Tag Archives: Customs and Border Protection

Guardian: Ice seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children to deport or prosecute

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials are seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children in operations nationwide with a view to deporting them or pursuing criminal cases against them or adult sponsors sheltering them legally in the US, according to sources and an Ice document.

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In recent months, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Ice have begun engaging in “welfare checks” on children who arrived in the US alone, usually via the US-Mexico border, to “ensure that they are safe and not being exploited”, according to a DHS spokesperson.

Although DHS is characterizing the welfare visits as benevolent, an internal Ice document accessed by the National Immigration Project advocacy group and then shared shows Ice is also seeking out children who came into the US alone as immigrants – and their US-based sponsors – for immigration enforcement purposes and/or to pursue criminal prosecutions. The recent operations and document confirm a February report from Reuters, that the Trump administration has directed Ice to track down and deport this group.

How does one “[pursue] criminal cases against them or adult sponsors sheltering them LEGALLY in the US”? These creeps will do anything to get their numbers up.

Ice seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children to deport or prosecute
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials are seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children in operations nationwide with a view to deporting them or pursuing criminal cases against them or adult sponsors sheltering them legally in the US, according to sources and an Ice document. The moves are sparking fears of a crackdown on such children and prompting alarm about what one critic called “backdoor family separation”. In recent months,…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-seeking-out-unaccompanied-immigrant-children-to-deport-or-prosecute/ar-AA1DMtr3

Mpneywise: Air travel between the US and Canada is set to plunge 75% and domestic tourism has also slowed — how to plan your trips as Trump’s policies hit travel demand

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Forward bookings for flights between Canada and the U.S. in coming months have plunged by as much as 75% compared with the same period in 2024, according to OAG, a global travel data provider.

In February, the number of Canadians crossing the land border into the U.S. dropped almost 500,000 compared to the same period last year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — reaching levels not seen since the height of the Covid-19 border closures.

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“A 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean 2.0 million fewer visits, $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses,” according to the U.S. Travel Association, which noted that Canada is the top source of international visitors to the country, with 20.4 million visits in 2024.

Does Trump care?

Probably not!

Air travel between the US and Canada is set to plunge 75% and domestic tourism has also slowed — how to plan your trips as Trump’s policies hit travel demand
Domestic tourism has slowed as U.S. consumers lose confidence.

Air travel between the US and Canada is set to plunge 75% and domestic tourism has also slowed — how to plan your trips as Trump’s policies hit travel demand

Civil rights groups denounce that 48 ICE detainees have been ‘forcibly disappeared’

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19 March 2025

In the first week of March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an “enhanced enforcement operation” in New Mexico that resulted in the arrest of 48 people, as reported by the agency itself. Their names, whereabouts, whether they have access to counsel and which agency is holding them are all unknown, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which considers them to have been “forcibly disappeared.”

“This is not just a procedural issue, but a grave human rights violation,” said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico. “When the government detains people and then their whereabouts are unknown and they are unreachable, it exempts them from the protection of the law. Families are left in agonizing uncertainty, desperate to contact their loved ones and ensure their safety. Enforced disappearances are prohibited by both our Constitution and international human rights laws,” she said.

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“We are alarmed and disturbed that these four dozen New Mexican individuals remain unidentified and that insufficient transparency, oversight, and accountability has taken place to date regarding their whereabouts and wellbeing. We call on your offices to exercise the full extent of your authorities to determine their current status and ensure their safety,” the complaint states.

Civil rights groups denounce that 48 ICE detainees have been ‘forcibly disappeared’
The ACLU files a complaint over immigration authorities’ failure to release the identities of residents arrested in New Mexico, noting that ‘arbitrary and enforced disappearance is unlawful under the US Constitution’

Civil rights groups denounce that 48 ICE detainees have been ‘forcibly disappeared’ | U.S. | EL PAÍS English

USA Today: Trump slashes homeland security civil rights jobs in ‘Black Friday’ cuts

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Former DHS immigration detention ombudsman: “I think we’ll see people die in custody as a result.”

Homeland Security is eliminating those employees whose job is to keep them operating honestly and legally:

In a move aimed at reducing “roadblocks” to its immigration crackdown, the Trump administration has fired most employees within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and two separate DHS ombudsman offices, a senior DHS official confirmed late Friday.

The actions come amid other changes at DHS that critics say will curtail oversight of immigration efforts by President Donald Trump even as legal challenges intensify over their constitutionality.

A senior DHS official told USA TODAY that the RIF or “reduction in force” efforts were done “to eliminate redundant and counterproductive roles while reallocating resources to frontline enforcement, where they are most effective.”

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Michelle Brané, who served in the Biden administration as the immigration detention ombudsman within DHS, called the cuts a “recipe for disaster.”

Brané said she believes roughly 200 people lost their jobs in what she called “Black Friday” cuts.

“They’re eliminating all the oversight bodies within the Department of Homeland Security at a time when they are being more aggressive than ever and making more mistakes than ever,” Brané said. “I think we’ll see people die in custody as a result.”

Trump slashes homeland security civil rights jobs in ‘Black Friday’ cuts
A senior Homeland Security official says the offices established to protect against abuse were cut because they are “roadblocks’ to enforcement.

Trump slashes homeland security civil rights jobs in ‘Black Friday’ cuts