Tag Archives: immigrant

Tampa Free Press: Border Czar Tom Homan Vows Deportation Of Abrego Garcia Despite Judge’s Order

Posted on by
Reply

Homan Pledges to Remove Alleged Gang Member with ‘Significant Public Safety Threat’

Border Czar Tom Homan has vowed to deport Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant with a documented criminal past, despite a U.S. District Judge’s recent order to keep him in the country.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Homan called Abrego Garcia a “significant public safety threat,” citing his alleged status as a gang member, a “designated terrorist,” and his past indictment for human trafficking and alien smuggling.

Homan’s statement comes after an Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge, Paula Xinis, temporarily halted the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda. Judge Xinis ordered that he remain in the U.S. until an evidentiary hearing could be held.

During the interview, Homan expressed confidence that Abrego Garcia would be deported, stating, “I’m giving you my word. He will be deported from this country. I got my teeth in this thing. I’m not letting it go.”

The case has been a point of contention between the Trump administration and some Democrats, including Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, who has previously advocated for Abrego Garcia.

Documents released by the Department of Justice in April showed evidence of Abrego Garcia’s alleged MS-13 ties dating back to 2019. Despite these allegations and past domestic abuse accusations from his wife, Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges.

Homan dismissed the possibility of Abrego Garcia’s asylum claim, arguing that he is “beyond the required one year” and that his case lacks the necessary evidence of persecution to qualify under asylum law.

He maintains that if the judge “rules on the law,” Abrego Garcia” is gone.”

Tom Homan is an arrogant piece of shit with no respect for due process or the law.

Border Czar Tom Homan Vows Deportation Of Abrego Garcia Despite Judge’s Order

Newsweek: Justice Department Issues Birthright Citizenship Update

Posted on by
Reply

The U.S. Department of Justice has released an update confirming that it plans to ask the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump‘s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.

The announcement was disclosed in a joint status report filed Wednesday, August 6, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Why It Matters

The Justice Department’s plan to seek a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship—entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship”—marks a critical juncture in the national debate over immigration and constitutional rights.

Signed on January 20, 2025, it directs the federal government to deny citizenship documents to children born in the U.S. to undocumented or temporary immigrant parents.

At stake is the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which has long been understood to guarantee citizenship to nearly all individuals born on U.S. soil. A ruling in favor of the order could reshape federal authority over citizenship, impact millions of U.S.-born children, and redefine the limits of executive power—making this one of the most consequential legal battles in recent memory.

What To Know

On February 6, 2025, the district court in Seattle issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of President Trump’s executive order.

The case under review, State of Washington v. Trump, was just one of several ongoing legal challenges in which lower courts have largely rejected the administration’s legal theory. District courts in Maryland (February 5), New Hampshire (February 10), and Massachusetts (February 13), have each upheld that the order conflicted with constitutional protections and halted its enforcement in their respective jurisdictions.

One of those judges, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an appointee of former President Barack Obama who sits on the federal bench in Boston, granted a nationwide preliminary injunction, affirming that the constitutional guarantee of citizenship applies broadly, and finding the policy to be, “unconstitutional and contrary to a federal statute.”

The government appealed the ruling and sought partial stays from the district court, the Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court denied a partial stay, the Ninth Circuit requested further briefing and, on July 23, upheld the injunction.

The new update came in a joint status report filed August 6, 2025, in which the DOJ stated that Solicitor General D. John Sauer intends to file a petition “expeditiously” for certiorari—a legal term that refers to the process by which a higher court (most commonly the U.S. Supreme Court), agrees to review a lower court’s decision—in order to place the case before the Court during its next term, which begins in October.

This means the Justice Department has now formally indicated it will seek a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of President Trump’s executive order; though it has not yet chosen which specific case—or combination of ongoing cases—it will use as the basis for its appeal.

The parties plan to update the court further once those appellate steps are finalized.

Fourteenth Amendment At Stake

Since the adoption of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 9, 1868, the citizenship of persons born in the United States has been controlled by its Citizenship Clause, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Courts have consistently upheld this principle for more than a century, most notably in the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

However, the Trump administration argues that the amendment should not apply to children of parents who lack permanent legal status, a position that has been repeatedly rejected by lower courts.

What People Are Saying

President Trump, during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, December 8, 2024, said: “Do you know if somebody sets a foot—just a foot, one foot, you don’t need two—on our land, ‘Congratulations you are now a citizen of the United States of America,’ … Yes, we’re going to end that, because it’s ridiculous.” Adding: “…we’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people, but we have to end it. … We’re the only country that has it, you know.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters in June 2025: “Birthright citizenship will be decided in October, in the next session by the Supreme Court.”

DOJ attorneys wrote in the filing: “In light of the Ninth Circuit’s decision, Defendants represent that the Solicitor General plans to seek certiorari expeditiously to enable the Supreme Court to settle the lawfulness of the Citizenship Order next Term.”

Jessica Levinson, constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School, said: “You can’t ‘executive order’ your way out of the Constitution. If you want to end birthright citizenship, you need to amend the Constitution, not issue an executive order.”

What Happens Next

The Justice Department must decide which case or combination of cases it will use to challenge lower court rulings and bring the birthright citizenship issue before the Supreme Court. Once it makes that decision, the DOJ will file a petition for certiorari.

The Court is not required to accept every petition, but because this involves a major constitutional question, it is likely to grant review. If that happens, the Court could hear arguments in 2026 and issue a ruling by June of that year.

For now, the Justice Department and attorneys representing plaintiff states—including Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon—have agreed to submit another update once the appellate process is clarified or if further proceedings in the district court are required. Until then, the order remains unenforceable, lower court rulings blocking Trump’s executive order remain in effect, and current birthright citizenship protections continue to apply.

What part of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment is so hard to understand? Only a Totally Retarded Dumb-Assed Idiot (TRDAI) could miss the meaning of it:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Unfortunately there seems to be no shortage of TRDAIs in the Trump regime. 🙁

Justice Department Issues Birthright Citizenship Update
Fight over Trump’s order to deny birthright citizenship heads toward Supreme Court, with 14th Amendment protections at stake

https://www.newsweek.com/justice-department-issues-birthright-citizenship-update-2110176

Raw Story: ‘Please disregard!’ ICE kills lucrative bonuses within hours of reporters asking questions

Posted on by
Reply

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, announced this week that it was offering “cash bonuses” to help meet President Donald Trump’s quotas for deportation targets.

However, The New York Times reported Tuesday that once they started asking questions, the announcement was quickly withdrawn.

ICE announced Tuesday morning it would implement a 30-day pilot program, offering agents a bonus for deporting individuals more quickly. The agreement would pay $200 for each immigrant that a law enforcement officer can deport within seven days of being arrested. They’ll get $100 if they get the migrant out in two weeks, the memo said.

According to the memo, agents are encouraged to “maximize” their bonuses by “using a fast-track process known as expedited removal, which allows immigrants without legal status to be deported without court proceedings.”

It comes at a time when ICE is facing problems in the courts because they are alleging crimes but not allowing the accused the due process allotted to them in the courts.

It took less than four hours for ICE to kill the program.

“PLEASE DISREGARD,” said a follow-up email from Liana J. Castano, an official in ICE’s field operations division, the Times reported.

When the Times requested a comment from the national Department of Homeland Security, the spokesperson said that the program isn’t in effect. The email canceling it was sent out not long after.

The Times said the idea only draws attention to the struggle for the administration to meet aggressive targets. Already, the agency has offered $50,000 signing bonuses as it tries to hire another 10,000 agents.

Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he would only deport criminals, but the administration has done the opposite, arresting people off the street who look like immigrants. The CATO Institute revealed that one in five of those arrested has no criminal history.

In July, a lower court blocked ICE agents from racially profiling the people it was arresting. Last week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift a temporary restraining order that blocks immigration officers from targeting a person based on their job or the language they’re speaking.

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-cash-bonus

Tampa Free Press: Colorado Judge Rebukes AG [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi, Sides With Immigrant Family Over Paperwork Rule 

Posted on by
Reply

Appeals Court Vacates Immigration Ruling, Finds Agency Erred on Signature Requirement

In a decision concerning immigration procedures, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Colorado has vacated a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The court’s ruling, filed on Tuesday, in the case of Cortez v. United States Attorney General Pam [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi, determined that the BIA was incorrect to reject an appeal from a Salvadoran mother and son based on a technicality regarding a signature.

Ana Sofia Cortez and her minor son, M.Y.A.C., who are natives of El Salvador, had their initial application for relief from removal denied by an immigration judge.

Their attorney subsequently filed an appeal with the BIA using the Electronic Courts and Appeals System (ECAS). The BIA, however, rejected the filing, stating that the proof-of-service section on the form was not signed.

The court’s opinion, authored by Judge Hartz, found that the BIA’s requirement for a signature on this section constituted a legal error.

The court highlighted the instructions on the BIA’s own form, which stated that a signature for the proof of service was required “if applicable.” Since the attorney filed electronically through ECAS, the system automatically served the opposing party, making a separate service and, therefore, a signature on that section, unnecessary.

The government, represented by the Office of Immigration Litigation, had argued that the petitioners’ challenge to the rejection was untimely. However, the Tenth Circuit chose not to consider this argument, noting that the BIA had not relied on that specific ground in its decision.

“The BIA’s rejection of Petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was predicated on an error of law and must be set aside,” the court stated in its opinion.

As a result, the court has vacated and remanded the case back to the BIA for further proceedings. This decision allows the petitioners a renewed opportunity to have the merits of their appeal considered. The ruling underscores the importance of agencies adhering to the clear language of their own procedural instructions and forms.

Colorado Judge Rebukes AG Bondi, Sides With Immigrant Family Over Paperwork Rule
Appeals Court Vacates Immigration Ruling, Finds Agency Erred on Signature Requirement In a decision concerning immigration procedures, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Colorado has vacated a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The court’s ruling, filed on Tuesday, in the case of Cortez v. United States Attor…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/colorado-judge-rebukes-ag-bondi-sides-with-immigrant-family-over-paperwork-rule/ar-AA1JXQk8

NBC News: Immigration raid fears trigger Latino student absences, as experts warn of consequences

Posted on by
Reply

Chronic absenteeism affects children’s health and outcomes, as well as classmates and school resources, experts say, as some districts try to stem families’ fears of going to school.

As the new school year approaches, the typical worries of getting supplies and organizing schedules are compounded for families of mixed immigration status: wondering whether or not to send their children to class due to fears of an immigration raid at the school.

“I’ve heard so many people ask what to do, whether to take them or not, because of all these fears,” Oreana, a mother of four children enrolled in schools in Phoenix, Arizona, told Noticias Telemundo.

The fact that places like churches and schools are no longer considered “sensitive” spaces from immigration enforcement actions “causes a lot of fear,” the Venezuelan woman said.

Up until late January, when President Donald Trump took office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s operations had been restricted in churches, schools and hospitals.

The Trump administration has defended its decision to allow immigration raids in formerly sensitive locations, such as schools. “ICE does not typically conduct immigration enforcement activities at schools or school buses,” the agency told NBC News in March, adding that an immigration action near a school would be from a “case-by-case determination.”

But fear of possible immigration raids in schools isn’t just coming from parents. This past weekend, the Los Angeles Teachers Union held a protest to demand that the district do more to protect students from immigrant families.

Last semester, uneasiness following immigration raids resulted in more students missing school, according to Thomas S. Dee, a specialist in the School of Education at Stanford University.

Dee published an analysis in June whose results indicate that “recent raids coincided with a 22 percent increase in daily student absences” in California’s Central Valley, an agricultural area that’s home to many immigrant farmworkers.

The school absences were especially notable among preschool and elementary students, he noted, an age when parents are more likely to take them to school.

“We saw, when the raids began, a sharp increase in student absences that was very distinctive from the typical patterns we’d see across the school year,” Dee said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo, “and in particular relative to those baselines that we’d seen in prior years.”

What the numbers show

Beyond California, states like Washington state and Illinois have seen similar situations in some school districts.

In the suburbs of Seattle, the impact is notorious in the Highline district, which operates nearly 30 schools. There, data shows that chronic absenteeism — missing more than 10% of a class period — rose to 48% for the school year that ended in July, reversing gains the district had made over the previous two years in reducing K-12 absentee rates.

In Chicago, high school educators also reported 20% lower attendance compared to the previous year.

But Hispanic K-12 students were already likely to accumulate more absences before Trump’s second term. Some factors include going to work at an earlier age to support the family, health-related reasons or having to care for a family member during school hours.

In Illinois, Hispanic students had the second-highest chronic absenteeism rate throughout 2024, at 33%, compared to 26% across all demographic groups, according to data from the State Board of Education. Noticias Telemundo contacted the board and Illinois districts to obtain updated data through June 2025, but didn’t receive a response.

The current situation adds to disruptions to schooling that have been taking place since the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in widespread academic delays.

“We’re in an environment where we’ve seen historic losses in student achievement, sustained increases in chronic absenteeism, as well as a notable increase in the mental health challenges that youth are facing,” Dee said. “And so I see these immigration raids as only adding to the already considerable challenges of academic recovery that schools are currently facing.”

Fewer resources, more anxiety

Being absent several times during a school year has a considerable impact on a student’s education.

“Such extensive absences lead not only to poor academic performance; they often lead to students dropping out of school. And the impact of dropping out of high school is profound,” the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) stated via email.

The association highlighted that earnings for those who don’t graduate from high school are considerably lower than for those who do.

The impact, experts have said, goes beyond the classroom.

“Attending school regularly is one of the most powerful predictors of long term health, well-being and success,” Josh Sharfstein of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, said at a conference in mid-June.

This is because absences can affect children’s emotional and intellectual development, as well as their education. For example, they can trigger anxiety disorders that further harm children’s well-being and further encourage school absences.

Several associations have launched a campaign calling for school absences to be considered a public health problem.

“When multiple students in a classroom are chronically absent, the churn in the classroom affects everyone, even peers who had good attendance. It makes it harder for teachers to teach and set classroom norms, as well as for students to connect with each other,” said Hedy Chang, executive director of the Attendance Works group, which is leading a campaign launched in June.

Chronic absenteeism due to fears of immigration raids can have a knock-on economic effect, according to Dee.

“This also has financial implications for school districts,” he said. California is one of a handful of states that bases aid, in part, on average daily attendance, according to Dee, so when fewer kids show, that means fewer resources.

“I would expect that to have pejorative economic consequences for these communities as well as for the financial viability of the school districts serving them,” Dee said.

In many districts, repeated offenses related to absenteeism can also lead to youth being sent to truancy court. There, penalties can range from paying fines to serving time in juvenile detention.

Latino, Black and Indigenous youth in the U.S. are already more frequently referred to truancy court than non-Hispanic white students, in part because the former demographic groups’ absences are more likely to be recorded as “unjustified or unexcused,” research shows.

Preventive strategies

In response to long-standing concerns about truancy, there are strategies to combat absenteeism.

“There are many steps districts, schools, families and community partners can take to improve attendance,” said Chang, of Attendance Works.

At a Connecticut school where attendance fell early in the year due to fears of immigration raids, truancy was successfully curbed toward the end of the semester with measures such as directly contacting families and developing contingency plans.

These strategies include reaching out to community leaders, such as local church figures or food bank workers, who have contact with certain families to help encourage them to continue sending their children to school.

Another strategy that school principals belonging to NASSP say has helped is maintaining close contact with students — for example, calling their families’ homes to check on them.

Experts hope that these kinds of measures can help address the issue of absences in students of mixed immigration status who are afraid of potential immigration raids.

“In some districts, we’ve heard from students who can’t attend classes regularly right now for reasons like fear of raids, and they’ve been offered virtual learning,” Dee said. “I think educators need to be more aware of the challenges their students are currently facing due to these issues.”

For now, with protests like the one the teachers’ union held in Los Angeles, additional options are being explored, such as a districtwide campaign to educate parents about the importance of sharing an emergency contact with school administrators in case a parent is deported while the child is at school.

In the Highline school district in Washington state, communications manager Tove Tupper said in an email they’re “committed to protecting the rights and dignity of all students, families, and staff” and ensure all students “have a right to a public education, as protected by law,” regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

Immigration raid fears trigger Latino student absences as experts warn of consequences
Chronic absenteeism affects children’s health and outcomes, as well as classmates and school resources, experts say, as some districts try to stem families’ fears of going to school.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/fear-immigration-raids-latino-student-absences-school-ice-rcna223093

San Francisco Chronicle: ICE is holding people in its S.F. office for days. Advocates say there are no beds, private toilets

Posted on by
Reply

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials handcuffed Jorge Willy Valera Chuquillanqui as he walked out of his court hearing in San Francisco recently and placed him in an eighth-floor cell at a downtown field office with no bed. He spent the next four days there with six other detainees before being sent to Fresno and eventually to a larger facility in Arizona.

“It was hell,” the 47-year-old Peruvian man said. His meals were granola bars and bean-and-cheese burritos, and at one point had to be transferred to a hospital after he started feeling pain related to a stroke he suffered a year ago.

“I’ve never experienced something like this, not even in my own country,” Valera said.

As President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts ramp up and immigration authorities strive to meet an arrest quota of 3,000 people per day, detention centers continue to fill up, leading to overcrowding in some cases. As of July 27, just under 57,000 people were being held at detention centers compared to just under 40,000 people in January, according to TRAC Immigration, a data gathering nonprofit organization. 

Immigration attorneys say that as a result, they’ve seen an increase in ICE holding people at its 25 field offices across the country for extended periods of time – raising concerns that the facilities are ill-equipped for people to sleep in, and lack medical care for those who need it and privacy to use the bathroom. 

The situation has prompted legal action from immigration advocates across the country. In the Bay Area, lawyers have raised concerns about the conditions of the offices as holding centers and are looking into taking legal action. 

Until recently, ICE limited detentions in field offices such as that at 630 Sansome St. to 12 hours “absent exceptional circumstances,” but increased that to 72 hours earlier this year after Trump ordered mass deportations.  

ICE said in a statement to the Chronicle that there are occasions where detainees might need to stay at the San Francisco field office “longer than anticipated,” but that these instances are rare. 

“All detainees in ICE custody are provided ample food, regular access to phones, legal representation, as well as medical care,” the agency said. “The ICE field office in San Francisco is intended to hold aliens while they are going through the intake process. Afterwards, they are moved to a longer-term detention facility.” 

ICE did not respond to questions about what kind of medical staff the agency has at its San Francisco facility, its only field office in the Bay Area. The second nearest field office is in Sacramento. Other field offices in the state are located in Los Angeles, San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

In a memorandum filed in court in June, ICE said that the agency increased its detention limit at field offices to 72 hours to meet the demands of increased enforcement. ICE stated that increased enforcement efforts have strained the agency’s efforts to find and coordinate transfers to available beds, and that it is no longer permitted to release people. 

“To accommodate appropriately housing the increased number of detainees while ensuring their safety and security and avoid violation of holding facility standards and requirements, this waiver allows for aliens to be housed in a holding facility for up to, but not exceeding, 72 hours, absent exceptional circumstances,” the memorandum states. 

After the passage of Trump’s policy legislation, ICE’s annual budget increased from $8 billion to about $28 billion – allowing the agency to hire more enforcement officers and double its detention space. While there are no detention centers in the Bay Area, ICE is poised to convert a 2,560-bed facility in California City (Kern County) into a holding facility. Immigrant advocates are worried that FCI Dublin, a former women’s prison that closed after a sexual abuse scandal, could be used as a detention center, but a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons told the Chronicle there are no plans to reopen the prison. 

Meanwhile, some immigrant advocacy groups are starting to take action against ICE for using its field offices as holding facilities. 

In Baltimore, an immigrant advocacy group filed a federal class action lawsuit in May on behalf of two women who were held at ICE’s field offices in “cage-like” holding cells for multiple days. A judge denied the group’s request for a temporary restraining order, but attorneys said they intend to try again. 

“They have no beds, a lot of them have no showers, they are not equipped to provide medical care or really provide food because it’s not designed to be a long-term facility,” said Amelia Dagen, a senior attorney at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that filed the​​ lawsuit. 

“We have heard this is not exclusive to Baltimore and is happening quite a bit in other field offices. This is an ongoing issue unfortunately because with arrest quotas being what they are… everyone is a priority,” Dagen added. 

Jordan Wells, a senior staff attorney at Lawyer’s Committee For Civil Rights in San Francisco, said he and other attorneys are examining the Maryland case. Wells has filed habeas petitions on behalf of two people who were initially held at Sansome Street. A judge ordered the temporary release of one of his clients and a court hearing is scheduled for later this month for the second person, who has since been transported to a detention center in Bakersfield.

A separate class action lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security to stop raids in Los Angeles said that ICE is holding people in a short-term processing center in the city and a basement for days – describing the conditions of the “dungeon-like facilities” as “deplorable and unconstitutional.” A judge granted the temporary restraining order last week. 

Immigrant advocates have criticized ICE for detaining more people than they have room for, saying that their strategy is devastating communities. 

“If there is bed space ICE will fill it, and that means more terror for local communities,” said Jessica Yamane Moraga, an immigration attorney at Pangea Legal Services, which provides services to immigrants. 

It remains unclear exactly how many people have been held at ICE’s San Francisco field office. 

Moraga said she saw six people held at the San Francisco ICE field office for at least three days. She represented a 27-year-old Colombian woman from San Jose who was detained at the office for nearly four days. 

When ICE arrests people in the Bay Area, they typically are taken to the San Francisco field office for processing and then transferred to a detention center, usually in Southern California. However, as beds fill up, many people are starting to be transferred to centers out of state. 

Earlier this year, ICE started detaining people leaving their court hearings. Moraga said that when people are detained on Thursday or Friday by ICE at 630 Sansome St., which has three courtrooms and a processing center, authorities are sometimes unable to find a long-term detention facility to transport people to until after the weekend. 

“ICE is deciding to use the blunt instrument of detention to turn away people who have lawful claims,” Moraga said.

Lawyers, legal advocates and migrants reported substandard conditions at ICE’s field offices.

Three days after  Valera, the Peruvian migrant, was detained, Ujwala Murthy, a law student and summer intern at nonprofit Pangea Legal Services, visited him at the ICE field office.  

As she was preparing to leave, she heard a loud pounding. She said she saw multiple women, apparently in detention, banging on the glass window of a door behind the front desk. A security guard came. One of the women reported that somebody was overheating. That day, it was hotter inside the field office than outdoors, she said.

Security personnel unlocked the door and Murthy said she saw a woman in a white track suit step out flushed and sweating, looking distressed. The woman was given a bottle of water and led out of Murthy’s sight.

“It made me upset,” she said. “It was very dehumanizing.”

At Valera’s asylum hearing before he was unexpectedly detained on July 25, an ICE attorney had tried to dismiss his case, part of a new Trump tactic to speed up deportations. The judge declined and continued the case to October to give Valera time to respond. But minutes after exiting the courtroom, ICE officers seized him. 

In his cell at the ICE field office, he started feeling pain in the left half of his body that was paralyzed from a stroke a year ago, according to a habeas petition his attorney filed. He said he urged ICE to get him medical care and was eventually transported to San Francisco General Hospital, but returned to custody at the field office a day later. 

 Valera, who crossed the border in December 2022 after fleeing his home in Peru where he received death threats from an organized criminal group, was eventually transported to Fresno and then Arizona to be held in detention. He was released last month after a judge granted him a temporary restraining order.

“I’m going to ask my lawyer to help me go to therapy,” he said, “because I am traumatized.” 

ICE is holding people in its S.F. office for days. Advocates say there are no beds, private toilets
Immigration attorneys say they’ve seen an increase in ICE holding people at its 25 field offices for extended periods of time, raising concerns that the facilities are ill-equipped.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-is-holding-people-in-its-s-f-office-for-days-advocates-say-there-are-no-beds-private-toilets/ar-AA1K9wQ1

San Francisco Chronicle: San Jose Spotlight: Ice Fears Keep San Jose Students Away From School

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a rocky year for San Jose students due to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policy.

Students have dropped out of summer and afterschool enrichment programs, opting to stay home in fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining their family and friends, according to people working in San Jose school districts.

In January, schools across Santa Clara County experienced an average drop in attendance of 5,000 students, and the number doubled to 10,000 in February, according to Santa Clara County Office of Education Trustee Jorge Pacheco Jr. It’s unclear if attendance remained down or if it picked back up in the following months, as he said he doesn’t have data after February.

“This fear has been causing significant trauma that has been preventing children from learning and reaching their socio-emotional and academic milestones,” Pacheco Jr. told San Jose Spotlight.

Pacheco Jr. represents Area 4, which includes a majority portion of San Jose Unified School District, a portion of Oak Grove School District and a portion of East Side Union High School District.

The county has one of the highest concentrations of immigrant families in California, where about 60% of students have at least one immigrant parent, or more than 165,000 people. The impact of ICE activity on students has been far-reaching, Pacheco said.

“We all know that when students miss 10% or more of school, they are less likely to be at grade level, graduate from high school or even attend college,” he said.

One youth mentorship program, ConXion to Community, has seen a 30% drop in student participation this summer. The nonprofit serves marginalized communities by providing tutoring, leadership development and enrichment opportunities.

Mabel Aburto, director of youth programs for the nonprofit, said she fears students who are already struggling with school will fall further behind. They operate in three schools: Overfelt and Yerba Buena high schools and Bridges Academy.

“Since January, we noticed the decline in grades, the decline in focusing,” Aburto told San Jose Spotlight. “They are not focusing on how to achieve their potential. They are focusing on surviving.”

During President Donald Trump’s previous term in office, attendance in the programs dipped slightly at first, but students came back. This time, Aburto said the number of students choosing to skip school enrichment programs is unprecedented. A group of six students pulled out of one of the group’s summer programs after ICE detained their friend’s parents.

Program mentors have pivoted to educating the youth on what they can do when they hear about or encounter ICE and helping them create a safety plan in case someone in their family is detained. Even though mentors have assured students they’re in a safe place and no strangers are allowed to enter the building, Aburto said their hands are tied — there’s only so much they can do to comfort students outside the classroom.

“At this point, there is no way that we can guarantee the youths’ safety,” she said. “There is not much that I think any organization right now can do.”

Not all school districts have experienced a drop in attendance, though fear and stress of families being deported has been palpable throughout.

East Side Union High School District Trustee J. Manuel Herrera said regular school attendance has not been affected significantly by ICE agents. During the 2024-25 school year, an average of more than 92% of the district’s 20,000 students enrolled were present each day, a slight increase from last year.

“The impact goes beyond school attendance,” Herrera told San Jose Spotlight. “The impact has manifested itself in students and families feeling stressed, fearful and worried.”

In response to the deportations, the county has set up training for school workers on how to respond to immigration enforcement agents and organized legal clinics at Alum Rock Union School District, Mount Pleasant Elementary School District and Santa Clara Unified School District. Pacheco Jr. said anyone who wants more information about the legal clinics can contact John Sweeney, senior legislative and policy analyst with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, at jsweeney@sccoe.org.

San Jose Spotlight: Ice Fears Keep San Jose Students Away From School

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/san-jose-spotlight-ice-fears-keep-san-jose-20807558.php

Explicame: 7 Million Immigrant Taxpayers Could Be Investigated Over Shared IRS Data

Posted on by
Reply

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has initiated a controversial data-sharing program with immigration authorities, targeting up to 7 million immigrants. This move is part of a broader deportation effort under the Trump administration, following an agreement between the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agreement allows the DHS to access taxpayer information to locate immigrants facing deportation orders or federal criminal investigations.

In April, the IRS and DHS signed an agreement to share taxpayer data, marking a significant shift in policy. The IRS, which traditionally maintains strict confidentiality of taxpayer information, is now providing personal details such as names, addresses, and tax data. This initiative aims to assist the DHS in confirming the locations of individuals with final deportation orders or under federal criminal investigation.

Impact on IRS and Its Employees

The decision to share data has caused internal turmoil within the IRS. Employees were reportedly shocked by the DHS’s request to access data on 7 million immigrants. Concerns over the legality of this collaboration have led to the resignation or imminent departure of several high-ranking IRS officials. The controversy also coincides with the removal of Billy Long as IRS commissioner, further highlighting the agency’s internal challenges.

Despite the DHS’s request for information on 1.23 million individuals, the IRS shared data on less than 5% of those requested. The lack of exact matches between ICE’s data and IRS records limited the amount of information shared. This outcome has reportedly displeased the White House, which expected a more substantial data exchange to support its immigration enforcement efforts.

The data-sharing agreement raises significant legal and ethical questions. While IRS data is generally confidential, exceptions exist for law enforcement investigations. However, it remains unclear if the DHS has provided sufficient evidence to justify accessing IRS data for non-tax-related investigations. Immigration advocates argue that this agreement breaches the IRS’s duty to protect taxpayer information and sets a concerning precedent for future data sharing.

Many immigrants register with the IRS and pay taxes to demonstrate their compliance with U.S. laws, hoping it will aid their immigration cases. The new data-sharing initiative undermines this trust, potentially deterring immigrants from fulfilling their tax obligations. The fear of deportation may discourage immigrants from engaging with the IRS, impacting tax revenue and complicating immigration cases.

7 Million Immigrant Taxpayers Could Be Investigated Over Shared IRS Data
The IRS has begun sharing confidential taxpayer data with immigration authorities, targeting 7 million immigrants in a controversial move under the Trump administration.

https://www.explica.me/en/news/7-Million-Immigrant-Taxpayers-Could-Be-Investigated-Over-Shared-IRS-Data-20250809-0001.html

Raw Story: ‘Oversized kennel’: Alligator Alcatraz worker blows the whistle on ‘inhumane’ conditions

Posted on by
Reply

An Alligator Alcatraz worker is blowing the whistle on “inhumane” conditions at the notorious immigrant detention facility in South Florida after working there for less than a month.

Speaking to NBC6, Lindsey, a corrections officer, said that she only wanted to give her first name out of fear of retribution against her or her family.

She confirmed she arrived at the facility on July 6 and was there for about a week before she caught COVID and was forced to isolate.

Lindsey’s comments come just 24 hours after Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) announced that they “identified 510 credible reports of human rights abuse” against immigration detainees.

In response to questions about the report, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, said in an email to NBC, “Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false.”

DHS bragged on X that they are hard at work attacking “fake news” and announced that they “have the backs of the brave men and women of @ICEgov, who risk their lives every day protecting our homeland.”

But Lindsey said that her experience was different.

“When I got there, it was overwhelming,” she told NBC6. “I thought it would get better. But it just never did.”

She said that she knew going into it that the team would be living in a trailer, but the report described the conditions as “harsh” for the corrections officers as well as the detainees.

“We had to use the porta-johns. We didn’t have hot water half the time. Our bathrooms were backed up,” she said.

“The bathrooms are backed up because you got so many people using them,” she added.

Her story confirms the account from detainees and their family members that DHS has also denied.

When it comes to where the detainees are held, Lindsey called it “an oversized kennel.”

The large cages hold 35 to 38 inmates. There are about eight cages per tent.

“They have no sunlight. There’s no clock in there. They don’t even know what time of the day it is. They have no access to showers. They shower every other day or every four days,” Lindsey continued.

There were reports of flooding at the facility on the day that President Donald Trump toured the tents. Lindsey said that it has continued and each time it rains water floods into the tents.

Lindsey noted that despite Trump’s promise only to deport criminals, there are a number of people there who are not criminals.

“These people are still human. They pulled them from their livelihood. They’re scared. They don’t speak our language,” she said.

When Lindsey got COVID, the facility accused her of trying to falsify medical paperwork, and she was fired. She denies their accusations.

“I was fired. And yeah, I’m pissed off. But more so than ever, like they’re doing wrong,” she said.

Detainees complained last month that there was a lack of food, and when they were provided something to eat, there were worms in it, the Associated Press reported in July. That report also cited the overflowing sewage, which was discounted by spokesperson Stephanie Hartman of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

“The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,” she claimed.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump want to see the facility as the model for others.

‘Oversized kennel’: Alligator Alcatraz worker blows the whistle on ‘inhumane’ conditions

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-detention-center-whistleblower

Raw Story: DOJ scrambling away from Stephen Miller’s comments on mass immigrant arrests: report

Posted on by
Reply

Department of Justice attorneys are attempting to put some distance between themselves and demands from Donald Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller for ICE agents to come up with 3,000 immigrant arrests per day.

In May, Miller told Fox News personality Sean Hannity, “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day and President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every day,”

According to a report from Politico’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, DOJ attorney Yaakov Roth was put on the spot over that number and told a judge the number came from “anonymous reports in the newspapers.”

The report notes that there is a growing “gulf” between what the White House wants and what DOJ can defend before skeptical judges who have serious questions about the sweeps that have all the appearances of racial profiling.

Politico is reporting, “The existence of the target has created particular complications in the case challenging the immigration sweeps in Los Angeles. The administration is fighting an order that a federal judge issued last month prohibiting ICE from conducting ‘roving’ immigration arrests based on broad criteria such as presence at a home improvement store or car wash.”

The report notes that, on Monday, Roth battled with judges but did concede, “… that such a quota, if it existed, could support claims that some arrests did not meet the legal standard.”

“In this instance, the chasm may be undermining the DOJ’s already strained credibility with judges,” Politico is reporting.

DOJ scrambling away from Stephen Miller’s comments on mass immigrant arrests: report

https://www.rawstory.com/stephen-miller-2673853490