The Trump administration has launched an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Massachusetts, saying it would target what it called “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in the state.
The Department of Homeland Security provided few details on the scale of the latest operation, called Patriot 2.0. But in a statement Saturday, the department said that it followed “the success of Operation Patriot in May.” The earlier ICE raids resulted in nearly 1,500 arrests across Massachusetts, including dozens of migrant workers on Martha’s Vineyard.
“If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return,” the statement said.
The Massachusetts operation comes as the Trump administration has signaled it is preparing to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago — a move that local leaders have strongly opposed.
On Thursday, the administration sued Boston and its leaders for allegedly refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities, adding to a string of similar lawsuits against so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has defended the city’s laws, describing the lawsuit Thursday as an “unconstitutional attack on our city.” The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ICE operation Saturday.
In its statement Saturday, DHS said “sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens.”
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan vowed last week to increase immigration enforcement across sanctuary cities, saying the administration was planning to “flood the zone” with thousands of agents.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem has repeatedly said that immigration officers are arresting the “worst of the worst.” But a Washington Post analysis of ICE data from June found the administration is increasingly targeting unauthorized immigrants with no criminal record as it ramps up arrests.
Federal authorities said the Massachusetts arrests in May included an alleged MS-13 gang member and someone described as a “child sex offender.” But according to community members, most of the migrants had no criminal record and were stopped on their way to work.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said federal officials disappeared from a Navy base near Chicago on Friday after Democrats announced they would tour the facility ahead of the arrival of immigration officers.
In an interview with host Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Duckworth said when she joined fellow Illinois Democrats Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Brad Schneider for a tour of the Naval Station Great Lakes, Department of Homeland Security officials had given staff the day off, “locked the doors and left the base.”
“Basically, they fled the base,” Duckworth said. Naval Station Great Lakes, which opened in 1911, is the site for boot camp for Naval trainees.
Officials last week said that up to 300 ICE agents would be operating out of the Great Lakes Naval Base as President Donald Trump ramps up his efforts against Democratic-controlled sanctuary cities. Trump also said the administration will deploy the National Guard to the city, drawing outrage from Democrats including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Ahead of the lawmakers’ trip to the base, Duckworth said, she and her colleagues asked DHS if they could come tour the facility to have a “better understanding of what your operations are.”
DHS officials, she said, replied no.
“This is not the action of someone that’s doing something legal or that they’re- that they’re proud of,” said Duckworth.
“We certainly have sent the administration multiple inquiries about what they are planning on doing. Who are they bringing into Chicago? Are they planning to bring the National Guard in? They’ve none of that. They’ve not even reached out to local law enforcement to try to coordinate,” she added. “And we’ve not gotten any communications or feedback from the administration, whatsoever.”
Navy officials that were on the base during the Democrats’ tour told them that the assistance they’ve been requested to provide so far is only office space for ICE, Duckworth added.
While it is unclear when ICE officials or the National Guard will be sent to Chicago, Trump on Saturday said his administration will go to “WAR” with the city of Chicago.
“Chicago [is] about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to the Department of Defense’s planned name change.
Illinois officials quickly responded to the post, calling the president a “tyrant” and a “declaration of war.”
“I take what the President of the United States says very seriously, because that is the respect you have to give to the office,” Duckworth said on Sunday. “And if that’s what he’s declaring, then let me make it clear, it would be an illegal order to declare war on a major city, any city within the United States, by the President of the United States.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/07/duckworth-dhs-fled-naval-base-visit-00549536
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Trump administration have imposed roughly 21,500 fines totaling $6.1 billion on noncitizens who have ignored removal orders. Critics argued that such policies place undue pressure on individuals to leave the country and use misleading incentives that complicate compliance. Meanwhile, DHS and the Treasury Department are actively enforcing the collections while also offering voluntary-departure programs.
DHS rules allow daily fines and limit appeals if noncitizens don’t respond within 15 days. Collections have included tax reporting, private agencies, and refund garnishments.
…
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official stated, “It’s an easy choice: Leave voluntarily and receive a $1,000 check, or stay and wait till you are fined $1,000 a day, arrested, and deported without a possibility to return legally.”
Atta girl, Kristi “Bimbo #2” Noem: Compound their misery by fleecing them and stealing their hard-earned saving!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/dhs-announces-6b-in-fines-for-noncitizens/ss-AA1LZgUK
President Donald Trump’s administration is illegally seeking to deport hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians to their conflict-stricken nations, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Friday.
The people affected by the ruling have been living in the United States under temporary protected status, or TPS, granted to undocumented immigrants with no serious criminal record who would be endangered by war, natural disasters or other conditions in their homeland. Trump opposes TPS and contends it has been used to protect members of criminal gangs.
But U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said removing the protections from Venezuelans and Haitians would return them to “conditions that are so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel to their home countries.”
“For 35 years, the TPS statute has been faithfully executed by presidential administrations from both parties, affording relief based on the best available information obtained by the Department of Homeland Security in consultation with the State Department and other agencies, a process that involves careful study and analysis,” the judge wrote. “Until now.”
He did not say how many immigrants were covered by the ruling, but advocacy groups said it would protect hundreds of thousands from each nation. Chen had previously halted the deportation of 350,000 Venezuelans with TPS status, but the Supreme Court froze his order in May and allowed the administration to seek their deportation.
Friday’s ruling “provides immediate relief to several hundred thousand Venezuelans who should not have been subjected to this lawless policy in the first place,” said their attorney, Ahilan Arulanantham, a UCLA law professor. “Sadly, today’s ruling comes too late for many Venezuelans who were detained and deported under that policy because the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect without giving any reasons. We are hopeful the rule of law will now prevail.”
In Friday’s decision, Chen said Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, terminated TPS for both groups of migrants as soon as she took office, with “no meaningful review,” reversing extensive findings and decisions by her predecessors. He said it was the first such action in the program’s 35-year history.
The judge said Noem had made unfounded assertions that “Venezuela didn’t send us their best” but instead sent “criminals.” She referred to Venezuelan migrants as “dirtbags” in a Jan. 29 Fox News interview. Chen also cited Trump’s campaign claims that Haitian migrants were eating household pets in Ohio.
Such statements are evidence that the administration’s actions were “based on racial, ethnic, and/or national origin animus,” said Chen, who was appointed to the court by President Barack Obama.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/tps-protections-21033502.php
Maryland dad Kilmar Abrego Garcia has learned where the Department of Homeland Security has decided to deport him next.
In an email obtained by Fox News, lawyers for the DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement informed Abrego Garcia’s legal team on Friday that his new intended destination is the tiny African nation of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland.
Ridiculing Abrego Garcia’s legal claim of fear of persecution or torture—a core asylum principle—in many of the nations the government has considered deporting him to, the DHS wrote on social media that “Homie is afraid of the entire western hemisphere”.
The derisory use of the term “homie” sparked outrage on social media.
Abrego Garcia, who is currently in ICE custody in Virginia, became the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in March after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
The government admitted to an “administrative error” following his return from the Central American nation, but is still intent on removing him from the U.S. over charges of human smuggling.
His lawyers claim such charges are a “preposterous and vindictive” punishment for challenging ICE policy.
Eswatini is the fourth potential destination for Abrego Garcia, who was taken into ICE custody for a second time on Aug. 25, and prepared for processing to Uganda.
A federal judge blocked the plan, accepting his lawyers’ concerns over fear of persecution or torture, ruling that it is “absolutely forbidden” to remove Abrego Garcia from the U.S. until further legal processing can be carried out. However, the DHS has stated it is not buying his legal defense.
“That claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries,” the legal letter reads.
“Nonetheless, we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa.”
The letter does not elaborate on how the DHS chose the country for Abrego Garcia’s intended removal.
The Daily Beast has contacted the DHS for comment.
DHS boss Kristi Noem has made it a personal mission to see Abrego Garcia deported. She has previously claimed her department is going after “the worst of the worst” and, in August, claimed the man is a “monster.”
“This illegal alien… is a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator,” Noem wrote on social media.
Abrego Garcia’s legal team has repeatedly denied all these allegations, including the often-trotted out line about his membership of the notorious MS-13 gang. Multiple judges have said there is no evidence to suggest he is gang-affiliated, while noting he has no prior criminal history.
In April, President Donald Trump insisted that Abrego Garcia had the gang name tattooed on his knuckles, challenging a reporter in an interview that an image of Abrego Garcia’s hand with “MS-13″ clearly superimposed over it was real.
At roughly 120 miles long and 80 miles wide, Eswatini is one of the smallest nations in Africa. It is the last absolute monarchy on the continent, and has a population of 1.2 million people. The country, which is bordered by South Africa and Mozambique, changed its name from Swaziland in 2018 to avoid confusion with Switzerland.
Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, says the Trump administration is “weaponizing the immigration system in a manner that is completely unconstitutional.”
South Sudan said Saturday it repatriated to Mexico a man deported from the United States in July.
The man, a Mexican identified as Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, was among a group of eight who have been in government custody in the east African country since their deportation from the U.S.
Another deportee, a South Sudanese national, has since been freed while six others remain in custody.
Munoz-Gutierrez’s repatriation to Mexico was carried out by South Sudan’s foreign ministry in concert with the Mexican Embassy in neighboring Ethiopia, the South Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement.
The repatriation was carried out “in full accordance with relevant international law, bilateral agreements, and established diplomatic protocols,” it said.
In comments to journalists in Juba, the South Sudan capital, Munoz-Gutierrez said he “felt kidnapped” when the U.S. sent him to South Sudan.
“I was not planning to come to South Sudan, but while I was here they treated me well,” he said. “I finished my time in the United States, and they were supposed to return me to Mexico. Instead, they wrongfully sent me to South Sudan.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said that Munoz-Gutierrez had a conviction for second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
South Sudan is engaging other countries about repatriating the six deportees still in custody, said Apuk Ayuel Mayen, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry.
It is not clear if the deportees have access to legal representation.
Rights groups have argued that the Trump administration’s increasing practice of deporting migrants to third countries violates international law and the basic rights of migrants.
The deportations have faced opposition by courts in the U.S., though the Supreme Court in June allowed the government to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands.
Other African nations receiving deportees from the U.S. include Uganda, Eswatini and Rwanda. Eswatini, in southern Africa, received five men with criminal backgrounds in July. Rwanda announced the arrival of a group of seven deportees in mid-August.
https://apnews.com/article/south-sudan-us-mexico-deportations-924ebd609d65efc6681f4bb59b6cc94e
The Cato Institute says over 14,500 federal law enforcement officers from other agencies are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to facilitate raids and make arrests nationwide, including new special agents from USCIS.
The Cato Institute this week reported that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is receiving assistance from nearly 17,000 non-ERO agents, according to data given to the nonprofit organization.
That includes diverting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees to help with ICE raids.
The Department of Homeland Security this week announced a new class of USCIS employees had been “newly minted” as special agents to work with ICE.
USCIS personnel will have the authority “to investigate and enforce civil and criminal violations of the immigration laws within the jurisdiction of USCIS. These authorities include, but are not limited to, the issuance and execution of warrants, the arrest of individuals, and carrying of firearms,” according to a notice posted Friday in the Federal Register.
This includes ordering expedited removals. USCIS says it plans to recruit and train special agents for these roles.
“As (Homeland Security) Secretary Noem delegated lawful authorities to expand the agency’s law enforcement capabilities, this rule allows us to fulfill our critical mission. This historic moment will better address immigration crimes, hold those that perpetrate immigration fraud accountable, and act as a force multiplier for DHS and our federal law enforcement partners, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.
Edlow says this will allow his agency to handle investigations from start to finish, instead of referring some cases to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ERO agents.
The Cato Institute reports that other federal employees diverted to ICE ERO include:
- ICE HSI: 6,198
- FBI: 2,840
- Drug Enforcement Administration: 2,181
- Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives: 1,778
- U.S. Marshals Service: 650
- Border Patrol: 335
- Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations: 288
- Department of State – Diplomatic Security: 93
- CBP Air and Marine Operations: 68
- Department of Defense: 35
- IRS: 20
- Bureau of Prisons: 11
- U.S. Secret Service: 1
In addition, state and local law enforcement agencies have teamed up with ICE part of the 287(g) program. Cato reports that over 8,500 officers are contributing to ICE operations.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is opposed to arming USCIS personnel to become an arresting arm.
“The Trump Administration has transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, weaponizing the immigration system against American families, asylum seekers, and businesses. What’s worse, this rule states they now plan to arm potentially hundreds of agents at USCIS,” AILA President Jeff Joseph said.
“Congress established USCIS after 9/11 to process legal immigration applications. Enforcement actions were left to other agencies to ensure that immigrants felt safe submitting their personal information and appearing for interviews. The administration’s continued attacks on those who are following the rules and going through legal channels will only serve to push people further into the shadows. Their aim of driving people out of the country shows a shocking disregard for the value and contributions that immigrants make to America,” Johnson said.
A Utah violinist who has played with high-profile orchestras has been released on bond after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.
Donggin Shin, 37, was apprehended by immigration authorities in a hotel parking lot while he was on a work trip in Colorado and placed in ICE detention on Aug. 18. His father brought him to the U.S. from South Korea when he was a child and he lives in Salt Lake City, according to his attorney, Adam Crayk.
Shin, who goes by the name John, was held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado — more than 500 miles away from his home — according to an ICE database. He was released on $25,000 bond on Tuesday.
“I never thought I would have to feel what it’s like to be shackled on my ankles and my wrist, feeling like some kind of a serious criminal, as if I have murdered someone,” Shin said at a press conference Friday, according to KSL-TV, an NBC affiliate based in Salt Lake City.
“I was absolutely terrified. Obviously, I cried all day,” he added.
Shin was held for a total of 17 days and is now wearing an ankle monitor, according to Crayk.
Shin was identified by ICE’s Fugitive Operations Team, which is generally focused on apprehending immigrants who have committed serious crimes and are considered national security threats, according to charging documents.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In response to previous questions about Shin, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News: “Our message is clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States.”
The official added that Shin had a DUI conviction. Records show the matter was resolved after Shin pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense in 2020 and served his probation.
Crayk, Shin’s attorney, told NBC New in a previous interview that his client’s father was battling brain cancer at the time of his prior arrest.
“My father was losing a battle to a Level 4 glioblastoma brain tumor. He had limited time to live,” Shin said, according to KSL-TV. “I fell into a depression during that time and the impaired driving followed.”
Shin entered the U.S. on a tourist visa on Sept. 3, 1998, which “required him to depart the U.S. by March 3, 1999,” according to DHS. But Crayk previously told NBC News that this timeline is incomplete, as Shin’s father switched to a student visa, which conferred status onto Shin at the time.
Crayk said Shin became a DACA recipient years later, but lost his DACA protections due to his 2020 conviction. He has remained without lawful status for the last four and a half years.
Shin works in telecommunications but has played with the prestigious Utah Symphony and Ballet West in recent years.
Musicians have been playing at the state Capitol each day, determined to raise awareness until Shin returns home.
Shin’s wife, DeNae Shin, thanked the Salt Lake City community for its support over the last few weeks.
“During those really dark times where I was feeling such despair, it was really those letters that kept me going,” she said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/utah-violinist-released-ice-detention-bond-rcna229538
When Lenny Schmidt arrived at his family-run nutrition bar manufacturing business in upstate New York Thursday morning, federal immigration agents were already there.
“The agents were swarming the plant,” he said. “There were probably over 100 of these agents, on four-wheelers, on foot, they had dogs.”
“They had surrounded the facility and forced their way through into the plant … using, I think, crowbars,” Schmidt, the company’s co-owner and vice president, told CNN’s Laura Coates on Friday.
By the end of the hourslong raid at Nutrition Bar Confectioners in Cato, a rural community about 30 miles northwest of Syracuse, dozens of employees had been detained.
The raid in Cato coincided with a similar operation in Ellabell, Georgia, where federal agents detained 475 workers, mostly Korean nationals suspected of living or working in the US illegally. It marked the largest sweep yet in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at worksites, which has increasingly targeted industries like manufacturing and agriculture that often depend on immigrant labor.
At the New York facility, agents sealed the exits, halting production and corralling workers for questioning.
“They cornered all of our workers, seemingly targeting just the Hispanic employees, separated everybody … later on, they ended up escorting them into vans,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said his company, which has been operating since 1978, complies with all federal labor laws.
“We vet each person as best as we can in accordance with those laws and get the correct documentation to support this,” he said, adding that all his employees possessed the necessary documentation to legally work in the US.
ICE told CNN affiliate WSTM the raid was a “court-authorized enforcement operation,” but did not provide further details. Employees told WSTM that around 60 workers were detained. CNN has reached out to the agency for details.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sharply condemned the raid, calling it a cruel disruption to immigrant families.
“What they did was shatter hard-working families who are simply trying to build a life here, just like millions of immigrants before them,” the governor said.
‘Everyone got scared’
The operation began around 9 a.m., according to a Guatemalan worker who has been working on the production line for two years. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the worker described the mounting panic as agents surrounded the building and gathered up to 70 workers – many from Guatemala and Nicaragua – into the lunchroom, where the entire workforce was questioned.
“They surrounded the building. Everyone got scared.”
The worker, a legal US resident, said ICE agents neither showed warrants nor explained the reason for the raid.
“They went straight to the workers,” the employee said. “They asked what country we were from, if we had permission to be in the US. They demanded papers.”
After showing his identification card, the worker was released within half an hour, but others, including coworkers with valid work permits, were taken into custody, he said.
CNN contacted the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find out if the detainees had valid work permits and awaits a response.
Some employees who were released from detention returned to the plant almost immediately, Schmidt said.
“It’s heartbreaking … some of them came back to work. I remember seeing somebody punching the clock and I walked up to him and I couldn’t believe my eyes. So I shook his hand and gave him a hug,” he said.
Production at the plant came to a standstill during the raid, but Schmidt said operations have resumed – though at reduced capacity.
“It’s going to slow us down probably half speed or just less until we get hopefully some of these workers back,” Schmidt said, adding they will also start the hiring process for new workers this weekend.
“What makes us successful is having these wonderful workers,” he said. “We hope and pray for our workers to be safe and to return home to their families and, hopefully, back to work.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/us/cato-new-york-immigration-raid-business-owner-hnk
