Monthly Archives: July 2025

Daily Beast: Florida City Ends ICE Deal Ahead of Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Visit

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Key West, home to the southernmost point in the continental U.S., voted to end its cooperation agreement with ICE.

A Florida city welcomed President Donald Trump to the state Tuesday by making life harder for his ICE goons.

Hours before Trump touched down at Florida’s so-called “Alligator Alcatraz,” city commissioners in Key West voted 6-1 in favor of scrapping an agreement requiring local police to coordinate with federal immigration officials.

The vote “basically invalidated the city’s most recent agreement with ICE,” which was reached in March, reported Local 10.

“People who are seeking political asylum are important members of our community,” Commissioner Samuel Kaufman said, according to WLRN. “We have thousands of them here, by the way. And they deserve the respect that anybody else does.”

Florida’s southernmost city, less than 100 miles from the Cuban coast, is also among its most progressive. Commissioner Donald Lee said that the city’s police chief, Sean Brandenburg, signed the deal to cooperate with ICE because he had a proverbial “gun” to his head from both federal and state officials. The Florida city of Fort Myers has refused to sign an agreement, and its leaders have been threatened with removal from office.

Key West residents went into uproar last month when a beloved local hairstylist, who a city cop stopped as he rode his e-bike to work, was placed in ICE custody and detained for weeks.

Lee Stinton, a Northern Ireland national, holds an employment authorization card and has applied for a green card, according to Keys Weekly. Still, his traffic infraction reportedly warranted the involvement of ICE agents, who allegedly harassed him and tossed him in a detention center in Miami, where a Canadian citizen, 49, and a Cuban national, 75, died in custody within the last week.

…

“The ICE agent that got involved in his traffic stop—and I’m still not sure how that happened, whether he was riding with the police officer or showed up separately—saw the photo of the two of us on Lee’s phone’s lock screen, and assumed I was Haitian,” Davis said. “He asked Lee, ‘Is that your boyfriend? We’ll go find him as well and get two for one.’”

Florida City Ends ICE Deal Ahead of Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Visit
Key West, home to the southernmost point in the continental U.S., voted to end its cooperation agreement with ICE.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-city-ends-ice-deal-ahead-of-trumps-alligator-alcatraz-visit

ABC News: Department of Justice suing Los Angeles over sanctuary city policy

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The Department of Justice is suing the city of Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policy, alleging it interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws, officials announced on Monday.

“The challenged law and policies of the City of Los Angeles obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement. The DOJ is seeking a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinance.

Big waste of time and money — the Tenth Amendment (separation of powers) says the federal government can’t hijack state or local governments to do their bidding.

Department of Justice suing Los Angeles over sanctuary city policy
The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/doj-suing-los-angeles-sanctuary-city-policy/story?id=123348526

Straight Arrow News: ICE raids surge, but few employers face charges

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According to The Washington Post, a spokesperson with the Justice Department said in a statement: “Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, the Department of Justice will enforce federal immigration laws and hold bad actors accountable when they employ illegal aliens in violation of federal law.”

However, almost no business owners or managers are being held legally accountable for hiring unauthorized workers. The Post conducted in-depth investigative work, reviewing legal documents and business ownership records to confirm whether any company owners or managers were charged. The Post found that despite numerous raids, just one employer was charged with a crime.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not disclosed how many raids have resulted in employer charges. In April, ICE reported more than 1,000 arrests of migrants residing in the U.S. illegally and proposed over $1 million in fines against businesses during Trump’s first 100 days in the White House, The Post reports.

Only one employer charged, so far:

John Washburn, a company manager of San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in El Cajon, California, was charged with knowingly employing migrant workers who reside in the country illegally. Washburn pleaded guilty, and the DOJ stated that he received one year of probation and was required to complete 50 hours of community service. He did not receive jail time.

Chad Hartmann, the manager of Glenn Valley Foods in Nebraska, will not face charges after federal immigration agents arrested 76 of his workers. According to ICE, an investigation found that about 70 migrant workers who live in the U.S. illegally at the facility were using stolen identities and Social Security numbers to get jobs and benefits. Hartmann said he believed he was hiring people authorized to work in the U.S.

As a result, over 100 real people had their identities misused, causing them serious financial, emotional and legal harm, according to an ICE press release.

It’s unusual for business owners to be prosecuted for hiring migrant workers who reside in the country illegally. To charge someone, prosecutors must prove the employer knowingly hired someone without legal work authorization. Proving what an employer knew in court can be difficult and time-consuming.

ICE raids surge, but few employers face charges
ICE workplace raids have surged under Trump, but employers hiring undocumented workers are rarely prosecuted.

https://san.com/cc/ice-raids-surge-but-few-employers-face-charges

The Hill: Opinion: The Supreme Court’s injunctions decision returns America to the constitutional horrors of Dred Scott

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In ordinary times, someone could read the Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of so-called “universal injunctions” as just the latest example of an old dispute: the proper way to interpret the Constitution and the jurisdiction of federal courts. Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s majority opinion saying the federal district courts do not have the authority to issue such injunctions is a classic in the genre of “originalism.” 

In contrast, the dissenting opinions by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson read the law through the lens not just of its origins but with an eye to how an interpretation would affect the world beyond the courtroom. They understand that these are not ordinary times and do not want to disable the judiciary from responding when fundamental rights are at stake, in the face of an ongoing assault on the rule of law itself. 

To put it simply, with its decision in Trump v. Casa, the court has become an accomplice in President Trump’s ongoing assault on our constitutional republic. The decision has effectively removed the federal courts as a check on the Trump administration.  

But it also does grave damage to the court itself — Trump v. Casa now takes its place among the high court’s most infamous rulings. As Stephen Lubet says, it returns us to the world of its discredited Dred Scott decision, which found that the rights of Black people depended on where they lived. Just like Blacks in the antebellum world who had one status in free states and another in slave states, immigrants and others may now find themselves in a legal nether land. 

The Supreme Court’s injunctions decision returns America to the constitutional horrors of Dred Scott
With its decision in Trump v. Casa, the court has become an accomplice in President Trump’s ongoing assault on our constitutional republic.

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5376627-supreme-court-universal-injunctions-ruling

Channel News Asia: Why countries like China, Canada and the UK have issued new warnings about US travel

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China:

On Wednesday, China warned tourists to “fully assess the risks” before travelling to the US, after Beijing raised tariffs on American imports in retaliation for similar duties imposed by Trump.

“Due to the deterioration in China-US trade relations and the domestic security situation in the United States, (we) advise Chinese tourists to fully assess the risks before travelling to the US,” Beijing’s culture and tourism ministry said in a statement.

UK:

In March, the UK revised its advice for citizens travelling to the US to include a warning that anyone found breaking its entry rules could face arrest or detention.

The current British travel advice for the US, published online by Britain’s foreign office and most recently updated on Mar 14, states: “You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.”

At the beginning of February, the guidance had only stated: “The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules.”

The foreign office declined to comment on the reason for the revision or confirm when exactly it took place. It said its travel advice was designed to help people make decisions and that the advice was constantly kept under review.

Earlier in the month, in response to reports that a woman had been detained in the US for more than 10 days over a possible breach of her visa conditions, the foreign office confirmed that it was providing support to a British national detained in the US.

The woman has since returned to Britain.

Germany:

Similarly, in March, Germany updated its US travel advisory to emphasise that a visa or entry waiver does not guarantee entry after several Germans were detained while entering the country.

Germany’s foreign ministry updated its travel advice website for the US on Mar 11 to clarify that neither approval through the US Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, system nor a US visa entitles entry in every case.

“The final decision on whether a person can enter the US lies with the US border authorities,” said a German foreign ministry spokesperson, who emphasised that the change did not constitute a travel warning.

Canada:

The Canadian government updated its US travel advisory on its website in March to say that those who plan to visit the US for more than 30 days “must be registered with the United States government”, NPR reported.

Those who did not do so could face “penalties fines, and misdemeanour prosecution”, the Canadian government said.

In early April, it updated its advisory again, adding a new paragraph about scrutiny at points of entry into the US, Canadian public broadcaster CBC reported.

This was done “quietly”, CBC said.

Part of the new paragraph reads: “Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices. Comply and be forthcoming in all interactions with border authorities. If you are denied entry, you could be detained while awaiting deportation.”

CBC noted that US border agents had long had the power to ask to search travellers’ belongings and demand access to their electronic devices.

However, it reported that security had been stepped up at the US-Canada border, citing an immigration lawyer.

“There’s been much more heightened security and heightened investigations at the border,” the lawyer told the broadcaster.

Denmark, Finland, France, Germany:

In March, several European countries including Denmark, Finland, France and Germany suggested that transgender, non-binary and intersex people may face difficulties when trying to enter the US.

The Danish foreign ministry changed its US travel advisory to say that transgender people should contact the US embassy in the Nordic country before travelling to the United States.

“When applying for an ESTA or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: Male or female,” the travel advisory stated on Mar 21.

“If you have the gender designation X in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the US embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed,” the ministry added.

The “X” gender marker is preferred by many non-binary people, who do not identify as strictly male or female.

While the travel advisory did not explicitly mention the Trump administration, it came only weeks after Trump signed an executive order calling for the US federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents, such as passports, and in policies.

The US State Department has stopped issuing travel documents with the X gender marker.

The department also stopped allowing people to change the gender listed on their passports or get new ones that reflect their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Finland also advised prospective US travellers on its foreign ministry homepage that if their “current gender as recorded in their passport differs from the gender they were assigned at birth, US authorities may deny (them) entry”.

“It is recommended that you check with US authorities in advance for entry requirements,” the ministry said.

France, meanwhile, modified its official advice to its nationals who are travelling to the United States, warning they must now state their gender assigned at birth in visa or ESTA applications.

In advice similar to that issued by Denmark, Germany told travellers who have the X gender entry in their passport or whose current gender entry differs from their gender entry at birth to contact a US diplomatic mission in Germany before they enter the country.

This is so that they can “find out the applicable entry requirements” for the US, the German foreign ministry said.

Why countries like China, Canada and the UK have issued new warnings about US travel
SINGAPORE: Several countries have issued new advice and warnings about travelling to the United States in recent weeks, with China joining in on Wednesday (Apr 9) by telling its citizens to “fully assess the risks” of visiting the US before they head there. Canada and European countries like the United Kin

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-travel-advisories-warnings-trump-china-canada-uk-immigration-tariffs-5059056

Raw Story: Bullying misstep threatens to leave Trump presidency ‘dead in the water’: WSJ

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Instead of letting the Republican Party’s Senate leadership wheel and deal with the megabill budget hold-outs, Donald Trump inserted himself — and now has been called out by the editorial board of the conservative Wall Street Journal for his bullying which, it wrote, could put his presidency at risk.

In a late Sunday afternoon editorial, the editors wrote that the president’s attacks on Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are not helping and, in fact, are hampering the prospects of getting a deal done.

On top of that, they note, driving Tillis to announce he won’t run for re-election could lead to a lost GOP seat in purple North Carolina — and with it the GOP’s slim hold on the Senate.

Trump is an increasingly senile oaf who just doesn’t know when to zip it. Expect a lot more of this as he slowly slithers into memory-care.

Bullying misstep threatens to leave Trump presidency ‘dead in the water’: WSJ

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-presidency-2672500111

Forbes: Trump-Musk Feud: Musk Says Trump’s Comments About Him Are ‘Just Plain Wrong’

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Elon Musk on Wednesday suggested that President Donald Trump’s criticism of subsidies received by his companies was wrong, as he continued to mock supporters of the president’s signature spending bill, a day after the president said he’ll look into potentially deporting the Tesla CEO and threatened probes into his companies amid a reignited feud between the two.

I love a good cat fight, and when it’s two corrupt kleptocrats clawing at one another, that’s all the better!

Musk Says Trump’s Comments About Him Are ‘Just Plain Wrong’ And ‘Disappointing’
The billionaire, whose ties with the president have frayed in the past month, attacked GOP lawmakers backing the Trump’s spending bill while boosting its critics.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/07/02/trump-musk-feud-musk-says-trumps-comments-about-him-are-just-plain-wrong

KTLA: Man, pregnant woman snatched from parked vehicle in Simi Valley

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A man and his pregnant wife were seen being removed from their vehicle before they were taken into custody by immigration agents in Simi Valley.

The witness, who only identified herself as Briana, said the incident happened near Royal Avenue and Carson Street around 8 a.m.

The pair, who were sitting in an SUV, were suddenly surrounded by three vehicles while several masked agents approached the SUV and opened the doors. The agents were seen pulling the man and woman out of the car.

“They were so quick, they just literally left and broke the windows,” Briana said. “You could see his sandal was left there. It was pretty traumatic. It’s going on everywhere. It’s just the law, I guess.”

Briana said she was driving when she noticed the masked agents and decided to pull over to find out what was happening.

She said the couple appeared to be in their 30s and could only speak Spanish. She was heard yelling at the agents, but did not physically intervene with the arrest.

“The [man and woman] kept looking at me, like, asking for help, but all I could do was record them,” she said. “They just were desperate to get out of the situation. They were scared. There were people with masks. Who are they? Where are they taking them?”

Briana said that at one point, the man being held on the ground told the agents that his wife was pregnant.

“There were three guys pinning down a pregnant woman,” she said. “There’s no reason for that.”

In the video, one of the agents’ vests has a decal that reads, “Police-ICE.” Ultimately, the couple was placed into vehicles and driven away.

KTLA’s Lindsey Pena was able to contact the pregnant woman, who said she and her husband were taken to a facility in Camarillo. She said her husband remains in custody, but she was released with an ankle monitor and has a follow-up appointment at the facility next week.

KTLA has reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security several times for more details on the arrest and any crimes the couple may be accused of and is awaiting a reply. The couple has not been identified.

The White House has vowed to continue immigration enforcement operations in Southern California and across the U.S. 

Local leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, have demanded that the Trump administration stop the raids that sparked protests in early June.

However, federal officials said it would continue conducting immigration raids and deportations. “ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X.

Couple arrested by federal immigration agents in Simi Valley
Editor’s note: KTLA reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment multiple times prior to publication. As of publishing, DHS has not responded. KTLA will update this article w…

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/couple-arrested-by-federal-immigration-agents-in-simi-valley

Alternet: ‘Should be investigated’: [Bimbo #1] Leavitt says Trump could revoke mayoral candidate’s citizenship

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According to White House press secretary Karoline [Bimbo #1] Leavitt, President Donald Trump has not yet ruled out stripping U.S. citizenship from New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

During Monday’s White House press briefing, [Bimbo #1] Leavitt answered a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy, in which he pressed [Bimbo #1] Leavitt on the administration’s position on using denaturalization to prevent Mamdani from becoming mayor of New York City. Rolling Stone reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez posted the exchange to Bluesky, in which Leavitt left the door open for Trump to pursue deportation after Doocy’s follow-up question.

“He doesn’t want this individual to be elected,” [Bimbo #1] Leavitt said in response to Doocy asking if Trump wants Mamdani deported.

It’s always entertaining to hear from the dumbest woman in America!

‘Should be investigated’: Leavitt says Trump could revoke mayoral candidate’s citizenship
Forbidden

https://www.alternet.org/leavitt-trump-revoke-citizenship

Guardian: The desperate drive to secure passports for thousands of US-born Haitian kids – before it’s too late

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Advocates in Springfield, Ohio – a city thousands of Haitians now call home – fear the fallout of Trump’s DHS revoking temporary protected status for Haitian nationals

Among the group is a small number of charity volunteers working to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster: that thousands of US-born Haitian children could become stateless, or separated from their families.

“In the last several months we realized that the closer we got to the deportations and revocation of statuses meant that all these people who have babies … if they don’t have passports for their children, how are they going to take them out of the country with them?” says Casey Rollins, a volunteer at the local St Vincent de Paul chapter.

“All you have to look at is the previous [Trump] administration.” A Reuters report from 2023 found that nearly 1,000 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border in 2017 and 2018 had never been reunited.

Springfield is home to about 1,217 and counting American-born Haitian children under the age of four, with several thousand more dependants under the age of 18. While the number of adults in the Ohio town of 60,000 people legally in the country on TPS is not known, local leaders estimate 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian nationals have come to Springfield, drawn by employment opportunities, since 2017. In April, data provided by the Springfield city school district to the Springfield News-Sun found that the district had 1,258 students enrolled as English language learners in K-12 schools, though that doesn’t mean all are children of Haitian descent.

For three months, Rollins, volunteers at Springfield Neighbors United and others have been working with dozens of Haitians who turn up at charity organizations seeking advice and help every day. One of the most requested issues from parents, Rollins says, is figuring out how to apply for birth certificates for their children, before it’s too late.

“If we can’t stop the deportations, we want to help get them a passport. That way, if they are deported or go to Canada or another welcoming nation, they’d be able to take the child,” she says.

“If it takes three or four months [to complete the bureaucratic process from securing a birth certificate to acquiring a passport], we have got to get moving on this.”

The desperate drive to secure passports for thousands of US-born Haitian kids – before it’s too late
Advocates in Springfield, Ohio – a city thousands of Haitians now call home – fear the fallout of Trump’s DHS revoking temporary protected status for Haitian nationals

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/04/passports-haitian-kids-tps-trump-administration