 election with candidates focusing on middle class concerns.

• A broad measure of poverty for families headed by single mothers rose last year and is now back to 2018 levels, per a new analysis of Census Bureau data from the National Women's Law Center.
• For households led by single mothers, the supplemental measure of poverty increased to 29% in 2023 from 27% in 2022. That's more than 2.7 million families.

The nation's overall poverty rate is 12.4% but it is 21.3% for Black people and 16.9% for Latinos, based on the Census Bureau's 2023 5-year estimates.

• Latinos make up 19% of the population and with other people of color, are set to form a plurality of the country's population by midcentury, but experts say a lack of discussion on Latino poverty is allowing inequalities, and possibly homelessness, to fester and grow.
• Rev. William Barber, of the Poor People's Campaign, tells Axios that the lack of discussion on poverty and low-wage workers prevents the nation from having an honest look at unhoused populations and affordable housing.

Go deeper:

• Homelessness in the U.S. jumped to record level in 2023, government says
• A record 1 in 8 NYC students experienced homelessness last school year

War, financial anxiety and political unpredictability plaguing many nations are clouding this year's Christmas celebrations as nativity scenes go up.

Through the lens: Despite global unrest in the Middle East and Ukraine and migration crises around the world, Christians built and celebrated creative nativity scenes to seek moments of peace. Here are a few images from around the world.

The daughter of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is telling Americans to "pay attention" to the words of President-elect Trump during his inauguration and also honor her father's birthday.

Why it matters: The inauguration and MLK Day fall on the same date in January, creating anxiety among many Black Americans who strongly opposed Trump amid his repeated use of bigoted language during his campaign.

The big picture: Some Black Americans were urging others to tune out Trump during his inauguration speech and instead focus on the legacy of the fallen civil rights leader.

Yes, but: Bernice A. King, the youngest child of the civil rights icon and Coretta Scott King, recently posted on Instagram that everyone in the U.S. should do both.

• "l certainly understand the desire to tune out rhetoric, ideology, and policies with which we passionately disagree and which contradict the spirit of the Beloved Community," King wrote.
• "However, we must pay attention to what President-Elect Trump speaks on that day, even if by transcript and video later."
• She said that activists cannot develop "a strategic, love-centered strategy for addressing language and legislation" if they are not also strategic in listening and leadership.
• "This is not the time for ignorance."

Zoom in: Trump is scheduled to be sworn into office on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C.

• That same day, dozens of cities and towns nationwide will be holding MLK Day events, speeches, parades and volunteer events.
• The King Center in Atlanta will have a commemorative service that morning, which will be streamed live.

State of play: During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said undocumented immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country," language echoing the rhetoric of white supremacists and Adolf Hitler.

• Trump also compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr. and suggested he drew a similar crowd size to his first inauguration as King did when he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington.
• Trump also called North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who lost a race for governor, "Martin Luther King on steroids." Robinson lost following a CNN story that alleged he called himself a "Black NAZI" on a porn site.

Zoom out: After Trump's win, Martin Luther King III, the civil rights leader's son, told dejected supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris to "keep moving forward."

• King III and his wife, Arndrea Waters King, spearheaded the creation of a new Black-Latino coalition in the days before the election.

What we're watching: Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of two important civil rights events — the "Bloody Sunday" attack on Selma civil rights marchers and the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

• If Trump attends any commemorative gatherings on those landmark events, he will likely have to see members of the King family.

New data suggest that the homicide surge of 2020 was driven largely by men and teen boys who were either laid off or saw their schools close during pandemic shutdowns.

Why it matters: Record spikes in homicides during the COVID-19 crisis puzzled officials, and some blamed social unrest and mass protests. But a Brookings Institution analysis reviewed by Axios indicates that alienated men and youths, especially in low-income areas, likely were behind the jump.

Catch up quick: U.S. cities saw their homicide rates surge by an average of nearly 30% in 2020, the biggest year-over-year jump in recorded U.S. history.

• Homicide rates ticked up for two more years until 2023, when rates started to plummet. Early numbers show the national homicide rate in 2024 is on track to return to pre-pandemic levels.
• President-elect Trump cited rising crime (while crime was declining) during his campaign, and falsely blamed immigrants for the pandemic-era jump in homicides.

Zoom in: The Brookings findings were based on thousands of police records before and after the 2020 homicide surge.

• Cities with larger numbers of young men forced out of work and teen boys pushed out of school in low-income neighborhoods in March and early April 2020 averaged greater increases in homicides from May to December that year than other areas, the analysis found.
• Unemployment and truancy also help explain why homicides remained high in 2021 and 2022 and then fell in late 2023 and 2024, the analysis found.

Zoom out: Almost all the neighborhoods with the highest homicide rates were places where at least 30% of the residents lived below the poverty line, which in 2020 was about $26,200 in income for a household of four.

• By mid-April 2020, young men laid off because of the pandemic and high school boys whose schools were shut down made up about 1 in 30 of those living in low-income neighborhoods, Brookings found.
• Many of the men had worked for restaurants and hotels, industries and the pandemic disproportionally hit them, the report found.
• Many students pushed out of school often didn't have access to high-speed internet for online classes.
• The Brookings report analyzed data in three dozen of the nation's largest cities.

The intrigue: The report did not look at women and teen girls as they weren't drivers of violence during a pandemic that caused devastation across the country.

What they're saying: "You had this combined effect of places where crimes always existed, and then this massive influx of young boys who were out of school and young men who were out of work all at the same time," Rhett Morris, co-author of the report, tells Axios.

• Rohit Acharya, another co-author of the report, said many of the homicide hot spots identified in the analysis tended to have few mental health resources or community centers.

The report recommends that communities invest in more mental health services and violence prevention programs while developing intervention programs for men who've committed acts of violence.

What we're watching: The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) is expected to release its preliminary 2024 crime stats from major cities next month.

• Early estimates suggest it will show another drop in homicides.

An Italian-born nun who confronted Billy the Kid, calmed angry mobs, opened New Mexico territory hospitals and later gave refuge to immigrant children is getting closer to Sainthood from the Roman Catholic Church.

The big picture: The push for Sister Blandina Segale's sainthood comes as President-elect Trump vows mass deportation and Catholic groups prepare to assist immigrants going into hiding.

• If she becomes a saint, she'd be Patron Saint of Immigrant Children.

State of play: Some Catholics believe Segale is responsible for miracles in helping immigrant children detained at the U.S.-Mexico border.

• New Mexico Catholic officials visited the Vatican last week to make their case for Sainthood before Catholic historians amid a review that could take years, even decades. The Santa Fe Archdiocese and the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops confirmed the meeting to Axios.

Catch up quick: Segale supporters in 2015 presented their case before the Archdiocese of Santa Fe at a ceremonial "first inquiry" on why Sister Blandina Segale should become a saint.

• The public inquiry determined there was enough evidence to move her case through the largely secret process at the Vatican.
• Witnesses said Segale fought against the cruel treatment of Native Americans and sought to stop the trafficking of women as sex slaves.
• They also testified that in death, Segale has helped cancer patients and poor immigrants who have prayed to her for help.

Zoom in: A group of Vatican historians last week voted to affirm Segale's case — a vital hurdle to move it along, Allen Sánchez, New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops executive director, told Axios from Rome.

• "So we move to this next step. This is important because of what is happening in the United States," Sánchez said.
• "The health care system she started is now one of the largest nonprofit health care organizations in the country called CommonSpirit, with 145 hospitals in 24 states."

Flashback: Segale, a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, came to Trinidad, Colorado, in 1877 to teach poor children. She was later transferred to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she co-founded public and Catholic schools.

• While in New Mexico, she worked with the poor, the sick and immigrants. She also advocated on behalf of Hispanics and Native Americans who were losing their land to swindlers.
• Victoria Marie Forde of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati said documents showed Segale went out of her way to provide assistance to Italian-American immigrants and protect Mexican Americans facing violence in western territories.

The intrigue: Her encounters with Billy the Kid — an American outlaw in the Old West linked to several killings — remain among her most popular and well-known Western frontier adventures.

• According to one story, she received a tip that The Kid was coming to her town to scalp the four doctors who refused to treat his friend's gunshot wound.
• Segale nursed the friend to health, and when Billy went to Trinidad to thank her, she asked him to abandon his violent plan. He agreed.

Fun fact: Her encounters with Old West outlaws later became the stuff of legend and were the subject of an episode of the CBS series "Death Valley Days."

• The episode was called "The Fastest Nun in the West."

Some Catholic and evangelical leaders say they will unpack the Holy Family's immigration plight during Christmas services to offer hope for immigrants worried about what's coming under President-elect Trump.

Why it matters: Trump and his incoming administration are promising immigration raids — even inside churches — as part of their mass deportation plan, and church leaders say that's already prompting some immigrants to go into hiding.

State of play: Undocumented immigrants appear to be taking Trump at his word — some have left the country, stopped coming to work or disappeared, Allen Sánchez, New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops executive director, tells Axios.

• Others are emotionally asking evangelical pastors for protection, Gabriel Salguero, president and co-founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, tells Axios.
• "What I'm telling people in this advent of Christmas is ... Jesus understands you because he lived your reality."

Context: In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph is told through a dream that King Herod is sending soldiers to kill Baby Jesus over fears He's the new King of the Jews.

• Joseph then gathers Mary and Jesus in the dead of night to flee to Egypt, making them refugees who are escaping persecution.
• They only return to the land of Judea after King Herod has died.

In the Gospel of Luke, Joseph is forced to take a pregnant Mary to Bethlehem to register for the required Roman Empire census.

• She must give birth to Jesus and place Him in a manger because "there was no room for them in the inn."
• The dire situation highlights the humbleness and poverty of the Holy Family, who were forced to travel by order of the government.

Zoom in: Latino evangelical churches will be telling attendees at Christmas services to remember Jesus and his family were forced to migrate to Egypt for reasons that they could not control, Salguero says.

• Salguero says the immigrant story is Christ's story. "Our primary call is to love our neighbors and love the immigrant and love the stranger, and we're going to live that through."
• "There may not be room at the inn, but there is room at the church."
• Similarly, Catholic churches will share the Christmas story as a call to action to everyone, Sánchez says.

Zoom out: New Mexico's three Catholic bishops, in the state with the largest percentage of Hispanic residents in the nation, called on Trump this month to reconsider his plan to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history.

• Frank Schuster, the Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, also released a video saying the church does not have the right to "ask for papers."

Yes, but: Conservative white evangelical church leaders, many of whom supported Trump, have endorsed mass deportations and some have used racist language to describe immigrants.

• That view comes from how some white evangelicals interpret the Bible's Book of Revelation as Heaven being a closed-off place, Yale Divinity professor Yii-Jan Lin tells Axios.
• Some English-speaking Latino evangelicals who belong to white-majority churches also supported Trump..

The big picture: Religious leaders of many faiths have long played a role in immigrant rights.

• Some have allowed undocumented immigrants to find sanctuary in churches, where immigration authorities have typically not arrested people.
• During Trump's first term, some churches erected nativity installations depicting Mary, Joseph and Jesus separated in cages to protest Trump's immigrant family separation policy.

Now, church leaders say they want to use Christmas to send immigrants a message: The family of Jesus experienced what you experienced, and the church will be a place of refuge in the coming months.