On September 3, 2008, a Farmers Branch municipal ordinance prohibiting illegal immigrants from renting property was challenged in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The plaintiffs argued it is unconstitutional because it violated the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution by regulating immigration and denying immigrants equal protection and due process rights. The lawsuit was successful, resulting in a permanent injunction against the law issued in March 2010. The city of Fremont, Nebraska passed a nearly identical housing scheme in July 2010, resulting in ongoing litigation.

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On September 3, 2009, the US Department of the Treasury lifted travel restrictions and restrictions on money transfers between Cuban-Americans and their families in Cuba. The department also authorized US telecommunications companies work within Cuba to facilitate communication between families split between the two countries. The changes did not lift the general economic embargo that has been in place against Cuba since 1962. Travel restrictions to Cuba remained in effect for Americans of non-Cuban descent, and Americans continued to be barred from sending gifts to high-ranking Cuban politicians.