10/05/2026
⚡ NEWSFLASH MONDAY ⚡ this weeks updates on what’s happening in immigration:
Pop-up immigration courts, social media vetting for foreign journalists, and visa bonds that just got more expensive. Let’s get into it!
**1. Pop-up immigration courts are opening in federal buildings with no signage and no public access!!**
Observers report these courts started in September, including inside a FEMA building in D.C. Some aren’t marked as courts, and attorneys say they were turned away at the door. Reports also say the online detainee locator is no longer showing where people are held. Since when is a courtroom you can’t find, can’t enter, and can’t observe still a court?
**2. Foreign journalists applying for U.S. visas now have their social media reviewed (effective Oct. 1)!**
Applicants are told to set every profile to public. The list of visas under this review keeps growing, and there is still no public standard for what gets someone denied. Does that sound like a recipe for subjective decisions? It does to me.
**3. Visa bonds just got more expensive!**
For B-1/B-2 applicants from designated countries, bonds are now $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000. The country list is unchanged. DOS also removed the FIFA World Cup exception and added a section on third-party payment.
Well that wraps this Newsflash up with updates for the week! Let’s keep the conversation going in the comment section!
