Resist fascism! Peacefully!
Featured
Reply
Here’s how to deal with ICE:
Featured
Latin Times: ICE Pushes Landlords for Tenant Records as Trump Admin Ramps Up Deportation Efforts
Federal immigration authorities are requesting tenant information from landlords as part of a broader enforcement strategy under President Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown.
Real estate attorney Eric Teusink, based in Atlanta and consulted by The Associated Press, said several of his clients have recently received administrative subpoenas seeking complete rental files for specific tenants.
The two-page forms, reviewed by the outlet and issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) fraud detection unit, request lease agreements, rental applications, identification documents, forwarding addresses, and information on cohabitants. These subpoenas are not signed by a judge, raising legal concerns among landlords and attorneys.
“It seemed like they were on a fishing expedition,” Teusink told the Associated Press. After consulting with immigration attorneys, he concluded that without judicial authorization, compliance is voluntary.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended the practice, saying that ICE and other immigration agencies have authority to issue administrative subpoenas and warned of potential legal penalties for noncompliance:
“We are not going to comment on law enforcement’s tactics surrounding ongoing investigations. However, it is false to say that subpoenas from ICE can simply be ignored. ICE is authorized to obtain records or testimony through specific administrative subpoena authorities. Failure to comply with an ICE-issued administrative subpoena may result in serious legal penalties. The media needs to stop spreading these lies”
Legal experts warn that landlords who respond to such requests may be violating federal housing laws. Stacy Seicshnaydre, a housing law professor at Tulane University, cautioned against what she called “overcompliance,” especially since many tenants are unaware their information may be turned over to federal authorities. “Just because a landlord gets a subpoena, doesn’t mean it’s a legitimate request,” she added.
This development comes as the Trump administration accelerates immigration enforcement efforts across multiple fronts. Earlier this week, acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons issued a directive requiring the detention of undocumented immigrants for the entirety of their removal proceedings, eliminating bond hearings in most cases. Release will be allowed only under exceptional circumstances at the discretion of ICE officers.
ICE is under internal pressure to dramatically increase arrest numbers. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan last week called for 7,000 arrests per day — more than double the already elevated goal set by top White House officials:
“We have to arrest 7,000 every single day for the remainder of this administration just to catch the ones Biden released into the nation. And for those that say 3,000 a day is too much, I want to remind them: do the math.”
No landlord in his right mind would honor such request. If it’s not signed by a judge, chuck it in the trash!!!
Compliance may result in your tenants being snatched, detained, and deported, causing not only loss of rents but perhaps also resulting in evictions of remaining family members and roommates who can’t afford the rent on their own.
There is no “win” for the landlords here.
Alternet: ‘Really corrupt’: Church accuses Trump administration of committing ‘domestic terrorism’
Delegates at the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) 35th General Synod overwhelmingly passed an emergency resolution this week, condemning the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as “domestic terrorism” and accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of “weaponizing the Constitution.”
Religious News Service reported Tuesday that the resolution targets immigration enforcement operations “carried out by ICE agents working without uniforms, wearing masks or refusing to identify themselves,” condemning these tactics as threatening and abusive.
Titled “Responding to the federal government’s attack on immigrants, migrants, and refugees,” the resolution urges the church to divest from for-profit private detention firms, specifically naming CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp.— while allowing congregations to go further if they choose, according to the report.
Presented as an emergency motion by the Rev. Clara Sims of First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque on behalf of the Southwest Conference, the move reflects the church’s urgent response to escalated immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, First Congregational UCC has opened housing and provided food and aid to immigrants arriving from the border, actions its minister says stem from the denomination’s theological commitment to protect the vulnerable.
“Our faith has always called us into spaces of risk on behalf of the vulnerable,” said Sims, “especially when people are being made vulnerable by really corrupt systems of power.”
The Southwest Conference fast-tracked the resolution after national church leaders and regional partners voiced deep concerns about human rights violations in detention facilities, per the report.
Last month, Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, released a letter addressing recent reports that ICE agents had entered Catholic churches.
As head of the sixth-largest Catholic diocese in the U.S., Bishop Rojas strongly criticized the escalation of ICE operations.
In his communication to Catholics, he highlighted that “authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God.”
He conveyed his solidarity with immigrants “who are bearing the trauma and injustice of these tactics,” and assured them that “we join you in carrying this very difficult cross.”
Associated Press: Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone
George Retes, 25, … said he was arriving at work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out…. Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch…. He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody. On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges. “They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around,” Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being “locked up for three days with no reason and no charges.”
A U.S. Army veteran who was arrested during an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm last week said Wednesday he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle and pinned down by federal agents who arrested him.
George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, said he was arriving at work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out.
“It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back,” Retes said.
The Ventura City native was detained during chaotic raids at two Southern California farms where federal authorities arrested more than 360 people, one of the largest operations since President Donald Trump took office in January. Protesters faced off against federal agents in military-style gear, and one farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.
The raids came more than a month into an extended immigration crackdown by the Trump administration across Southern California that was originally centered in Los Angeles, where local officials say the federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke on the raids at a news conference Wednesday, calling Trump a “chaos agent” who has incited violence and spread fear in communities.
“You got someone who dropped 30 feet because they were scared to death and lost their life,” he said, referring to the farmworker who died in the raids. “People are quite literally disappearing with no due process, no rights.”
Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught over his ordeal and missing his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday party Saturday.
He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody.
On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges.
“They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around,” Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being “locked up for three days with no reason and no charges.”
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Retes’ arrest but didn’t say on what charges.
“George Retes was arrested and has been released,” she said. “He has not been charged. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing his case, along with dozens of others, for potential federal charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo.”
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests without warrants in seven California counties, including Los Angeles. Immigrant advocates accused federal agents of detaining people because they looked Latino. The Justice Department appealed on Monday and asked for the order to be stayed.
The Pentagon also said Tuesday it was ending the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles. That’s roughly half the number the administration sent to the city following protests over the immigration actions. Some of those troops have been accompanying federal agents during their immigration enforcement operations.
Retes said he joined the Army at 18 and served four years, including deploying to Iraq in 2019.
“I joined the service to help better myself,” he said. “I did it because I love this (expletive) country. We are one nation and no matter what, we should be together. All this separation and stuff between everyone is just the way it shouldn’t be.”
Retes said he plans to sue for wrongful detention.
“The way they’re going about this entire deportation process is completely wrong, chasing people who are just working, especially trying to feed everyone here in the U.S.,” he said. “No one deserves to be treated the way they treat people.”
Retes was detained along with California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, also a U.S. citizen, who was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X.
The California Faculty Association said Caravello was taken away by agents who did not identify themselves nor inform him of why he was being taken into custody. Like Retes, the association said the professor was then held without being allowed to contact his family or an attorney.
Caravello was attempting to dislodge a tear gas canister that was stuck underneath someone’s wheelchair, witnesses told KABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles.
A federal judge on Monday ordered Caravello to be released on $15,000 bond. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1.
“I want everyone to know what happened. This doesn’t just affect one person,” Retes said. “It doesn’t matter if your skin is brown. It doesn’t matter if you’re white. It doesn’t matter if you’re a veteran or you serve this country. They don’t care. They’re just there to fill a quota.”
Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone
A U.S. Army veteran arrested during an immigration raid at a California marijuana farm says he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle on his way to work.
https://apnews.com/article/us-army-veteran-immigration-raid-53cb22251a01599a0c4d1a8d5650d050
Daily Mail: ‘ICE Barbie’ Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem and her ‘lover’ Corey Lewandowski are cozier than ever despite White House concerns
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski are cozier than ever, despite White House concerns about their relationship.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night that Lewandowski is now working as a ‘special government employee’ under [Bimbo #2] Noem at the Department of Homeland Security.
Lewandowski had initially wanted to serve as [Bimbo #2] Noem’s chief of staff, but President Donald Trump and his top advisers reportedly felt ‘uncomfortable’ with the optics of such a placement.
The president and Lewandowski settled on him becoming a special government employee to DHS so the pair would be more removed – at least on paper – the Journal wrote.
DailyMail.com exclusively reported in 2023 that [Bimbo #2] Noem and Lewandowski were engaged in a years-long clandestine romantic relationship that began in 2019.
Both [Bimbo #2] Noem and Lewandowski have denied the relationship to DailyMail.com and remain married to their respective partners.
At the same time, they were inseparable during Trump’s 2024 campaign, with Axios’ Alex Isenstadt writing in his book, Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, that [Bimbo #2] Noem’s relationship with Lewandowski was sullying her chances of becoming Trump’s VP.
‘Trump’s aides knew if [Bimbo #2] Noem was picked, her relationship with Lewandowski would become one hell of a distraction,’ Isenstadt wrote.
That ended up being a non-issue, after [Bimbo #2] Noem revealed in her memoir that she had shot her young dog Cricket.
That controversy was enough to keep [Bimbo #2] Noem off the presidential ticket.
After [Bimbo #2] Noem lost the veepstakes, The Journal revealed that Lewandowski played a role in helping [Bimbo #2] Noem get picked to run DHS.
It was a role viewed as central to the president’s agenda, helping [Bimbo #2] Noem shore up her immigration bonafides – which could help the former South Dakota governor if she were to launch a White House bid in 2028.
Since [Bimbo #2] Noem took over DHS, Lewandowski continued to be at her side – often the only person to accompany Noem to meetings, The Journal report said.
He’s traveled with [Bimbo #2] Noem to El Salvador, Mexico and Colombia, with some employees now referring to him as the de facto chief of staff or even the ‘shadow secretary,’ the report said.
The actual position of chief of staff remains empty.
During a tour of the tech company Palantir last month, Lewandowski pushed to fire the immigration official leading the tour because he turned his back on Noem briefly while answering a question from another member of the group, The Journal said.
Lewandowski argued it was grounds for dismissal.
Days later, that official was demoted, the newspaper’s sources said.
A spokesperson for DHS denied that the incident ever happened.
‘This is a silly claim and simply not true,’ a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The spokesperson also labeled it ‘made-up gossip by low-level leakers who aren’t in the room’ that Lewandowski and [Bimbo #2] Noem’s relationship has rankled White House officials.
The spokesperson also denied that Lewandowski played a role in the selection of [Bimbo #2] Noem for the DHS role.
‘President Trump deserves full credit for the selection of Secretary [Bimbo #2] Noem to carry out this essential mandate of securing the homeland and protecting the American people,’ the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also pushed back on concerns about Lewandowski constantly being at [Bimbo #2] Noem’s side.
‘Again, Mr. Lewandowski is a Special Government Employee who patriotically serves the Trump Administration as a volunteer. His duties naturally include going to meetings,’ the spokesperson said. ‘As the husband of a 9/11 widow, the mission of DHS and securing the homeland is of utmost importance to Mr. Lewandowski.’
As for the rumored affair?
‘This Department doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip,’ the spokesperson said.
New Republic: Ex-Trump Employee Drops Massive Bombshell About Epstein Relationship
The former head of one of Donald Trump’s casinos revealed details about what the president and Jeffrey Epstein got up to.
One of Donald Trump’s former employees is drawing a line connecting Jeffrey Epstein and the real estate mogul.
The former president and chief operating officer of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Jack O’Donnell, told CNN Wednesday that he once had to reprimand Trump for bringing a 19-year-old into the casino with the child sex trafficker in tow.
The incident occurred while O’Donnell was atop the casino, between 1987 and 1990, according to the former C-suite executive.
“He frequently came down to Atlantic City, the two of them, to attend special events,” O’Donnell told the network. “In my mind, it was his best friend, you know, from really the time I was there for four years.”
Host Erin Burnett then rolled a 2019 clip of Trump in which the 45th president denied reported ties between himself and Epstein, claiming that he only knew the New York financier “like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,” and that he was “not a fan” of Epstein’s.
But O’Donnell said that didn’t square with what he witnessed between the pair during his time running the popular casino.
“One incident that I think kind of proves their closeness and how much they hung out together—one time, a Monday morning, I came in and the commission was waiting, the inspectors were waiting in my office, and Donald and Jeffrey had come into the casino in the wee hours of Sunday morning, 1:00, 1:30 in the morning,” O’Donnell told CNN.
“You know, two buddies, they had three women with them, and the commission was waiting for me because they had determined that the women that they brought down were underaged to be in the casino,” O’Donnell continued. “And when I asked them how they knew that, by the way, one of them was the number three-ranked tennis player in the world, okay, and this guy happened to be a tennis fan, and he said, ‘Jack, I know she’s 19 years old.’”
The commission effectively gave Trump a free pass that night, deciding not to fine him or the casino for bringing someone underaged into the casino, O’Donnell recalled. But in turn, O’Donnell had to “read [Trump] the Riot Act.”
“I had to call him and say, ‘Look, they’ve given you a break this time, but if this happens again, the fine is gonna be substantial and it’s gonna be on your head,’” O’Donnell said. “And oh, by the way, it’s not gonna look good, you and this guy Epstein, coming down here with these young women.”
O’Donnell said he told Trump at the time that he shouldn’t be “hanging out with” Epstein.
O’Donnell further claimed that the two New York socialites must have been close to hop on a helicopter together to fly down to Atlantic City.
“They were pretty good buddies,” O’Donnell alleged.
Much to Trump’s chagrin, the botched rollout of the Epstein files has continued to plague his administration. A Morning Consult poll conducted earlier this month found that Trump’s popularity had tanked by six points since the Justice Department contradicted Attorney General Pam Bondi on the existence of Epstein’s so-called “client list.” And a YouGov/Economist poll conducted earlier this week found that the majority of Americans—67 percent, including 59 percent of self-identified Trump voters—believed that the Trump administration is “covering up evidence relating to the Epstein case.”
High-profile conservatives, including Elon Musk, have speculated that the administration’s continued delay in releasing the Epstein case files is due to the fact that Trump himself might be mentioned in the documents.
Daily Mail: Airline that deports ICE detainees suspends west coast operation after pro-migrant protests
An airline which has been operating deportation flights for the Trump administration has announced major closures after furious pro-migrant protests at several airports.
Texas-based budget carrier Avelo Airlines said this week that it will close down its west coast operations at Hollywood Burbank Airport as it struggles financially.
The company said it will reduce its operation at the airport to one aircraft until December 2 and then close the base which currently serves 13 routes.
Avelo said the protests and its contract with DHS did not have any effect on its decision to close the base and have not impacted its business.
‘We believe the continuation service from (Burbank) in the current operating environment will not deliver adequate financial returns in a highly competitive backdrop,’ the company said in a statement.
However, the airport has been the target of several fiery rallies by pro-migrant protesters who have hailed the closure as a response to their calls for a boycott.
They include Nancy Klein, from Hollywood, California, who organized seven protests with activist groups CA27Indivisible and East Valley Indivisible in Southern California.
‘This change in Avelo’s business operations is some evidence that being on the right side of history, while being principled and persistent, can make a difference,’ Klein said, adding that another protest is planned at Burbank Airport on July 27.
The airline signed a contract with the US Department of Homeland Security in April to transport migrants to detention centers inside and outside America.
It faced backlash from customers and employees over its partnership with the DHS.
Protests unfolded across the country from outside the Burbank Airport to their hub in New Haven, Connecticut, calling on the airline to end its partnership with the DHS and for customers to boycott the carrier.
Susan Auerback slammed Avelo for using migrant deportations ‘for their economic benefit’ during a protest at Burbank airport earlier this year.
‘We will not stand for these mass deportations and we will intervene wherever we can to stop the operation of them,’ she told ABC7 reporters at the scene on April 28.
‘Protesting an airline that has just decided that this is for their economic benefit to be part of this unjust policy is why we’re here.’
Avelo’s CEO, Andrew Levy, defended the decision at the time, adding that the airline also operated deportation flights under the Biden administration.
‘We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,’ Levy said in a statement.
‘After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come.’
Avelo said it had made several changes over the past few years to its West Coast operations but they did not produce the results necessary to continue presence there.
Commercial flights to west coast locations are no longer available to buy on the Avelo website.
The Daily Mail has contacted Avelo for clarity on when commercial listings were dropped, and more information on the DHS operations.
Boycott Avelo Airlines!
Airline that deports ICE detainees suspends west coast operation
Texas-based budget carrier Avelo Airlines said this week that it will close down its west coast operations at Hollywood Burbank Airport as it struggles financially.
Boycott Avelo Airlines!
NBC News: Abused and abandoned immigrant youth on special visas fear the future after Trump changes
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
San Fernando Valley Sun: After Multiple ICE Raids, Uncertainty Looms at the Van Nuys Home Depot
At the Van Nuys Home Depot parking lot, where hundreds of day laborers gathered daily to find work, only a fraction of them are there now. Only a few food vendors remain on the street, once lined with stands.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has unleashed his campaign promise to carry out mass deportations. Targeting Los Angeles, masked and armed federal agents without required warrants have apprehended Latinos from job sites, outside immigration courts, schools, streets, parks and places of worship.
The Van Nuys Home Depot on Balboa Boulevard has been hit more than once with federal agents rushing in, wrestling people to the ground, and arresting what laborers estimate to be about 50 people.
Despite the risk, a handful of laborers are still searching for jobs outside the home improvement store with the fear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could return.
“We’re scared because of the raids and what happened,” said a day laborer who emigrated from Honduras. “But, a lot of people are still out here looking for work because they don’t have any other options.”
In the past, they’ve felt safe as the Van Nuys Day Laborers Job Center is located in the Home Depot parking lot, which has helped to facilitate temporary work for them.
When a car pulled up, he ran over to the rolled-down window and hopped in the back seat after a quick negotiation. Several cars followed, loaded with construction tools.
During one operation, on July 8, masked Border Patrol agents arrested around a dozen laborers, as well as four United States citizens accused of impeding the federal agents.
The citizens spent two days in the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA, the area’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters, before being released from custody.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino told media outlets the four were arrested for impeding and obstructing their efforts by “using improvised spike strip devices aimed at disabling our vehicles.” The charges have yet to be confirmed.
One of the detained citizens, Northeast Valley activist Ernersto Ayala, was working as an outreach coordinator at the Van Nuys Day Laborers Center, while another of those detained, Jude Allard, was working as a volunteer. They have not yet returned to work, an employee at the center told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol on Tuesday morning.
The Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA) oversees several Day Laborers Community Job Centers, including the one located in Van Nuys. Established to help workers safely find jobs, the job centers provide legal and educational resources, as well as functioning as a public safety alternative for workers by providing shade, shelter, water and snacks to those often soliciting employment for hours in the heat.
“It’s like a community here,” said a day laborer from Mexico, who is currently experiencing homelessness. “There is a lot of work here, and resources with the center.”
He added that if ICE comes, he can run to the center for protection. Around his neck hung a whistle, provided by Immigo immigration services, which the laborers can use to quickly alert one another of ICE activity.
Immigo works with the job center to provide legal resources and education to the laborers and street vendors in the area.
“Immigo supports individuals here to become citizens so that they can legally work in this country and become new voters and new representatives of our nation,” said Julian Alexander Makara, a volunteer with the nonprofit. “The unfortunate reality is that the process that we have to become legal in this country is filled with a lot of bureaucratic jargon, and it’s very expensive.”
Several organizations, including Valley Defense, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the People’s Struggle San Fernando Valley and Immigo, have started patrolling the Van Nuys location due to the increase in federal immigration enforcement activity.
“There have been hundreds of people here receiving work and passing through the labor center as of now, it’s not a tenth of the volume that you [normally] see,” said Makara. “You can see the fear in the individual’s eyes … their due process is being taken away. There’s no habeas corpus.”
He noted that many people are staying home out of fear, but are still facing the financial burdens of rent, bills and groceries. As agents continue to operate without providing warrants, without following protocols, then, Makara said he and others will be doing what they can to be responsible citizens for their immigrant neighbors.
“We as a community really need to ensure that they have a sense of safety,” said Makara. “This isn’t a color thing. It’s not red or blue. It’s not a legal thing. It’s a human thing.”
After Multiple ICE Raids, Uncertainty Looms at the Van Nuys Home Depot – The San Fernando Valley Sun
At the Van Nuys Home Depot parking lot, where hundreds of day laborers gathered daily to find work, only a fraction of them are there now. Only a few food […]
Independent: Mom and her four American-born children detained after visiting Canadian border: ‘What authoritarianism looks like’
Jackie Merlos, her 9-year-old triplets and 7-year-old son held by border patrol for more than two weeks, family says
Merlos’ sister, a legal resident of Canada, had stepped across the boundary while saying goodbye, “which triggered this unfounded accusation,” they said.
So hugging your sister goodbye at an international border gets you 2+ weeks in detention with no charges, no attorney, and no visitors?
Four American-born siblings and their mother have been held inside a border patrol facility for more than two weeks after her arrest by federal law enforcement agents near the U.S.-Canada border.
Kenia Jackeline Merlos, her nine-year-old triplets and seven-year-old son, were visiting her sister at Peace Arch State Park in Washington state on June 28 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents took them into custody.
Merlos’ mother, who joined the family on the trip, was also detained, but it remains unclear where she is being held.
The Department of Homeland Security accused Merlos of “attempting to smuggle illegal aliens” into the country, according to a statement. Merlos had requested that her children stay with her during her detention, the agency said.
Merlos’ husband Carlos was detained several days later outside the family’s home in Portland, Oregon. He is currently being held inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Tacoma, Washington. The couple’s immigration status is unclear.
“What began as a simple family trip to Peace Arch Park — a place Jackie had safely visited in the past to visit family in Canada — has turned into a devastating immigration nightmare,” according to a statement from family friends helping raise money for the family’s legal defense.
Merlos’ sister, a legal resident of Canada, had stepped across the boundary while saying goodbye, “which triggered this unfounded accusation,” they said.
The family’s arrest and detention has alarmed legal advocates and members of Congress who are pressing Donald Trump’s administration for their swift release from custody. Customs and Border Protection policy largely prohibits holding people in custody for more than 72 hours.
“Every effort must be made to hold detainees for the least amount of time required for their processing, transfer, release, or repatriation as appropriate and as operationally feasible,” according to CPB guidelines.
“Trump said he would go after ‘the worst of the worst.’ Instead, his immigration machine is abducting Oregonians without cause — including four U.S. citizen children in my district,” said Democratic Rep. Maxine Dexter, who accused CBP of misleading her office about the family’s location.
The congresswoman confirmed that Merlos, who is originally from Honduras, and her children were being held inside a detention center near Ferndale, Washington, during a visit to the facility last week. She was not able to speak with the family but did enter the facility and see them.
“It is wholly unprecedented for CBP to detain any individual for weeks without cause — let alone four U.S. citizens,” Dexter said in a statement. “This is what authoritarianism looks like. Citizen children abducted. Community members disappeared. If we allow this to become normal, we surrender who we are. We cannot look away. We cannot back down.”
Merlos has not been charged with a crime. Federal immigration authorities have not provided any documents to support allegations against her, according to attorney Jill Nedved.
Family friend Mimi Lettunich, who is also a godparent to her youngest child, said Merlos sent her a text message after she was brought into custody. “Mimi, I’ve been detained,” the message said, Lettunich told Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“I’ve known them about 20 years,” Lettunich said. “They’re wonderful people.”
The Merlos family is “the kind of people we want in our community,” Dexter said in a statement on social media. “Kind, hardworking, small business owners, and devoted to their neighbors. The kind of people we are proud to call ours.”
Over the last two weeks, the family has been held “in a windowless cell, without access to legal counsel,” according to Dexter. “Treated not as citizens, not as children, but as threats.”
The Trump administration’s aggressive anti-immigration agenda has deployed virtually every federal law enforcement agency to support immigration enforcement operations across the country. Nearly 60,000 people are currently in immigration detention centers, and the president has approved legislation that earmarks tens of billions of dollars over the next decade to expand detention center capacity and hire more immigration officers.
The Independent has requested additional comment from Homeland Security.
The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.
USA Today: Trump administration rolls out a strict new ICE policy
“A new policy rolling out nationally prevents judges from granting a bond to most detained migrants.”
The man walked around the corner of the coral pink detention center building, shuffling a little to keep his shoes on his feet. They’d taken his shoelaces. And his belt.
The 93-degree temperature bounced off the black asphalt as he walked free for the first time in six weeks, after federal immigration agents in California arrested him at a routine court check-in with his American citizen wife.
A year ago, he might have been one of a dozen men released on a day like this.
But a few months ago, the releases from the privately run Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center here slowed to maybe five a day.
Now, releases from the approximately 1,200-bed GEO ICE facility have slowed even further as the Trump administration clamps down on people accused of living illegally in the United States.
A new policy rolling out nationally prevents judges from granting a bond to most detained migrants. Those hearings often end with a judge releasing the detainee if they agree to post a cash bond, and in some cases, be tracked by a GPS device.
The White House argues that mass migration under former President Joe Biden was legally an “invasion,” and it has invoked both the language and tools of war to close the borders and remove people who thought they entered the country illegally.
“The Biden administration allowed violent gang members, rapists, and murderers into our country, under the guise of asylum, where they unleashed terror on Americans,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a July 12 press briefing. “Under President Trump, we are putting American citizens first.”
Statistics show that migrants are far less likely to commit crimes than American citizens. And federal statistics show that fewer than half of detained migrants have criminal records.
But because immigration court is run by the Department of Justice and is not an independent judiciary, people within that system aren’t entitled to the same protections ‒ including the right to a speedy trial, a public defender if they can’t afford their own attorney, or now, a bond hearing, according to the administration. For detainees, bond often ranges from $5,000-$20,000, immigration attorneys said.
Migrant rights advocates say the loss of bond hearings means detainees will increasingly have to fight their deportation cases without legal representation or support and advice from community members. In many cases, detainees are being shipped to holding facilities thousands of miles from home, advocates say.
Contesting deportation can take months, and migrant rights groups said they suspect the policy change is intended to pressure migrants into agreeing to be deported even if they have a solid legal case for remaining in the United States.
The Trump administration has not publicly released the policy change; advocates said they first read about it in The Washington Post on July 14. Others said they learned of the policy change when DOJ attorneys read portions of it to judges during bond hearings.
“The Trump administration’s decision to deny bond hearings to detained immigrants is a cruel and calculated escalation of its mass detention agenda, one that prioritizes incarceration over due process and funnels human beings into for-profit prison corporations,” said Karen Orona, the communications manager at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. “This move eliminates a lifeline for thousands of immigrants, stripping away their right to reunite with families, gather evidence, and fairly fight their cases.”
Out of all of the people detained at the facility, only one man was released on July 15. And like every person released, a volunteer team from the nonprofit Casa de Paz met him on the street outside. They offered him a ride, a cell phone call, and food.
Andrea Loya, the nonprofit’s executive director, said Casa volunteers have seen the Trump administration’s get-tough approach playing out as they speak with those who are released. Like other migrant rights advocates, Loya said she’s frustrated that private prison companies with close ties to the White House benefit financially from the new policy.
“It does not surprise me that this is the route we’re headed down,” she said. “Now, what we can expect is to see almost no releases.”
ICE previously lacked the detention space to hold every person accused of crossing the border outside of official ports of entry, which in 2024 totaled 2.1 million “encounters.” The new July 4 federal spending bill provides ICE with funding for 80,000 new detention beds, allowing it to detain up to 100,000 people at any given time, in addition to funding an extra 10,000 ICE agents to make arrests.
Because there historically hasn’t been enough detention space to hold every person accused of immigration violations, millions of people over the years have been released into the community following a bond hearing in which an immigration judge weighed the likelihood of them showing back up for their next court date. They are then free to live their lives and work ‒ legally or not‒ while their deportation cases remain pending, which can take years.
According to ICE’s 2024 annual report, there were more than 7.6 million people on what it calls the “non-detained” docket ‒ people accused of violating immigration law but considered not enough of a threat to keep locked up. The agency had been attaching GPS monitors to detainees who judges considered a low risk of violence but a higher risk of failing to return to court.
Each detention costs taxpayers $152 per person, every day, compared to $4.20 a day for GPS tracking, ICE data shows.
According to the incarceration-rights group Vera Institute of Justice, 92% of people ordered to show up for immigration court hearings do so.
“We know that detention is not just cruel but is unnecessary,” said Elizabeth Kenney, Vera’s associate director. “The government’s justification of detention is just not supported by research or even their own data.”
Like many migrant rights advocates, Kenney said she has not yet seen the specific policy.
In Seattle, attorney Tahmina Watson of Watson Immigration Law, said the policy ‒ the specifics of which she had also not seen ‒ appeared to be part of ongoing administration efforts to limit due process for anyone accused of immigration violations.
“They have created a system in which they can detain people longer and longer,” said Watson. “Effectively, this means that people who have potential pathways to legality are being held indefinitely. The whole notion is to put people into detention. And I don’t know where that’s going to end.”
