Slingshot News: ‘Claims From Katrina’: Sec. Kristi Noem Reveals Her Department Is 22 Years Behind Schedule On FEMA Aid In House Hearing
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Tag Archives: Homeland Security Investigations
Slingshot News: ‘Our Federal Partners’: Gov. Ron DeSantis Kisses Kristi Noem’s Ring For Lining His Pockets With Taxpayer Money In Immigration Press Conference
‘Our Federal Partners’: Gov. Ron DeSantis Kisses Kristi Noem’s Ring For Lining His Pockets With Taxpayer Money In Immigration Press Conference
Governor Ron DeSantis kissed the ring of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a recent press conference earlier today. DeSantis celebrated his ‘federal partners.’
Washington Post: A night in D.C. after Trump’s National Guard deployment
Spend the night with us in one of D.C.’s nightlife hubs, as federal police roam, crowds are smaller, bartenders worry and clubgoers try to enjoy themselves.
The sunlight dimmed along this stretch of U Street to the familiar soundtrack of a city ready for the weekend: rumbling buses taking home tired commuters, high heels clacking along sticky sidewalks and chattering crowds ready to order their first round.
Then a group gathered on a street corner with pots and pans, jingling them as the darkness grew closer. They whooped and cheered for a few minutes, a brief moment of joyful resistance seeking to counteract the image of the crime-ridden city described by the president.
Among the clubgoers in miniskirts and sweat-soaked T-shirts, there were federal agents hopping in and out of unmarked cars. A protester held a sign reading “America has no kings.” Police officers were met with boos and phones ready to record.
Welcome to the first Friday night in D.C. since President Donald Trump announced he was placing the local police under federal control and sending in National Guard troops to a city where 9 in 10 voters cast ballots for his opponent. The next morning, the White House would announce that the overnight operation yielded 52 arrests and the seizure of three illegal firearms. Twenty-two multiagency teams were deployed throughout the city.
Trump justified the exertion of executive power to reduce crime by depicting the city as a lawless wasteland, despite violent crime reaching 30-year lows. But many of those gathered around the bars and clubs in Northwest Washington on Friday night said they felt more unsettled by the federal presence than any other safety concerns.
Washington Post journalists spent Friday night in a popular section of U Street — a nightlife hub that is among the areas of the city with the highest number of crimes reported this year. Earlier this summer, D.C. police implemented a youth curfew over concerns about rowdy crowds in some areas.
Nearby, two nights earlier, a mix of local and federal authorities pulled over drivers for seat belt violations or broken taillights while onlookers chanted: “Go home, fascists.”
On Friday, crowds were smaller, bartenders and club managers said, and they wondered if patrons were staying inside to avoid federal authorities. And yet, there were still people ready to party.
The largest police response The Post witnessed Friday night was over a claim of a stolen bike. It was around 8:30 p.m., and the sky was ink blue.
One couple heading home from an event at a nearby synagogue looked on with furrowed brows. They spotted a few D.C. police cruisers blocking traffic and agents donning vests labeled “HSI” — Homeland Security Investigations. They hadn’t seen that before, not here.
A pair of French tourists, in D.C. for the first time and looking for a bar, paused when they saw the police cruisers and growing crowd. Earlier, they had strolled by the White House and marveled at the Capitol, and now they were trying to make sense of the flashing lights.
They had loosely followed the week’s headlines and were still thrilled to be visiting.
“We’re on vacation, so we try to cut [out] the news,” Solène Le Toullec said, and they walked on.
At the sight of local and federal law enforcement throughout the night, people pooled on the sidewalk — watching, filming, booing.
“Get out!”
“Go!”
“Quit!”
Such interactions played out again and again as the night drew on. Onlookers heckled the police as they did their job and applauded as officers left.
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Click the links below to read the rest:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-night-in-d-c-after-trump-s-national-guard-deployment/ar-AA1KFJnn
Straight Arrow News: CBP officers admit to drug smuggling conspiracy using emojis to talk to runners
Two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers pleaded guilty this month to working with members of a Mexican drug trafficking organization to smuggle multiple types of drugs into the country, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Jesse Clark Garcia, 37, and Diego Bonillo, 30, conspired to let vehicles carrying illegal drugs cross into the United States without being inspected, helping the drug traffickers bypass border security.
The Department of Justice said the two officers secretly used emojis to communicate with the drug smugglers about their location or assignment at the border.
Guilty Pleas in Major Trafficking Case
On July 8, Garcia pleaded guilty to nine criminal charges listed in an indictment, including conspiracy to import controlled substances and importation of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl through the Tecate, California, port of entry.
On July 28, right before his trial was about to begin, Bonillo admitted guilt to three charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances and importation of fentanyl and heroin through the Otay Mesa port of entry.
Prosecutors: Officers Profited From Smuggling
“The United States has alleged that both defendants profited handsomely, funding both domestic and international trips as well as purchases of luxury items and attempts to purchase real estate in Mexico,” a press release from federal prosecutors reads.
Garcia and Bonillo both face life in prison with a minimum of 10 years. Federal prosecutors say Garcia will be sentenced on Sept. 26, and Bonillo on Nov. 7.
Multi-Agency Investigation
The case was investigated through a coordinated effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The dirtbags should be detaining and deporting their own and leave the honest day workers at Home Depots alone!
CBP officers admit to drug smuggling conspiracy using emojis to talk to runners
Two CBP officers pleaded guilty to working with members of a Mexican drug trafficking organization to smuggle drugs into the U.S.
https://san.com/cc/cbp-officers-admit-to-drug-smuggling-conspiracy-using-emojis-to-talk-to-runners
Raw Story: Ex-prosecutor demands full probe after ‘heart attack’ death in ICE custody
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wants an immediate and full congressional investigation into the latest death of a detainee in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Trump administration.
The detainee, a 75-year-old Cuban national named Isidro Perez, was reported to Congress by ICE officials, with news on the incident saying that “the death appears to have been caused by a heart attack.”
That explanation didn’t suffice for Vance.
“‘Appears’ is doing a lot of heavy, lifting here given what we know about how other detainees, including a woman who lost her baby in ICE detention have experienced,” wrote Vance. “Especially with ICE trying to prevent Congress from oversight, there should be a full investigation into this.”
Intercept: ICE Agent Fled From Angry Residents Outside New York School — and Got in a Car Crash
Masked and unidentified ICE agents lurking near schools and homeless shelters spark fear and confusion in majority-Latino enclaves outside New York.
Run, scum, run!
See scum run!
Run, run, run!
A dozen or more masked men, some with long guns, tried to enter a men’s homeless shelter without identifying themselves in a rural town with a long-standing immigrant community on eastern Long Island in New York. Officials from the local police department later admitted they didn’t know where the masked men came from — only adding to local residents’ concerns.
At the same time, 50 miles to the west, six unmarked cars with masked agents from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, parked within hundreds of feet of an elementary school in a working-class town with a large Latino population. In response, a group of residents gathered to shame the agents, accusing the agents with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, of lying in wait to snatch the parents of students when school let out.
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On Long Island, the two federal raids on Tuesday saw emergency communiqués from schools to parents, incorrect information distributed to area media by local authorities, a confrontation with angry demonstrators, and a car accident.
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Late Tuesday morning in Westbury, in western Nassau County, parents and nearby residents noticed what they immediately recognized as unmarked federal agent vehicles parked within feet of Park Avenue Elementary School, two eyewitnesses told The Intercept. One of those residents, Allan Oscar Sorto, picked up his phone and began streaming live on Facebook.
As he streamed, a dozen or so people began congregating near the cars, two Nissan Altimas and several Ford SUVs with flashers. People can be heard explaining that they’ve seen these cars around the neighborhood in recent weeks, part of immigration raids. Now the sight of the cars parked so close to the elementary school seemed to spark heightened outrage and fear that federal immigration agents were lurking to surprise parents going to pick up their children from school.
Sorto, from nearby Hempstead, estimated that there were four cars near the school, some within 10 feet of the schoolyard fence, and two other cars on the next block. Another eyewitness, who asked not to be named out of fear of law enforcement retaliation, told The Intercept that he could see uniformed HSI agents sitting in all the cars, most masked.
“No son padres ustedes?” a woman in the video says to the closed window of one of the parked Nissans: “Are you not parents?”
People on the sidewalk yelled at the cars in Spanish and English. “Show your face!” “You feel proud?” “None of us are criminals, we work, we pay taxes like you do.” “Leave the school grounds!”
The Westbury residents’ fears seemed well-founded, considering reports from around the country….
The Car Crash:
In Westbury, the HSI agents didn’t respond to the gathered crowd. After a few minutes, the agents drove away. A commotion erupted down the road, off-camera, and onlookers began rushing toward the corner.
One of the Nissans, carrying two of the HSI agents, had crashed into a black pickup truck that happened to be passing through the intersection. Three eyewitnesses told The Intercept that the agents’ car had sped away. Two of the witnesses believe the Nissan blew a stop sign, causing the crash. (Nassau County police referred questions about the accident to ICE, which did not respond to an inquiry.)
After the accident, the crowd gathered around the scene, according to the video stream. The two agents got out of the crashed car, seemingly panicked and, witnesses told The Intercept, appearing to avoid eye contact with bystanders. The agents got into another HSI vehicle.
A third agent, an unmasked man with a black polo shirt covering his tactical vest, stood near the crashed car, remaining stoic as people questioned him on the livestream.
“You’re looking for criminals in the school?” one bystander asked, as the agent remained expressionless.
…
Soon, the federal agents left, leaving the smashed Nissan with the passenger side airbag deployed behind, and many in the crowd dispersed.
The driver of the pickup truck involved in the accident was placed in a stretcher and left in an ambulance….
“Now you’re clogging up the street and people have to work,” one of the remaining bystanders can be heard to say during the stream. “How is this making America great again?”
…
The Long Island newspaper Newsday first reported the Westbury incident with a quote from Nassau County police that the action was not immigration-related and that the agents were not working for ICE on Tuesday afternoon.
Late Tuesday, however, an ICE spokesperson issued a statement that contradicted the Nassau police.
“ICE Homeland Security Investigations Long Island personnel were conducting an operation associated to an ongoing federal investigation,” the statement said. “During the operation special agents were confronted by multiple anti-law enforcement agitators, which prohibited the enforcement action. ICE HSI personnel departed the location and, shortly thereafter, a member of the law enforcement team was involved in a motor-vehicle collision.”
Homeless Shelter Raid:
A week earlier, ICE raids using another Long Island fire department sparked outrage in the community. The fire department subsequently issued a statement that fire officials were not previously informed that ICE would be using their parking lot.
Several hours after the men were seen at the Riverhead Fire Department, they were spotted again. Twelve to 14 of the masked men, some reportedly carrying long guns, were trying to get into a Riverhead men’s homeless shelter, according to a video shared by several immigrant advocates in the area. They would not identify themselves, a shelter employee told local news outlet RiverheadLOCAL.
A shelter resident told RiverheadLOCAL that one of the men, wearing a black U.S. Marshals vest, came to the front door seeking entry but would neither show credentials or a warrant, nor give his name. (A representative for the shelter did not respond to inquiries.)
A representative for the Riverhead Fire Department told The Intercept,
“We had no idea who they were.”
Clock the links for more, it’s a long article:
ICE Agent Fled From Angry Residents Outside New York School — and Got in a Car Crash
Masked and unidentified ICE agents lurking near schools sparked fear, confusion, and a car crash in Latino-heavy New York suburbs.
New York Times: Agents Use Military-Style Force Against Protesters at L.A. Immigration Raid
Armed agents in tactical gear threw flash-bang grenades to disperse a crowd in Los Angeles’s Fashion District. Later, agents fired less-than-lethal ammunition at protesters outside a detention center.
Federal agents in tactical gear armed with military-style rifles threw flash-bang grenades to disperse an angry crowd near downtown Los Angeles on Friday as they conducted an immigration raid on a clothing wholesaler, the latest sign of tensions between protesters and law enforcement over raids carried out at stores, restaurants and court buildings.
The operation was one of at least three immigration sweeps conducted in Los Angeles on Friday. In another one, federal agents converged at a Home Depot where day laborers regularly gather in search of work.
The raid at the clothing wholesaler began about 9:15 a.m. in the Fashion District, less than two miles from Los Angeles City Hall.
It was an extraordinary show of force. Dozens of federal agents wearing helmets and green camouflage arrived in two hulking armored trucks and other unmarked vehicles, and were soon approached by a crowd of immigrant activists and supporters. Some agents carried riot shields and others held rifles, as well as shotguns that appeared to be loaded with less-than-lethal ammunition.
Agents cleared a path for two white passenger vans that exited the area. A short time later, as officers boarded their vehicles to leave, a few agents lobbed flash-bang grenades at groups of people who chased alongside the slow-moving convoy. Some protesters had thrown eggs and other objects at the vehicles. At one point, the vehicles snagged and crushed at least two electric scooters that protesters had used.
Associated Press: Immigration official defends tactics against criticism of a heavy hand as arrests rise nationwide
Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, turned emotional when asked to explain why officials wear masks. He said some have received death threats and been harassed online.
“I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” he said at a news conference in Boston to announce nearly 1,500 arrests in the region as part of a month-long “surge operation.”
Lyons was leaving the room when a reporter asked him about the masks. He returned to the podium.
“Is that the issue here that we’re just upset about the masks?” he asked. “Or is anyone upset about the fact that ICE officers’ families were labeled terrorists?”
Lyons may have been referring to comments by San Diego Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera, who called ICE officers “terrorists” after Friday’s restaurant raid. “This isn’t safety. It’s state-sponsored terrorism,” Elo-Rivera wrote on Instagram.
Gestapo? Terrorists? Thugs? ICE is receiving the reputation it has earned. And I could care less if the poor bully boys are harassed, either online or in public — they’ve earned it.
Immigration official defends tactics against criticism of a heavy hand as arrests rise nationwide
The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is defending himself against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed as they ramp up arrests toward President Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportations.
Los Angeles Times: ‘Even the cops don’t like us anymore’: Under Trump, ICE is despised and divided
Poor crybabies!
Across the nation, ICE has never seemed more visible, especially as anger continues over the separation of immigrant families at the border under the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. Protesters have rallied across the U.S., demanding that the agency be abolished — calls that have been echoed by politicians. Earlier this month, WikiLeaks published the identities and information of more than 9,000 supposed current and former ICE employees.
Being an ICE agent has always come with challenges. The agency has faced criticism for years from immigration activists, including during the uptick in immigration enforcement during the Obama administration.
But Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has made ICE much more of a target. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf won praise from many of her constituents and criticism from the White House earlier this year when she alerted her city to upcoming ICE raids.
Many California police departments have longstanding policies against working with ICE to arrest suspects on immigration charges. But since Trump took office, California has enacted even tougher “sanctuary state” policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration officials even more, and that has heightened the strains.
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Recently, “Occupy ICE” protests have sprung up across the nation. In Portland, Ore., protesters were able to shut down an ICE facility for at least a week.
On Saturday, hundreds of coordinated rallies were scheduled around the country to protest Trump’s zero tolerance policy, which has resulted in the separation of more than 2,000 children from their parents or guardians crossing the border.
This week, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) stated that he plans to introduce legislation to eliminate ICE. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat Rep. Joe Crowley, the House Democratic Caucus chair, in New York’s Democratic primary, ran on a platform that called for the abolition of the agency.
And this is total bullshit:
ICE “fully respects the Constitutional rights of all people to peacefully express their opinions,” ICE said in a statement. “That being said, ICE remains committed to performing its immigration enforcement mission consistent with federal law and agency policy.”
Just ask all the students who are being deported for espousing pro-Palestinian views.
‘Even the cops don’t like us anymore’: Under Trump, ICE is despised and divided
In May, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted in Union Station.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ice-conflict-20180630-story.html
BBC: New Jersey mayor arrested for protesting at migrant centre
The mayor of New Jersey’s largest city has been arrested after allegedly trying to force his way into a migrant detention facility.
Newark Mayor Ras Barak, who is running for New Jersey governor, “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings”, to leave Delaney Hall, a detention facility being run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to acting US attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba.
Barak was accompanied by three Democratic members of Congress, who were not arrested. They say they were there to conduct “oversight” to ensure that the facility is not violating any building safety ordinances.
It is unclear whether Barak faces criminal charges.
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New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy said he was “outraged” by Baraka’s arrest and called for him to be immediately released.
New Jersey Democratic lawmakers Rob Menendez Jr, Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver were also present during the protest.
City officials allege the private firm that signed a contract with ICE did not obtain proper permits and blocked necessary inspections. The firm has told media they haver the proper permits.
Earlier on Friday, Congresswoman Watson Coleman posted on social media: “We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances.
