Author Archives: M

ABC: Pentagon pulling 2,000 National Guard from ICE duty in LA

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The U.S. military presence in Los Angeles is being reduced by almost half as the Pentagon confirms that 2,000 California National Guard members are being withdrawn from the mission to protect federal buildings and personnel that followed protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles.

“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding. As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen (79th [Infantry Brigade Combat Team]) from the federal protection mission,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement provided to ABC News.

Nearly 4,700 personnel had been provided to that mission with 700 of them being active-duty Marines and the remaining 4,000 coming from the California National Guard.

The initial deployment of 2,000 California National Guard members to Los Angeles was announced on June 7.

At the time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media that he was prepared to send active-duty Marines “if violence continues.” Two days later, U.S. Northern Command announced that 700 Marines from Twentynine Palms in California were being deployed to Los Angeles.

An additional 2,000 National Guard members were later mobilized for the mission in Los Angeles.

Some of the Guard members later received specific training to provide perimeter security during ICE operations and were not carrying out law enforcement duties. However, they were authorized to temporarily detain individuals if needed and then quickly turn them over to law enforcement personnel.

LOL! Things were peaceful until King Donald butted in unnecessarily with the military.

Pentagon pulling 2,000 National Guard deployed to LA amid ICE protests
Pentagon confirms that 2,000 California National Guard members are being withdrawn from the mission to protect federal buildings and personnel that followed ICE protests.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pentagon-pulling-half-guard-members-deployed-la-support/story?id=123784553

CNN: California farmworker dies after falling from greenhouse roof during chaotic ICE raid

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A farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid this week at a California cannabis facility died Saturday of his injuries.

Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first known person to die during one of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations. Yesenia Duran, Alanis’ niece, confirmed his death to The Associated Press.

Duran posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe that her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to a wife and daughter in Mexico. Alanis worked at the farm for 10 years, his family said.

The United Farm Workers reported Alanis’ death prematurely late Friday. The Ventura County Medical Center later issued a statement authorized by the family saying he was still on life support.

“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the UFW said recently in a statement on the social platform X. The union does not represent workers at the raided farm.

The Department of Homeland Security said it executed criminal search warrants Thursday at Glass House Farms facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria. Glass House is a licensed cannabis grower. The farm in Camarillo also grows tomatoes and cucumbers.

Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly was fleeing agents before he fell about 30 feet from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.

Agents arrested some 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, DHS said in a statement. Alanis was not among them, the agency said.

“This man was not in and has not been in CBP or ICE custody,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30 feet. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers,” according to DHS, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.

During the raid crowds of people gathered outside the facility in Camarillo to seek information about their relatives and protest immigration enforcement. Authorities clad in military-style helmets and uniforms faced off with the demonstrators, and people ultimately retreated amid acrid green and white billowing smoke.

Glass House said in a statement that immigration agents had valid warrants. The company said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.

“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it said.

The business was co-founded by Graham Farrar and Kyle Kazan. Farrar has donated to California Democrats including Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump, according to campaign finance records. Kazan has donated to both Democrats and Republicans.

California farmworker dies after falling from greenhouse roof during chaotic ICE raid | CNN
A farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid this week at a California cannabis facility died Saturday of his injuries.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/13/us/farmworker-dies-california-immigration-raids-hnk

New York Post: Nassau County will allow cops to wear face masks for ICE raids, undercover work: ‘We have their back’

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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has carved out a key exemption to the county’s controversial mask ban — allowing local cops involved in ICE raids and working undercover to still wear face coverings.

The existing law only exempts public mask-wearing for religious or health reasons, but Blakeman’s new executive order now gives federal, state and local law-enforcement officers the option to wear masks during operations such as drug and gang raids and soon, immigration enforcement alongside ICE.

“Here in Nassau County, we respect our law enforcement officers,” Blakeman said at the signing inside the legislative building in Mineola on Friday. “And we have their back.” 

The executive order comes as Nassau is gearing up to fully launch its partnership with ICE. Ten detectives have been deputized for the work and are already trained and waiting for the green light.

Blakeman said the purpose of the order is to allow cops to mask up during certain police operations “when deemed necessary” to conceal their identity to “protect the integrity of their mission” and to limit any possibility of retaliation against them or their families.

The county executive first signed the mask ban into law in August, after the GOP-majority local legislature passed the bill in response to anti-Israel protests across college campuses. The law makes it a misdemeanor crime to wear any face covering unless for religious or health reasons, punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to a year in jail.

The law immediately sparked multiple lawsuits that have so far been unsuccessful at shutting it down, with courts citing the existing exemptions written within the legislation as valid.  

Blakeman’s executive order is effectively the opposite of a bill proposed Wednesday in neighboring New York City that would prevent any federal agents from wearing masks and other face coverings while on the job.

Blakeman said he signed his executive order with the city’s bill in mind — wanting to make clear that he will continue to be a partner in ICE’s operations in the area despite pushback from the state, the five boroughs and pending lawsuits from civil-rights groups. 

“I think they’re out of their mind,” Blakeman said about the city’s proposal. “I think that they will destroy the city, and I think they will make law enforcement in the metropolitan area, including Nassau County, much more difficult.” 

The suburb signed an agreement with ICE in February to deputize 10 detectives so they can work federally alongside ICE in helping detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

Nassau Democrats slammed Blakeman’s partnership with ICE and his executive order as politically motivated and called the carve-out for police an admission of guilt.

“This executive order is a quiet admission that his original law is most likely illegal,” Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton told The Post. “Democrats warned from Day One that Blakeman’s mask ban was vague, over-broad and more focused on politics than public good.

“We proposed a clear, constitutional alternative focused on actual criminal conduct. Instead, the county executive chose a political headline over sound policy, and now he’s scrambling to patch the consequences.”

Blakeman fired back, “What I find troubling is the very same people that criticized our mask law are the same people that are saying law enforcement officers in the performance of their duty can’t wear a mask to protect their identity if they’re involved in a sensitive investigation.” 

The county executive said the mask ban was never meant to target law enforcement but to deter agitators, who he previously called “cowards” and claimed were using face coverings to avoid accountability during protests.

This will come back to haunt them big time. Immigrants are clearly winners in public opinion — 79% pro-immigrant in latest Gallup poll.

Does Nassau County really want to have their very own masked Gestapo thugs terrorizing their citizens?

Nassau County will allow cops to wear face masks for ICE raids, undercover work: ‘We have their back’
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has carved out a key exemption to the county’s controversial mask ban — allowing local cops involved in ICE raids and working undercover to still wear face co…

https://nypost.com/2025/07/13/us-news/nassau-county-will-allow-cops-to-wear-face-masks-for-ice-raids-undercover-work

Independent: Judges are deporting record numbers of young children under Trump

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A far cry from the “bad, hard criminals” Donald Trump said his undocumented immigrants crackdown would focus on, record-breaking numbers of deportation orders have been issued to young immigrant children under the Trump administration, The Independent can reveal.

More kids aged 11 or under — 8,317 — received a removal order from an immigration court in April than any other month in over 35 years of data collection, according to court data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

Since Trump’s inauguration in January, judges have ordered removals for over 53,000 immigrant minors.

Those children are predominantly elementary school age or younger. Some 15,000 children were aged under four years old, and 20,000 of them were children aged four to eleven.

Teenagers are also experiencing climbing deportations, with 17,000 seeing a court-ordered removal, although that’s lower than their all-time peak in 2020 under the first Trump administration.

Some of these children being deported are unaccompanied minors, who do not have a legal guardian in the US; though the exact number is unclear, since immigration authorities stopped recording this data years ago.

Children, including toddlers, are required to show up at immigration hearings to be questioned by a judge – and many, unsurprisingly, do not understand what is happening nor the gravity of their situation.

In one case, a source tells the Independent, a young child from Haiti had his immigration court hearing remotely in front of a screen. The child, who had a learning disability, was fidgeting and running around the room. Finally, he pointed at the judge on the screen and asked – “Who’s that?”

In other cases, children are being arrested by ICE with their families, but held in detention and deported separately.

“A six year old child was picked up [by ICE] with his father, separated from his dad, and parked in custody for four months before being deported,” a lawyer familiar with children’s immigration cases told the Independent. The child was unable to receive legal assistance, as he was deported while federal legal funding had been cut.

The deportation outcome rate for immigrant children under age 11 is higher than in any other age group, latest figures show, and has jumped significantly since Trump came into office.

What’s more, under-18s account for one in four (26 percent) of all deportations ordered in immigration court since January – despite the fact that minors make up just 11 percent of the undocumented population.

The vast majority (76 percent) of children under 11 do not have legal representation, and cases are being sped through the system, according to sources close to the courts.

“This is pumping up the deportation numbers on the back of kids – their rights to safety and due process are not respected,” the immigration lawyer told the Independent.

“This is about striking fear in the hearts of everybody. It’s demonstrable cruelty in the name of so-called deterrence.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded to the Independent:

“Accusations that ICE is ‘targeting’ children are FALSE and an attempt to demonize law enforcement. ICE does not ‘target’ children nor does it deport children. Rather than separate families, ICE asks mothers if they want to be removed with their children or if the child should be placed with someone safe the parent designates.”

Highest-ever deportations for young children

Immigration crackdowns across the country have been almost indiscriminate, with new data revealing that ICE is arresting more non-criminals than ever.

The number of people who have been deported under the Trump administration is murky; ICE has not disclosed official figures since January, and available immigration court data is not comprehensive, with age not recorded in 13 percent of cases.

But analysis of court data reveals that children have been increasingly, and disproportionately, marked for deportation in recent months.

Under the Trump administration, immigration courts have quickly ramped up deportation rates. Around two thirds (68 percent) of all immigration court proceedings ended in deportation in May, compared to 39 percent in January.

But for children under 11, the removal rate is even higher, at 75 percent in May; and 78 percent for kids under 4 years old, both substantially higher than the 45 percent seen on average for young kids in January.

This suggests that children are being disproportionately targeted for deportations under this administration, overrepresented by 2.3 times more than their proportion of the illegal immigrant population, our analysis shows.

“What we’re seeing right now is basically a grist mill in immigration court, just scooting kids through the process as quickly as possible,” the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Independent.

At the same time, children facing immigration court are more vulnerable and less protected than ever.

In spite of this, the Trump administration has been fighting to cancel funding which provides legal aid for unaccompanied immigrant children.

The government first issued a stop-work order in February, and cancelled federal contracts in March. In April the federal district court ordered the Trump administration to restore funding, saying it is congressionally mandated under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).

Legal assistance programs told the Independent that they had since been re-contracted; but remain on “pins and needles” as the government appeals the court ruling, and Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill makes it harder and more expensive to sue against his policies.

Rocket dockets and separating families

In the meantime, children are being put on expedited paths through immigration court, known as “rocket dockets”, according to the immigration lawyer.

Many of these cases are going through in just two weeks from start to finish – which leaves little-to-no room for a child to prepare the necessary documents and arguments.

“Of course, a child is going to file a case that’s not completely fleshed out in all the legal arguments, because they don’t understand the legal argument,” the lawyer told the Independent.

“This is also really damaging for trafficking victims. Kids who have experienced severe trauma need the time to have their nervous system relax, to understand that they’re safe, to share some of the most sensitive details about their cases.”

These tactics evoke the family separation policy, employed in 2018 under the first Trump administration, which forcibly kept parents and children apart when detained at the border – with as many as 1,360 families never reunited, according to Human Rights Watch.

“It is seen as against the due process rights of a child to be systematically separated from their parent or legal guardian,” the lawyer explained.

“What’s clear is that they are sidestepping the legal settlement to protect children from these cruel techniques.”

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.

Judges are deporting record numbers of young children under Trump
Exclusive: Immigration judges broke records with the number of young children they have ordered removed from the US in April —with lawyers accusing Trump of “pumping up deportation numbers on the backs of kids, data correspondent Alicja Hagopian reports

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-immigration-child-deportation-numbers-b2786626.html

Reuters: Trump administration defends immigration tactics after California worker death

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“Padilla said he had spoken with the UFW about the farmworker who died in the ICE raid. He said a steep arrest quota imposed by the Trump administration in late May had led to more aggressive and dangerous enforcement.

“‘It’s causing ICE to get more aggressive, more cruel, more extreme, and these are the results,’ Padilla said. It’s people dying.'”

Federal officials on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s escalating campaign to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally, including a California farm raid that left one worker dead, and said the administration would appeal a ruling to halt some of its more aggressive tactics.

Trump has vowed to deport millions of people in the country illegally and has executed raids at work sites including farms that were largely exempted from enforcement during his first term. The administration has faced dozens of lawsuits across the country for its tactics.

Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that the administration would appeal a federal judge’s Friday ruling that blocked the administration from detaining immigrants based solely on racial profiling and denying detained people the right to speak with a lawyer.

In interviews with Fox News and CNN, Noem criticized the judge, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, and denied that the administration had used the tactics described in the lawsuit.

“We will appeal, and we will win,” she said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that physical characteristics could be one factor among multiple that would establish a reasonable suspicion that a person lacked legal immigration status, allowing federal officers to stop someone.

During a chaotic raid and resulting protests on Thursday at two sites of a cannabis farm in Southern California, 319 people in the U.S. illegally were detained and federal officers encountered 14 migrant minors, Noem said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” 

Workers were injured during the raid and one later died from his injuries, according to the United Farm Workers.

Homan told CNN that the farmworker’s death was tragic but that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were doing their jobs and executing criminal search warrants.

“It’s always unfortunate when there’s deaths,” he said.

U.S. Senator Alex Padilla said on CNN that federal agents are using racial profiling to arrest people. Padilla, a California Democrat and the son of Mexican immigrants, was forcibly removed from a Noem press conference in Los Angeles in June and handcuffed after trying to ask a question.

Padilla said he had spoken with the UFW about the farmworker who died in the ICE raid. He said a steep arrest quota imposed by the Trump administration in late May had led to more aggressive and dangerous enforcement.

“It’s causing ICE to get more aggressive, more cruel, more extreme, and these are the results,” Padilla said. “It’s people dying.”

Trump administration defends immigration tactics after California worker death
Administration officials said they would appeal a ruling to halt some of its more aggressive tactics.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-defends-immigration-tactics-after-california-worker-death-2025-07-13

Daily Beast: ICE Memo Says Migrants Can Be Deported to Third Countries

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem confirmed the new policy in an appearance on Fox News.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to deport migrants to countries where they are not citizens and do not speak the language with as little as six hours’ notice.

Deporting people to third countries where they don’t speak the language is truly inhumane.

If they are at risk of torture or persecution in their home countries, they should be eligible for asylum in the U.S. Period.

A six-hour window in which to contact your attorney and appeal is utterly absurd.

There’s more in the article (click links below) but the quote above really says it all.

ICE Memo Says Migrants Can Be Deported to Third Countries
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the new policy in an appearance on Fox News.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-memo-says-migrants-can-be-deported-to-third-countries

Showbiz 411: Trump Epstein Fake Out: Says He Might Revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s Citizenship (Which He Knows He Can’t Do)

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There’s nothing to quote, it’s all in the title. Our pathetic King Donald is making a royal ass of himself in front of 340 million Americans and assorted billions elsewhere.

Trump Epstein Fake Out: Says He Might Revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s Citizenship (Which He Knows He Can’t Do) – Showbiz411
Trump is falling apart over Jeffrey Epstein. The presidency is falling apart as the FBI’s quacky leaders Kash Patel and Dan Bongino are threatening to quit over Pam Bondi’s announcement that no Epstein files exist. They existed a short time ago, of course, when binders were waved around reading “Epstein Files.” MAGA is furious because […]
Trump Epstein Fake Out: Says He Might Revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s Citizenship (Which He Knows He Can’t Do)

AOL: US Justice fires several more employees from Jack Smith’s team, sources say

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U.S. Attorney General Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi on Friday fired several more Justice Department employees who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to five people familiar with the matter.

About 20 lawyers, support staff and U.S. Marshals who worked on Smith’s probe were terminated, according to one of the sources.

At least two of the people fired were prosecutors who most recently worked in other U.S. Attorneys’ offices in Florida and North Carolina, three of the sources told Reuters.

The Justice Department since January has been dismissing employees who worked on matters involving Trump or his supporters, citing Trump’s executive powers under the U.S. Constitution.

A spokesperson for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fourteen attorneys who worked on Smith’s team were fired on January 27 because of work on cases against Trump, becoming some of the department’s earliest employees who were dismissed. Department leadership told those attorneys in termination letters that they could not be trusted to carry out Trump’s agenda because of their work on Smith’s probe.

Including the people fired on Friday, at least 37 people who worked on Smith’s team have been terminated since Trump took office on January 20.

The Justice Department in recent months has also fired people who handled casework involving defendants who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.

In late June, three prosecutors, one of whom had worked on cases involving the Proud Boys, were fired. Earlier this month, [Bimbo #3] Bondi also fired a career veteran of the department who served as a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington.

In late January, the Justice Department also fired probationary prosecutors who had worked on January 6 cases.

Smith brought two criminal cases against Trump in 2023, accusing him of illegally retaining national security documents and plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Both were dropped before Trump returned to office.

The politicization of the Department of Justice into a machine of revenge for King Donald and his cronies continues unabated.

US Justice fires several more employees from Jack Smith’s team, sources say
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday fired several more Justice Department employees who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to five people familiar with the matter. About 20 lawyers, support staff and U.S. Marshals who worked on Smith’s probe were terminated, according to one of the sources. The Justice Department since January has been dismis

https://www.aol.com/news/us-justice-fires-nine-more-021501413.html

New York Times: U.S. Subpoenas Governor Who Said He Would House Migrant at His Home

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Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are investigating remarks that Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, made in February.

Alina [Bimbo #4] Habba, who has used her job as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor to aggressively target Democrats, is pursuing an investigation into remarks made by Gov. Philip D. Murphy about housing a migrant, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Mr. Murphy said in February that he was prepared to house a woman whose immigration status was unclear at his family’s home in Middletown. F.B.I. agents have since sought to interview at least four witnesses in connection with the comments, two of the people said, with one adding that the governor had been subpoenaed but not questioned.

Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba, the interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey, is a former personal lawyer for President Trump. She previously announced that she was directing prosecutors in her office to investigate the governor and New Jersey’s attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, in connection with the state’s immigration policies.

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

Mr. Murphy is one of at least four Democratic officials to become entangled in investigations pursued by Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba since she was named to the position in late March.

Mr. Murphy made the remarks during a freewheeling discussion at a New Jersey college, telling an audience there that there was a person in his social orbit “whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to.”

“And we said, ‘You know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage,’” he said. “And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.”

The comments set off an immediate outcry. Mr. Trump’s so-called border czar, Thomas Homan, pledged at the time that the administration would not let them go.

“We’ll look into it,” he said.

An aide to Mr. Murphy later clarified that the woman was in the United States legally and had never lived on Mr. Murphy’s property.

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

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

Mr. Trump recently nominated Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba to remain in the job permanently when her time as interim U.S. attorney ends later this month. She would need to be confirmed by the Senate, and New Jersey’s two Democratic senators have been critical of her performance. In a joint statement, the senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, said she had “degraded the office and pursued frivolous and politically motivated prosecutions.”

It was unclear whether they would seek to block her nomination.

Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba had no history as a prosecutor before getting the job, and she has used the traditionally nonpartisan position to pursue several high-profile investigations into Democrats. She is one of several of Mr. Trump’s former defense lawyers to serve in top Justice Department positions, and given her role as the face of federal law enforcement in New Jersey, her actions have drawn particularly fierce scrutiny.

Less than two months into her tenure, Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba charged Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, and Representative LaMonica McIver, after the two Democratic officials clashed with federal immigration agents outside a detention center near Newark Liberty International Airport. Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba moved to drop the trespassing charge her office had filed against Mr. Baraka, who is now suing her for malicious prosecution.

The day she was named interim U.S. attorney, Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba spoke critically of Mr. Murphy while at the White House. She said that there was corruption, injustice and significant crime “right under Governor Murphy, and that will stop.”

More recently, Ms. [Bimbo #4] Habba has adopted a friendlier stance.

On Wednesday, she appeared with the governor at MetLife stadium for a FIFA Club World Cup soccer match, a precursor to the World Cup matches scheduled to take place in New Jersey next summer. The two posed for pictures that Ms. Habba posted on social media.

“Together — across parties, across sectors — we must be committed to keeping our state safe,” she wrote.

Can’t this overpaid bitch and pathetic excuse for a U.S. District Attorney find something useful to do with her time and our taxpayer dollars?

U.S. Subpoenas Governor Who Said He Would House Migrant at His Home

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/nyregion/philip-murphy-new-jersey-alina-habba-investigation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V08.M1jp.A-0-2kESmLD7&smid=url-share

CNN: Florida lawmakers allowed into ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ say detainees packed into cages

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Deep in the hazardous and ecologically fragile Everglades, hundreds of migrants are confined in cages in a makeshift tent detention facility Florida’s Republican governor calls “safe and secure” and Democratic lawmakers call “inhumane.”

Two days after filing a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for being “unlawfully denied entry” to inspect conditions at the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” members of Congress and state representatives were given a limited tour Saturday to inspect conditions after calling the lack of access a “deliberate obstruction meant to hide what’s really happening behind those gates,” according to a joint statement from lawmakers.

They said they heard detainees shouting for help and crying out “libertad”— Spanish for “freedom” — amid sweltering heat, bug infestations and meager meals.

“They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Florida’s 25th Congressional District, said during a news conference following their tour.

The families of some of the detainees have also decried conditions in the facility, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials defend it as offering higher detention standards than many US prisons.

Lawmakers Shown Empty Cells

On the tour, the lawmakers said they were not allowed to visit areas where migrants are currently being detained but instead were shown cells not yet being used.

Wasserman Schultz said each cage contained three small toilets with attached sinks, which detainees use for drinking water and brushing their teeth, sharing the same water used to flush the toilets.

When they toured the kitchen area, Wasserman Schultz said government employees were being offered large pieces of roast chicken and sausages, while the detainees’ lunch consisted of a “gray turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple and chips.”

“I don’t see how that could possibly sustain them nutritionally or not make them hungry,” Wasserman Schultz said. “And when you have hungry people, obviously their mood changes.”

Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who was also on the tour, said the lawmakers were concerned about reports of unhygienic conditions due to toilets not working and “feces being spread everywhere,” but were denied access from viewing units where migrants are currently detained.

They were also not permitted to view the medical facilities, with officials citing HIPAA laws, despite lawmakers being allowed to examine the medical facilities at other detention facilities, he said.

“It is something everyone, whether you’re Democrat, Republican or anything, should be deeply ashamed of,” Frost said. “Immigrants don’t poison the blood of this nation. They are the blood of this nation.”

US Rep. Darren Soto said lawmakers also witnessed evidence of flooding, highlighting serious concerns of what could happen to detainees if there’s severe weather during what forecasters said may be a busy hurricane season.

“What we saw in our inspection today was a political stunt, dangerous and wasteful,” Soto said after the tour. “One can’t help but understand and conclude that this is a total cruel political stunt meant to have a spectacle of political theater and it’s wasting taxpayer dollars and putting our ICE agents, our troops and ICE detainees in jeopardy.”

About 900 people are currently detained at the facility, Wasserman Schultz said during the news conference but it has the capacity to hold 3,000 people, with room for more, according to Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

The wife of a 43-year-old Guatemalan man currently detained at “Alligator Alcatraz” told CNN her husband is enduring harsh conditions similar to those described by lawmakers who toured the facility. After more than two weeks in detention, she said, he has yet to see a lawyer.

“There are too many mosquitoes … He’s in a really bad condition. The power goes off at times because they’re using generators,” the woman told CNN in an interview Tuesday.

“The detainees are being held in tents, and it is very hot there. They’re in bad conditions. … There’s not enough food. Sick people are not getting medication. Every time I ask about his situation, he tells me it’s bad,” she said.

The Guatemalan woman said she, her husband, and their 11-month-old baby went fishing on June 25 in the Everglades. A Florida wildlife officer approached them and asked for documents. Her husband had a valid driver’s license, she said, but when the officer realized she didn’t have any documents proving she was in the country legally, the officer called immigration authorities who detained the whole family.

After spending seven-and-a-half hours in what she describes as a “dirty holding cell,” she and her baby – a US citizen – were released, but her husband was detained. She now wears an ankle bracelet.

Her husband later told her he remained in detention at the Dania Beach Jail, near Fort Lauderdale, for eight days, before being transferred to “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Once transferred, he was unable to take a shower for six days and there were not enough facilities for washing hands, she said. On Friday, he was woken up at 3 a.m. to take a shower because of the number of people waiting for their turn, she said.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Florida detention facility, did not immediately reply to CNN’s request for comment about specific allegations about conditions there.

In a written statement posted on X Tuesday, DHS said, “ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.”

‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Set Up In Just Eight Days

In little over a week, workers transformed the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport from an 11,000-foot runway into a temporary tent city President Donald Trump toured last week.

Trump raved about the facility’s “incredible” quick construction during his visit and pointed to the detention center as an example of what he wants to implement “in many states.”

The project was fast-tracked under an executive order from DeSantis, who framed illegal immigration as a state emergency.

Sounds like more of a coverup than a tour!

Florida lawmakers allowed into ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ say detainees packed into cages | CNN
Deep in the hazardous and ecologically fragile Everglades, hundreds of migrants are confined in cages in a makeshift tent detention facility Florida’s Republican governor calls “safe and secure” and Democratic lawmakers call “inhumane.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/12/us/alligator-alcatraz-lawmaker-tour-conditions