Tag Archives: Department of Homeland Security

CNN: A Marine veteran’s wife, detained by ICE while still breastfeeding, has been released

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A Marine Corps veteran’s wife has been released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown.

Until this week, Mexican national Paola Clouatre had been one of tens of thousands of people in ICE custody as the Trump administration continues to press immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day suspected of being in the US illegally.

Emails reviewed by The Associated Press show that Kennedy’s office put in a request Friday for the Department of Homeland Security to release her after a judge halted her deportation order earlier that week. By Monday, she was out of a remote ICE detention center in north Louisiana and home in Baton Rouge with her veteran husband, Adrian Clouatre, and their two young children.

Kennedy’s constituent services representative, Christy Tate, congratulated Adrian Clouatre on his wife’s release and thanked him for his military service. “I am so happy for you and your family,” Tate wrote in an email to Adrian Clouatre. “God is truly great!”

Kennedy’s office proved “instrumental” in engaging with the Department of Homeland Security, according to Carey Holliday, the family’s attorney. Kennedy’s office did not provide further comment.

Another Louisiana Republican, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also intervened recently with the Department of Homeland Security to secure the release of an Iranian mother from ICE detention following widespread outcry. The woman has lived for decades in New Orleans.

Kennedy has generally been a staunch supporter of Trump’s immigration policies.

“Illegal immigration is illegal – duh,” Kennedy posted on his Facebook page on July 17, amid a series of recent media appearances decrying efforts to prevent ICE officers from making arrests. In April, however, he criticized the Trump administration for mistakenly deporting a Maryland man.

Senator’s office requests mother’s release from ICE custody

The Department of Homeland Security previously told The AP it considered Clouatre to be “illegally” in the country.

An email chain shared by Adrian Clouatre shows that the family’s attorney reached out to Kennedy’s office in early June after Paola Clouatre was detained in late May.

Tate received Paola Clouatre’s court documents by early July and said she then contacted ICE, according to the email exchange.

On July 23, an immigration judge halted Paola Clouatre’s deportation order. After Adrian Clouatre notified Kennedy’s office, Tate said she “sent the request to release” Paola Clouatre to DHS and shared a copy of the judge’s motion with the agency, emails show.

In an email several days later, Tate said that ICE told her it “continues to make custody determinations on a case-by-case basis based on the specific circumstances of each case” and had received the judge’s decision from Kennedy’s office “for consideration.”

The next working day, Paola Clouatre was released from custody.

“We will continue to keep you, your family and others that are experiencing the same issues in our prayers,” Tate said in an email to Adrian Clouatre. “If you need our assistance in the future, please contact us.”

Back with her children

Paola Clouatre had been detained by ICE officers on May 27 during an appointment related to her green card application.

She had entered the country as a minor with her mother from Mexico more than a decade ago and was legally processed while seeking asylum, she, her husband and her attorney say. But Clouatre’s mother later failed to show up for a court date, leading a judge to issue a deportation order against Paola Clouatre in 2018, though by then she had become estranged from her mother and was homeless.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Clouatre’s release.

Adrian Clouatre said he wished the agency would “actually look at the circumstances” before detaining people like his wife. “It shouldn’t just be like a blanket ‘Oh, they’re illegal, throw them in ICE detention.’”

Reunited with her breastfeeding infant daughter and able to snuggle with her toddler son, Paola Clouatre told AP she feels like a mother again.

“I was feeling bad,” she said of detention. “I was feeling like I failed my kids.”

It will likely be a multiyear court process before Paola Clouatre’s immigration court proceedings are formally closed, but things look promising, and she should be able to obtain her green card eventually, her attorney said.

For now, she’s wearing an ankle monitor, but still able to pick up life where she left off, her husband says. The day of her arrest in New Orleans, the couple had planned to sample some of the city’s famed French pastries known as beignets and her husband says they’ll finally get that chance again: “We’re going to make that day up.”

A Marine veteran’s wife, detained by ICE while still breastfeeding, has been released | CNN
A Marine Corps veteran’s wife has been released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/29/us/mother-released-ice-marine-veteran-husband

Straight Arrow News: CBP officers admit to drug smuggling conspiracy using emojis to talk to runners

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Two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers pleaded guilty this month to working with members of a Mexican drug trafficking organization to smuggle multiple types of drugs into the country, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Jesse Clark Garcia, 37, and Diego Bonillo, 30, conspired to let vehicles carrying illegal drugs cross into the United States without being inspected, helping the drug traffickers bypass border security.

The Department of Justice said the two officers secretly used emojis to communicate with the drug smugglers about their location or assignment at the border.

Guilty Pleas in Major Trafficking Case

On July 8, Garcia pleaded guilty to nine criminal charges listed in an indictment, including conspiracy to import controlled substances and importation of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl through the Tecate, California, port of entry.

On July 28, right before his trial was about to begin, Bonillo admitted guilt to three charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances and importation of fentanyl and heroin through the Otay Mesa port of entry.

Prosecutors: Officers Profited From Smuggling

“The United States has alleged that both defendants profited handsomely, funding both domestic and international trips as well as purchases of luxury items and attempts to purchase real estate in Mexico,” a press release from federal prosecutors reads.

Garcia and Bonillo both face life in prison with a minimum of 10 years. Federal prosecutors say Garcia will be sentenced on Sept. 26, and Bonillo on Nov. 7.

Multi-Agency Investigation

The case was investigated through a coordinated effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The dirtbags should be detaining and deporting their own and leave the honest day workers at Home Depots alone!

CBP officers admit to drug smuggling conspiracy using emojis to talk to runners
Two CBP officers pleaded guilty to working with members of a Mexican drug trafficking organization to smuggle drugs into the U.S.

https://san.com/cc/cbp-officers-admit-to-drug-smuggling-conspiracy-using-emojis-to-talk-to-runners

USA Today: ICE deported teenagers and children in immigration raids. Here are their stories.

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Several students who attended K-12 schools in the United States last year won’t return this fall after ICE deported them to other countries.

An empty seat.

Martir Garcia Lara’s fourth-grade teacher and classmates went on with the school day in Torrance, California without him on May 29.

About 20 miles north of his fourth grade classroom, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and detained the boy and his father at their scheduled immigration hearing in Downtown Los Angeles.

The federal immigration enforcement agency, which under President Donald Trump has more aggressively deported undocumented immigrants, separated the young boy and his father for a time and took them to an immigration detention facility in Texas.

Garcia Lara and his father were reunited and deported to Honduras this summer.

Garcia Lara is one of at least five young children and teens who have been rounded up by ICE and deported from the United States with their parents since the start of Trump’s second presidential term. Many won’t return to their school campuses in the fall.

“Martir’s absence rippled beyond the school walls, touching the hearts of neighbors and strangers alike, who united in a shared hope for his safe return,” Sara Myers, a spokesperson for the Torrance Unified School District, told USA TODAY.

Trisha McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said his father Martir Garcia-Banegas, 50, illegally entered the United States in 2021 with his son from the Central American country and an immigration judge ordered them to “removed to Honduras” in Sept. 2022.

“They exhausted due process and had no legal remedies left to pursue,” McLaughlin wrote USA TODAY in an email.

The young boy is now in Honduras without his teacher, classmates and a brother who lives in Torrance.

“I was scared to come here,” Lara told a reporter at the California-based news station ABC7 in Spanish. “I want to see my friends again. All of my friends are there. I miss all my friends very much.”

Although no reported ICE deportations have taken place on school grounds, school administrators, teachers and students told USA TODAY that fear lingers for many immigrant students in anticipation of the new school year.

The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement in the United States. A Reuters analysis of ICE and White House data shows the Trump administration has doubled the daily arrest rates compared to the last decade.

Trump recently signed the House and Senate backed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which increases ICE funding by $75 billion to use to enforce immigration policy and arrest, detain and deport immigrants in the United States.

Although Trump has said he wants to remove immigrants from the country who entered illegally and committed violent crimes, many people without criminal records have also been arrested and deported, including school students who have been picked up along with or in lieu of their parents.

Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, says the Trump administration’s immigration agencies are not targeting children in their raids. She called an insinuation that they are “a fake narrative when the truth tells a much different story.”

“In many of these examples, the children’s parents were illegally present in the country – some posing a risk to the communities they were illegally present in – and when they were going to be removed they chose to take their children with them,” Jackson said. “If you have a final deportation order, as many of these illegal immigrant parents did, you have no right to stay in the United States and should immediately self-deport.”

Parents can choose to leave their kids behind if they are arrested, detained and deported from the United States, she said.

Some advocates for immigrants in the United States dispute that claim. National Immigration Project executive director Sirine Shebaya said she’s aware of undocumented immigrant parents were not given the choice to leave their kids behind or opportunity to make arrangement for them to stay in the United States.

In several cases, ICE targeted parents when they attended routine immigration appointments, while traffic stops led to deportations of two high school students. School principals, teachers and classmates say their absence is sharply felt and other students are afraid they could be next.

Very long article, read the rest at the links below:

ICE deported teenagers and children in immigration raids. Here are their stories.
Several students who attended K-12 schools in the United States last year won’t return this fall after ICE deported them to other countries.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/27/ice-student-deportations-trump-school-communities/84190533007

ICE deported teenagers and children in immigration raids. Here are their stories.
Several students who attended K-12 schools in the United States last year won’t return this fall after ICE deported them to other countries.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-deported-teenagers-and-children-in-immigration-raids-here-are-their-stories/ar-AA1JndT7

Fox News: Medical staff face charges after allegedly interfering with California ICE arrest

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Federal authorities arrested a staff member of a clinic in Ontario, California, for allegedly interfering with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest, while another remains at large. 

Earlier this month, Honduran national Denis Guillen-Solis, a landscaper, allegedly left on foot to evade law enforcement and went inside the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center, where he was not a patient. 

“This story is another example of a false narrative peddled by irresponsible members of the media in furtherance of a political agenda to delegitimize federal agents. The illegal alien arrested inside the medical center was not a patient and was not in any way affiliated with that location. He ran inside for cover and these medical workers attempted to block his apprehension by assaulting our agents,” U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli told Fox News in a statement.

“To be very clear, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you work, if you assault our agents or otherwise interfere with our operations, you will be arrested and charged with a federal crime,” Essayli continued.

The criminal warrants were signed off by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym for two of the staffers, Jose De Jesus Ortega and Danielle Nadine Davila, for allegedly “forcibility assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal officer involving physical contact” and “conspiring to prevent, by force and intimidation, a federal officer from discharging his duties.” 

Ortega was arrested on Friday morning, and Davila remains at large and is currently being sought by law enforcement.

On LinkedIn, Davilla is listed as a certified surgical technologist at the center, and is specifically said in the criminal complaint to have allegedly put her hands on the ICE officer and wedged herself between him and Guillen-Solis.

“ICE officers conducted a targeted enforcement operation to arrest two illegal aliens. Officers in clearly marked ICE bulletproof vests approached the illegal alien targets as they exited a vehicle,” the Department of Homeland Security posted to X on July 9.

“One of the illegal aliens, Denis Guillen-Solis who is from Honduras, fled on foot to evade law enforcement. He ended up near the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center where hospital staff assaulted law enforcement and drug the officer and illegal alien into the facility. Then, the staff attempted to obstruct the arrest by locking the door, blocking law enforcement vehicles from moving, and even called the cops claiming there was a ‘kidnapping,’” the post added.

“This is a private property,” one staffer in a video of the incident said, asking the ICE agent to leave.

“Get your hands off of him,” another staffer said.

California Democratic Assemblymember Michelle Rodriguez, who represents Ontario, spoke out against ICE after the incident.

“It is devastating to watch the impact of ICE on our communities. This past Tuesday, Immigration Enforcement officers kidnapped constituents from a surgical center as they were doing their jobs,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

“While I support law enforcement officers who act with integrity and uphold the law, I will never condone these cruel and lawless actions. Without accountability, we are left with armed men in masks dragging people off the street – this is not safety, not justice, and this is not who we should be,” she continued. 

There’s no sympathy from me for masked Gestapo thugs trespassing on private property and dragging people off.

Medical staff face charges after allegedly interfering with California ICE arrest
ICE operation in Ontario led to arrests of clinic staff who allegedly blocked federal agents from apprehending a Honduran national in a foot pursuit.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/medical-staff-face-federal-charges-after-allegedly-assaulting-ice-agents

Disability Rights California: “They Treat Us Like Dogs in Cages”

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Inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center

“¡Nos tratan como perros!
¡Nos tratan como perros en jaulas!”

People being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center (“Adelanto”) shouted in Spanish about being treated like dogs in cages as Disability Rights California (“DRC”) conducted a monitoring visit on June 25, 2025. DRC monitored Adelanto after receiving alarming reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) was holding people with disabilities in unsafe and unsanitary conditions at Adelanto. ICE confines non-citizens at Adelanto, which is an immigration detention center in San Bernardino County, California. The facility is owned and operated by the GEO Group, Inc., a private company that ICE contracts with to provide custody services.

Disability Rights California is the designated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities in the state. DRC is charged under federal and state laws with protecting and advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, including through the monitoring of facilities that provide care and treatment to such individuals.1

During the monitoring visit, DRC investigated the reports it received and sought to determine whether ICE and GEO Group are subjecting people with disabilities to abuse and neglect.2 DRC toured various areas of the Adelanto facility, including those used for intake, housing, segregation, medical and mental health care, recreation, and visitation. DRC also spoke with GEO Group representatives, ICE officials, and Adelanto staff, and interviewed 18 individuals detained at Adelanto.

Based on the conditions DRC observed, its interviews with detention center leadership and individuals held at Adelanto, and reviews of related information, DRC finds that ICE and GEO Group are subjecting people with disabilities to abuse and neglect. As detailed below, the conditions that DRC observed and the reports it received are alarming. DRC urges DHS, ICE, and the GEO Group to immediately address these issues and prevent further abuse and neglect of people with disabilities by ensuring:

  • Access to appropriate medical and mental health care;
  • Access to processes that properly address disability-related needs;
  • Access to basic needs, including adequate food, water, and clothing; and
  • Access to family and natural supports to prevent decompensation.

Disability Rights California protects and advocates for the rights of all people with disabilities in the State of California, regardless of their ethnicity, cultural background, language, or immigration status.

Many people migrating to the United States are forced to leave their countries due to political instability, dangerous conditions, or persecution. Many are seeking asylum. They exhibit high instances of trauma and present numerous mental health needs. Immigration detention facilities are generally ill-equipped, and are not the least restrictive setting to meet the medical, mental health, and other needs of adults and children with disabilities.

Disability Rights California has long fought for the de-institutionalization of people with disabilities and for their right to live and receive services in the community. Immigrants with disabilities deserve this same treatment.

Background

The reports DRC recently received about the conditions at Adelanto are similar to conditions DRC observed during its prior investigation of Adelanto in 2019.3 In 2019, DRC published a report that detailed serious issues with the conditions in which people with disabilities were held and the poor treatment to which they were subjected—ultimately finding that conditions at Adelanto resulted in the abuse and neglect of people with disabilities. As part of the June 25, 2025 visit, DRC also sought to determine whether conditions have changed since 2019. 

During DRC’s recent monitoring visit, ICE and GEO Group held nearly 1,400 people at Adelanto—a dramatic increase from the approximately 300 individuals it held there just weeks before.4 Due to the surging numbers of people at Adelanto, conditions appear to have quickly deteriorated. 

Overall, DRC found serious issues including: (1) inadequate access to medical treatment, such as life-saving medication and wound care, and exposure to widespread respiratory illnesses; (2) inadequate access to food and water, including extreme delays in meal distribution, provision of food that results in significant health issues, and a shortage of drinking water; (3) inadequate access to clean clothes, with many remaining in soiled clothing for long periods of time; and (4) minimal opportunities to contact family. Further intensifying these issues, many of the people DRC interviewed had never experienced incarceration and felt overwhelmed and terrified by their confinement in a locked, jail-like facility.5 

Findings

1. Inadequate Access to Medical and Mental Health Care and Disability Accommodations

During the monitoring visit, DRC observed and noted serious issues concerning inadequate access to medical and mental health care and failure to properly address disability-related accommodations.6 These issues appear to be ongoing, in part due to Adelanto staff difficulties in identifying and addressing the health care needs of detained individuals, particularly those with disabilities.7 These issues are compounded by the fact that many individuals detained at Adelanto have never been confined and do not know how to navigate the jail-like systems at Adelanto.

DRC met with many individuals during the monitoring visit who were not receiving proper medication to manage their medical conditions.8 One person reported that he needed to take diabetes medication twice per day but had only received it twice over the 10 days he had been detained—placing him at life-threatening risk of diabetic shock. Other individuals reported insufficient access to medication to manage severe asthma and urinary conditions or not having medications transferred from previous facilities to ensure continued treatment.9

One person reported that he needed to take diabetes medication twice per day but had only received it twice over the 10 days he had been detained—placing him at life-threatening risk of diabetic shock.

DRC also spoke with several individuals who reported inadequate medical treatment.10 DRC interviewed one person who had a large, swollen, untreated lump near her wrist, reportedly sustained when she was taken into ICE custody 17 days prior. DRC interviewed another individual using a prosthetic eye who was unable to clean the prosthesis to prevent infection. Although both individuals requested medical attention, neither received a response as of DRC’s visit.11 In addition, several individuals informed DRC that they did not understand how to make requests for medical care or declined to do so because Adelanto staff failed to respond. 

Individuals also reported contagious respiratory viruses quickly spreading due to the increased crowding at Adelanto. People consistently expressed concern that they received limited treatment, if any, to ease their symptoms. DRC also observed staff not wearing masks to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses. These reports and observations are especially concerning given Adelanto’s prior record of inadequate COVID-19 policies and practices, which led to a 2020 court order limiting the number of individuals who could be held at Adelanto.12 

DRC also interviewed several individuals who reported experiencing mental health symptoms but not receiving mental health care.13 One individual, for example, described struggling with anxiety and panic attacks due to past traumatic events, including sexual assault and torture, that took place in his country of origin. He feared that he would be imprisoned and tortured again if he returned. Although he sought help from Adelanto staff for his mental health symptoms, he reported that he had not been evaluated yet despite being held in detention for over three weeks. Other people DRC interviewed also reported difficulty obtaining access to mental health services. Indeed, staff reported that there were only three psychologists to serve the population of nearly 1,400 as of June 25, 2025.

Several individuals with disabilities reported that they were not being afforded reasonable accommodations to manage their health.14 For example, two individuals reported acute spinal conditions that substantially impacted their ability to lie down to rest. The first individual said that the facility-issued mattress was damaged and was causing significant pain to his spine. He submitted multiple requests for a new or additional mattress but reportedly never received a response. Another person approached DRC and showed his broken hearing aid that needed repair.  

The troubling issues that DRC encountered are likely related to the recent sharp increase in the number of people held at Adelanto. Adelanto staff stated that the facility was not adequately staffed to respond to the sudden surge, so staff from other facilities were assisting with operations.

2. Inadequate Access to Food, Water, and Clothes

Based on DRC’s interviews and observations, DRC finds that ICE and GEO Group are failing to provide for individuals’ basic needs, including sufficient access to healthy food, water, and clean clothing.

Limited access to food was a recurring issue throughout DRC’s monitoring tour.15 While walking through the housing units, DRC observed several individuals pointing towards their mouths and shaking their heads “no” to indicate that they were not receiving food.

People also consistently reported extreme delays in meal distribution. During the visit, DRC asked Adelanto staff when they would serve lunch and staff said that “feeding” would be provided starting at 11 a.m. However, most of the people DRC interviewed between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. reported that they had not received food since around 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. Many also said that they feared they would not eat again until potentially 10 p.m.

The inconsistency of, and significant delays in, meal distribution have left many individuals in Adelanto in prolonged states of hunger and physical pain. One individual reported experiencing significant weight loss in the 20 days since their arrival at Adelanto. For people with chronic medical conditions, the harmful impact of inconsistent meals may be even more serious. One individual reported that he had diabetes and was unable to properly manage his blood sugar because he did not know when to expect meals. DRC met multiple people with diabetes facing similar challenges. 

Most people DRC interviewed also reported that the quality of the food was poor or portions were too small to keep them satisfied. Many individuals shared that they are experiencing gastric issues due to poor food quality, including severe stomach cramping and pain.

DRC received similar reports of limited access to water.16 Adelanto brings large water coolers into the housing units, but the individuals DRC spoke to expressed concern that there is not enough water for everyone and people are dehydrated. They also raised safety concerns about the water from sinks and drinking fountains, which they said appears cloudy and has an unusual taste.

Many people also complained about the lack of access to clean clothes.17 Several individuals pulled on their shirts and shook their heads “no” to indicate that they did not have adequate clean clothing. One individual wearing visibly soiled clothing told DRC that Adelanto had not provided him with clean clothes for 20 days. He reported that after showering, he puts on the same soiled clothing out of necessity. Others reported having to wash their clothes by hand in the sink because Adelanto fails to provide sufficient clean clothes.

One individual wearing visibly soiled clothing told DRC that Adelanto had not provided him with clean clothes for 20 days.

3. Limited Connections with Family and Natural Supports 

During the monitoring visit, DRC received multiple reports of minimal opportunities to remain in contact with family and loved ones while in detention. Individuals reported limited access to phones/devices to make calls to loved ones, and calls were regularly disconnected. Two individuals also reported that they had been separated from and not been permitted to speak with their spouses, even though their spouses are also being held in Adelanto. Limiting access to family can exacerbate feelings of isolation, depression, and anxiety, particularly for people with disabilities.18 In fact, many people reported feelings of overwhelm, hopelessness, and fear. Given the unique stressors present in detention settings, facilitating connection with family and natural supports is critical to prevent people with mental health conditions from experiencing further psychological harm and decompensation.19  

Conclusion

The conditions that DRC observed at Adelanto on June 25, 2025, and the reports it received, are alarming. Based on the monitoring visit and related interviews, DRC finds that conditions at Adelanto continue to result in the abuse and neglect of people with disabilities. DHS, ICE, and GEO Group must safeguard the rights, safety, and dignity of the people detained at Adelanto. DRC urges DHS, ICE, and GEO Group to immediately address the issues detailed in this report and ensure the following:

  • Access to appropriate medical and mental health care;
  • Access to processes that properly address disability-related needs;
  • Access to basic needs, including adequate food, water, and clothing; and
  • Access to family and natural supports to prevent decompensation.

DRC has grave concerns that the recent surge of individuals being held in Adelanto will only place individuals with disabilities at even greater risk of abuse, neglect, and serious harm. The conditions at Adelanto make it clear that the current system of immigration detention is dangerous and inadequate for all people, especially for those with disabilities. 

  • 1.See 42 U.S.C. §§ 15001 et seq. (“Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act”); 29 U.S.C. §§ 794e et seq. (“Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights Act”); 42 U.S.C. §§ 10801 et seq. (“Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act”); Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 4900 et seq. (“Protection and Advocacy Agency”).
  • 2.“Abuse” and “neglect” are defined in federal and state law and their implementing regulations. See 42 C.F.R. § 51.2; 45 C.F.R. § 1326.19; Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 4900.
  • 3.Disability Rights California, There Is No Safety Here: The Dangers for People with Mental Illness and Other Disabilities in Immigration Detention at GEO Group’s Adelanto ICE processing Center (2019), https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/system/files/file-attachments/DRC_REPORT_ADELANTO-IMMIG_DETENTION_MARCH2019.pdf [hereinafter DRC’s 2019 Adelanto Report].
  • 4.Charles Homans & Philip Montgomery, Trump Got the Fight He Wanted. Did it Turn Out the Way He Expected?, N.Y. Times (June 21, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/magazine/trump-los-angeles-immigration.html
  • 5.People who are detained by ICE are civil, not criminal, detainees. See, e.g., Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 690 (2001); Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 530, 536 (1979).
  • 6.The Performance-Based National Detention Standards define reasonable accommodations as: [A]ny change or adjustment in detention facility operations, any modification to detention facility policy, practice, or procedure, or any provision of an aid or service that permits a detainee with a disability to participate in the facility’s programs, services, activities, or requirements, or to enjoy the benefits and privileges of detention programs equal to those enjoyed by detainees without disabilities. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enf’t, Performance-based National Detention Standards (2011, rev. 2016), https://www.ice.gov/doclib/detention-standards/2011/pbnds2011r2016.pdf [hereinafter PBNDS].
  • 7.See DRC’s 2019 Adelanto Report, supra note 2, at 40-44.
  • 8.See PBNDS, supra note 5, § 4.3(V)(G), (H), (U) (discussing standards for medication management).
  • 9.See id. § 4.3(V)(Z) (discussing standards for continuity of care).
  • 10.See id. §§ 2.13 (discussing standards for communication between staff and detainees), 4.8 (discussing standards for assessing and identifying disabilities and accommodations).
  • 11.After the June 25 visit, DRC submitted individual inquiries to ICE, some of which ICE stated were addressed.
  • 12.ACLU of S. Cal., Roman v. Wolf, https://www.aclusocal.org/en/cases/roman-v-wolf (last visited July 15, 2025).
  • 13.Studies show that immigration detention is associated with negative and harmful impact on mental health. See Altaf Saadi, Caitlin Patler & Paola Langer, Duration in Immigration Detention and Health Harms, 8 JAMA Network Open no. 1 (2025), https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2829506#zoi241575r33.
  • 14.See PBNDS, supra note 5, § 4.8 (discussing standards for assessing and identifying disabilities and accommodations).
  • 15.See id. 6 § 4.1, (discussing food service standards).
  • 16.See id. § 4.1(D)(1), (requiring clean and potable drinking water to be available).
  • 17.See id. § 4.5(V)(A) (requiring the regular issuance and exchange of clothing, bedding, linens, towels and personal hygiene items).
  • 18.Saadi, Patler & Langer, supra note 13.
  • 19.Practices that are likely to cause immediate psychological harm or result in long-term harm if the practices continue may constitute abuse. See, e.g., Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 4900(b).
“They Treat Us Like Dogs in Cages” Inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center | Disability Rights California
DRC monitored Adelanto after receiving alarming reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) was holding people with disabilities in unsafe and unsanitary conditions at Adelanto.

https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/drc-advocacy/investigations/inside-the-adelanto-ice-processing-center

Latin Times: ICE Arrests Migrant Deemed Mentally Impaired by Judge as He Exits Immigration Court: ‘He’s Clearly Not Understanding the Questions’

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Judge O’Brien had granted the man more time for the man to find legal representation but he was detained by ICE agents a few minutes afterwards

A migrant man whose mental competence was questioned in open court was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers moments after his immigration hearing in San Francisco on Thursday. Law enforcement proceeded despite a judge’s explicit concerns about his ability to participate in legal proceedings.

The man, who was only fluent in Mam, a Mayan language primarily spoken in Guatemala, muttered to himself throughout the hearing and was unable to answer basic questions from Immigration Judge Patrick O’Brien, including his home address.

“It’s obvious to me that there are competency issues,” said O’Brien, as Mother Jones reports. O’Brien added that the man appeared confused even after a Mam interpreter was eventually located to assist. “He’s clearly not understanding the questions.”

O’Brien denied a Department of Homeland Security attorney’s initial request to dismiss the man’s case, a move that could have led to expedited removal, and instead granted a continuance, allowing more time for the man to find legal representation. Still, within minutes of leaving the courtroom at 630 Sansome Street, he was arrested by ICE agents, one of at least three arrests that morning witnessed by reporters.

Over the past several weeks, more than 30 immigrants have been arrested by ICE at or just outside San Francisco’s immigration courts, even when judges have not approved dismissals or deportation orders, as Mother Jones also reported earlier this week.

On Thursday, two women also had their cases dismissed or delayed by DHS motions and were arrested as they exited their hearings. O’Brien warned one of them, “I am pretty sure you won’t be coming back to my court,” and advised both to seek legal help quickly. Both women began crying during their hearings. One said through an interpreter, “How am I supposed to respond to this motion if I don’t understand it?”

The arrests occurred in the absence of court-appointed attorneys, leaving legal advocacy groups scrambling to respond after the fact. Attorneys with the “Attorney of the Day” program, who typically monitor proceedings and alert legal networks, were not present that morning.

The piece comes days after a new report from Disability Rights California, which documents deteriorating conditions for disabled immigrants inside California’s Adelanto Detention Center, including insufficient access to medication, food, clean clothing, and communication with family. “Many had never experienced incarceration before,” the report notes. “They felt overwhelmed and terrified.”

ICE is now preying on vulnerable people without attorneys whose cases are continued. This is beyond disgusting.

ICE Arrests Migrant Deemed Mentally Impaired by Judge as He Exits Immigration Court: ‘He’s Clearly Not Understanding the Questions’
A migrant man whose mental competence was questioned in open court was arrested by ICE officers moments after his immigration hearing in San Francisco.

https://www.latintimes.com/ice-arrests-migrant-deemed-mentally-impaired-judge-he-exits-immigration-court-hes-clearly-not-587576

Alternet: ‘Not just racist but stupid’: VP slammed for ‘sleight of hand’ while promoting far-right theory

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JD Dunce, “Not Just Racist But Stupid”

Author Katherine Stewart says Vice President JD Vance is “polishing ideas from the far-right gutters with an Ivy League sheen,” particularly when it comes to smearing a pretty face over the racist Great Replacement Theory.

Stewart says President Donald Trump is expelling asylum seekers, abusing foreign visitors and deporting and incarcerating people who have never been accused of any crime. Meanwhile, Vance is in the wings, pushing a “thoughtful” version of the “Great Replacement Theory” that’s sure to appease nativists who embrace the idea that immigration is part of a deliberate plot to destroy the U.S. by replacing “real” or “true” Americans with aliens.

Stewart notes how Vance recently argued that America’s founders understood “that our shared qualities, our heritage, our values, our manners and customs confer a special and indispensable advantage. … Social bonds form among people who have something in common. They share the same neighborhood. They share the same church.”

“Vance is using a sleight of hand here,” said Stewart, agreeing that social bonds do form when people share things in common, but she adds that a nation’s people who “define themselves according to the church their grandparents attended … [is] not the America that Lincoln and Jefferson … established.”

“We the people have agreed to promote the general welfare not by conducting a survey of the views of some subset of ancestors who happened to be present at the Civil War, but by making laws through representative government based on the idea that all people are free and equal before the law.”

Versions of the Vance ideology haunt American history, Steward argues, and always with the same malicious intent: to divide “real” Americans from the ones who “don’t belong.”

“The intent becomes clear the moment you ask the speaker who the ‘real’ Americans are,” Stewart said. “Are they the descendants of the Mayflower? That’s just silly. … Are the real Americans white? That’s not just racist but stupid; most Black Americans today have ancestors that lived in America significantly longer, on average, than white Americans.”

But the argument serves the purpose of putting a lot of money in the hands of a few, said Stewart, whether it’s letting slaveholders get rich while their white neighbors get outcompeted by slave labor or funneling money to “the establishment of a grifty concentration camp on American soil.” (Research shows contractors affiliated with the controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” have “lost” tens of millions of dollars, while others have forced states to pay for detention centers it never built.)

“We can’t know what’s in JD Vance’s heart,” Stewart argued, but “he seems to believe that, to keep himself and his associates in power, the U.S. government needs to ship asylum seekers off to random islands and engage in an ever-expanding menu of sadistic acts. Meanwhile, none of our actual immigration issues are resolved and the rest of us are simply forced to pay the price.”

Read the full New Republic report at this link.

‘Not just racist but stupid’: VP slammed for ‘sleight of hand’ while promoting far-right theory

https://www.alternet.org/jd-vance-baseless-claim

More in The New Republic:

JD Vance’s “Intellectual” Spin on the Racist Great Replacement Theory

As the Trump administration advances its draconian immigration schemes, the vice president is doing his part—by polishing ideas from the far-right gutters with an Ivy League sheen.

USA Today: Immigrants forced to eat ‘like a dog’ in detention centers

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Forced to eat the day’s only meal “like a dog,” with their hands shackled behind their back. Detained for days with nothing but shoes for a pillow and no other bedding ‒ just cold, concrete floors and constant fluorescent lighting. Medical care that denied a man with diabetes insulin for a week and may have contributed to at least one death.  

A Human Rights Watch report says three Miami immigrant detention facilities have subjected people to conditions so inhumane they have become, at times, life-threatening. Many ICE detention facilities are becoming overcrowded and conditions are deteriorating, according to the July 21 report.

The report, which drew from the testimonials of 17 detainees, examined conditions since President Donald Trump took office in January. Investigators say conditions at the Krome North Processing Center, Federal Detention Center and Broward Transitional Center flout international law on holding people in immigrant detention and federal government standards.

The conditions for people held in the detention facilities “are not the way that any legitimate, functioning government should treat people within its custody,” report author and editor Alison Leal Parker, deputy director of the Human Rights Watch’s US Program, said.

While the facilities have had issues predating this administration, Parker said Trump administration officials have been unwilling to uphold standards to properly treat immigrant detainees. The conditions indicate the system is “overwhelmed, overcrowded and chaotic,” she said.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said claims of subprime conditions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers are “FALSE.”

“All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” McLaughlin said in an emailed statement. “Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”

Southern, Republican-led states have emerged as key partners in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Florida stood up a tent city called “Alligator Alcatraz.” Georgia is expanding its largest ICE detention center. And Louisiana is hosting the most dedicated ICE facilities outside Texas.

Time at all three facilities

Entrepreneur Harpinder Singh Chauhan, 56, spent time at all three facilities during nearly four months as a detainee, beginning in February. 

The British national, who first entered the country on an E-2 investor visa in 2016, opened small businesses in Florida. One of them failed ‒ a franchise of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, which also bankrupted many other franchisees. He and his wife were seeking permanent residency through a valid EB-5 visa petition when their business collapsed.

While Chauhan was never convicted of crimes, he was ordered to pay restitution to Florida for tax issues, court records show. In February, he was turned over to ICE after a routine probation check-in.

At the Krome facility, he spent days in cold, crowded processing cells without beds or showers. He said he was denied medical care, including insulin for his diabetes and an inhaler for his asthma. He used his shoes as a pillow. 

During a tuberculosis outbreak, he said the facility had no soap. Instead, staff made detainees use shampoo to wash their hands. Detainees jokingly said everyone had “Krome’s disease,” a play on Chrohn’s disease, a chronic gastrointestinal illness, Chauhan recalled.

Detainees were beaten for protesting their treatment, and one man was hogtied, the report said. Officials also used solitary confinement as punishment, according to women who spoke to Human Rights Watch. In June, detainees at Krome signaled “SOS” to news cameras from the yard over conditions.

The report said women were placed at Krome, a privately operated men’s facility, where they were crowded in small holding cells without gender-appropriate care or privacy. USA TODAY reported on similar conditions inside Krome, where one man died ‒ an incident Human Rights Watch suspects may have been linked to medical neglect.

Akima, a private Alaska Native Corporation that operates Krome, didn’t respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment. But in response to a Human Rights Watch letter summarizing findings and questions, the company said it couldn’t comment publicly on the specifics of its “engagement” with the government, according to the report.

‘Like a dog’

Midway through his detention, on April 15, Chauhan was placed inside a crowded Federal Detention Center holding cell awaiting transfer without a meal for the day. Styrofoam food containers sat full for hours on other side of the federal prison’s bars.

In the evening, he and others finally received food. But with their hands shackled at their waist, they were forced to eat by putting their faces to bite into potatoes rolling around, rice and dry chicken, he said.

“You’ve got to kind of prop it up with your knees and then eat out of it like a dog,” Chauhan said. Another 21-year-old detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch also described being forced to eat like an animal.

The 25 to 30 men forced to eat this way were transferred from the facility several hours later, Chauhan said.

Less than a week later, at Broward, Chauhan collapsed in the heat awaiting dinner and was taken to a hospital, with no information given to his family. He had not had his insulin for nearly a week. A 44-year-old Haitian woman, Marie Ange Blaise, died at the facility in April, following a medical emergency that was not treated urgently, according to Human Rights Watch and advocates.

“We strongly believe her death could have been prevented,” Guerline Jozef, director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance told USA TODAY at the time. “We will continue to demand accountability and protection for people in ICE custody.”

GEO Group, which operates Broward, denied the report’s allegations, including questions about Chauhan’s account.

The facility has around-the-clock access to medical care, as well as access to visitations, libraries, translation services and amenities, Christopher Ferreira, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement. Support services are monitored by ICE, including on-site personnel, and other organizations within DHS.

A ‘dark time’ in US

Chauhan was ordered deported and boarded a flight back to the United Kingdom on June 5. His family, including two adult children, stayed in Florida to close what remains of their businesses.

Now living outside London, Chauhan said he plans to keep paying his Florida debt. Even though his family is ready to leave, he hopes to one day return to America.

“Every nation goes through a dark time,” he said. “I feel this is just a test.”

Immigrants forced to eat ‘like a dog’ in ‘overcrowded and chaotic’ detention centers
A Human Rights Watch report said three Miami detention facilities subject people to inhumane, at times life-threatening, conditions.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/07/24/trump-immigration-detention-conditions-dog/85338970007

Fox News: ‘Lawless and insane’: Trump admin readies for fight after judges block Abrego Garcia removal for now

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In Nashville, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Wednesday ordered Abrego Garcia’s release from criminal custody pending trial, writing in a 37-page ruling that the federal government “fails to provide any evidence that there is something in Abrego’s history, or his exhibited characteristics, that warrants detention.” 

He also poured cold water on the dozens of allegations made by Trump officials, including by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Nashville last week, that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member.

“Based on the record before it, for the court to find that Abrego is member of or in affiliation with MS13, it would have to make so many inferences from the government’s proffered evidence in its favor that such conclusion would border on fanciful,” he said. 

King Donald’s pathetic band of idiots, suck-ups, and sycophants really needs to learn to quit when they’re behind, way behind in this case.

‘Lawless and insane’: Trump admin readies for fight after judges block Abrego Garcia removal for now
The Trump administration faces setbacks as judges in Tennessee and Maryland block the deportation of Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, with officials suggesting they may violate court orders.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lawless-insane-trump-admin-readies-fight-after-judges-block-abrego-garcia-removal-now

The Nation: Punished for Playing by the Rules: the Deliberate Cruelty of Trump’s Deportation Regime

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Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema, 20, dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans on a Tuesday morning in June and took the subway from Bushwick to Lower Manhattan. She walked into the Jacob Javits Federal building at 26 Federal Plaza, a few blocks north of City Hall, took her keys and phone out of her pockets to pass through security, and got in an elevator up to the 12th-floor courtroom of Judge Donald Thompson. Like the vast majority of people appearing in immigration court, she had no lawyer with her. Chipantiza-Sisalema’s parents and younger brother had made the brutal journey from Ecuador to the United States in 2022, part of an increasing number of Ecuadorans propelled north as their country destabilized. They settled in New York—where a large Ecuadoran population has been part of the city since the 1970s—and filed a claim for asylum. Chipantiza-Sisalema joined her parents last year, crossing into the US at El Paso in May 2024. In the volatile political climate in Ecuador, she had faced threats and stalking, her father later told reporters. Immigration officials in El Paso determined Chipantiza-Sisalema was not a flight risk or a danger to the community, so she was permitted to go on to New York to her family and told to appear in court more than a year later. She followed the rules.

The June 24 hearing at 26 Federal Plaza was her first immigration hearing. It was brief. Judge Thompson scheduled her next date for March 2026. But when Chipantiza-Sisalema stepped out of the courtroom to return home, masked men grabbed her. She was hustled down to the 10th floor of the courthouse. She would remain there for nine days—without being charged or ever given the opportunity to contest her detention, without access to an attorney, sleeping on the floor, with minimal food and nowhere to bathe. In hasty one-minute phone calls, Chipantiza-Sisalema told her parents there were at least 70 other people there. The small number of holding cells in the federal building are meant to be used just for a few hours before someone is transferred to a different facility, attorneys familiar with the building explained. There is no provision for meals and no beds. When she was put on a plane and transferred to the for-profit Richwood Detention facility in Louisiana on the Fourth of July—before a New York judge had a chance to review the habeas corpus petition an attorney filed the day before—she was still wearing that same red shirt and blue jeans.

The overwhelming majority of immigrants whose cases are winding through the immigration court system show up for their hearings, believing that by adhering to the system’s labyrinthine requirements they’ll be rewarded with clearance to stay in the country. Or at least the chance to fight another day. But under President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation regime, abiding by the immigration system’s rules has become increasingly dangerous. Those who show up in court now routinely face arrest. But failure to appear for a hearing generally triggers a deportation order, attorneys explained. Immigrants, advocates, and elected officials at all levels are scrambling to confront what they say is lawlessness inside the courthouse and throughout the ICE detention system. “ICE is just detaining everyone and giving only some a right to a hearing, and it’s only the possibility of having a lawyer who will shout and scream for you that your case is heard,” said Melissa Chua, an attorney at the pro bono New York Legal Assistance Group, who is representing several people who, despite following US immigration procedure, are now in detention.

Chipantiza-Sisalema is just one of hundreds of people taken in the past month by masked ICE agents at Manhattan’s immigration courts, Harold Solis, co–legal director for the Brooklyn-based immigrant rights group Make the Road New York, told The Nation. “The truth is, I don’t think anyone has a full scope of how many people have been held there.” Make the Road is now representing Chipantiza-Sisalema. Similar scenes have played out in courthouses across the country, with immigrants often shuttled between several facilities before their family or attorney can locate them. Beginning in April, it appeared to court observers in Manhattan that ICE was lying in wait for people whose cases were dismissed or who were ordered to be deported. Veteran attorneys say courthouse arrests had previously been extremely unusual. “In all my years of practice, it has never been a fact of life that going to immigration court leads to you being detained,” Solis said. By late June, ICE was routinely taking people even when, like Chipantiza-Sisalema, US immigration judges had ordered them to reappear several months in the future.

“People are being disappeared into this hole of 26 Federal Plaza for a prolonged period of time and in deplorable conditions,” said Kendal Nystedt, an attorney at the rights group Unlocal whose client was held there for six days. The New York Immigration Coalition is representing someone held for three weeks, executive director Murad Awawdeh said. The vast majority, maybe as many as 99 percent, according to a close court watcher who asked not to be identified because of the nature of her work, do not have an attorney.

“If you’re someone without a family member or no one has alerted us to you, there is no way for us to know what has happened,” said Chua. “They are really creating this shadow place that can deny people protections they are afforded by our Constitution.”

In the chaotic seconds as immigrants exit courtrooms, volunteer observers hastily attempt to catch people’s names, alien registration numbers, and contacts for family members before ICE strongarms them into elevators and out of sight. The hope is that by collecting people’s names, their families will be able to find out where they are sent. A diffuse mutual aid network raises commissary funds, tries to connect people to counsel, and offers support to families left behind—often without a breadwinner. Ordinarily when someone is detained, they show up in the ICE detainee locator in a mattered of hours, attorneys said. But those held at 26 Federal Plaza and in irregular detention in courthouses elsewhere are listed only as “in transit” for the days-long duration of their stay. In this limbo state, their lawyers and families can’t reach them.

Chua and other attorneys emphasized that the spectacle of ICE sweeping people up in courthouses was a dramatic departure from norms—even in an immigration system hardly characterized by transparency or compassion. Several members of New York’s congressional delegation, including Representatives Adriano Espaillat, Daniel Goldman, Jerrold Nadler, and Nydia Velasquez, have tried to find out how many people are held at 26 Federal Plaza—and to assess conditions. They’ve all been rebuffed.

In a surreal, Kakfaesque incident, Bill Joyce, deputy director of the New York ICE field office, told Representatives Goldman and Nadler in June that the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza—where a shifting number of immigrants are held against their will for days on end—is not a detention facility. Rather, it is a place ICE is “housing [immigrants] until they can be detained.” Members of Congress have a right to inspect places where people are detained, but not, Joyce argued, a place they are merely “held.” On July 14, Espaillat and Velasquez were again prevented from inspecting the facility. The lawmakers are considering legal action against the Department of Homeland Security for preventing them from exercising their oversight rights, Espaillat said.

That people are held within a courthouse in a sanctuary city that considers itself the capital of immigrant America is an affront that has New York lawmakers searching for solutions. “We’re fighting this from the legal front and the budgeting front and the legislative front. And we’re fighting this in public opinion,” Espaillat said. Likewise, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said his office is seeking litigation in support and praised the efforts of court observers. A coalition of immigrants rights groups in Washington, DC, filed a class action suit in federal district court in DC on July 17, alleging that the courthouse arrests are a violation of due process. New York groups could soon follow.

While ICE is barred by state law from entering New York criminal and civil courts, 26 Federal Plaza is under federal jurisdiction. But standing beside Chipantiza-Sisalema’s bereft and terrified parents at a July 3 press conference, several elected officials called on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to find a way to intervene. Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who represents parts of Brooklyn, thinks lawmakers, whose session ended mid-June, should return to Albany. “I also call on my governor, Kathy Hochul, to pass New York for All and to call us to a special session and get ICE out of our courts,” she said, referring to a bill that would extend some sanctuary protections to immigrants across New York State. Espaillat introduced HR 4176—The No Secret Police Act—in June. In the unlikely event it passes the Republican-controlled Congress, it would bar federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks or hiding their badges except in specific undercover instances. Last week, New York Attorney General Leticia James and a coalition of 20 attorneys general urged Congress to pass the bill and a bundle of similar legislation.

Closer to home, the New York City budget adopted at the end of June increased city funding for pro bono immigration lawyers by $76 million to $120 million in total, and the city’s law department filed amicus briefs in support of two detained New Yorkers this spring. But the New York Immigration Coalition wants to see a full right to counsel extended to immigration court. The rollout of city-funded right-to-counsel in housing court several years ago was not without complications, but it dramatically rebalanced the scale between tenants and landlords and has been copied elsewhere. New York wouldn’t be the first place to guarantee a right to an immigration lawyer. Oregon adopted universal access to representation in most immigration matters in 2022, said Isa Peña, director of strategy for Innovation Law Lab, based in Portland.

As courthouse arrests pile up, lawyers who are able to identify people being held are filing habeas corpus petitions in federal district courts, in hopes of keeping their clients from being transferred to distant detention facilities or deported—but also simply to compel the government to reveal where they are, dispelling the twilight status of being in perpetual “transit.” These petitions have the advantage of being heard by judges who are part of the federal judiciary—and perhaps more attuned to the rule of law than immigration court judges, who serve at the pleasure of the Department of Homeland Security.

In Buffalo, in a case since joined by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Prisoners Legal Service is arguing that ICE’s aggressive presence in the halls of federal courthouses constitutes not just an escalation of Trump’s war on immigrants but a systematic attempt to deprive people of their due-process rights. “It’s a huge deviation in ICE tactics and unlawful in various ways,” said NYCLU attorney Amy Louise Belscher, who is representing Oliver Mata Velasquez in a habeas case. Mata Velasquez, 19, came to the United States from Venezuela in September 2024, using the CBPOne app the Biden administration required of asylum seekers.As with Chipantiza-Sisalema, immigration officials at the border determined Mata Velasquez was not a flight risk or a danger and permitted him to enter the country. He obtained work authorization and showed up May 21 for his first immigration hearing, as instructed. A judge told him to return in February 2026, but before he could leave the courthouse, ICE arrested him. Last week a judge ordered Mata Velasquez immediately released and forbade ICE from detaining him again without permission from the judge.

“Federal judges are finding these courthouse arrests unlawful,” Belscher said. “They are detaining people not because they are at risk of flight or a danger to the community, but because they are easy to find.” The NYCLU’s arguments for Mata Velasquez cite a bundle of cases successfully argued in Oregon, by the Innovation Law Lab. Those cases, named for ICE Seattle field office director Drew Bostock, argue that the courthouse arrests violate the immigrant’s right to due process. That such a violation is occurring precisely in the place one goes to seek justice has scandalized attorneys. “When we saw that people were targeted at the courthouse—where your fundamental freedoms are supposed to be upheld, we moved quickly to intervene,” Innovation Law Lab’s Peña said.

Some of the habeas petitions filed in New York last month resulted in judges’ issuing emergency orders to keep the person nearby, preventing ICE from venue shopping by sending the person to Texas or Louisiana.

People aren’t only being taken at court. Milton Maisel Perez y Perez, a teacher who fled his native Guatemala because of threats from gangs, has been in immigration proceedings for six years. Like hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the country, he gained the right to work legally and was required to check in periodically under the Department of Homeland Security’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). Last month, he went to the ISAP facility in Jamaica, Queens. It was perhaps the 50th time he’d done so, his attorney S. Michael Musa-Obregon said. This time, Perez y Perez was arrested. He was transferred to the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza and held for three days. After Musa-Obregon filed a habeas petition with the Southern District of New York, but before it could be heard by a judge, ICE prepared to move Perez y Perez to detention—clear across the country in Seattle. A judge’s order at the last minute had him removed from the plane and transferred to detention in Goshen, New York.

The courthouse arrests are a cynical campaign, Musa-Obregon said. “They are detaining people with the idea that it is much easier to get people to give up their rights when they are incarcerated,” he said. On the Fourth of July, Trump signed into law his massive spending bill, which included $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security. It makes ICE the largest law enforcement entity in the country and promises to vastly expand the for-profit immigrant detention system. The masked men in the halls of justice are just the beginning. But the ancient writ of habeas corpus appears to be working.

District Judge Analisa Torres ruled on Chipantiza-Sisalema’s habeas petition on July 13, ordering her immediate release. The manner of her arrest, the judge wrote, “offends the ordered system of liberty that is the pillar of the Fifth Amendment.” She was back in her parents’ arms on July 16. Snatched by masked men and held for three weeks, she’s one of the lucky ones.

Punished for Playing by the Rules: the Deliberate Cruelty of Trump’s Deportation Regime
Migrants who show up for their court dates now routinely face arrest by ICE. But failing to appear triggers a deportation order.

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/ice-trump-detention-regime-cruelty

Also here:

Punished for Playing by the Rules: the Deliberate Cruelty of Trump’s Deportation Regime

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/punished-for-playing-by-the-rules-the-deliberate-cruelty-of-trump-s-deportation-regime/ar-AA1JcQGd