Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Guardian: US immigration agents mistakenly detain deputy marshal in Arizona

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Immigration agents briefly detained a U.S. Marshals Service deputy last month as he was entering a federal building that houses the immigration court in Tucson, Arizona.

The Marshals Service — an agency in charge of enforcing the law in federal courts, protecting judges and apprehending fugitives — confirmed with the Arizona Daily Star on Thursday that a deputy “who fit the general description of a subject being sought by ICE was briefly detained at a federal building in Tucson after entering the lobby of the building.”

What does it take to “fit the general description”? Looks like a Mexican?

It’s unclear what the Marshals Service meant when it said the deputy “fit the general description” of a person being sought by ICE. However, President Donald Trump’s policy of aggressive mass deportation has raised concerns about racial profiling. Legal residents and U.S. citizens, including Native Americans, all have been stopped by ICE.

And prior to Trump’s current presidential term, a 2022 report from the American Civil Liberties Union shed light on racial profiling that it called “endemic” to an ICE program that allows state and local law enforcement to perform certain immigration enforcement duties.

Don’t they all look alike?

Last week, Axios reported on a meeting between two top Trump administration officials, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, where they discussed a goal of arresting 3,000 people a day.

Noah Schramm of the ACLU of Arizona told the Arizona Daily Star that while there’s little information about the incident involving the deputy, arrest quotas from the Trump administration are leading to more mistakes.

“It is not surprising that there would be these cases that the wrong person is detained,” Schramm said. “I think it reflects that they are trying to get numbers and that they are OK violating basic principles and basic procedures that are meant to protect people and make sure the wrong people don’t get picked up.”

US immigration agents mistakenly detain deputy marshal in Arizona
Deputy marshal ‘fit the general description of a subject being sought’ and was briefly detained, Marshals Service says

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/08/ice-agents-mistakenly-detain-us-marshal-arizona

Independent: Outrage after California fourth grader is detained by ICE agents during immigration hearing

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Parents and teachers in southern California are urgently asking for help to find a fourth grader who is being “held captive” by immigration authorities in Texas.

Torrance Elementary School student Martir Garcia Lara attended an immigration court appointment with his father in Houston on May 29 “when suddenly they were detained and separated from each other,” according to a message from the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

The boy and his father are reportedly in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“He’s alone and he’s not able to return home,” PTA president Jasmin King told KTLA.

“We have not received any information on why they were detained,” she said. “All we know is that Martir is just a fourth grader who’s by himself, without his dad, without a parent, and just in a place that he probably doesn’t know, so we can only imagine what he might be feeling.”

A fourth-grader! What a catch!

Homan’s bully boys must be really proud of themselves today!

Outrage after California fourth grader is detained by ICE during immigration hearing
Martir Garcia Lara was ordered into custody in Houston as federal agents target courthouses nationwide

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/california-ice-arrest-elementary-school-b2763614.html

Newsweek: ICE director responds to agents being labeled “terrorists”

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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting chief has denied heavy-handedness on the part of his agents, who he says have been forced to wear masks after being “doxed” and branded “terrorists.”

Doxing is an online attack that involves publishing someone’s personal information and details online, often with the intent to intimidate or frighten the victim.

If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the fire, fool.

Real cops don’t wear masks. They are identifiable by badge numbers or blazers with agency names & unique identifying numbers.

Only wannabe Gestapo thugs wear masks!

ICE director responds to agents being labeled “terrorists”
Acting Director Todd Lyons says teams have to wear masks for their own safety after being “doxed” and branded “terrorists.”

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-raids-immigration-masks-terrorists-safety-2080248

El País: The head of ICE defends his agents’ heavy-handed approach during raids: ‘They and their families have received death threats on social media’

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Lyons has advocated for the agents, who operate in plain clothes with their faces covered and, often, in unmarked cars. “I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” the official stated at a news conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

F*ck*ng liar! It has nothing to do with safety, everything to do with fear and intimidation. These Gestapo tactics must end! At the very least, any legitimate police officer should be identified by a badge or blazer with their agency name and a unique identifying number.

The head of ICE defends his agents’ heavy-handed approach during raids: ‘They and their families have received death threats on social media’
Todd Lyons, the head of immigration enforcement, boasts about an operation in Boston that took nearly 1,500 people into custody in May

https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-06-03/the-head-of-ice-defends-his-agents-heavy-handed-approach-during-raids-they-and-their-families-have-received-death-threats-on-social-media.html

El Paso Matters: Migrants arrested outside El Paso federal building after immigration hearings under new Trump expedited deportation strategy

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Two young men emerged from the Richard C. White Federal Building in Downtown El Paso on Thursday, laughing together as they turned left onto San Antonio Avenue. It was 1:50 p.m. and 99 degrees.

As they reached the corner of South Florence Street just a few steps away, a group of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents converged on them and grabbed Yasmir Marquez by the elbow. The two men were quickly surrounded by more federal law enforcement agents, one of whom showed Marquez a document. He turned to give his friend a hug before he was hustled into a waiting white van. Once inside, he was handcuffed.

Within three minutes, the other man stood alone on the sidewalk under the blazing sun watching in disbelief as the van drove away with his friend inside. “What the f— just happened?” asked the man, who was not arrested.

The courthouse arrests are a new tactic under the Trump administration’s efforts to scale up deportations, targeting migrants at immigration courts immediately after their court-ordered hearings. The migrants are ordered deported or have their cases dismissed and are then arrested by immigration agents as they leave the courtroom or the buildings, which allows for swift removal, the New York Times reported last week. 

The Times obtained an internal ICE memo circulated on May 20 that the news organization reported instructed government prosecutors to help deportation officers with the operation to identify people whose pending immigration court case could be dismissed. Without their case pending in court, the migrants could be subject to expedited removal that doesn’t require a hearing before a judge. 

Migrants arrested outside El Paso federal building after immigration hearings under new Trump expedited deportation strategy
DHS announced last month it was making “common sense courthouse arrests” months after President Trump lifted restrictions that had previously put courthouses, schools and churches largely off limits for immigration enforcement.
Migrants arrested outside El Paso federal building after immigration hearings under new Trump expedited deportation strategy

The Conversation: Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety

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Part of that operation includes what’s known as the federal 287(g) program. Established in 1996, it allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose work is normally carried out by federal officials, to train state and local authorities to function as federal immigration officers.

Under 287(g), for example, local police officers can interview people to determine their immigration status. They can also issue immigration detainers to jail people until agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement take custody.

…

Since Trump began his second term in January, ICE has increased 287(g) agreements from 135 in 25 states in December 2024 to 628 in 40 states as of May 28, 2025.

As a criminal justice scholar, I believe the surge of 287(g) agreements sets a dangerous precedent for local policing, where forging relationships and building the trust of immigrants is a proven and effective tactic in combating crime. In my view, the expansion of 287(g) will erode that trust and makes entire communities – not just immigrants – less safe.

Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety
History shows that building the trust of immigrants is an effective tactic in combating local crime and making entire communities safer.

https://theconversation.com/surge-of-ice-agreements-with-local-police-aim-to-increase-deportations-but-many-police-forces-have-found-they-undermine-public-safety-255937

Rolling Stone: Trump’s FEMA Denies North Carolina’s Request for Hurricane Helene Aid

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The president repeatedly bashed the Biden administration’s response to the disaster

Late in the 2024 campaign cycle, parts of western North Carolina were devastated by Hurricane Helene. Donald Trump accused former President Joe Biden of abandoning the region and mishandling the response to the crisis. The disaster in North Carolina became the jumping point for a myriad of conspiracies and attacks by Republicans against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FAMA). Trump vowed he would improve disaster responses as president. 

That was then.

This is now:

Now, four months into his administration North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has become the latest lawmaker from a disaster-ravaged state who has been forced to beg the president to provide much-needed aid. 

On Friday, Stein published a video on social media informing the public that the Trump administration had denied the state’s request for FEMA to honor a Biden-era commitment to pay for 100 percent of debris removal costs. 

I guess King Donald changed his mind.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fema-denies-north-carolina-request-hurricane-helene-aid-1235347521

Raw Story: Trump’s FEMA thumbs nose at state that backed him 3 times: ‘Gonna cost a lot’

Under President Donald Trump, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has turned down a request from a storm-ravaged state that narrowly voted for him three times.

Western North Carolina saw massive devastation last year from Hurricane Helene, which killed over 100 people and left the city of Asheville, along with a number of small communities in the Appalachian Mountains, struggling to pick up the pieces after flooding in areas that had hardly ever seen floods before. At the time, Trump supporters spread baseless conspiracy theories that the federal government was ignoring communities there, or only giving aid to Democratic areas, and Trump himself vowed to improve emergency management.

According to Rolling Stone, however, Trump’s administration is now denying an extension of a commitment to pay the full amount for a vital portion of the recovery process.

See above for the Rolling Stone article.

https://www.rawstory.com/fema-north-carolina

Latin Times: At Least a Dozen Migrants Arrested After Attending Immigration Hearings in Arizona

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A dozen people who attended a morning session of immigration hearings in Phoenix were arrested and taken away in vans after prosecutors asked to dismiss their cases.

Multiple people who attended civil immigration hearings were arrested in Phoenix outside the courtroom this week.

At least a dozen people who attended a morning session of hearings in Phoenix were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and taken away in vans after prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss their cases, AZ Mirror reported.

Isaac Ortega, a Phoenix-based immigration attorney, said one of his clients was among those arrested Tuesday morning. He recalled that the officials who took the people refused to identify themselves and wore masks. It remained unclear whether his client was taken to an immigration detention facility in Eloy or Florence, or sent to another state.

“My client has no criminal history; he entered the U.S. through the CBP program,” Ortega said. He added his client was preparing for a credible fear interview, the first hurdle as part of the asylum process when federal agents grabbed him from the court.

This is very deceitful, dishonest behavior on the part of DHS & ICE:

“There were two ICE officers inside the courtrooms who would notify the officers sitting in the hallway when a case was dismissed,” she wrote on social media. “It appears the (government attorneys) were moving to dismiss cases where people have been in the U.S. less than 2 years. By arresting them post-dismissal they will now try to put them in expedited removal proceedings and move towards deportations at lightning speed.”

And the locals weren’t particularly impressed:

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs denounced the arrests on a social media statement, saying, “we need to prioritize efforts to deport criminals and secure the border. Indiscriminately rounding up people following the rules won’t make us safer.”

In time, Karma will come around.

At Least a Dozen Migrants Arrested After Attending Immigration Hearings in Arizona
A dozen people who attended a morning session of immigration hearings in Phoenix were arrested and taken away in vans after prosecutors asked to dismiss their cases.

https://www.latintimes.com/least-dozen-migrants-arrested-after-attending-immigration-hearings-arizona-583619

Miami Herald: ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court

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Federal agents in plain clothes staked out the hallways of Miami’s downtown immigration courthouse for hours and arrested at least four unsuspecting men as they walked out of courtrooms on Wednesday.

Miami Herald reporters witnessed how Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sat in on run-of-the-mill immigration proceedings and followed the men outside the courtrooms after their hearings wrapped up.

Then, a group of about 10 other ICE agents, also in plain clothes, caught them off guard in the hallway. The agents identified themselves in Spanish before handcuffing each of the men and escorting them to a van outside.

“I am not afraid,” a Cuban man said to his wife and daughter as ICE agents arrested him.

In each case, Department of Homeland Security attorneys moved to drop the deportation cases before immigration judges. That is important because ICE cannot place someone in expedited removal proceedings — an administrative process that doesn’t require a judge and that the government uses to quickly deport people — if they have a pending case in court.

…

The reason behind Wednesday’s arrests at immigration court is unclear. The Herald does not know if the men detained have criminal records. But several immigration attorneys told the Herald they believe the arrests are being driven by a Homeland Security memo from January directing ICE agents to consider putting immigrants in expedited removal proceedings if they have been in the U.S. for less than two years. Expedited removals are deportation proceedings that are administrative and don’t require a judge.

“Take all steps necessary to review the alien’s case and consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether to apply expedited removal. This may include steps to terminate any ongoing removal proceeding,” the DHS memo says.

Lawyers had previously told the Herald the memo could lead to agents showing up at immigration court, and called it a “tool for mass deportation.”

“In my opinion, they are taking removal cases out of the docket… to put it on expedited removal, which is a lot faster,” said Antonio Ramos, an immigration attorney whose office is based in the downtown immigration court building.

Ramos urged people with pending cases to seek legal counsel and request virtual hearings to avoid unnecessary exposure at in-person court dates.

ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court
The Herald witnessed ICE agents arresting at least four men inside the immigration courthouse in downtown Miami.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article306900486.html