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USA Today: The Trump administration is telling immigrants ‘Carry your papers.’ Here’s what to know.
Papers, please!
Amid the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration, the nation’s immigration service is warning immigrants to carry their green card or visa at all times.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted the reminder July 23 on social media: “Always carry your alien registration documentation. Not having these when stopped by federal law enforcement can lead to a misdemeanor and fines.”
Here’s what immigrants – and American citizens – need to know.
‘Carry your papers’ law isn’t new
The law requiring lawful immigrants and foreign visitors to carry their immigration documents has been on the books for decades, dating to the 1950s.
The Immigration and Nationality Act states: “Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him.”
But the law had rarely been imposed before the Trump administration announced earlier this year that it would strictly enforce it.
The “carry your papers” portion fell out of use for cultural and historical reasons, said Michelle Lapointe, legal director of the nonprofit American Immigration Council.
In contrast to the Soviet bloc at the time the requirement was written, “We have never been a country where you have to produce evidence of citizenship on demand from law enforcement.”
In a “Know Your Rights” presentation, the ACLU cautions immigrants over age 18 to follow the law and “carry your papers with you at all times.”
“If you don’t have them,” the ACLU says, “tell the officer that you want to remain silent, or that you want to consult a lawyer before answering any questions.”
A ‘precious’ document at risk
Many immigrants preferred to hold their green card or visa in safe-keeping, because, like a passport, they are expensive and difficult to obtain.
Historically, it was “a little risky for people to carry these precious documents such as green card, because there is a hefty fee to replace it and they are at risk of not having proof of status – a precarious position to be in,” Lapointe said.
But as immigration enforcement has ramped up, the risks of not carrying legal documents have grown.
Failure to comply with the law can result in a $100 fine, or imprisonment of up to 30 days.
Immigration enforcement and ‘racial profiling’
U.S. citizens aren’t required to carry documents that prove their citizenship.
But in an environment of increasing immigration enforcement, Fernando Garcia, executive director of the nonprofit Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, Texas, said he worries about U.S. citizens being targeted.
“With massive raids and mass deportation, this takes a new dimension,” he said. “How rapidly are we transitioning into a ‘show me your papers’ state?”
“The problem is there are a lot of people – Mexicans, or Central Americans – who are U.S. citizens who don’t have to carry anything, but they have the burden of proof based on racial profiling,” he said. “There are examples of U.S. citizens being arrested already, based on their appearance and their race.”
American citizens targeted by ICE
The Trump administration’s widening immigration crackdown has already netted American citizens.
In July, 18-year-old Kenny Laynez, an American citizen, was detained for six hours by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents. He was later released.
Federal agents also detained a California man, Angel Pina, despite his U.S. citizenship in July. He was later released.
Elzon Limus, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from Long Island, New York, decried his arrest by ICE agents in June, after he was released. In a video of the arrest, immigration agents demand Limus show ID, with one explaining he “looks like somebody we are looking for.”
In updated guidance, attorneys at the firm of Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, which has offices in Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles, advise U.S. who are concerned about being stopped and questioned “to carry a U.S. passport card or a copy of their U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship.”
“Papers, please!” is so un-American. 🙁
Harpar’s Bazaar: What Should Artists Do When Alligator Alcatraz Moves Next Door?
The Florida Everglades are home to a diverse community of artists. The Trump administration targeted this area to build a controversial ICE detention center, and residents are fighting back.
On June 14, Dakota Osceola was wrapping up the day, selling her bead art and necklaces at a festival in Miami, when she heard the news from a friend.
A new immigrant detention facility, to be named Alligator Alcatraz, would be built on a 10,500-foot-long old airport strip inside the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Florida Everglades.
“How is this happening right now?” she thought.
Home of the indigenous Miccosukee and Seminole people, the Everglades are the largest wetland ecosystem in the United States and the land where Osceola’s family grew up. This territory is considered a sacred place to tribe members and a national wildlife treasure to Floridians. But in less than 10 days, a portion of the Everglades was seized by the state and paved over to make room for a new prison built to hold up to 3,000 immigrants, a move supported by the Trump administration as a means to detain undocumented people.
On June 28, in the scorching heat, Osceola decided to go voice her opposition to this detention camp. Grassroots organizations such as Friends of the Everglades and Unidos Immokalee voiced environmental and human-rights concerns. Alongside independent activists, artists from the South Florida community joined with their protest art and signs to defend the home that has inspired them and that they love.
Outside the gates of the detention facility, and in the center of the Everglades, hundreds of Floridians gathered, chanting and holding up signs. Miccosukee tribal elder and environmental activist Betty Osceola, with Love the Everglades Movement, used her megaphone to address the crowd and keep people safe. Demonstrators lined up on the narrow road, north of the Tamiami Trail, as dozens of trucks with machinery entered the old Dade-Collier Airport, where the facility was being built. In the weeks since, different organizations have continued to arrange protests and gatherings weekly in front of these gates. There have been peaceful prayer vigils with no signs allowed, a protest asking to shut down the Everglades concentration camp, and family members of detainees gathered along with grassroots human-rights organizations, and a Catholic archbishop is waiting to see if he can hold a mass at the gates.
Outside the gates of the detention facility, and in the center of the Everglades, hundreds of Floridians gathered, chanting and holding up signs. Miccosukee tribal elder and environmental activist Betty Osceola, with Love the Everglades Movement, used her megaphone to address the crowd and keep people safe. Demonstrators lined up on the narrow road, north of the Tamiami Trail, as dozens of trucks with machinery entered the old Dade-Collier Airport, where the facility was being built. In the weeks since, different organizations have continued to arrange protests and gatherings weekly in front of these gates. There have been peaceful prayer vigils with no signs allowed, a protest asking to shut down the Everglades concentration camp, and family members of detainees gathered along with grassroots human-rights organizations, and a Catholic archbishop is waiting to see if he can hold a mass at the gates.
A member of the Seminole tribe, Osceola was aware of how hard the tribes fought in the 1970s to stop the construction of the old airport due to the environmental damage it would cause to the fragile ecosystem of the Glades. That battle was won when the construction came to a halt due to growing opposition from environmentalist groups. But now, into that abandoned air strip, the construction trucks started coming in, creating more and more traffic inside the Big Cypress National Preserve. Then, a sign with the words “Alligator Alcatraz” went up overnight, sparking sinister national jokes, memes, and merch about the alligators eating anyone who tries to escape this jail.
Protesters had different reasons to voice their opposition to the detention center: It would harm a fragile ecosystem and is not environmentally sound; it is an inappropriate use of FEMA funds; conditions there are inhumane. When Florida lawmakers visited the facility on a limited tour, they described 32 people per cage in the sweltering heat, exposed to bug infestations and fed meager meals, with prisoners crying for help and even one person pleading, “I’m a U.S. citizen!”
An important point ignored in national coverage is that the construction involves a seizure by the state of Miami-Dade-owned land under the guise of an emergency. The Miccosukee tribe joined other environmental groups, such as Love the Everglades, in suing federal and state agencies for failing to conduct an environmental review, as required by federal law, before initiating the project. Meanwhile, the ACLU is suing the Trump administration because of a lack of access to counsel at the detention center.
“I see my relatives, my family, in those cages. They came here undocumented, overstayed their visas, and eventually became citizens,” says Aubrey Brown, a Florida-based storyteller and artist who contributed to the protest sign art. Brown, who shares stories about Florida’s history with her 40,000 followers on social media, couldn’t stay silent and decided to speak up against the detention center, risking backlash. “I’ve always tried to stress that history and politics are inextricably intertwined,” she adds. Challenging the false narrative used by the president to make others believe there is nothing but fierce alligators and swamps in the Everglades, Brown argues, “People must understand that the Everglades is not a wasteland; this is people’s home. The Glades are wild, sacred, and free. It’s where the Seminoles went to hide from being captured, and it is where I go when I want to get away from everything.”
Acting as if no people exist in the Everglades, the federal government decided to seize land belonging to Miami-Dade County, completely ignoring the sovereignty of tribal nations at Big Cypress and that both their ceremonial and ancestral burial grounds stand near the facility.
“When it comes to my Seminole and Miccosukee friends, people treat them like they are not here anymore and are a relic of history,” Brown adds.
Once considered a swing state, Florida is now ground zero for the MAGA base supporting cruel anti-immigration policies. Built undercover, this facility was estimated to cost taxpayers $450 million a year. However, according to a review of purchases, the state has already spent $250 million on it in less than one month.
President Trump said that the facility would cage “some of the most vicious people on the planet” to be deported. Yet, a report released by the Miami Herald debunked this narrative, showing that hundreds of the detainees have no criminal charges.
Kidnapped without a warrant, stripped of their civil rights, and placed into a black hole where attorneys cannot reach their clients, only a third of detainees have a criminal conviction. But the public cannot see the nature of the sentence they received. ICE has so far offered the press only top-level statistics, which do not show whether a sentence is for a traffic violation or a murder attempt. Not only do the reports withhold details about the alleged offenses of each detainee, but ICE has not made public the records specifying how it targets the people it takes to detention centers, especially those without criminal charges. In response, The Guardian has decided to sue the Trump administration for withholding public documents from the press, which are a matter of clear public interest right now.
Maria Theresa Barbist, a Miami-based artist and psychologist who explores trauma, memory, and collective healing in her works, attended and made signs for the protest. “I am from Austria, and we have a dark history there. We have done this before. We have put people in concentration camps, and we know how this story ends. It’s our responsibility as descendants of Nazis never to let that happen again,” she says.
“The Nazis did not start with Auschwitz; they started with driving people out of their homes and putting them into camps. It was not just Jewish people, it was immigrants too,” she adds.
“This is not the first concentration camp being placed; they are just getting warmed up. Project 2025 is going to extend for at least the next four years,” says Eddie Aroyo, an artist who explores themes of power structures and attended the protest. “This is about absolute conquest,” he adds, referring to a conservative white nationalist agenda that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity.
Democratic Florida representative Maxwell Frost visited the detention center on July 13 and shared on social media, “I didn’t see any Europeans who overstayed their visa. I saw nothing but Latino men and Haitian men. They are targeting specific types of people. And it’s the type of people that look like me.”
A few miles away from the detention camp, artist and native Floridian Sterling Rook, who attended the protest, is currently completing an artist residency in the Everglades National Park. Hosted by AIRIE (Artists in Residence in Everglades), this program allows artists to explore work related to the environment. The first day he entered the residency was also the day the first buses carrying migrants arrived in the Everglades. “It’s beautiful out here, but now I think about this every day, how 30 miles away from here there are people in tents in a terrible situation,” he says. “I’m not necessarily a political artist, but you become political just by the nature of your situation,” he adds. Rook used his residency time to work on a Glades skiff boat, which is known for navigating the marshy waters of the Everglades.
“As a performance, I would love to ride it out into ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ maybe leave it there as a symbol of rescue and escape. But I also struggle with self-censorship,” he says.
This self-censorship comes from a place of very real fear about political persecution of artists who speak up. “There are genuine and considerable threats when speaking out against any of these violent governmental policies, especially in Florida,” says Johann C. Muñoz-Tapasco, an artist and organizer affiliated with the local collective Artists for Artists Miami (A4A: MIA). “Numerous artists have chosen to disengage from sought-after exhibition platforms and institutions altogether. Others have lost their jobs and clients. Many more have self-censored as a form of self-preservation.”
Federal and state funding cuts to the arts, combined with the elimination of National Endowment for the Arts grants and Florida’s political climate, have led many artists, organizations, and institutions that depend on this funding to limit freedom of expression, fearing retaliation or even more economic cuts. AIRIE did not respond to my request for a statement on its stance on this issue. The majority of Florida’s art institutions and organizations have remained silent.
A4A: MIA is currently discussing collaborative projects and planning actions against this detention facility, but it recognizes that American artists have been woefully unprepared to respond to the rise of fascism. “Since the postwar era, the ways artists validate their work and fund their practices have been tied to the tastes and whims of those in power,” misael soto, a Miami-based artist, educator, and organizer affiliated with this organization, stated. “Now those at the top whom we’ve been dependent on, on whichever side of the political spectrum, are mostly kneeling to fascism. Artists have to come to terms with how they sustain their practices and how this is intrinsically tied to their art.”
Mae’anna Osceola-Hart, a photographer and member of the Panther Clan and the Seminole tribe, participated in organizing the protest and lives within walking distance of the detention camp. Her grandfather was one of the tribe members who fought the development of the Dade-Collier Airport. These days, the traffic on the Big Cypress reserve is becoming increasingly dangerous, and she describes seeing the wildlife already being displaced. “The deer and bears now walk on the side of the road,” she says.
“My heart sinks, seeing how this concentration camp is affecting the land that protected us indigenous people since time immemorial, the environmental impacts it’s already causing, along with how it’s already harming human beings and their rights. Just yesterday, I saw three cars coming in with people wanting to take a photo in front of the [Alligator Alcatraz] sign, treating it like a roadside attraction,” she says.
“It feels like a fever dream.”
What Should Artists Do When Alligator Alcatraz Moves Next Door?
The Florida Everglades are home to a diverse community of artists. The Trump administration targeted this area to build a controversial ICE detention center, and residents are fighting back.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a65488687/artists-fight-alligator-alcatraz
ACLU Alaska: ICE detainee held at Anchorage jail in June is hospitalized with tuberculosis
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee held during June at an Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) facility has been hospitalized in Tacoma, Washington, with tuberculosis. The 35 individuals held at Anchorage Correctional Complex (ACC) were informed by ICE upon their return to Tacoma on June 30th that they were exposed to tuberculosis while detained in Alaska.
Tuberculosis is a serious and highly contagious disease that mainly affects the lungs. Alaska has the highest rate of tuberculosis in the country.
The hospitalization was uncovered by the detainee’s attorney, Sean Quirk, whose client missed two scheduled video appointments from the Tacoma ICE detention facility. Quirk was only able to confirm that his client was ill with tuberculosis after calling Tacoma-area hospitals and eventually locating his client. However, an officer from the GEO Group, the private prison company that runs the Tacoma facility, denied him access to speak with his client. The client is still hospitalized and being treated for tuberculosis.
ACLU of Alaska attorneys were also informed by two ICE detainees during their detention at ACC that they had tested positive for latent tuberculosis and had undergone additional tuberculosis testing.
“Whether a detainee is in custody at a prison or at a hospital, it is unacceptable and unconstitutional to deny them access to legal counsel,” said Cindy Woods, Senior Immigration Law and Policy Fellow at the ACLU of Alaska.
Questions remain whether consistent medical screenings were conducted when detainees arrived at ACC on June 8; if correctional officers or other staff at ACC have been tested for the disease; and if proper reporting to the Alaska Department of Health has been completed. In Alaska, cases of tuberculosis are required to be reported to the State of Alaska Health Department within two days.
During the state legislative hearing on June 20th, ACLU of Alaska and volunteer attorneys testified that detainees had documented chronic medical issues and were being denied access to care while held at ACC. During the hearing, DOC Commissioner Jennifer Winkleman confirmed that pepper spray was deployed in areas where detainees were being held, causing ongoing respiratory distress for detainees.
This information comes on the heels of a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Alaska against DOC in May for failing to provide adequate health care for incarcerated Alaskans. It is unclear if other individuals at ACC have been exposed to or tested for tuberculosis.
Newsweek: Trump admin shares meme of ICE alligators outside Florida prison
The Trump regime’s Carnival of Cruelty continues!
The Department of Homeland Security has shared an apparently AI-generated meme depicting alligators as ICE agents outside of a Florida detention center.
“Alligator Alcatraz” is a new migrant detention center being developed on a remote airstrip in the Everglades. The facility aims to house up to 5,000 detainees and uses the area’s natural isolation and wildlife as part of its security measures.
“Coming soon!” DHS said in a post on X.
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The remote facility is expected to cost Florida approximately $450 million annually to operate. The proposal comes as President Donald Trump‘s administration looks to conduct what it describes as the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.
Critics say that the center’s remote location and rapid deployment raise ethical and legal questions about the treatment of migrants, transparency, and due process. Supporters say the project is a cost-efficient step to handle increased immigration enforcement.
The image shared by DHS shows alligators wearing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) baseball caps outside the fences of the detention center.
The meme and plans have sparked outrage from critics over inhumane conditions and concerns from environmental groups.
“A horrendous lack of humanity,” Georgetown lecturer Brett Bruen, who served as director of global engagement during the Obama administration, said in a post on X.
Former CIA officer Christopher Burgess described the post as “Disgusting.”
Trump admin shares meme of ICE alligators outside Florida prison
The image depicted the security of “Alligator Alcatraz,” which has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-meme-ice-alligator-alcatraz-florida-2092148
Charlotte Observer: ACLU Wins Major Legal Decision on Immigration Law
Florida’s latest immigration law requires undocumented adults to report to federal authorities before entering the state, allowing for their arrest and prosecution. Despite a federal judge’s injunction against enforcing this law, some arrests have still happened, including one involving a U.S. citizen.
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Despite U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ temporary injunction, some unlawful arrests have taken place, including one of a U.S. citizen.
Williams stated, “There is no such basis.” She added, “Why aren’t these people being released immediately?”
Williams said, “I’m astounded and don’t understand this argument.” She added, “That’s concerning that they don’t work in concert with state officials. When I issued the temporary restraining order, it never occurred to me that police officers would not be bound by it.”
Williams added, “It never occurred to me that the state attorneys would not give direction to law enforcement so that we would not have these unfortunate arrests.”
James Uthmeier, the Attorney General of Florida, said his office must comply with the order but also claimed he cannot stop law enforcement agencies from enforcing the law independently.
ACLU Wins Major Legal Decision on Immigration Law
Florida’s latest immigration law requires undocumented adults to report to federal authorities before entering the state, allowing for their arrest and prosecution. Despite a federal judge’s injunction against enforcing this law, some arrests have still happened, including one involving a U.S. citizen. Tensions have risen as state officials clash over enforcing the policies. Despite U.S.Continue reading “ACLU Wins Major Legal Decision on…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/aclu-wins-major-legal-decision-on-immigration-law/ar-AA1GVlWP
Slingshot News: ‘I Think That’s Outrageous’: Senator Gary Peters Hammers Kristi Noem Over $100k Per Day Spending On Guantanamo Bay Prisoners
Senator Gary Peters recent exposed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for spending over $100k per day per prisoner on housing migrants at Guantanamo Bay.
Alternet: Split Supreme Court deals a massive blow to right-wing movement — but ‘the fight isn’t over’
Public education and First Amendment advocates on Thursday celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to allow the nation’s first religious public charter school in Oklahoma—even though the outcome of this case doesn’t rule out the possibility of another attempt to establish such an institution.
“Requiring states to allow religious public schools would dismantle religious freedom and public education as we know it,” Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the ACLU, said in a statement about the 4-4 decison. “Today, a core American constitutional value remains in place: Public schools must remain secular and welcome all students, regardless of faith.”
Unfortunately a 4-4 decision doesn’t mean that it’s over, only that the lower court decision under appeal will be allowed to stand, for now at least.
ACLU: ICE Deports 3 U.S. Citizen Children Held Incommunicado Prior to the Deportation
Families disappeared and isolated without legal access; one child with cancer deported without medication and pregnant mother deported as well
Today, in the early hours of the morning, the New Orleans Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Office deported at least two families, including two mothers and their minor children – three of whom are U.S. citizen children aged 2, 4, and 7. One of the mothers is currently pregnant. The families, who had lived in the United States for years and had deep ties to their communities, were deported from the U.S. under deeply troubling circumstances that raise serious due process concerns.
ICE detained the first family on Tuesday, April 22, and the second family on Thursday, April 24. In both cases, ICE held the families incommunicado, refusing or failing to respond to multiple attempts by attorneys and family members to contact them. In one instance, a mother was granted less than one minute on the phone before the call was abruptly terminated when her spouse tried to provide legal counsel’s phone number.
As a result, the families were completely isolated during critical moments when decisions were being made about the welfare of their minor children. This included decisions with serious implications for the health, safety, and legal rights of the children involved–without any opportunity to coordinate with caretakers or consult with legal representatives.
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Both families have possible immigration relief, but because ICE denied them access to their attorneys, legal counsel was unable to assist and advise them in time. With one family, government attorneys had assured legal counsel that a legal call would be arranged within 24-48 hours, as well as a call with a family member. Instead, just after close of business and after courts closed for the day, ICE suddenly reversed course and informed counsel that the family would be deported at 6am the next morning–before the court reopened.
ICE Deports 3 U.S. Citizen Children Held Incommunicado Prior to the Deportation | American Civil Liberties Union
Families disappeared and isolated without legal access; one child with cancer deported without medication and pregnant mother deported as well
Rolling Stone: Trump Attacks the Supreme Court, Says America ‘Cannot Give Everyone a Trial’
Due process is an option in King Donald’s world, and the King apparently gets to choose your option:
Donald Trump slammed the Supreme Court on Monday after the justices temporarily blocked him from deporting Venezuelan immigrants, while asserting that America “cannot give everyone a trial” – a bedrock constitutional right.
