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August 10, 2026

9 entries on this date.

DHS escalated deportation pursuit of noncitizens on voter rolls, including inadvertent, non-fraudulent registrants

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services intensified deportation pursuit of noncitizens found on voter rolls, The Seattle Times reported August 10, 2026, reopening closed voter-fraud cases, investigating voter-registration drives in major cities, and detaining suspected registrants at border checkpoints, even when registration was inadvertent and no ballot was cast. Washington state green-card holder Abdullah Emre Basar, registered without his knowledge after a 2014 motor-vehicle-office visit and who never voted, was denied citizenship and placed into removal proceedings in April 2026 after disclosing the registration at his USCIS interview.

ICE agent drew and pointed gun on bystander distributing immigration-lawyer cards in Virginia parking lot

An ICE agent drew and pointed a firearm at Carolina Molina, a U.S. citizen distributing immigration-lawyer business cards, in a Falls Church, Virginia-area parking lot on August 10, 2026, after she shouted at agents making an arrest nearby. DHS said Molina tried to run over officers with her car and was stopped for that reason; Molina disputes the account and says her own dashcam video contradicts it. She was not arrested and was permitted to leave the scene.

Justice Department extended executive privilege to shield Trump's private advisers from congressional oversight

On August 10, 2026, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued a 21-page opinion concluding that President Trump can extend executive-privilege protection to private advisers who are not federal employees, so long as their communications relate to official presidential decisionmaking and remain confidential. The opinion, issued in Washington, D.C. months ahead of the midterm elections, could shield outside Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn from being compelled to testify or produce communications in future congressional investigations or in an ongoing American Bar Association lawsuit seeking his records.

ICE published notice of plan to buy up to $20M in electric-shock compliance gloves via no-bid contract

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement published a notice on August 10, 2026 for a no-bid contract of up to $20 million to buy electric-shock "G.L.O.V.E." compliance gloves from Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky, with purchase targeted by March. The notice said the actual solicitation could be published as early as August 14, and the manufacturer warns against using the device on children, pregnant women, elderly or disabled people, or anyone showing only "verbal defiance."

NOAA ended federal funding and coordination for the Arctic Report Card, jeopardizing its future publication

On August 10, 2026, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration informed editors of its Arctic Report Card — a peer-reviewed annual assessment of Arctic climate change compiled with more than 100 scientists from around the world over the report's 20-year history — that it was ending federal funding and coordination support for the publication. NOAA said the underlying data it has historically contributed would remain publicly available but confirmed it would no longer provide coordinating editors or fund the report's web presence, external peer review, graphics, or public rollout, leaving the report's authors uncertain whether the 2026 edition can be produced. The move follows other Trump administration cuts to federal science, including efforts to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the termination of the National Science Board.

Guardian investigation reveals ICE force-fed Kurdish asylum seeker Gabar Choli for eight months at Texas detention center

The Guardian reported August 10, 2026 that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement force-fed Gabar Choli, a 40-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker and filmmaker, through a nasal tube roughly twice a day for about eight months at the Port Isabel detention center in Los Fresnos, Texas, after he began a hunger strike protesting detention conditions. Federal court records reviewed by the Guardian show ICE and DHS obtained and repeatedly renewed a federal court order authorizing the force-feeding over Choli's objection and without legal representation, before he was deported to Canada in January 2026. Choli said the treatment left him with lasting physical injuries and psychological harm; DHS said involuntary medical treatment is used only to prevent imminent life-threatening harm.

New Bedford, Mass. officer Emily Pacheco accused of using Flock cameras to track ex-girlfriend; judge found her a credible threat

New Bedford, Massachusetts police officer Emily Pacheco was served an abuse-prevention order on August 10, 2026, after her ex-girlfriend's sworn affidavit alleged Pacheco used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to track her, called her repeatedly from disguised numbers, and showed up unannounced at her home. Department data show Pacheco's Flock searches jumped from 18 in April, when the relationship ended, to 259 in May and 220 in June, and a judge found Pacheco poses a credible threat to the ex-girlfriend's physical safety, ordering her to surrender all firearms and suspending her license to carry -- an order extended for six months on August 13 after Pacheco testified the searches were part of a legitimate drug investigation. New Bedford police opened an internal-affairs investigation and Chief Jason Thody temporarily suspended the department's use of Flock pending a review of all past use, after The New Bedford Light asked the department about the allegations.

Three Bibb County, Ga. sheriff's deputies arrested for misusing Flock cameras to track romantic partners

Bibb County, Georgia Sheriff David Davis announced the arrest of three sheriff's deputies on August 10, 2026, after an internal audit found they had used the department's Flock license-plate-reader network to track people with whom they had personal relationships rather than for legitimate law-enforcement purposes. All three deputies were charged with violation of oath of office, stalking, and misuse of license-plate data, and have resigned.

Mauldin, S.C. officer fired for using Flock cameras 166 times to track ex-partner, falsified search logs

Separation papers Mauldin, South Carolina police officials filed with the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy — first publicly reported August 10, 2026 after records requests, since neither Hammond nor the department disclosed it voluntarily — showed that Mauldin Police Department officer Ellie Hammond was terminated August 3, 2026 after using the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system 166 times between March and July 2026 to track a former significant other's vehicle. Hammond disguised the searches by logging them as warrant checks, traffic infractions, and welfare checks rather than their real purpose.