Pressures on international students and more news from the states

Good evening. Tonight we look at how the Trump administration’s immigration policies are squeezing university budgets and shifting international students’ perspectives on the value of an American degree. 

Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the administration is unlawfully scrutinizing naturalized U.S. citizens and placing them at risk of voter disenfranchisement, adding to the late spate of pre-election legal fights. 

As voters in Idaho get ready to vote Tuesday on an abortion rights amendment, one woman who had to travel to another state for an abortion shares her family’s story. 

And, as most of the country prepares to “fall back” in time Sunday, the congressional battle over year-round daylight saving time appears stalled. 

Gwamaka Mahenya, who was born in Tanzania, knew attending college in the United States would mean making sacrifices. Now, as federal immigration policies narrow international students’ opportunities to work and stay in the U.S., Mahenya said those sacrifices have grown beyond what he expected, Minnesota Reformer reports. 

Tanzania is one of the 39 countries placed on the travel ban list the Trump administration announced in 2025. The travel ban paired with tighter federal rules around internships and jobs in his field after graduation have Mahenya feeling down about any future in the U.S.

His experience reflects a growing challenge for colleges across Minnesota. More than half of U.S. colleges and universities reported a decline in international student applications for the 2025-26 academic year amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. 

And the stakes extend beyond losing the perspective that international students contribute to intellectual life and culture on college campuses: International students also contribute significant tuition revenue in a time when the University of Minnesota is preparing for budget cuts that could total as much as $260 million, while the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system faces a deficit of about $30 million. 

More immigration coverage: 

In Tennessee, church-based election mobilization efforts are spreading a message that recent attacks on voting rights are unacceptable, Tennessee Lookout reports. 

At a "Souls to the Polls" event Saturday in Bordeaux, a traditionally Black North Nashville community, the Rev. Paula Smith, pastor of Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church, led an opening prayer. 

“We remember those who were beaten, threatened, jailed and even killed because they dared to believe that every person deserves a voice in shaping the future of this nation,” Smith said, invoking the memory of voting rights activists and their sacrifice 60 years ago.

That history is more pertinent this year after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Then, the state’s Republican supermajority legislature redistricted Tennessee’s only majority-Black congressional district in Memphis.

While November is an opportunity to send a message that the reversal of voting rights protections is unacceptable, pastors of historically Black congregations and other community organizers said barriers to voter awareness and education persist. 

A coalition of environmental groups is asking Louisiana's governor to address the risks of orphan wells, citing a new report detailing thousands of abandoned drilling sites throughout the state, Louisiana Illuminator reports. 

The groups sent a letter to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry this week asking if he would meet with them to discuss his vision for tackling what they see as a looming threat to the state’s vulnerable coastal areas and the ecosystems they host. 

Across the state, there are more than 6,300 orphan wells, which must be permanently plugged and managed by the state, and more than 22,000 inactive wells, which oil and gas companies continue to pay nominal fees for annually and could sit dormant for decades.

New Mexico: Legendary civil rights activist and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, a native New Mexican, died Wednesday at age 96, drawing tributes across the state for her lifetime of advocacy. 

Idaho: The federal government sued the state, seeking to block it from curtailing water use at Idaho National Laboratory and from administering federal water rights.

Alaska: Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and her father, Republican former Sen. Frank Murkowski, are endorsing the election of Democratic candidate for governor Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.

Iowa: Meeting for the sole debate in one of the most competitive U.S. House races in the country, U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott responded to attacks from their opponent on issues like the Epstein files and transgender athletes and students.

Washington: The state’s campaign finance enforcers have suspended enforcement of a law limiting the amount of contributions to candidates and committees in the final days of the Nov. 3 election, amid legal concerns. 

Oklahoma: A potentially high-paying deal between Kalshi and the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town may be in jeopardy amid a yearslong internal fight over who is the legitimate tribal chief.

Florida: The Trump administration approved the state’s request for a major disaster declaration after Hurricane Isaias, though the announcement didn’t say how much federal financial assistance has been approved.

Colorado: The state is seeking $65 million from the federal government to assist with significant road repairs, following immense flooding over the weekend.

Kansas: When Children’s Mercy hospital announced it would no longer accept any Affordable Care Act plans beginning in January, it sparked despair in some parents and called attention to the state’s struggling hospital system. 

West Virginia: Republican State Treasurer Larry Pack defended the Hope Scholarship school voucher program, stating that while it may contribute “a teeny bit” to declining enrollment, demographic changes are more at play.

Rebecca Crozier, 27, of Meridian, Idaho, poses in October 2026 with mementos from her baby, Haven. (Photo by Otto Kitsinger for Stateline)

At 11 weeks pregnant, Crozier received a fatal fetal diagnosis of anencephaly. 

“She was missing a lot of brain tissue,” Crozier recalled. “They were very clear that this baby will not go home with you. You will not take this baby home. This baby will die in the hospital if the baby survives that long.”

In many states, even ones with abortion bans, Crozier would have had the option to terminate the pregnancy. But Idaho’s near-total prohibition includes no exceptions for fatal anomalies. It’s one of 11 states that do not have exceptions for anencephaly or other fatal anomalies. 

Next Tuesday, Idahoans will vote to determine whether the state’s ban should remain law. 

Idaho is the only state this election cycle with an initiative that would restore access in a state with a ban. In Missouri, voters will consider a different initiative — to reinstate a near-total ban after passing a constitutional amendment in 2024 allowing abortion access.

Read more from Stateline. 

Related coverage: 

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, civil rights groups alleged that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is unlawfully scrutinizing naturalized U.S. citizens and placing them at risk of disenfranchisement, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports. 

The lawsuit, filed in California, came as Homeland Security asked for an emergency order to restart election-related field operations in nine states after a federal judge paused them over concerns they could sweep up U.S. citizens.

The developments add to the growing legal war over the midterm elections being fought in federal courts across the country. The U.S. Department of Justice over the past two weeks has sued Alaska and California, seeking extraordinary federal intervention in their elections, and signs suggest the legal campaign might expand, the Bureau reports. 

During a hearing in the California case on Tuesday, a federal judge rebuked a DOJ lawyer who suggested state election officials could be prosecuted if they count ballots cast by noncitizen voters, the Bureau reports. 

Related coverage: 

A half-dozen states enacted laws this year changing voting rules for people with felony convictions, including when their rights can be restored and how they can register to vote — affecting voters in next week’s elections, Stateline reports. 

A couple other states advanced measures that will affect such voters in future elections. And Virginia voters will decide on Tuesday whether to approve a measure advanced by the legislature to automatically restore such rights.

Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports. 

President Donald Trump wants year-round daylight saving time. The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly in July for the change. Lots of Democrats and Republicans are behind the idea.

Yet, any momentum has stalled. The legislation can’t get out of the U.S. Senate, and it looks unlikely there’ll be much progress anytime soon.

Senators are due to return to Washington from a lengthy recess on Nov. 9, and a push for year-round daylight saving time is expected. But it faces strong opposition from senators in rural areas and those who represent states where children could be walking to school in darkness for most of the winter.