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March 10, 2026

6 entries on this date.

ICE re-detained Sheboygan Falls mother at routine check-in despite prior court-granted cancellation of removal

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-detained Elvira Benitez-Suarez, a 51-year-old Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin mother of four U.S. citizen children, during a routine supervision check-in at ICE's Milwaukee field office on March 10, 2026, months after an immigration judge granted her cancellation of removal and a path to permanent residency. It was the second time Benitez-Suarez, who has lived in the U.S. for 35 years with no criminal record, had been taken into ICE custody; she was transferred to the Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky while the Department of Homeland Security appealed the judge's ruling. Her attorney filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky seeking her release.

Trump administration began forced third-country deportations to Moldova

ICE sent the first group of third-country nationals to Moldova on an ICE Air charter flight on March 10, 2026, the first such removal to the country, according to Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor. No agreement between the U.S. and Moldova has ever been disclosed; among those sent were Russian asylum seekers, including anti-war activists and draft evaders, some of whom did not speak Moldovan or have any connection to the country.

Whistleblower alleged ex-DOGE employee retained Social Security data on personal device, claimed remote-alter access

On March 10, 2026, The Washington Post reported a whistleblower's allegation that a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee at the Social Security Administration had retained copies of tightly restricted SSA databases covering nearly every living American -- including one on a personal thumb drive -- and claimed continued "God-level" access letting him remotely alter SSA records, with plans to share the data with a private-sector employer. SSA's inspector general confirmed to congressional committees it had opened an investigation into the anonymous complaint, and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia demanded briefings from SSA and the OIG and requested transcribed interviews with former DOGE employees by March 23, 2026. SSA, the former employee, and the company he allegedly went to work for all disputed the allegations.

Iowa Gov. Reynolds signed SF579 barring local civil-rights protections broader than state law

On March 10, 2026, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 579, amending the Iowa Civil Rights Act so that cities and counties may no longer enact anti-discrimination protections broader than or different from state law. Because Iowa statute does not include gender identity, the law nullifies local ordinances in roughly 14 cities and Johnson County — including Iowa City and Des Moines — that had extended protections to transgender residents in housing, employment, and public accommodations. It also ends the requirement that larger cities maintain independent local civil-rights agencies, routing complaints to the state.

Mississippi Secretary of State Watson rolled out unverified Experian data, marking 50,000 voters inactive and blocking some from March primaries

In July 2025, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson's office distributed unverified consumer credit address data from Experian to all county election officials statewide, to be used as a new tool to identify voters who may have moved. Experian's TrueTrace product, which infers likely addresses from spending patterns, does not verify residency — a limitation Experian disclosed to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Mississippi Today's investigation found the unverified data was used to mark approximately 50,000 registered voters inactive, some of whom still resided at their registered addresses and were blocked from casting a counted ballot during the March 10, 2026 congressional primaries.

Montana AG Knudsen issued a cease-and-desist ordering Helena to rescind its sanctuary-city resolution under state grant-funding threat

On March 10, 2026, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent Helena a cease-and-desist letter declaring the city's January 26 sanctuary-city resolution a "blatant violation" of the state's 2021 ban on sanctuary jurisdictions and demanding the commission rescind or amend it within 15 days. The letter warned that continued non-compliance could trigger $10,000 fines for every five days out of compliance and the withholding of state grant funds, placing approximately $14 million in annual state and federal funding at risk. Facing that financial pressure, Helena's city commission voted 4–1 to rescind the resolution entirely at a six-hour special meeting on March 26, 2026.