Nebraska

How a centuries-old legal tool helped Nebraska immigrants leave ICE detention

Published

3 weeks ago

May 20, 2026

How a centuries-old legal tool helped Nebraska immigrants leave ICE detention

A man who fled an uprising in the Middle East decades ago, and whose son serves in the U.S. Air Force, was taken into custody during a routine immigration appointment in Des Moines, Iowa.

Another man brought to the country as a child in 1999, who now has a U.S.-born child, was arrested after a minor traffic stop in southwest Missouri.

And a man from El Salvador with no criminal record spent weeks in a Nebraska prison that had been converted to hold immigrants fighting to stay in the country.

In each of these cases, a federal judge ruled that their confinement, detailed in what’s called a habeas corpus petition, violated their rights and they were released.

As President Donald Trump’s administration dramatically expanded who was subject to mandatory detention, more than 45,000 habeas corpus cases have flooded federal courts across the country. Petitioners have alleged that their detention was illegal and asked to be returned to their families so they can continue their civil immigration cases from home. An analysis by The Marshall Project and The Midwest Newsroom found that habeas corpus filings in four Midwestern states have been overwhelmingly successful thus far.

In Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, more than 450 cases have been filed since Trump’s inauguration last year. The vast majority of people in the roughly 160 cases that had been resolved through mid-April were granted a hearing to determine if they could be let out of detention on bond, or in some cases, were released outright.

“It’s actually really remarkable,” said Suchita Mathur, an attorney with the American Immigration Council, a D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for immigrants. “I’ve never heard or seen any legal issue with this much consensus among district court judges.”

But as the Trump administration files appeals to attempt to narrow the discretion of judges in habeas corpus cases about immigration, the legal landscape is in flux.

Habeas outcomes

The legal concept of habeas corpus dates back over 800 years to the Magna Carta in England. For centuries, people in prison have used it to challenge confinement. Today, petitioners in civil immigration cases have used the legal mechanism to fight the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy. Noncitizens have argued they should be released because of prolonged detention, a lack of access to bond hearings or inhumane conditions in the facilities where they are held.

We reviewed nearly 160 case filings in the four states covered by The Midwest Newsroom, but are not naming the immigrants who filed the petitions because nearly all of them still have immigration claims pending, and many expressed a fear of retaliation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.

The Trump administration has justified its large-scale arrests and mass raids on immigrant communities in several major cities by saying it is targeting the worst of the worst, but a review of the filings in habeas corpus cases undercuts those claims. Among the people held in ICE detention in these Midwestern states were people with pending asylum cases, no criminal history and parents of U.S.-born children.

The Department of Homeland Security, for example, recently contended in court documents that a man from Spain should be subject to mandatory detention and then deportation. He filed a habeas corpus petition while he was being held in the Cass County jail south of Omaha, Nebraska, after being arrested in January during ICE’s Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis.

In 2022, under the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security had granted the man permission to stay in the U.S. because he was a minor who had suffered physical and emotional abuse by a parent.

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Nebraska

Hundreds lose power across southeast Nebraska after Thursday morning storm

Published

3 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Press Room

Hundreds lose power across southeast Nebraska after Thursday morning storm

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Hundreds of people are without power in southeast Nebraska after a severe storm passed through Thursday morning.

The Lincoln Electric System outage map showed 115 customers without power across the city at 11:36 a.m.

Norris Public Power District’s outage map also shows 45 customers affected by the storm. As of 11:36 a.m., there were nine active outages.

According to the Nebraska Public Power District outage map, 657 customers were affected by the storm. Most of the affected customers were near Plattsmouth in southeast Nebraska. As of 11:37 a.m., 27 customers remain without power.

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Nebraska

Mandatory evacuation orders for area near Crawford, Fort Robinson

Published

13 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Press Room

Mandatory evacuation orders for area near Crawford, Fort Robinson

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered near Crawford, including Fort Robinson State Park, as the South Fork Fire continues to spread in western Nebraska.

According to the City of Crawford, evacuations are currently underway for an area north of Crawford that includes the area south of Dodd Road, west of Dodd Road, and FF Street.

Fort Robinson has also been evacuated.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission said Fort Robinson State Park and Peterson Wildlife Management Area have been temporarily closed due to the fire.

The fire has burned approximately 9,000 acres and is currently 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Nebraska Game and Parks said the park and the WMA will remain closed until further notice to support firefighting operations and protect public safety.

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Nebraska

Nebraska State Runner-up and Futures Finalist Matt Brailita (2026) to Swim for Johns Hopkins

Published

23 hours ago

June 10, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska State Runner-up and Futures Finalist Matt Brailita (2026) to Swim for Johns Hopkins

Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.

Omaha, Nebraska native Matt Brailita is headed to Baltimore in the fall. He announced his commitment to Johns Hopkins University earlier this spring, writing on social media:

“I am very excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Johns Hopkins University ! I’m extremely grateful for everything my family, friends, and teammates have done to support me every step of the way. A special thanks to Coach Tom and Coach Andy for always pushing me beyond what I believed in. Also a huge thanks to Coach Scott and Coach Chris for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. GO BLUE JAYS!”

Brailita swam for Omaha’s Millard North High School under coach Andy Cunningham. He wrapped up his senior season with a pair of runner-up finishes at the 2026 NSAA Championships, earning lifetime-best times in both the 200 IM (1:50.84) and 100 breast (56.01). He also notched a PB in the 50 free (20.76) while leading off Millard North’s 200 free relay in prelims. He anchored the same relay in finals, splitting 20.01. Brailita leaves Millard North High School as a 10-time State medalist and a multiple-event team record-holder. He was 2026 Metro Conference champion in the 100 fly and as a member of 2 relays, and he was nominated for Metro Omaha World Herald Swimming Athlete Scholar.

Brailita swims year-round with Greater Omaha Aquatic Leopardsharks under coach Tom Beck. In addition to IM and breast, he excels in fly and free. In March, he competed at Columbia Sectionals, where he finaled in the 50 free (15th), 100 breast (11th), 50 fly (8th), 100 fly (10th), and swam prelims in the 50 breast (8th) and 200 IM (10th). He left the meet with new PBs in the 100 free (46.30), 50 breast (26.25), 50 fly (22.51), and 100 fly (49.86).

Last summer, Brailita hit LCM lifetime bests in the 50 breast (30.81), 100 breast (1:06.84), 200 breast (2:29.93), and 200 IM (2:11.12) at Madison Futures, making finals in the IM. He opened the 2026 long-course season with a pair of PBs (24.83 in the 50 free and 27.09 in the 50 fly) at the GOAL Sprint Cup in April.

Brailita will join the Blue Jays’ class of 2030 with Alistair Guth, Finn Nelson, Lukas Funderburk, Matthew Ko, Nicolas Aldana Huelga, Samuel Zhang, and William Thurk. His best times would have scored in the ‘A’ finals of the 200 IM, 100/200 breast, and 50/200 free, and the ‘B’ finals of the 100 free and 100 fly at the 2026 Centennial Conference Championships.

Best SCY times :

200 IM – 1:50.84
100 breast – 56.01
200 breast – 2:06.83
50 free – 20.76
50 free relay split – 20.01
100 fly – 49.86
200 free – 1:41.83
100 free – 46.30

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