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News Nation: Man in ICE custody 6 months was a ‘collateral arrest,’ lawyer says

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  • More than 56,000 migrants are in ICE detention
  • 47% of ICE detainees are being held on immigration-related offenses 
  • Trump administration officials have cited sanctuary cities as part of the problem

A man who’s lived in suburban Chicago for 30 years and owns a tree-cutting business has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for nearly six months, despite his lawyer stating he has no criminal record.   

Abel Orozco, 47, was arrested by ICE in late January as he was driving back to his home from picking up tamales for his family. Orosco, who, according to his attorney, the government has conceded has no criminal record, was apprehended by federal officers, who were searching for Orozco’s oldest son, also an immigrant with an order for removal, who shares the same name. 

Orozco arrived in the U.S. in the late 1990s under a petition that gave him the right to work and live legally in the United States. He was given an order of removal in 2004 after going to visit his father, who suffered a stroke in Mexico. 

His lawyer, Mark Fleming, says his client is part of a collection of undocumented migrants considered “collateral arrests” facing deportation under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. 

ICE did not have a warrant at the time of the encounter, Fleming said. Orozco is in ICE custody in Kentucky, where he now faces expedited deportation. 

When asked for comment surrounding the details of Orozco’s January arrest, an ICE spokesperson told NewsNation that ICE arrested Orozco, “an illegally present resident of Mexico,” on Jan. 26. “He is in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.”

Orozco’s family has since missed months of mortgage payments despite Orozco’s younger son, Eduardo, doing his best to keep his father’s business afloat, while his wife fights breast cancer, Fleming told NewsNation.   

Orozco’s situation has migrant advocates concerned about how ICE is carrying out its business. 

“(ICE) has made a conscious choice to destroy this family even though they have other options,” said Fleming, who works with the National Immigrant Justice Center. “What our position to the government has been is, ‘Look, you have the right to seek removal for him, but you have choices as to how you do that.’” 

“And they’ve chosen the most aggressive and the one that strips him of the most due process possible.” 

Abel Orozco part of class action lawsuit against ICE 

Orozco is one of 25 plaintiffs who are part of a class-action lawsuit against ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and federal officials. The suit claims ICE violated a 2022 Castañon Nava settlement that expired in May, which prevents the agency from making arrests without a prior warrant or proof that a person represents a flight risk. 

ICE has declined to comment on the suit. 

Fleming insists ICE officials have refused to acknowledge they took the wrong person into custody despite the elder Orozco providing officers with his driver’s license when he was asked. 

After being pulled out of his vehicle, Orozco was handcuffed for more than an hour, his attorney said.  

Before officers drove away with Orozco in custody, Fleming said that ICE officers were on the family’s property without a warrant.  Ex-National Guard member convicted of conspiring to smuggle migrants 

“What’s so troubling is the permissiveness that they believe they have to do immigration enforcement in a way that you really don’t see other law enforcement do,” Fleming said.  

How many non-criminals is ICE holding? 

Of the more than 56,000 migrants being detained by ICE, 28% have criminal convictions, while 24% have pending criminal charges, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. ICE data shows that 47% of detainees have “other immigration violations.” 

A Chicago Tribune analysis of data provided by the research group Deportation Data Project showed that 600 Chicago-area migrants with no known criminal background were booked by ICE in the first 150 days of the Trump administration. That number compares to just 66 in the final 150 days of the Biden administration. 

White House border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly warned that “no one is off the table” if they are in the country illegally and says that in some cases, ICE officers searching for the “worst of the worst” may be forced to take non-criminals into custody.  

He said that is especially true in sanctuary cities like Chicago, where he says policies are forcing ICE to go into communities to search for migrant criminals. 

“There’s going to be more collateral arrests in sanctuary cities because they forced us to go into the community and find the guy we’re looking for,” Homan said in a televised interview earlier this year.

Sam Olson, the enforcement and removal operations director in ICE’s Chicago field office, agreed, telling NBC News that the agency’s job is to enforce immigration laws. 

“If somebody is here illegally, whether or not they’re committed crimes, there is a possibility they could be arrested,” Olson said. 

Olson did not respond to requests for comment for this story from NewsNation. 

Why is ICE holding Abel Orozco? 

Despite the order of removal, Fleming said he had not been on ICE’s radar until now, as he continued to operate his business that employs eight people.

But after his arrest by ICE in late January, government officials sought to have his 2004 order to leave the country reinstated, stating that he is among those who broke the law by entering the U.S. illegally. 

Orozco’s relative petitioned for him before 2001, which allowed him to remain in the United States and work pending that application. Fleming said that Orozco was living in the United States when that application was submitted, but then everything changed when he went to see his ailing father back in Mexico.

Despite ICE’s stated mission and warnings, Orozco’s family does not agree they are doing their job the right way. Sinaloa cartel quickly losing territories, influence, Mexico says 

“(ICE) is arresting people who they’re not supposed to be,” Eduardo Orozco told reporters in March. “They’re stating that they’re arresting thousands and thousands of hardcore criminals. My father is not a criminal.” 

“But we’re not just fighting him anymore.  We’re fighting for everyone who was taken like this.” 

Meanwhile, Orozco’s wife, Yolanda, has pleaded for her husband’s release from federal custody, echoing her son’s sentiments. 

“Is it a crime to get up early every day and work hard to support your family? I just don’t know,” she told reporters through an interpreter. 

Orozco has an upcoming merits hearing in which he is seeking protection from being forced to return to Mexico. Fleming expects that a ruling may be coming in Orozco’s case by the end of July, after months of him and his family living in limbo.

Fleming believes that as they struggle to comprehend what is happening, Orozco’s loved ones know their journey is similar to those of other migrant families across the United States. 

“Mr. Orozco’s story really kind of highlights that this is the collateral consequences,” Fleming told NewsNation, adding, “he is someone who has embraced the United States, embraced how he can contribute to it and really just wants to be here to be here with his family.”

Man in ICE custody 6 months was a ‘collateral arrest,’ lawyer says

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/abel-orozco-ice-arrest-collateral

Inquisitr: ‘Had to Sleep on the Floor’—Honduran Woman Detained by ICE During Routine Check-In Describes ‘Inhumane’ Conditions in U.S. Custody

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There were no beds and very little food for 30 women.

A Honduran woman, Gladis Yolanda Chavez Pineda, was detained by ICE when she went in for her immigration check-in last month. She did not know that going for a normal immigration check would land her up in inhumane conditions at the Broadview processing center.

She spent 4 days in the center and then transferred to the Kentucky correctional facility. Chavez Pineda who’s also an organizer with the Organized Communities Against Deportations revealed the details about her stay. She was among the 30 women who were held there. They did not have blankets, beds, or enough food.

They did not even know what was going to happen to them next, or where they would be taken next. She was arrested on June 4 along with ten other immigrants arrested that day by ICE in the South Loop.

She noted that she got a text message that asked her to report for the immigration check-in at the Michigan Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office. This way they can monitor those with deportation status change while not taking them into custody.

The moment she arrived there, she was escorted by the ICE agents regarding her new deportation orders. Despite showing the paperwork along with her two attorneys, she was arrested. She has been living in the US for ten years now, and her case is still pending. For now, she has a temporary stay of removal by the appeals council.

She argued that if she applied for her case legally, she should not get detained. She has the work permit, social security number and pays taxes. She was detained for a month in the Grayson County Jail.

There she had to stay with twenty women, and there were just ten beds for them to share. The conditions were harsh with bright light, loud noises, and no access to medical care. They could not sleep or feel safe.

The nights she spent there, she was worried about her three kids; she never wanted them to experience this. Even when she was deported on July 13, she was in handcuffs and ankle-chained till she reached Honduras.

‘Had to Sleep on the Floor’—Honduran Woman Detained by ICE During Routine Check-In Describes ‘Inhumane’ Conditions in U.S. Custody
Gladis Yolanda Chavez Pineda was detained and arrested by ICE when she went for an immigration check-in. She was detained in inhumane conditions.

Harpar’s Bazaar: What Should Artists Do When Alligator Alcatraz Moves Next Door?

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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

Independent: Border Patrol carries out raid at Home Depot parking lot 600 miles from US-Mexico border

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Activists say that a U.S. citizen observing the operation was among those arrested

“The Border Patrol should do their jobs – at the border – instead of continuing their tirade statewide of illegal racial profiling and illegal arrests,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told Cal Matters.

While the Border Patrol can operate within 100 miles of any U.S. border, including the California coast and nearby cities, a federal judge held in April that the agency cannot conduct warrantless immigration stops throughout California’s Eastern District, which includes Sacramento.

Border agents arrested at least 11 people during a Thursday raid outside a northern California Home Depot — including a U.S. citizen who was volunteering as an observer, according to local activists.

The operation, which took place in the Sacramento area, nearly 600 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, is the latest show of force from the Border Patrol in the state, which joined a full-cavalry raid in a Los Angeles park earlier this month.

“There is no such thing as a sanctuary city,” Border Patrol El Centro sector chief Gregory Bovino said Thursday in a video filmed in front of the state capitol building, referring to jurisdictions that don’t voluntarily assist with federal immigration enforcement.

“There is no such thing as a sanctuary state,” Bovino added in the clip, which features images of masked agents arresting men, soundtracked by the Kanye West song “Power.”

At least 11 people unlawfully in the U.S. were arrested in the early-morning operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security, including an immigrant man officials said was a “serial criminal” with past charges including illegal entry, possession of marijuana for sale, and felony burglary.

Bovino, in the video, said the arrests included a man who appears to have past fentanyl trafficking charges, and an individual arrested for impeding or assaulting a federal officer

So only 2 of 11 were actually criminals, plus you illegally bagged 1 U.S. citizen. Major fail!

However, Andrea Castillo said her husband Jose Castillo is a U.S. citizen and was among those arrested.

Video shared with KCRA shows Andrea Castillo yelling at agents as a group of masked officers pile Jose into an unmarked black minivan.

“Leave him alone, he’s a U.S. citizen!” she can be heard saying.

In the footage, one of the agents threatens to mace Castillo, and later says, “Google me,” when she asks for his badge number.

During the exchange, agents say they are detaining Jose Castillo because they believe he slashed the tires on a federal vehicle.

The activist group NorCal Resist said Jose Castillo was volunteering on behalf of the organization to document the operation, but did not impede officers. The group added that he has since been released.

Local lawmakers are questioning whether the operation violated a recent court order. Assembly member Rhodesia Ransom, whose district includes nearby Stockton, has reportedly asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate if federal officers are running afoul of state and federal laws or the U.S. Constitution with the operations.

“The Border Patrol should do their jobs – at the border – instead of continuing their tirade statewide of illegal racial profiling and illegal arrests,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told Cal Matters.

While the Border Patrol can operate within 100 miles of any U.S. border, including the California coast and nearby cities, a federal judge held in April that the agency cannot conduct warrantless immigration stops throughout California’s Eastern District, which includes Sacramento.

The ruling came in response to a series of operations at the beginning of the year targeting farmworkers in Kern County, which critics said were based on little more than the men’s appearance.

“You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say, ‘Give me your papers,’” U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Thurston said in court at the time.

A separate ruling last week barred the Border Patrol from making similar raids in the district including Los Angeles, after a lawsuit accused federal agents of making indiscriminate arrests in locations like Home Depot parking lots.

When asked about the alleged arrest of a U.S. citizen and the legal criticisms, federal officials pointed to a Homeland Security press release announcing the operation, which did not mention either subject.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of much of the administration’s immigration policy, has reportedly pressed immigration officials to reach 3,000 arrests per day, including by targeting hubs for day laborers like Home Depot parking lots.

The Trump administration’s recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill” domestic spending legislation contains about $170 billion in wider immigration and border funding, which officials say will fuel a surge in domestic immigration operations.

Border Patrol raids Home Depot parking lot 600 miles from US-Mexico border
Activists say that a U.S. citizen observing the operation was among those arrested

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/border-patrol-raid-sacramento-home-depot-b2791909.html

NBC News: Abused and abandoned immigrant youth on special visas fear the future after Trump changes

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Beneficiaries of the Special Immigrant Juveniles program no longer automatically get work permits and protection against deportation while they wait for the green card process.

Rodrigo Sandoval, 17, just graduated from high school in South Carolina. He gets excited when he talks about what he’d like to do — he’s interested in business administration, graphic design or joining the Navy — but his face becomes solemn when he talks about the future.

“I’ve noticed a lot of changes, especially in the Hispanic community. We live in constant fear of being deported, arrested and all that,” said Sandoval, who came to the U.S. at age 12, fleeing El Salvador due to gang violence that threatened his and his family’s life.

One of his earliest memories is when he was 5.

“It’s one of my traumas because they put a gun to my head. All I remember is crying out of fear,” said Sandoval, who is a beneficiary of the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status classification.

The SIJS classification, created by Congress in 1990 as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, protects immigrant minors who have been victims of abuse, abandonment or neglect in their countries and gives them a path to permanent residency in the U.S. They must be under 21 or under 18 in some states, including South Carolina, where Sandoval lives.

Last month, the Trump administration ended a measure in place since 2022 that automatically issued the young immigrants work permits and protection from deportation as they waited for their green card applications, which can take years.

“Once they’re approved for special immigrant juvenile status, they’re put on a waiting list, which is currently very, very long. We typically tell clients it’ll probably take more than four or five years,” Jennifer Bade, an immigration attorney based in Boston said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.

Now after changes under the Trump administration, work permit and Social Security applications must be processed separately, complicating the process for many young people because, in many cases, granting the applications depends on visa availability.

“It’s very strange that they’re in that category because SIJS is about humanitarian protection for young immigrants. There shouldn’t be visa limits for these young people,” said Rachel Davidson, director of the End SIJS Backlog Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advises SIJS recipients and proposes solutions to tackle the backlog in their green card applications.

Verónica Tobar Thronson, a professor at Michigan State University’s School of Law, said many of these young immigrants may not be able to get work permits or renew current ones. “If they don’t have a work permit or an ID, they can’t travel, they can’t enter a federal building, they can’t apply for a Social Security number — they also don’t qualify for student loans if they enroll in college, and in some states, they can’t apply for assistance with medical or social services because they don’t qualify for anything at all.”

In information sent to Noticias Telemundo, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated that foreign nationals from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras currently make up the majority of SIJS applicants, “and collectively represent more than 70% of all SIJS applications,” although they did not specify the total number.

USCIS stated to Noticias Telemundo that while it’s not rescinding protection from deportation from those who already have it, it has the “right to rescind the grant of deferred action and revoke the related employment authorization at any time, at its discretion.”

More than 107,000 young SIJS beneficiaries from 151 countries were on the waiting list to apply for a green card as of March 2023, according to data collected by groups such as the End SIJS Backlog Coalition and Tulane Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic.

Of the approximately 280,000 SIJS applications approved in the last 12 fiscal years, “more than 139,000 have been filed or approved for adjustment of status,” according to USCIS.

The current processing time for applications for the program (the SIJ I-360 form) is less than five months, according to USCIS. However, the annual visa cap creates a bottleneck because, regardless of the speed of SIJS processing, the number of visas issued remains the same.

Both Rodrigo Sandoval and his 20-year-old sister, Alexandra, have already been approved for SIJS but are on the waiting list to apply for permanent residency. Both Alexandra’s and her brother Rodrigo’s work permits expire in 2026, and according to their lawyer, they still have three to five years to wait before adjusting their status.

Though they currently have protections under SIJS, Alexandra is still worried about what could happen. “If the police stop us and ask for our documents, it’s all over because we risk being deported.”

Hiromi Gómez, a 17-year-old student with SIJS, said it took her nine years to get to apply for a green card, “and I still haven’t received it.” She worries about more recent young immigrants who will have a harder time securing protections due to recent changes.

Khristina Siletskaya is a South Carolina-based immigration attorney who, among other things, handles cases involving SIJS beneficiaries, including the Sandoval siblings. The Ukrainian-born attorney said that despite changes in U.S. immigration policies, “all hope is not lost.”

“This new change that everyone is talking about eliminated the automatic granting of deferred action (from deportation). However, the United States continues to approve cases of special immigrant juvenile status; that continues to operate normally,” the lawyer explained.

Siletskaya and other experts emphasize that the recent changes are a return to the past, because the automatic granting of deferred action and work permits was implemented in May 2022 but did not exist before. Attorneys for young people with SIJS are exploring other legal avenues to assist them in their search for protection.

“Does this mean young people can’t get Social Security? First, you can try the Department of Social Services. Often, you may be able to get Social Security, but it will indicate that you’re not eligible for work purposes,” Siletskaya said. “So young people could at least get emergency Medicaid, but that will depend on each state.”

Regarding work permits, the attorney said there are ways to try to obtain one. The first is to apply for one separately and ask USCIS to grant it. Siletskaya said she has several cases where they’ve initiated this process, but warns that she has not yet received a response in those cases.

Another option explored by attorneys is to obtain a work permit based on parole, since a young person with SIJS is often granted parole as they work to adjust their status and obtain a green card.

Following the recent changes to SIJS, a group of 19 lawmakers led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem expressing concern about the changes. The letter said it “leaves abused and abandoned youth in legal limbo while heightening their vulnerability to exploitation.”

In the letter, the members of Congress said they had received reports “of an increase in the number of detentions and deportations of SIJS beneficiaries.”

Cortez Masto and other Democrats introduced the Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Protection Act in Congress, seeking to change visa categories for SIJS beneficiaries and prevent delays in adjusting their status, among other things. But the lack of Republican lawmakers supporting it could hamper its passage.

The bill is still in its early stages of discussion in the Senate, according to Cortez Masto’s office, and members of Congress have not yet received an official response to the letter sent to Noem.

Both Siletskaya and other attorneys consulted by Noticias Telemundo recommend that young people with SIJS avoid taking risks and remain cautious.

“Don’t get into trouble. If you don’t have a driver’s license, let your friends drive. Stay discreet, respect the law, stay out of situations where you might be exposed, and wait until you receive your green card,” she said.

Despite immigration changes and other challenges, Rodrigo Sandoval said he wanted to make the most of every minute of his work permit, which expires next year. That’s why he has two jobs: He’s a barber and also works on construction sites to help his family.

“My message to people is to keep fighting and keep dreaming big. I don’t think there are limits because we as Hispanics are fighters. And this comes from other generations,” he said, getting emotional. “The truth is, what we have to do is not give up.”

Abused and abandoned immigrant youth sue Trump administration over deportation fears
Beneficiaries of the Special Immigrant Juveniles program no longer automatically get work permits and protection against deportation while they wait for the green card process.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/abused-immigrant-youth-fear-deportation-trump-rcna219060

Western Journal: Dem Gov Who Bragged About Hiding Illegal Alien in Home Gets More Bad News: A Subpoena

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited and will be replaced next January; considering he has an approval rating somewhere between George Santos and Norovirus, my assumption is that he won’t be seeking higher office for at least a little while.

That being said, he might not be out of the news when his successor gets elected this November — all thanks to a stupid admission he made during what The New York Times charitably described as “a freewheeling discussion at a New Jersey college” back in February.

According to a Friday report in the Times, Murphy is being subpoenaed by interim U.S. attorney Alina [Bimbo #4] Habba, the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, regarding comments he made about hiding a woman who he intimated might have been an illegal immigrant in his attic.

“FBI agents have since sought to interview at least four witnesses in connection with the comments, two of the people said, with one adding that the governor had been subpoenaed but not questioned,” the paper reported.

“Two of the people with knowledge of the investigation involving Mr. Murphy’s comments indicated that it was separate from any Justice Department inquiry related to New Jersey’s so-called sanctuary policy, which has been upheld by a federal appeals court. There has been no public sign of that inquiry moving forward.”

The investigation began after remarks Murphy made at an event hosted by progressive group Blue Wave New Jersey.

“There is someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to,” Murphy said.

“And we said, ‘You know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage.’

“And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her,” he added, defiantly.

At the time, border czar Tom Homan said that Murphy’s remarks were definitely on his radar.

“I think the governor is pretty foolish,” Homan said. “I got note of it, won’t let it go. We’ll look into it.”

“And if he’s knowingly — knowingly — harboring, concealing an illegal alien, that’s a violation of Title 8, United States Code 1324. I would seek prosecution, or the secretary would seek prosecution.”

Meanwhile a representative for the governor told the New York Post that Murphy had been “misinterpreted” and that no undocumented garage-dwellers were at the governor’s house.

“No one’s ever lived in the home” in the way Murphy described, the spokesperson said, adding that the individual he was referring to was legally in the country, as well.

Well, now that he’s potentially under subpoena, we’ll see how much of that is true — although both sides are keeping tight-lipped about where this is going.

“The governor’s office declined to comment on the federal inquiry on Friday. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment,” the Times reported.

“A person close to Mr. Murphy said the governor was not aware of any pending investigation against him.”

That being said, it could inject Murphy into a gubernatorial race that the Democrats definitely don’t want him involved in. Murphy won a second term by a slimmer-than-expected margin to MAGA favorite Jack Ciattarelli, a former member of the New Jersey General Assembly who’s running for the GOP again.

The Democrats, meanwhile, went safe with moderate-ish U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a veteran and watered-down wannabe Hillary type. (No bathroom servers, though — yet.)

The poll numbers, however, have already been closer than Dems would like when you consider that they’ve been running away from Murphy and wokeness.

If both of those were to rear their ugly heads in the heat of the campaign season, it’d be a heck of a shame — one Republicans and immigration hawks would welcome, both as an opportunity and as an example of where thoughtless progressive allyship will get you.

Dem Gov Who Bragged About Hiding Illegal Alien in Home Gets More Bad News: A Subpoena
Gov. Phil Murphy is being subpoenaed by interim U.S. attorney Alina Habba for comments he made about hiding an illegal alien in his home.
Dem Gov Who Bragged About Hiding Illegal Alien in Home Gets More Bad News

Washington Post: L.A.’s protest movement shifts tactics as ICE raids continue

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Volunteers are monitoring Home Depots and coordinating know-your-rights workshops as organizers prepare for a long-term battle.

A little more than a month after mass demonstrations against federal immigration raids gripped Los Angeles, the protest movement hasn’t stopped — it’s transforming.

Its spontaneous nature has shifted into a methodical one, as activists prepare for a longer fight against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Volunteers are stationing themselves outside Home Depots to monitor for ICE activity targeting day laborers, and a citywide strike is planned for next month to protest the raids. Organizers are hosting smaller demonstrations, coordinating know-your-rights workshops and passing out pamphlets to keep community members informed. And some residents who weren’t involved before are getting involved now.

There’s strategy behind the shift. Immigration advocates and some city leaders told The Washington Post it’s crucial to continue finding ways to dissent as the Trump administration continues targeting Los Angeles County’s large immigrant community. Thousands of National Guard troops, which Trump deployed to L.A. in an unprecedented move in June, remain in the area. ICE continues to conduct operations, showing up last week at MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles and at two Southern California cannabis farms.

“We’re in this for at least three and a half more years,” Los Angeles City Council member Hugo Soto-Martínez (D) said, describing the thought process behind the anti-ICE movement. “What are the values that we’re leading with? What is the core messaging that we are trying to uplift? What are our demands?”

The White House in a statement said that it’s committed to removing people who are in the country illegally. “In LA, these were not merely ‘demonstrations,’ they were riots — and attacks on federal law enforcement will never be tolerated. The Trump Administration will continue enforcing federal immigration law no matter how upset and violent left-wing rioters get,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman.

The protests began in June after a series of immigration raids across the greater Los Angeles area. More than 100 people were arrested around that time, including outside of a Home Depot in Paramount, a city in Los Angeles County. Workers who witnessed the June 6 ICE operation said officers began handcuffing anyone they could grab as more than a hundred men and women standing in the parking lot began to run.

Protesters hit the streets that weekend, in demonstrations largely organized by activist groups and labor unions. They drew thousands of people but were not especially large by Los Angeles standards. While videos circulated showing self-driving Waymo cars set ablaze and windows smashed, and Los Angeles police reported that some people threw “concrete, bottles and other objects,” the protests were mostly peaceful according to local authorities and previous reporting by The Post. Trump repeatedly condemned participants as “insurrectionists,” “looters” and “criminals” — and ordered thousands of California National Guard troops and hundreds of active-duty Marines to the city.

During those protests and in the weeks since, Soto-Martínez, the son of two Mexican immigrants, said labor unions, nonprofits and volunteer groups have banded together to defend, educate and protect immigrant communities. Last week, Soto-Martínez said, more than 1,000 people gathered at a convention center for a two-hour training on nonviolent direct action. Residents also conduct walks around their neighborhoods to spot ICE agents, sign up for networks that quickly disseminate information about ICE sightings and deliver food to families who are afraid of leaving their homes.

Social media posts shared by the Los Angeles Tenants Union on July 3 showed volunteers tabling near the Home Depot on Sunset Boulevard, the site of an ICE raid late June. While there, residents passed out fliers with information on how to report ICE sightings.

Coral Alonso, a mariachi performer, said many residents have also turned to fundraising for those impacted by the raids or gathering to protest at La Placita Olvera, a historic plaza in Los Angeles.

Friday morning, immigration activists gathered at La Placita Olvera to announce a citywide strike on Aug. 12 to rally against the ongoing federal immigration actions.

The advocacy groups, including labor unions SEIU 721 and United Teachers Los Angeles, urged all community members to keep protesting as part of the “Summer of Resistance.”

“We are going to stop Trump’s terror campaign against our community,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “We will not stop marching. We will not stop fighting. We will continue to appeal to the hearts and minds of all Americans.”

She said the city remains under a “military siege.”

There are about 4,000 service members from the California National Guard on the ground currently in the Los Angeles area, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army said in an email to The Post. “Title 10 forces are protecting federal personnel conducting federal functions and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area,” the spokesperson said, citing the statute that allows federal deployment of the National Guard if there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion” against the government. “They can and have accompanied federal officials conducting law enforcement activities, but they do not perform law enforcement functions.”

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, representing immigration advocacy groups such as CHIRLA and five workers, on July 2 sued the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit alleged that the federal government is violating Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights by “abducting individuals en masse” and holding them in a federal building in Downtown Los Angeles “which lacks beds, showers or medical facilities,” without counsel, due process or probable cause.

ACLU attorneys delivered arguments in federal court Thursday, and the city of Los Angeles and several other Southern California cities are seeking to join the lawsuit. Jackson, the White House spokeswoman, said of the lawsuit: “Enforcement operations require careful planning and execution; skills far beyond the purview or jurisdiction of any judge.”

Some magazines and content creators that hadn’t focused on immigration issues are also taking a new approach. L.A. Taco, once a food and culture publication on the verge of shuttering, has shifted its focus to a social-media-first strategy covering ICE activity. And after attending a few protests in June, Jared Muros, a content creator with more than 250,000 followers on Instagram, moved his content away from fashion and entertainment to emphasize video journalism about the impact of ICE raids.

Muros, who grew up in Los Angeles’ Latino-populated neighborhoods, said he had concerns over how his audience would react to the transition, but ultimately was motivated to correct rhetoric he overheard that those detained in the raids were “just criminals.”

“I feel like more people have started to speak up, but it’s more so people who are affected or who have immigrant parents or know somebody who is Latino and has been profiled.” Muros said, “But more and more, I do see more people speaking up.”

L.A.’s protest movement shifts tactics as ICE raids continue
Protests in downtown Los Angeles last month against the federal immigration crackdown have faded away, but city residents are finding new ways to push back.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/07/14/los-angeles-immigration-protests-ice

LA Times: Contributor: Alligator Alcatraz, the concentration camp in Florida, is a national disgrace

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The first detainees have started arriving at Alligator Alcatraz, Florida’s immigrant detention center in the Everglades. The facility went up on a former airstrip in eight days and will have an initial capacity of 3,000 detainees. Florida’s Republican state Atty. Gen. James Uthmeier, the driving force behind the project, posted on X recently that the center “will be checking in hundreds of criminal illegal aliens tonight. Next stop: back to where they came from.”

Alligator Alcatraz — the camp’s official name — raises logistical, legal and humanitarian concerns. It appears intentionally designed to inflict suffering on detainees, and to allow Florida politicians to exploit migrant pain for political gain. Some of the first people held there have already reported inhumane conditions.

“Alligator Alcatraz” is a misnomer. Alcatraz was home to dangerous criminals, including Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. These were violent offenders who had been tried and convicted and sent to the forbidding island fortress.

In contrast, we don’t know whether detainees sent to Alligator Alcatraz will have had their day in court. We don’t know whether they will receive due process in immigration courts or be charged with a crime. We do know that the majority of people whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement is arresting have no criminal records. Remember, simply being in the U.S. without authorization is not a crime — it is a civil infraction. And the ranks of the undocumented include many people who once had lawful status, such as people who overstayed their visas and people with temporary protected status and other forms of humanitarian relief that the current administration has rescinded. Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research center, reports that 71% of immigrant detainees have no criminal record.

In Florida, ICE has arrested an evangelical pastor, a mother of a newborn and a U.S. citizen. These are the kinds of people who might end up spending time in Alligator Alcatraz. In fact, Florida state documents show that detainees there could include women, children and the elderly.

Alligator Alcatraz will place detainees in life-threatening conditions. The site consists of heavy-duty tents and mobile units, in a location known for intense humidity and sweltering heat. Tropical storms, hurricanes and floods pass through the area regularly. On a day when the president visited, there was light rain and parts of the facility flooded. This is not a safe place for the support staff who will be working there, nor is it for detainees.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has praised the “natural” security at Alligator Alcatraz as “amazing.” When asked if the idea was for detainees to get eaten by alligators if they try to escape, President Trump replied, “I guess that’s the concept.” However, escapes from immigration detention are rare. The June escape by four men from a New Jersey detention center made headlines, in part because it was such an unusual occurrence (three of the escaped detainees are back in custody). So the construction of a detention center with a “moat” of forbidding wildlife is just performative cruelty.

Consider the gleeful ways that Florida Republicans have promoted Alligator Alcatraz. The state GOP is selling branded merchandise online, such as hats and T-shirts. On his website, the attorney general is hawking his own products, including Alligator Alcatraz buttons and bumper stickers. But immigration detention is a serious matter. It should not be treated like a cheap spectacle, with souvenirs available for purchase.

Immigrant advocacy groups are rightfully alarmed by Alligator Alcatraz. They’re not the only ones: Environmental groups have protested its impact on the surrounding ecosystem, while Indigenous tribes are angry because the camp sits near lands that are sacred to them. The author of a global history of concentration camps has concluded that Alligator Alcatraz meets the criterion for such a label.

The most troubling aspect of Alligator Alcatraz is that it may be a harbinger of things to come. The budget legislation that the president signed into law on July 4 allocates $45 billion for immigration detention over the next four years. Other states may follow Florida’s example and set up detention centers in punishing locales. This will likely happen with little oversight, as the administration has closed the offices that monitored abuse and neglect in detention facilities.

Yes, Homeland Security and ICE are mandated by law to arrest people who are in the country without authorization and to detain them pending removal. That is true no matter who is president. Yet Alligator Alcatraz is a state project, outside the normal scope of federal government accountability. On Thursday, state lawmakers who sought to inspect the facility were denied entry.

In embracing Alligator Alcatraz, the administration is testing the limits of public support for the president’s immigration agenda. According to a June Quinnipiac survey, 57% of voters disapprove of the president’s handling of immigration. A more recent YouGov poll found that Alligator Alcatraz is likewise unpopular with a plurality of Americans.

Alligator Alcatraz is not a joke. It is a dehumanizing political stunt that puts immigrant detainees at genuine risk of harm or death.

Contributor: Alligator Alcatraz, the concentration camp in Florida, is a national disgrace
The camp appears designed to inflict suffering on detainees and to allow Florida politicians to exploit migrant pain for political gain.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-07-14/alligator-alcatraz-florida-immigration-detention

Real Clear Politics: Sen. Alex Padilla: If ICE Agents Don’t Have To ID Themselves, Why Wouldn’t You Think You’re Being Kidnapped?

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California Democrat Sen. Alex Padilla, in response to a question about a group arrested for planning to attack an ICE facility in Texas, told CNN this morning: “I do have concern when there are no requirements for ICE agents or other federal agents involved with the immigration enforcement actions to not even identify themselves.”

“If you’re a member of a working-class immigrant community, and you see unmarked cars roll into your community, people getting out of those cars with no identifiers that they are law enforcement, and literally not just detaining, in your mind, maybe kidnapping,” he warned.

DANA BASH, CNN: Officials are looking for a suspect who appeared to fire a gun at a federal agent during a raid. A few days before that, 10 people were arrested after opening fire outside an immigration detention facility in Texas, injuring a police officer. Authorities say it was a planned ambush.

Earlier this week, a man with a rifle in tactical gear was shot dead after firing at Texas Border Patrol, at least the facility. Are you worried that heated rhetoric around this and around the policies are actually putting law enforcement agents at risk?

SEN. ALEX PADILLA: First, let me just denounce any violence. Any violence against law enforcement is unacceptable.

Do I think heated rhetoric is part of what’s causing this response? Sadly, yes. And we have seen this administration escalate and escalate and escalate in all ways and matters, whether it’s the tactics of — with which they’re going about immigration enforcement. There’s a smarter, more effective way to do this than what they’re doing.

BASH: Well, they say that it’s the Democrats’ rhetoric, some calling ICE agents secret police, comparing them to the Gestapo.

PADILLA: Well, I wouldn’t use those words, but I do have concern when there are no requirements for ICE agents or other federal agents involved with the immigration enforcement actions to not even identify themselves.

I mean, if you’re a member of a working-class immigrant community, and you see unmarked cars roll into your community, people getting out of those cars with no identifiers that they are law enforcement, and literally not just detaining, in your mind, maybe kidnapping.

So that’s why Senator Booker and I have this bill to require that identification for ICE agents or anybody involved with immigration enforcement. It’s for the safety of the officers and agents, as well as safety for the community… and to protect against people exploiting the circumstances, impersonating ICE agents and getting involved with burglary, theft, kidnapping, sexual assault and worse.

BASH: The president, as you know, says that they wear masks to protect their own identity from people who want to go after law enforcement.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/07/13/sen_alex_padilla_if_ice_agents_dont_have_to_id_themselves_why_wouldnt_you_think_youre_being_kidnapped.html

Axios: Trump ramps up deportation spectacle with new stunts and ICE funding

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The MAGA movement is reveling in the creativity, severity and accelerating force of President Trump’s historic immigration crackdown.

Once-fringe tactics — an alligator-moated detention camp, deportations to war zones, denaturalization of immigrant citizens — are now being proudly embraced at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

  • It’s an extraordinary shift from Trump’s first term, when nationwide backlash and the appearance of cruelty forced the administration to abandon its family separation policy for unauthorized immigrants.
  • Six months into his second term — and with tens of billions of dollars in new funding soon flowing to ICE — Trump is only just beginning to scale up his mass deportation machine.

Trump on Tuesday toured a temporary ICE facility in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” where thousands of migrants will be detained in a remote, marshland environment teeming with predators.

  • MAGA influencers invited on the trip gleefully posted photos of the prison’s cages and souvenir-style “merchandise,” thrilling their followers and horrifying critics.
  • Pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer drew outrage after tweeting that “alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now” — widely interpreted as a reference to the Hispanic population of the United States.

Citing the millions of unauthorized immigrants who crossed the border under President Biden, Trump and his MAGA allies have framed the second-term crackdown as a long-overdue purge.

  • The result is an increasingly draconian set of enforcement measures designed to deter, expel and make examples out of unauthorized immigrants.
  • Some newer members of the MAGA coalition, such as podcaster Joe Rogan, have expressed deep discomfort with the targeting of non-criminal undocumented immigrants.

…

Denaturalization of U.S. citizens — once a legal backwater — is gaining traction as Trump and his MAGA allies push the envelope on nativist rhetoric.

  • The Justice Department has begun prioritizing stripping naturalized Americans of their citizenship when they’re charged with crimes and “illegally procured or misrepresented facts in the naturalization process.”
  • But some MAGA influencers are pushing to weaponize denaturalization more broadly — not just as a legal remedy for fraud, but as a tool to punish ideological opponents.

…

Trump ramps up deportation spectacle with new stunts and ICE funding
Once-fringe tactics — an alligator-moated detention camp, denaturalization of citizens — are now being embraced.

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/05/trump-migrants-alligator-alcatraz-denaturalize