May 19, 2026 · court_ruling
Judge Castel blocks ICE courthouse arrests after DOJ admits directive did not apply
On May 19, 2026, Senior U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel barred ICE from making civil immigration arrests at 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street, and 290 Broadway while African Communities Together v. Lyons moves forward. Castel acted after Justice Department lawyers admitted in March that ICE Directive 11072.4 never authorized arrests in immigration courts, undercutting months of federal arguments. ICE agents arrested a 21-year-old Honduran man at Federal Plaza the next morning anyway, turning a courthouse-access fight into a direct test of whether DHS would obey a federal court order (NYCLU; The City; amNewYork; ICE directive text; Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse).
May 7, 2026 · court_ruling
Divided Eleventh Circuit rules against mandatory detention without bond hearings
A divided panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on May 7, 2026, that federal immigration law does not require mandatory detention without bond hearings for people arrested in the interior of the United States who entered without authorization. The ruling in Alvarez v. Warden, Federal Detention Center Miami deepened the circuit split by aligning with the Second Circuit against the Fifth and Eighth Circuits, covering detention facilities in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
May 7, 2026 · court_ruling
SPLC pleads not guilty at arraignment; trial set for October 2026
SPLC Interim CEO Bryan Fair entered not guilty pleas on all 11 federal counts at the arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelly F. Pate on May 7, 2026. Judge Pate set a tentative trial date of October 5, 2026. The SPLC maintained the informant program was a legitimate civil society intelligence operation that had provided law enforcement with actionable information to prevent extremist violence. Legal analysts at Just Security argued the indictment represented a novel use of fraud statutes against a nonprofit's investigative methodology.
Apr 21, 2026 · investigation
Federal Grand Jury indicts SPLC on 11 counts of wire fraud and money laundering
A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, returned an indictment on April 21, 2026, charging the Southern Poverty Law Center with 11 counts including wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. The indictment alleged the SPLC paid more than $3 million to informants inside extremist groups through fictitious shell company accounts between 2014 and 2023. The case was brought in the Northern District of Alabama and assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelly F. Pate.
Apr 18, 2026 · executive_order
Trump signs executive order fast-tracking psychedelic therapy approvals
President Trump signed an executive order on April 18, 2026, directing the FDA to create an accelerated review pathway for psychedelic-assisted therapies including psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and ibogaine. The order allocated $50 million in HHS funds to match state investments in psychedelics research and required the DEA and FDA to establish a Right to Try pathway for patients to access investigational psychedelics under Phase 3 clinical trials. Veterans groups had lobbied extensively for the order, citing ibogaine's effectiveness in treating PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
