Tag Archives: Florida

Mirror: Donald Trump’s niece reveals latest symptom of cognitive decline and says he’s ‘far gone’

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Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist and author, has launched a scathing attack on her uncle, President Donald Trump, claiming his ‘cognitive decline’

“He has an actually quite decent ability to mix cognitive decline with narcissism. I mean that’s a twofer,” she said, reports the Irish Star.

Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, has made a biting remark about her uncle, stating that he “can’t tie his own shoes,” as concerns about Trump’s health continue to mount.

Mary Trump, a psychologist and the daughter of Donald’s older brother, Fred Trump Jr, lambasted the president’s “reign of idiocy” on her YouTube show, Trump Trolls Trump.

“We’re now 166 days into the Trump regime’s reign of terror, reign of confusion, reign of chaos, but also let’s call it what else it is, it’s a reign of idiocy,” she declared.

The 60-year-old author of the book ‘Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,’ continued to ruthlessly ridicule her uncle.

“Time flies when you’re having a horrible time and when democracy is slowly being strangled by a man who can’t tie his own shoes,” she said.

However, Mary did give credit where credit was due.

“Now, Donald is good at very, very few things but I’m going to give him credit for something,” she stated.

“He has an actually quite decent ability to mix cognitive decline with narcissism. I mean that’s a twofer,” she said, reports the Irish Star.

“Every time it is a 10 out of 10 for his performance in being a moron,” Mary pointed out.

She continued her blistering critique of the president, highlighting one of his latest embarrassing gaffes.

After his visit to a new Florida immigration detention center, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” last week, the president was asked twice if he knew how long detainees would be kept there.

In a response to a question, Trump veered off-topic discussing his affection for Florida, Oval Office decor, and New York taxes before saying, “I’ll be here as much as I can, very nice question.”

“The question, you idiot, wasn’t do you like Florida?” Mary exclaimed in frustration.

She reasoned that Trump couldn’t provide an answer because he didn’t have one.

Mary blisteringly criticized Trump, saying she is “sick of this thuggish lunk sitting there any denying the American people access to any truths about anything whatsoever.

“Donald is, quite frankly, increasingly far gone these days. He has an attention span of a toddler, although that’s actually nothing new,” she asserted regarding her uncle.

Switching focus to Trump’s recent entrepreneurial endeavor, Mary scrutinized Trump’s launch of a new “victory” fragrance on Truth Social the previous week.

Describing the scent, which retails at $249 per 100ml and features a golden statuette of Trump, Mary said, “It is grotesque for the sitting president of the United States to grift off of his office, but here we are,”.

Finally, she lamented, “The idea of having to guess what that horror smells like is deeply unfair to those of us who are still sane.”

Trump ‘can’t dress himself’ as niece says he’s ‘far gone’ amid cognitive decline
Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist and author, has launched a scathing attack on her uncle, President Donald Trump, claiming his ‘cognitive decline’

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-cant-dress-himself-1251052

L.A. Times: Environmentalists’ lawsuit to halt Alligator Alcatraz filed in wrong court, Florida official says

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Florida’s top emergency official asked a federal judge on Monday to resist a request by environmentalists to halt an immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz in the middle of the Florida Everglades because their lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.

Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district. Decisions about the facility also were made in Tallahassee and Washington, Kevin Guthrie, executive director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in a court filing.

“And all the detention facilities, all the buildings, and all the paving at issue are sited in Collier County, not Miami-Dade,” Guthrie said.

Environmental groups filed a lawsuit in Florida’s southern district last month, asking for the project being built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades to be halted because the process didn’t follow state and federal environmental laws. A virtual hearing was being held Monday on the lawsuit.

Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have defended it as part of the state’s aggressive push to support President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has praised Florida for coming forward with the idea, as the department looks to significantly expand its immigration detention capacity.

Alligator Auschwitz is a disgrace and should be shut down.

Environmentalists’ lawsuit to halt Alligator Alcatraz filed in wrong court, Florida official says
Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have defended it to support President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-07-21/environmentalists-lawsuit-to-halt-alligator-alcatraz-filed-in-wrong-court-florida-official-says

The Times: We’re caged like chickens, say Italians in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

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Gaetano Mirabella Costa and Fernando Artese plead for help after detention in Florida

The families of two Italians held in President Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention centre have denounced the harsh conditions of their incarceration in Florida and appealed to the Italian authorities for help to get them out.

“We’re in cages like chickens, 32 people with three open toilets, everyone can see everything,” Gaetano Mirabella Costa, 45, told Italian state television in a telephone interview from the prison. “I don’t know what I’m accused of and I can’t speak with a lawyer or even a judge. Can the Italian authorities please help me to get out of this nightmare?”

The Italian, who was born in Taormina, Sicily, and had been living in the US for ten years, had recently served a short prison sentence for assault, drug possession and domestic violence and was transferred to the new detention centre on July 9.

His mother, Rosanna Vitale, said her son had been taken to court with his feet and hands shackled, “like a dog”. The only positive thing was that he was allowed to queue for a telephone to make collect calls from the prison, she said.

“The situation is very tough,” she added. “He said, ‘Mum, I haven’t seen the sun for ten days.’ We still haven’t been contacted by anyone to deal with this situation but we will do everything possible to get him back — we hope soon.”

Another Italian, Fernando Artese, 63, had been living in Florida and overstayed a 90-day visa by almost ten years. He was transferred to the prison at Dade-Collier, in the Everglades swamps, after being stopped by police on June 25.

In March Artese, who has joint Italian and Argentinian nationality, had been fined for driving without a licence. His family said he missed his traffic court date because he feared being detained.

Artese’s family had joined him in 2018 — his wife, Monica Riveira, 62, came on a student visa and his teenage daughter, Carla, legally accompanied her. They had been living in the Florida city of Hialeah, where Artese ran a company installing cameras, and were stopped while attempting to leave the country by driving their mobile home to Argentina.

“This is a concentration camp. They treat us like criminals — it’s a pursuit of humiliation,” Artese told the Tampa Bay Times in a phone interview. “We’re all workers and people fighting for our families.”

Carla Artese, 19, has raised more than $7,000 towards a target of $10,000 on an appeal for her father on the GoFundMe website.

“This year, we were trying to leave the USA, and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] got him and sent him to Alligator Alcatraz, where they treat them like criminals and [they] have no rights,” she said in the appeal. “They haven’t given him any information about his case or any right to an attorney. Not to mention, they haven’t added him to the system yet, so he doesn’t even appear like an inmate anywhere.”

She said her father wanted “to self-deport when they let him”, adding: “He is a hard worker who only wanted to leave the country with his family after paying taxes and working hard the whole time he’s been here!”

Carla told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera her father was lucky because he had previously been detained in another institution and that had given his family the chance to bring him his medicines. “Many don’t have medicine and there’s not much food,” she said. “They can’t sleep at night because the lights are on 24 hours a day. They can’t see the sun, they can’t go outside.”

The migrant detention centre, which has a capacity of 3,000, was built within weeks under the direction of Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, using emergency powers. Trump visited a few weeks ago and joked that escaping prisoners would have to run in zig-zag lines to avoid the local alligators.

Opposition politicians have criticised Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, for allegedly prioritising her friendship with Trump over the rights of her imprisoned compatriots. “Will the government of patriots continue to play majordomo to Trump or does it intend to defend the rights of an Italian citizen?” asked Matteo Renzi, a former prime minister.

Angelo Bonelli, an MP with the Green and Left Alliance, said the government was always ready to curry favour with Washington. “It remains silent even in the face of an obvious violation of human rights,” he said. “Patriots in words, vassals in reality.”

We’re caged like chickens, say Italians in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
What is Alligator Alcatraz? Gaetano Mirabella Costa and Fernando Artese plead for help after detention in Florida

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/what-is-alligator-alcatraz-italians-gz2gcqrbd

Human Rights Watch: “You Feel Like Your Life is Over”

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Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centers Since January 2025

Among the flurry of immigration-related executive orders marking the second presidential administration of Donald Trump is Executive Order 14159, establishing the policy of detaining individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating immigration laws for the duration of their removal proceedings “to the extent permitted by law.” President Trump’s call for mass deportations was matched by a surge in immigration detention nationally. In line with this policy, Trump issued dozens of other immigration-related executive orders and executive actions and signed into law the Laken Riley Act as part of a broader rollback of immigrants’ rights in the United States.

Within a month of the inauguration, the number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began increasing. Throughout 2024, an average of 37,500 people were detained in immigration detention in the US per day.[1] As of June 20, 2025, on any given day, over 56,000 people were in detention across the country, 40 percent more than in June 2024, and the highest detention population in the history of US immigration detention. As of June 15, immigration detention numbers were at an average of 56,400 per day, and nearly 72 percent of individuals detained had no criminal history.

Between January and June 2025, thousands were held in immigration detention at the Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome), the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), and the Federal Detention Center (FDC), in Florida, under conditions that flagrantly violate international human rights standards and the United States government’s own immigration detention standards. By March, the number of people in immigration detention at Krome had increased 249 percent from the levels before the January inauguration. At times in March, the facility detained more than three times its operational capacity of inmates. As of June 20, 2025, the number of people in immigration detention at the three facilities was at 111 percent from the levels before the inauguration.

The change was qualitative as well as quantitative. Detainees in three Florida facilities told Human Rights Watch that ICE detention officers and private contractor guards treated them in a degrading and dehumanizing manner. Some were detained shackled for prolonged periods on buses without food, water, or functioning toilets; there was extreme overcrowding in freezing holding cells where detainees were forced to sleep on cold concrete floors under constant fluorescent lighting; and many were denied access to basic hygiene and medical care.

Five years ago, in April 2020, Human Rights Watch, together with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Justice Center, reported on conditions in immigration detention under the first Trump administration. Human Rights Watch, along with other governmental and nongovernmental expert and oversight bodies, have carried out numerous investigations of immigration detention conditions in the United States. This report reveals that while the second Trump administration is using similar abusive practices, their impacts are exacerbated due to severe overcrowding caused by new state and local policies, including in Florida, where this report is focused. While these latest findings in Florida inform some of the policy recommendations in this report, the recommendations are also grounded in these years of investigations and findings.

This report finds that staff at the three detention facilities researchers examined subjected detained individuals to dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support. Officers denied detainees critical medication and detained some incommunicado in solitary confinement as an apparent punishment for seeking mental health care. Facility officers returned some detainees to detention directly from hospital stays with no follow-up treatment. They detained others in solitary confinement or transferred them without notice, disrupting legal representation. They forced them to sleep on cold concrete floors without bedding and gave them food which was sometimes substandard, and in many instances ignored their medical requirements. Some officers treated detainees in dehumanizing ways.

These findings match those of an April 2025 submission by Americans for Immigrant Justice (AIJ) to the United Nations Human Rights Council, which documented severe and systemic human rights violations at Krome. Combined with years of investigations by Human Rights Watch and other independent experts and groups in the US, they paint a picture of an immigration detention system that degrades, intimidates, and punishes immigrants.

The report is based on interviews with eleven currently and recently detained individuals, some of which took place at Krome and BTC; family members of seven detainees; and 14 immigration lawyers, as well as data analysis. Two of the facilities, Krome and BTC, are operated by private contractors under ICE oversight. On May 20, 2025 and again on June 11, 2025, Human Rights Watch sent letters to the heads of all three prison facilities, the acting director of ICE, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the heads of the two companies managing Krome and BTC, with a summary of our findings and questions. At the time of publication, Human Rights Watch had only received one response from Akima Global Services, LLC (Akima), the company that runs Krome, stating “we cannot comment publicly on the specifics of our engagement.”

One woman described arriving at Krome–a facility that typically only holds men–late at night on January 28. Officers then confined her for days with dozens of other women without bedding or privacy, in a cell normally used only during incarceration intake procedures. “There was only one toilet, and it was covered in feces,” she said. “We begged the officers to let us clean it, but they just said sarcastically, ‘Housekeeping will come soon.’ No one ever came.”

A man recalled the frigid conditions in the intake cell where he was detained: “They turned up the air conditioning… You could not fall asleep because it was so cold. I thought I was going to experience hypothermia.”

This report documents serious violations of medical standards. Detention facility staff routinely denied individuals with diabetes, asthma, kidney conditions, and chronic pain their prescribed medications and access to doctors. In one case at Krome, a woman with gallstones began vomiting and lost consciousness after being denied care for several days. Officers returned her to the same cell after emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder—still without medication.

It is concerning that women were held for intake processing that could take days or even weeks at a facility primarily and historically used to detain men. Officers at Krome used the facility’s role as a men’s detention center to justify denying women held there access to medical care and appropriate sanitation conditions.

Authorities transferred a man with chronic illnesses from FDC to BTC without the prescription medication he needed daily, despite his having repeatedly reminded staff of his medical record. After he collapsed and was hospitalized, his family discovered he had been registered at the hospital under a false name. He was returned to detention in shackles.

This substandard medical care may have been linked to two deaths, one at Krome and one at BTC.

Staff were dismissive or abusive even when detainees were undergoing a visibly obvious medical crisis. For example, staff ignored a detained immigrant who began coughing blood in a crowded holding cell for hours. In that case, unrest ensued, and a Disturbance Control Team stormed the cell, forcing the men in it to lie face down on the wet, dirty floor while officers zip-tied their hands behind their backs. A detainee said he heard an officer order the cell’s CCTV camera feed to be turned off. Another detainee said a team member slapped him while shouting, “Shut the f*ck up.”

During another incident, officers made men eat while shackled with their hands behind their backs after forcing the group to wait hours for lunch: “We had to bend over and eat off the chairs with our mouths, like dogs,” one man said.

Women and men alike reported that seeking help—especially mental health support—could lead to punishment and retaliation. At BTC, authorities put detainees who complained of emotional distress in solitary confinement for weeks, creating a chilling effect. One woman said: “If you ask for help, they isolate you. If you cry, they might take you away for two weeks. So, people stay silent.”

With the exclusion of trips to a prison library at Krome, and painting sessions at BTC, authorities provided no educational or vocational activities whatsoever.

Lockdowns—during which staff denied detained people access to medical staff and basic recreation—were sometimes imposed only because the facility was short-staffed. Staff denied individuals access to medical staff and the ability to go outdoors at all, sometimes for days at a time. Detention center lockdowns, transfers without notice, and limited phone privileges have disrupted people’s ability to communicate with their families and their lawyers, hindering their ability to prepare their cases and exacerbating ongoing mental health concerns.

The treatment of detainees by staff at the three detention facilities appears to be in clear violation of ICE’s own standards, including the 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) governing Krome and BTC, and the 2019 National Detention Standards (NDS) governing the detention of immigrants at FDC. Conditions in the centers also violated US obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and key standards articulated under the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules).

The Trump administration’s one-track immigration policy, singularly focused on mass deportations will continue to send more people into immigration detention facilities that do not have the capacity to hold them and will only worsen the conditions described in this report.

There is a growing number of agreements—223—between Florida’s local law enforcement and ICE related to detention and/or deportation of immigrants that come to the attention of, or are in custody of local law enforcement, but are non-citizens. These are known as 287(g) agreements, authorized by Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These agreements, combined with Florida’s state-level policies regarding immigration enforcement, and the broad application of federal mandatory detention policies, have led to a dramatic increase in arrests and detentions. Florida has, by large measure, the highest proportion of law enforcement agencies enrolled in the program of any state. Over 76 percent of Florida’s agencies have signed an agreement. In the next ranked state, Wyoming, only 11 percent of agencies have signed up.[2]

Under a January 2025 national law, the Laken Riley Act, an immigrant charged with any one of a broad range of criminal offenses, including theft and shoplifting, is subject to mandatory detention by ICE.

Other actions taken since January 2025 at the national level include designating some immigrants as “enemy aliens” and deporting them to incommunicado detention and abusive conditions in El Salvador; removing migrants and asylum seekers to countries like Panama and Costa Rica, of which they are not nationals, while denying them any opportunity to claim asylum; targeting birthright citizenship; expanding the use of rapid-fire “expedited removal” procedures (allowing the entry of removal orders without procedural guarantees such as the right to counsel, to appear before a judge, to present evidence, or to appeal); terminating parole and temporary protected status for people from various countries with widespread human rights violations, such as Venezuela, Haiti, and Afghanistan; and ending refugee admissions entirely except for South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity or other racial minorities, under a policy “justified” by fear of future persecution.

Layered on top of all of this is the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the “sensitive locations” memo that previously protected immigrants from enforcement actions when at schools, medical clinics, churches and courts, putting even more people at risk of detention.

One person interviewed for this report was detained after attending a scheduled appointment with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and another was detained while at an appointment with ICE. An activist who provides support to immigrants outside the ICE office in Miramar, Florida every Wednesday said people are increasingly skipping their appointments out of fear they will be arrested on the spot. “I’ve seen cars gathering dust in the parking lot,” she said, “because people went inside for an appointment and never came out.”

The result of all of these federal and state developments is an increasing climate of fear in which immigrants—many with no criminal conviction—avoid police, immigration appointments, and even hospitals, places of worship, and schools for fear of being detained and deported. Avoiding these institutions and services has a profound effect on daily life and potentially on the prospects of that individual and their family members for the future. Putting people in a position that they are too fearful to seek needed medical care and practice their religion is a violation of basic human rights.

A man from Colombia, detained while he was at someone else’s home and detained for 63 days but never accused of any crime, said:

We want to be in the United States. It seems like a great country to us. It seems like a country of many opportunities but from the bottom of my heart, I tell you that all of this has been poorly handled through a campaign of hate… You see it inside immigration detention—the guards treat you like garbage. Even if they speak Spanish, they pretend not to understand. It’s like psychological abuse… you feel like your life is over.

To address the abuses documented in this report, Human Rights Watch calls on the United States government to end the use of 287(g) agreements that entwine local law enforcement and immigration enforcement and in doing so erode community trust and public safety.

ICE, its contractors, and local governments should use immigration detention only as a last resort and increase rights-respecting case management programs, such as alternatives to detention. ICE and its contractors should also end the use of solitary confinement and ensure timely medical and mental health care. To ensure that conditions for detained immigrants comply with the United States’ own standards, staff in detention facilities should be trained in human rights and trauma-informed care. Facilities should adopt policies that guarantee access to legal counsel, and that prioritize safety, dignity, and due process for all individuals in custody. Detention facilities should also meet international and national standards, and independent oversight is urgently needed to investigate abuses and enforce accountability.

“You Feel Like Your Life is Over”
The 92-page report, “‘You Feel Like Your Life is Over’: Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centers Since January 2025,” documents that people detained at Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome), Broward Transitional Center (BTC), and the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Miami have been held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions and subjected to degrading treatment, and have not been given access to prompt and adequate medical care. The groups also reported the experiences of 17 immigrants in at the three detention facilities since January 20.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/07/21/you-feel-like-your-life-is-over/abusive-practices-at-three-florida-immigration

Guardian: Migrants at Ice jail in Miami made to kneel to eat ‘like dogs’, report alleges

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Incident in which migrants were shackled with hands tied of one succession of alleged abuses at jails in Florida

Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates “like dogs”, according to a report published on Monday into conditions at three overcrowded south Florida facilities.

The incident at the downtown federal detention center is one of a succession of alleged abuses at Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (Ice) operated jails in the state since January, chronicled by advocacy groups Human Rights Watch, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Sanctuary of the South from interviews with detainees.

Dozens of men had been packed into a holding cell for hours, the report said, and denied lunch until about 7pm. They remained shackled with the food on chairs in front of them.

“We had to eat like animals,” one detainee named Pedro said.

Degrading treatment by guards is commonplace in all three jails, the groups say. At the Krome North service processing center in west Miami, female detainees were made to use toilets in full view of men being held there, and were denied access to gender-appropriate care, showers, or adequate food.

The jail was so far beyond capacity, some transferring detainees reported, that they were held for more than 24 hours in a bus in the parking lot. Men and women were confined together, and unshackled only when they needed to use the single toilet, which quickly became clogged.

“The bus became disgusting. It was the type of toilet in which normally people only urinate but because we were on the bus for so long, and we were not permitted to leave it, others defecated in the toilet,” one man said.

“Because of this, the whole bus smelled strongly of feces.”

When the group was finally admitted into the facility, they said, many spent up to 12 days crammed into a frigid intake room they christened la hierela – the ice box – with no bedding or warm clothing, sleeping instead on the cold concrete floor.

There was so little space at Krome, and so many detainees, the report says, that every available room was used to hold new arrivals.

“By the time I left, almost all the visitation rooms were full. A few were so full men couldn’t even sit, all had to stand,” Andrea, a female detainee, said.

At the third facility, the Broward transitional center in Pompano Beach, where a 44-year-old Haitian woman, Marie Ange Blaise, died in April, detainees said they were routinely denied adequate medical or psychological care.

Some suffered delayed treatment for injuries and chronic conditions, and dismissive or hostile responses from staff, the report said.

In one alleged incident in April at the downtown Miami jail, staff turned off a surveillance camera and a “disturbance control team” brutalized detainees who were protesting a lack of medical attention to one of their number who was coughing up blood. One detainee suffered a broken finger.

All three facilities were severely overcrowded, the former detainees said, a contributory factor in Florida’s decision to quickly build the controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” jail in the Everglades intended to eventually hold up to 5,000 undocumented migrants awaiting deportation.

Immigration detention numbers nationally were at an average of 56,400 per day in mid-June, with almost 72% having no criminal history, according to the report.

The daily average during the whole of 2024 was 37,500, HRW said.

The groups say that the documented abuses reflect inhumane conditions inside federal immigration facilities that have worsened significantly since Trump’s January inauguration and subsequent push to ramp up detentions and deportations.

“The anti-immigrant escalation and enforcement tactics under the Trump administration are terrorizing communities and ripping families apart, which is especially cruel in the state of Florida, which thrives because of its immigrant communities,” said Katie Blankenship, immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South.

“The rapid, chaotic, and cruel approach to arresting and locking people up is literally deadly and causing a human rights crisis that will plague this state and the entire country for years to come.”

The Guardian has contacted Ice for comment.

Migrants at Ice jail in Miami made to kneel to eat ‘like dogs’, report alleges
Incident in which migrants were shackled with hands tied of one succession of alleged abuses at jails in Florida

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/21/migrants-miami-ice-jail-abuses

Sun Herald: Tenth Death in ICE Custody Sparks Outrage

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has launched an investigation into the death of Canadian citizen Johnny Noviello. He was reportedly found unresponsive at a Federal Detention Center in Miami. Noviello’s death has marked the tenth in ICE custody this year and the fourth in Florida.

ICE stated, “ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.”r

Bullshit! Way too many people have been saying otherwise.

ICE added, “All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care.”

More bullshit — see above.

ICE policies under President Donald Trump have drawn sharp criticism nationwide. ICE notified the Canadian consulate of Noviello’s death, though the consulate has not responded publicly. Noviello entered the U.S. in 1988 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991.

Tenth Death in ICE Custody Sparks Outrage

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/tenth-death-in-ice-custody-sparks-outrage/ss-AA1IUBPZ

Latin Times: Florida Arrested Two Migrants Under a Law That a Federal Judge Had Already Blocked

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According to reporting by The Marshall Project and the Tampa Bay Times, at least 27 people have been arrested under the law since the injunction.

At least two people were charged under Florida’s immigration law after a federal judge had issued an order halting its enforcement.

The law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in February, made it a first-degree misdemeanor for undocumented individuals to enter Florida after living in another U.S. state. In April, however, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued an injunction blocking enforcement of the law, citing likely constitutional violations.

Despite that ruling deputies in St. Johns County arrested two men in late May — one with an active federal immigration detainer — on charges of illegal entry. Prosecutors later dismissed or vacated the charges.

These arrests occurred more than a month after the judge’s order and were disclosed in Uthmeier’s biweekly report, a sanction imposed by Williams after she found him in civil contempt. Uthmeier said in his July report that he only became aware of the two cases at the end of June after requesting information from state and local law enforcement.

According to reporting by The Marshall Project and the Tampa Bay Times, at least 27 people have been arrested under the law since the injunction. In some cases, individuals were detained after minor traffic infractions. One U.S. citizen was reportedly arrested as a passenger in a speeding car.

After Judge Williams issued her original order, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with the injunction. But five days later, he sent a memo saying the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent police officers and deputies from enforcing the law, as the Associated Press points out.

Uthmeier also publicly the law in social media. In a June 17 post he wrote of the ruling:

“If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump’s agenda on illegal immigration, so be it”

James Uthmeier = dumb fucking fool! It never ceases to amaze me that some of these idiots could pass a high school civics class, let alone graduate from law school.

Florida Arrested Two Migrants Under a Law That a Federal Judge Had Already Blocked
According to reporting by The Marshall Project and the Tampa Bay Times, at least 27 people have been arrested under the law since the injunction

https://www.latintimes.com/florida-arrested-two-migrants-under-law-that-federal-judge-had-already-blocked-586976

Rolling Stone: ICE Raids Aren’t Just a Latino Issue – Black Communities Are Also at Risk

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“It’s not just Mexican people they are looking for,” one TikToker told her audience, “it’s all immigrants that are obviously not white” 

“When ICE detained Rodriguez in February, weeks after filing her green card application, there was no consideration that she’d just given birth two weeks prior. ”I was just taken away from the child. I was leaking breast milk all over. I was still bleeding because I just had a baby and was on medication but I didn’t get those back.‘”

On Feb. 18, two weeks after having her son via C-section, Monique Rodriguez was battling postpartum depression. The Black mother of two, who was born and raised in St. Catherine Parish in Jamaica, had come to the U.S. in 2022 on a six-month visa and settled in Florida with her husband. But after finding herself alone and overwhelmed from the lack of support, she spiraled. “My husband is American and a first-time dad and was scared of hurting the baby. He kept pushing the baby off on me, which I didn’t like. I was in pain and I was tired and overwhelmed. I got frustrated and I hit my husband,” she says. A family member called the police, resulting in Rodriguez’s arrest. Suddenly, a private domestic dispute led to more serious consequences: When Rodriguez’s husband arrived to bail her out the following day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was waiting to detain her. Despite being married and having a pending Green Card application, she became one of thousands of immigrants deported this year because of contact with police.

Since Donald Trump took office for the second time, ICE has been raiding immigrant communities across the nation. Prior to the raids, Black immigrants, like Rodriguez, have historically been targeted at higher rates due to systemic racism. With a host of complications, including anti-blackness and colorism in the Latino community — which often leaves Black immigrants out of conversations around protests and solidarity — the future is bleak. And Black immigrants and immigration attorneys are predicting a trickle-down effect to Black communities in America, making them vulnerable even more. 

On June 6, protests broke out in Los Angeles — whose population is roughly half Hispanic, and one in five residents live with an undocumented person. On TikTok, Latino creators and activists called on Black creators and community members to protest and stand in solidarity. But to their disappointment, many Black Americans remained silent, some even voicing that the current deportations were not their fight. “Latinos have been completely silent when Black people are getting deported by ICE,” says Alexander Duncan, a Los Angeles resident who made a viral TikTok on the subject. “All of a sudden it impacts them and they want Black people to the front lines.” Prejudice has long disconnected Black and Latino communities — but the blatant dismissal of ICE raids as a Latino issue is off base. 

For some Black Americans, the reluctancy to put their bodies on the line isn’t out of apathy but self-preservation. Duncan, who moved from New York City to a predominantly Mexican neighborhood in L.A., was surprised to find the City of Angels segregated. “One of my neighbors, who has done microaggressions, was like ‘I haven’t seen you go to the protests,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I said, ‘Bro, you haven’t spoken to me in six months. Why would you think I’m going to the front lines for you and you’re not even a good neighbor?’” 

Following the 2024 elections, many Black Democratic voters disengaged. Nationally, the Latino community’s support for Trump doubled from 2016, when he first won the presidency. Despite notable increases of support for Trump across all marginalized demographics, Latino’s Republican votes set a new record. “Anti-Blackness is a huge sentiment in the Latino community,” says Cesar Flores, an activist and law student in Miami, who also spoke on the matter via TikTok. “I’ve seen a lot of Latinos complain that they aren’t receiving support from the Black community but 70 percent of people in Miami are Latino or foreign born, and 55 percent voted for Trump.” Although 51 percent of the Latino community voted for Kamala Harris overall, Black folks had the highest voting percentage for the Democratic ballot, at 83 percent. For people like Duncan, the 48 percent of Latinos who voted for Trump did so against both the Latino and Black community’s interest. “The Black community feels betrayed,” says Flores. “It’s a common misconception that deportations and raids only affect Latinos, but Black folks are impacted even more negatively by the immigration system.” 

The devastation that deportation causes cannot be overstated. When ICE detained Rodriguez in February, weeks after filing her green card application, there was no consideration that she’d just given birth two weeks prior. “I was just taken away from the child. I was leaking breast milk all over. I was still bleeding because I just had a baby and was on medication but I didn’t get those back.” Rodriguez thought her situation was unique until she was transported to a Louisiana detention center and met other detained mothers. “I was probably the only one that had a newborn, but there were women there that were ripped away from babies three months [to] 14 years old,” says Rodriguez. 

On May 29, her 30th birthday, Rodriguez was one of 107 people sent to Jamaica. Around the same time, Jermaine Thomas, born on an U.S. Army base in Germany, where his father served for two years, was also flown there. Though his father was born in Jamaica, Thomas has never been there, and, with the exception of his birth, has lived within the U.S. all of his life. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” says Rodriguez, who is now back in Jamaica with her baby and husband, who maintain their American citizenships. “My husband and his mom took care of the baby when I was away. But there’s no process. They’re just taking you away from your kids and some of the kids end up in foster care or are missing.” 

In January, Joe Biden posthumously pardoned Marcus Garvey, America’s first notable deportation of a Jamaican migrant in 1927. His faulty conviction of mail fraud set a precedent for convicted Black and brown migrants within the U.S. 

“Seventy-six percent of Black migrants are deported because of contact with police and have been in this country for a long time,” says Nana Gyamfi, an immigration attorney and the executive director of the Black Alliance For Just Immigration. A 2021 report from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants found that while only seven percent of the immigrant population is Black, Black immigrants make up 20 percent of those facing deportation for criminal convictions, including low-level, nonviolent offences. “If you’re from the Caribbean it’s even higher,” says Gyamfi. “For Jamaicans, it’s 98 percent higher. People talk about the Chinese Exclusion Act, but I’ve recently learned that the first people excluded from this country were Haitians.”

On June 27, the Trump administration announced the removal of Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Haitians starting in September, putting thousands of migrants in jeopardy given Haiti’s political climate. Though a judge ruled it unconstitutional, the threat to Black migrants remains. “You have Black U.S. citizens being grabbed [by ICE] and held for days because they are racially profiling,” says Gyamfi, referring to folks like Thomas and Peter Sean Brown, who was wrongfully detained in Florida and almost deported to Jamaica, despite having proof of citizenship. “Black people are being told their real IDs are not real.” With much of the coverage concerning the ICE raids being based around Latino immigrants, some feel disconnected from the issue, often forgetting that 12 percent of Latinos are Black in the United States. “A lot of the conversation is, ‘ICE isn’t looking for Black people, they’re looking for Hispanics,’” Anayka She, a Black Panamanian TikTok creator, said to her 1.7 million followers. “[But] It’s not just Mexican people they are looking for, it’s all immigrants that are obviously not white.” 

“A lot of times, as Black Americans, we don’t realize that people may be Caribbean or West African,” she tells Rolling Stone. Her family moved to the U.S. in the 1980s, after her grandfather worked in the American zone of the Panama Canal and was awarded visas for him and his family. “If I didn’t tell you I was Panamanian, you could assume I was any other ethnicity. [In the media], they depict immigration one way but I wanted to give a different perspective as somebody who is visibly Black.” America’s racism is partly to blame. “Los Angeles has the largest number of Belizeans in the United States but people don’t know because they get mixed in with African Americans,” says Gyamfi. “Black Immigrants are in an invisibilized world because in people’s brains, immigrants are non Black Latinos.”

The path forward is complex. Rodriguez and Sainviluste, whose children are U.S. citizens, hope to come back to America to witness milestones like graduation or marriage. “I want to be able to go and be emotional support,” says Rodriguez. 

Yet she feels conflicted. “I came to America battered and bruised, for a new opportunity. I understand there are laws but those laws also stated that if you overstayed, there are ways to situate yourself. But they forced me out.” 

Activists like Gyamfi want all Americans, especially those marginalized, to pay attention. “Black folks have been feeling the brunt of the police-to-deportation pipeline and Black people right now are being arrested in immigration court.” In a country where mass incarceration overwhelmingly impacts Black people, Gyamfi sees these deportations as a warning sign. “Trump just recently brought up sending U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to prison colonies all over the world. In this climate, anyone can get it.” 

ICE Raids Aren’t Just a Latino Issue — Black Communities Are Also at Risk
Tensions are mounting between Black and Hispanic communities amid the ICE raids and deportations, but solidarity is the only way to fight back.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/ice-raids-latino-issue-black-communities-1235384699

Miami Herald: Exclusive: Hundreds at Alligator Alcatraz have no criminal charges, Miami Herald learns

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Hundreds of immigrants with no criminal charges in the United States are being held at Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility state and federal officials have characterized as a place where “vicious” and “deranged psychopaths” are sent before they get deported, records obtained by the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times show.

Mixed among the detainees accused and convicted of crimes are more than 250 people who are listed as having only immigration violations but no criminal convictions or pending charges in the United States. The data is based on a list of more than 700 people who are either being held under tents and in chain link cells at Florida’s pop-up detention center in the Everglades or appear slated for transfer there.

A third of the detainees have criminal convictions. Their charges range from attempted murder to illegal re-entry to traffic violations. Hundreds of others only have pending charges. The records do not disclose the nature of the alleged offenses, and reporters have not independently examined each individual’s case.

The information — subject to change as the population of the facility fluctuates — suggests that scores of migrants without criminal records have been targeted in the state and federal dragnet to catch and deport immigrants living illegally in Florida.

Nationally, nearly half of detainees in ICE custody as of late June were being held for immigration violations and did not have a criminal conviction or charge, according to data from Syracuse University. Polls have shown that American voters support the deportation of criminals but are less supportive of the arrest and detention of otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants. South Florida’s congressional representatives have called on the Trump administration to be more compassionate in its efforts to round up and deport immigrants with status issues.

“That place is supposedly for the worst criminals in the U.S.,” said Walter Jara, the nephew of a 56-year-old Nicaraguan man taken to the facility following a traffic stop in Palm Beach County. The list obtained by the Herald/Times states that his uncle, Denis Alcides Solis Morales, has immigration violations and makes no mention of convictions or pending criminal charges. Jara said his uncle arrived here legally in 2023 under a humanitarian parole program, and has a pending asylum case.

Reporters sent the list to officials at the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the absence of a criminal charge in the United States doesn’t mean migrants detained at the site have clean hands.

“Many of the individuals that are counted as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.,” McLaughlin told the Herald/Times. “Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally. It is not an accurate description to say they are ‘non-criminals.’”

McLaughlin said the Trump administration is “putting the American people first by removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to our communities” and said “70% of ICE arrests have been of criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges.”

She added that the state of Florida oversees the facility, not ICE, an argument echoed in court by Thomas P. Giles, a top official involved in enforcement and removal operations.

“The ultimate decision of who to detain” at Alligator Alcatraz “belongs to Florida,” he wrote as part of the federal government’s response to a lawsuit challenging the detention facility on environmental grounds.

A spokesperson for ICE referred reporters to Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, which oversees the detention facility. The Florida agency did not respond to a request for comment.

The records offer a glimpse into who is being sent to Alligator Alcatraz. The network of trailers and tents, built on an airstrip off of U.S. Highway 41, has been operating for a little more than a week. It is already housing about 750 immigrant detainees, a figure that state officials shared with Democratic state Sen. Carlos Guillermo-Smith, one of several Florida lawmakers who toured the site on Saturday afternoon.

The records obtained by the Herald/Times show detainees are from roughly 40 countries around the world. Immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba made up about half the list. Ages range from 18 to 73. One is listed as being from the United States. Reporters were unable to locate his family or attorney.

Lawmakers who visited the facility Saturday said they saw detainees wearing wristbands, which state officials explained were meant to classify the severity of their civil or criminal violations. The colors included yellow, orange and red — with yellow being less severe infractions and red meaning more severe offenses, said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.

When the detention facility opened on July 1, President Donald Trump visited the site and said it would soon house “some of the most vicious people on the planet.” He and Gov. Ron DeSantis have said the detention center is creating more space to house undocumented immigrants who otherwise would have to be released due to a lack of beds.

The state has refused to make public a roster of detainees at Alligator Alcatraz, instead offering selective information about who is being detained there. On Friday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office released the names of six men convicted of crimes to Fox News, and later to the Herald/Times upon request. The charges against the men — all included on the list obtained by the Herald/Times — ranged from murder to burglary.

“This group of murderers, rapists, and gang members are just a small sample of the deranged psychopaths that Florida is helping President Trump and his administration remove from our country,” Uthmeier’s spokesman, Jeremy Redfern, said in a statement.

One of those men is Jose Fortin, a 46-year-old from Honduras who was arrested in 2017 on attempted murder charges. Records show Fortin was deported to his home country in August 2019. A month later, he re-entered the country illegally. Border patrol agents picked him up in Texas.

Another man identified as a detainee by Uthmeier’s office, Luis Donaldo Corado, was convicted of burglary and petty theft after he was accused of being a “peeping tom” — watching a woman through her apartment window in Coral Gables. And Eddy Lopez Jemot, a 57-year-old Cuban man, was accused of killing a woman and setting her house on fire in Key Largo in 2017. The state dropped homicide charges against him in a plea deal this year and convicted him of arson.

But other detainees left off the attorney general’s list face lesser charges — such as traffic violations, according to attorneys and family members. An attorney told the Herald/Times her client was detained by federal immigration agents after a routine-check in at an ICE field office. Some are asylum seekers.

Solís Morales, the 56-year-old Nicaraguan, ended up in Alligator Alcatraz after he was unexpectedly detained on his way to a construction job in Palm Beach County on July 1, according to Jara, his nephew. He was a passenger in a Ford F-150 when the driver was pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol for an unsecured load, Jara told the Herald/Times on Saturday.

Solís Morales arrived in the United States from Nicaragua in 2023 under humanitarian parole and has a pending asylum case, Jara said.

Miami immigration attorney Regina de Moraes said she’s representing a 37-year-old Brazilian man being held at Alligator Alcatraz who entered the United States lawfully on a tourist visa in 2022 and then applied for asylum, which is pending.

She said the man, who has a five-year work permit and owns a solar panel business in the Orlando area, was arrested on a DUI charge in 2024. While he was attending a probation hearing on June 3, he was detained by the Orange County Sheriff’s office, which is participating in a federal immigration program known as 287(g). He was transferred from there to Alligator Alcatraz on Thursday, according to information provided to her by the man’s sister.

De Moraes, a seasoned immigration lawyer, said she doesn’t understand why the Brazilian man was transferred to the state-operated detention facility in the Everglades. She asked the Herald/Times not to identify her client.

“He’s not subject to mandatory detention and he’s not subject to removal because he has a pending asylum application,” de Moraes told the Herald/Times. “He has one DUI and he’s not a threat to others. This is ridiculous. This is a waste of time and money. … He’s not the kind of person they should be picking up.”

“They should be picking up people with sexual battery or armed robbery records,” de Moraes said.

Exclusive: Hundreds at Alligator Alcatraz have no criminal charges, Miami Herald learns
Descriptions of the Everglades detention center as a place for violent criminals tell only part of the story.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article310541810.html

Newsweek: Trump backs ICE crackdown as farmworkers say they feel ‘hunted’

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Undocumented farm workers say they are being “hunted like animals” as President Donald Trump expands ICE raids targeting agricultural sites. Amid rising arrest quotas and shifting enforcement policies, workers report living in fear, losing wages, and facing mounting pressure to surrender autonomy in exchange for continued employment.

What to know:

  • ICE raids under Trump have led to injuries, mass arrests, and at least one death
  • Trump has proposed deferring immigration enforcement to farm owners
  • Advocacy groups warn that the policy undermines civil rights and worker protections
  • Many undocumented farm workers have gone into hiding to avoid arrest
  • Critics liken the enforcement approach to indentured servitude or forced compliance
  • Nearly 40 percent of farm workers in the US are undocumented
  • ICE quotas have tripled under the Trump administration
  • Labor unions say raids are unconstitutional and are executed without judicial oversight

In June, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston arrested five undocumented migrants with extensive criminal histories. Among them was 56-year-old Cuban national Adermis Wilson-Gonzalez, convicted in 2003 for hijacking a plane from Cuba to Florida. He was taken into custody on June 29.

On June 13, ICE arrested Arnulfo Olivares Cervantes, a 47-year-old Mexican national and former Mexicles gang member. Cervantes had entered the U.S. illegally six times and faced convictions for attempted murder, drug trafficking, and evading arrest.

Luis Pablo Vasquez-Estolano, 29, also from Mexico, was arrested on June 10. He had been deported six times and held convictions for homicide, aggravated robbery, and drug possession.

Jose Meza, 40, was arrested on June 24. ICE reported Meza had entered the U.S. illegally four times and was convicted of sexual assault of a minor and theft.

On June 23, ICE detained 51-year-old Javier Escobar Gonzalez, who had prior convictions for sexual indecency with a minor, criminal trespass with a deadly weapon, and unauthorized firearm use.

ICE officials say the arrests reflect ongoing efforts to remove individuals deemed threats to public safety.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Houston is pushing back against criticism of its recent immigration enforcement actions, with acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez praising agents for their work in removing individuals deemed threats to public safety. In a statement, Martinez said ICE officers are “targeting dangerous criminal aliens” and highlighted recent deportations across Southeast Texas as evidence of their commitment.

The agency reported the removal of individuals with criminal convictions, including child predators and gang members, as part of its broader strategy to restore what it calls integrity to the immigration system. Martinez emphasized that ICE’s mission is being undermined by “false and malicious rumors,” but insisted that agents remain focused on protecting communities.

The statement follows a series of high-profile deportations and increased scrutiny of ICE’s tactics, particularly in Houston, where arrests have surged in recent months.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the Portland International Jetport on Saturday to protest Avelo Airlines’ partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The airline has been conducting deportation flights out of Arizona since May, prompting backlash from immigration advocates and local residents.

Protesters expressed concern that Avelo, which recently began offering commercial flights between Portland and New Haven, Connecticut, is receiving public incentives despite its federal contract. Organizers called for a boycott and urged city officials to reconsider support for the airline.

Avelo maintains that its ICE-related operations are limited to Arizona and are not connected to its Portland service. However, critics argue that any business involved in deportation efforts should not benefit from public resources.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a new initiative to provide direct cash assistance to immigrants impacted by the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration raids.

The funds will be distributed as cash cards valued at “a couple hundred” dollars each and is expected to become available within the next week, Bass said

Newsweek has contacted Bass’ office for comment via email outside of office hours.

President Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history to address illegal immigration and border security. However, the policy has sparked concerns about its potential effects on the economy. The GOP’s flagship immigration policy under Trump is causing people to avoid going to work amid fears over workplace raids.

California has become one of the key battleground states for immigration enforcement after President Trump directed ICE to increase operations in sanctuary states.

California State Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) issued a forceful statement Friday condemning the treatment of immigrant children detained in Los Angeles, following the release of a video showing two dozen minors handcuffed and led through a federal building. Durazo called the footage “a moral failure of the highest order,” denouncing the practice as cruel and fundamentally un-American.

The senator urged the Trump administration to end what she described as barbaric tactics and emphasized that no child should be shackled or separated from their parents. She praised U.S. District Judge Frimpong’s recent ruling that blocked federal immigration raids based on racial profiling and ordered access to legal counsel for detainees.

Durazo criticized the White House’s decision to appeal the ruling, warning that it signals a disregard for constitutional protections. She reaffirmed her commitment to defending immigrant families and called for policies rooted in compassion and justice.

Florida State Rep. Fentrice Driskell criticized the Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention facility during an interview on CNN, calling the site “inhumane” and a misuse of taxpayer funds. Driskell described overcrowded conditions, sweltering heat, and limited access to sanitation and legal counsel. She said detainees are housed in cages with three toilets per pod and shackled during medical screenings.

Driskell also claimed that some Republican lawmakers privately expressed discomfort with the facility, saying it did not reflect what they had envisioned when supporting immigration enforcement. She questioned the $450 million price tag and suggested contractors with ties to the DeSantis administration may be benefiting.

The facility, located in the Florida Everglades, has drawn criticism from tribal leaders, environmental groups, and immigrant advocates. Driskell warned that the center’s conditions and lack of oversight could have lasting consequences for Florida communities.

Undocumented farm workers say they feel “hunted like animals” as President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies immigration enforcement across U.S. farms, The Guardian reported. ICE raids have disrupted livelihoods, forced workers into hiding, and sparked protests, including one in Ventura County where a worker died after falling from a greenhouse during a raid.

Trump has proposed letting farmers oversee immigration enforcement on their properties, a move critics say strips workers of legal protections and dignity. Labor advocates warn the policy amounts to coercion, with workers forced to rely on employers to avoid deportation.

Despite mixed signals from the White House, the administration has raised ICE arrest quotas and reversed earlier directives to avoid targeting agricultural sites. Officials say the crackdown is necessary to secure the food supply and remove undocumented labor, while critics argue it threatens both human rights and economic stability.

Farmworkers and organizers say the raids have traumatized communities, disrupted families, and risked food shortages. With undocumented workers making up an estimated 40 percent of the U.S. farm labor force, advocates warn that continued enforcement could reverberate far beyond the fields.

Federal immigration agents detained a California woman outside a Home Depot during a workplace raid and used excessive force during her arrest, a family friend told Newsweek.

Alejandra Anleu, a 22-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents outside the store located at San Fernando and 26th Street in Los Angeles on Monday, June 30, 2025.

She had been working there when immigration enforcers detained her.

Joyce Sanchez, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen and family friend, told Newsweek: “They used excessive force on a young woman, which was unnecessary.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Newsweek: “FALSE. On June 30, U.S. Border Patrol encountered Alejandra Anleu, an illegal alien from Guatemala. During the encounter, Anleu freely admitted to being an illegal alien and she was placed under arrest without any injuries reported.”

Footage obtained by Newsweek shows federal agents leading her away without incident.

Federal officials on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s intensifying deportation campaign, including a controversial raid at two California cannabis farms that left one worker dead and sparked widespread protests. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration would appeal a federal judge’s ruling that temporarily blocked immigration detentions based on racial profiling and restricted access to legal counsel for detainees.

“We will appeal, and we will win,” Noem said on Fox News Sunday, denying that the administration used discriminatory tactics. Homan added on CNN that physical characteristics could be one factor in establishing reasonable suspicion during enforcement actions.

The July 10 raids in Camarillo and Carpinteria resulted in 361 arrests, including 14 migrant minors, according to DHS. Protesters clashed with federal agents, and Democratic Rep. Salud Carbajal said he witnessed officers firing smoke canisters and projectiles into a crowd of civilians. ICE later accused Carbajal of sharing an agent’s business card with demonstrators.

United Farm Workers confirmed that one farmworker died from injuries sustained during the raid. Senator Alex Padilla, who was forcibly removed from a Noem press conference in June, condemned the administration’s tactics. “It’s causing ICE to get more aggressive, more cruel, more extreme, and these are the results,” Padilla said. “It’s people dying”.

Chris Landry, a longtime New Hampshire resident and green card holder, was denied re-entry into the United States after a family vacation in Canada, sparking personal and political upheaval. Landry, 46, has lived in the U.S. since he was three years old and was traveling with three of his five American-born children when he was stopped at the border in Holton, Maine.

“They pulled me aside and started questioning me about my past convictions in New Hampshire,” Landry told NBC News from New Brunswick, Canada. His record includes a 2006 marijuana possession charge and a 2007 suspended license violation—both resolved with fines and no further offenses since.

Despite his legal permanent resident status, border agents denied him entry and warned he could be detained if he returned. “I never expected that I wouldn’t be able to go back home,” Landry said. “It was scary. I felt like I was being treated like a criminal.”

Landry now faces an uncertain future, requiring an immigration judge’s approval to return. The experience has shaken his political beliefs. Once a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s immigration policies, Landry said, “I feel differently now. I’ve been torn from my family. My life has been disregarded completely”.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection defended the decision, stating that “possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right,” and that prior convictions can trigger mandatory detention or additional scrutiny at ports of entry.

Landry has reached out to New Hampshire’s congressional delegation for help, while his children prepare to return to the U.S. without him.

A GoFundMe campaign for Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old California farmworker who died Saturday from injuries sustained in a 30-foot fall during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid, has raised over $150,000 as of Sunday evening.

Newsweek has reached out to Alanis’ niece, Yesenia Duran, for comment via GoFundMe on Sunday.

Alanis’ death is among the first reported during an ICE raid under President Donald Trump‘s second term. The administration has spearheaded a major immigration crackdown, vowing to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. The initiative has seen an intensification of ICE raids across the country.

Congress has allocated funding for tens of thousands of additional detention beds in the current tax bill, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) moves to expand detention capacity and ramp up arrests.

A federal judge on Friday concluded that immigration agents had been “unlawfully” arresting suspected illegal immigrants in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties, marking the latest legal clashes between California and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong imposed two temporary restraining orders (TRO) banning law enforcement from detaining suspected illegal migrants in the area without reasonable suspicion and insisting that those arrested must have access to legal counsel.

Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old farmworker, died Saturday from injuries sustained during a chaotic federal immigration raid at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California. Alanis fell roughly 30 feet from a greenhouse roof while reportedly fleeing agents, according to family members. He had worked at the farm for a decade and was the sole provider for his wife and daughter in Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it executed criminal search warrants at the cannabis facility and a second site in Carpinteria, arresting approximately 200 undocumented individuals and identifying at least 10 migrant children on-site. DHS stated Alanis was not in custody and was not being pursued when he climbed the roof and fell.

The United Farm Workers union, which does not represent workers at the raided farm, condemned the operation, calling it “violent and cruel” and warning of its impact on food supply chains and immigrant families.

Protests erupted during the raid, with demonstrators clashing with agents in military gear. Tear gas and smoke forced crowds to disperse. Four U.S. citizens were arrested for allegedly assaulting officers, and the FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information about a suspect who fired a gun at agents.

Glass House Farms said it complied with federal warrants and is assisting detained workers with legal support. The company denied knowingly violating hiring practices or employing minors.

Democratic lawmakers condemned Florida’s newly opened Everglades immigration detention center after touring the facility Saturday, describing it as overcrowded, unsanitary, and infested with insects. “There are really disturbing, vile conditions, and this place needs to be shut the hell down,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who joined other Democrats in criticizing the 3,000-bed site dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Republicans on the same tour disputed those claims, with State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia calling the facility “well-run” and “clean.” Sen. Jay Collins added that the center was “functioning well” and equipped with backup generators and dietary tracking systems.

The tour followed an earlier attempt by Democrats to access the site, which was denied. Lawmakers have since filed a lawsuit against the DeSantis administration, alleging obstruction of oversight authority.

The detention center, built in days on a remote airstrip, is part of President Donald Trump’s push to expand migrant detention capacity to 100,000 beds. While officials say detainees have access to medical care, air conditioning, and legal services, advocates and relatives report worm-infested food, overflowing toilets, and limited hygiene access.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said any issues “have been addressed” and suggested other states may adopt similar models. The facility remains controversial, with critics calling it a political stunt and supporters touting its efficiency.

Vice President JD Vance encountered heckling and widespread protests during a family visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, over the weekend.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the theme park, the Los Angeles Times reported, voicing their disapproval of Vance’s presence amid ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across California.

Jane Fleming Kleeb, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, later confronted Vance inside the park while the Republican walked with his child. Vance’s visit disrupted park operations as security measures increased, resulting in prolonged wait times and temporary ride closures for other guests, according to The Independent.

Newsweek has contacted Vance’s team via email outside of normal office hours for comment.

Trump backs ICE crackdown as farmworkers say they feel ’hunted
ICE raids surge under Trump, leaving farmworkers fearing arrest, injury, and loss of income amid immigration crackdown. This live blog is closed.

https://www.newsweek.com/immigration-trump-ice-raids-green-card-visa-live-updates-2098579