Tag Archives: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Newsweek: Bill Maher confronts Dr. Phil on joining Trump admin’s ICE raids

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Comedian and television host Bill Maher pressed television personality and former clinical psychologist, Dr. Phil, on Friday about his inclusion in the Trump administration’s ongoing nationwide immigration raids.

Why It Matters

Phil McGraw or better known as Dr. Phil who is widely known for his television career, is a vocal supporter of the Trump administration. He has spoken at campaign rallies, interviewed the then-Republican candidate, and been present atImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids since Donald Trump took office in January, including operations in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The Trump 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, with thousands of people detained and many deported.

What To Know

Maher, host of the HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, asked his guest, Dr. Phil, about his reasoning for joining the immigration raids.

“Why are you going on these ICE raids? I don’t understand that,” Maher said. “You’re a guy who we know for so many years who has been working to put families together; to bring families who are apart and heal them. And now you’re going on raids with people who are literally separating families. Explain that to me.”

Dr. Phil quickly countered, “Well, now that’s bull****.”

Maher then interjected, “That’s not bull****…They’re not separating families?”

Dr. Phil continued, “Look, if you arrest somebody that’s a citizen, that has committed a crime or is DUI’d with a child in the backseat, do you think they don’t separate that family right then, right there? Of course they do!”

“But that’s not what’s going on,” Maher argued.

Dr. Phil then referenced part of Maher’s earlier monologue, turning to talk about how ICE agents have to wear masks because of “doxxing” concerns.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported in July that ICE agents “are facing an 830 increase in assaults from January 21st to July 14th compared with the same period in 2024.”

Dr. Phil defended the ICE agents, saying they are simply doing their jobs by carrying out the raids, saying, “They didn’t make the laws; they didn’t make that law. What are you expecting them to do, just not do their job? If you don’t like the law, change it. I don’t like that law, at all. Change the law!”

Maher then asked, “If you don’t like it then why are you going?” which drew applause from the live audience. Dr. Phil responded, “Because that is the law.”

Earlier this summer, large-scale clashes between protesters and immigration officials in Los Angeles prompted the deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city. Dr. Phil was on the ground in Los Angeles with his TV channel, Merit TV, for the raids, while earlier in January he partook in a ride-along with border czar Tom Homan during the Chicago raids.

What People Are Saying

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement previously shared with Newsweek: “Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make American safe. Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst and carry out the largest deportation operation of criminal aliens in American history.”

A Department of Justice spokesperson previously told Newsweek: “The entire Trump Administration is united in fully enforcing our nation’s immigration laws, and the DOJ continues to play an important role in vigorously defending the President’s deportation agenda in court.”

What Happens Next?

Democratic leaders and human rights advocates have criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, citing reports of inhumane conditions in detention centers and during detention procedures. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has repeatedly defended the department and its facilities, and has called for expanding ICE’s detention capacity.

Raids are expected to continue as the administration pledges to deport people without proper documentation.

Bill Maher confronts Dr. Phil on joining Trump admin’s ICE raids
Maher pressed Dr. Phil on “going on” some of the Trump administration’s immigration raids.

https://www.newsweek.com/bill-maher-confronts-dr-phil-joining-trump-admins-ice-raids-2111269

San Francisco Chronicle: San Jose Spotlight: Ice Fears Keep San Jose Students Away From School

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It’s been a rocky year for San Jose students due to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policy.

Students have dropped out of summer and afterschool enrichment programs, opting to stay home in fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining their family and friends, according to people working in San Jose school districts.

In January, schools across Santa Clara County experienced an average drop in attendance of 5,000 students, and the number doubled to 10,000 in February, according to Santa Clara County Office of Education Trustee Jorge Pacheco Jr. It’s unclear if attendance remained down or if it picked back up in the following months, as he said he doesn’t have data after February.

“This fear has been causing significant trauma that has been preventing children from learning and reaching their socio-emotional and academic milestones,” Pacheco Jr. told San Jose Spotlight.

Pacheco Jr. represents Area 4, which includes a majority portion of San Jose Unified School District, a portion of Oak Grove School District and a portion of East Side Union High School District.

The county has one of the highest concentrations of immigrant families in California, where about 60% of students have at least one immigrant parent, or more than 165,000 people. The impact of ICE activity on students has been far-reaching, Pacheco said.

“We all know that when students miss 10% or more of school, they are less likely to be at grade level, graduate from high school or even attend college,” he said.

One youth mentorship program, ConXion to Community, has seen a 30% drop in student participation this summer. The nonprofit serves marginalized communities by providing tutoring, leadership development and enrichment opportunities.

Mabel Aburto, director of youth programs for the nonprofit, said she fears students who are already struggling with school will fall further behind. They operate in three schools: Overfelt and Yerba Buena high schools and Bridges Academy.

“Since January, we noticed the decline in grades, the decline in focusing,” Aburto told San Jose Spotlight. “They are not focusing on how to achieve their potential. They are focusing on surviving.”

During President Donald Trump’s previous term in office, attendance in the programs dipped slightly at first, but students came back. This time, Aburto said the number of students choosing to skip school enrichment programs is unprecedented. A group of six students pulled out of one of the group’s summer programs after ICE detained their friend’s parents.

Program mentors have pivoted to educating the youth on what they can do when they hear about or encounter ICE and helping them create a safety plan in case someone in their family is detained. Even though mentors have assured students they’re in a safe place and no strangers are allowed to enter the building, Aburto said their hands are tied — there’s only so much they can do to comfort students outside the classroom.

“At this point, there is no way that we can guarantee the youths’ safety,” she said. “There is not much that I think any organization right now can do.”

Not all school districts have experienced a drop in attendance, though fear and stress of families being deported has been palpable throughout.

East Side Union High School District Trustee J. Manuel Herrera said regular school attendance has not been affected significantly by ICE agents. During the 2024-25 school year, an average of more than 92% of the district’s 20,000 students enrolled were present each day, a slight increase from last year.

“The impact goes beyond school attendance,” Herrera told San Jose Spotlight. “The impact has manifested itself in students and families feeling stressed, fearful and worried.”

In response to the deportations, the county has set up training for school workers on how to respond to immigration enforcement agents and organized legal clinics at Alum Rock Union School District, Mount Pleasant Elementary School District and Santa Clara Unified School District. Pacheco Jr. said anyone who wants more information about the legal clinics can contact John Sweeney, senior legislative and policy analyst with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, at jsweeney@sccoe.org.

San Jose Spotlight: Ice Fears Keep San Jose Students Away From School

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/san-jose-spotlight-ice-fears-keep-san-jose-20807558.php

LA Times: Lopez: ‘Silence is violence’: Teachers, retirees, first-time activists stand up to immigration raids

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“Thank you so much for showing up this morning,” Sharon Nicholls said into a megaphone at 8 a.m. Wednesday outside a Home Depot in Pasadena.

As of Friday afternoon, no federal agents had raided the store on East Walnut Street. But the citizen brigade that stands watch outside and patrols the parking lot in search of ICE agents has not let down its guard—especially not after raids at three other Home Depots in recent days despite federal court rulings limiting sweeps. On Friday, a Home Depot in Van Nuys was raided twice before noon.

About two dozen people gathered Wednesday near the tent that serves as headquarters of the East Pasadena Community Defense Center. Another dozen or so would be arriving over the next half hour, some carrying signs.

“Silence is Violence”

“Migrants Don’t Party With Epstein”

Cynthia Lunine, 70, carried a large sign that read “Break His Dark Spell” and included a sinister image of President Trump. She said she was new to political activism, but added: “You can’t not be an activist. If you’re an American, it’s the only option. The immigration issue is absolutely inhumane, it’s un-Christian, and it’s intolerable.”

There are local supporters, for sure, of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Activists told me there aren’t many days in which they don’t field shouted profanities or pro-Trump cheers from Home Depot shoppers.

But the administration’s blather about a focus on violent offenders led to huge demonstrations in greater Los Angeles beginning in June, and the cause continues to draw people into the streets. Not all day laborers are undocumented, one Pasadena protester told me, and the taxpayer-funded use of federal forces to arrest people looking for work is offensive.

Dayena Campbell, 35, is a volunteer at Community Defense Corner operations in other parts of Pasadena, a movement that followed high-profile raids and was covered in the Colorado Boulevard newspaper and, later, in the New York Times. A fulltime student who works in sales, Campbell was also cruising the parking lot at the Home Depot on the east side of Pasadena in search of federal agents.

She thought this Home Depot needed its own Community Defense Corner, so she started one about a month ago. She and her cohort have more than once spotted agents in the area and alerted day laborers. About half have scattered, she said, and half have held firm despite the risk.

When I asked what motivated Campbell, she said:

“Inhumane, illegal kidnappings. Lack of due process. Actions taken without anyone being held accountable. Seeing people’s lives ripped apart. Seeing families being destroyed in the blink of an eye.”

Anywhere from a handful to a dozen volunteers show up daily to to hand out literature, patrol the parking lot and check in on day laborers, sometimes bringing them food. Once a week, Nicholls helps organize a rally that includes a march through the parking lot and into the store, where the protesters present a letter asking Home Depot management to “say no to ICE in their parking lot and in their store.”

Nicholls is an LAUSD teacher-librarian, and when she asks for support each week, working and retired teachers answer the call.

“I’m yelling my lungs out,” said retired teacher Mary Rose O’Leary, who joined in the chants of “ICE out of Home Depot” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”

“Immigrants are what make this city what it is … and the path to legal immigration is closed to everybody who doesn’t have what, $5 million or something?” O’Leary said, adding that she was motivated by “the Christian ideal of welcoming the stranger.”

Retired teacher Dan Murphy speaks Spanish and regularly checks in with day laborers.

“One guy said to me, ‘We’re just here to work.’ Some of the guys were like, ‘We’re not criminals … we’re just here … to make money and get by,’” Murphy said. He called the raids a flexing of “the violent arm of what autocracy can bring,” and he resents Trump’s focus on Southern California.

“I take it personally. I’m white, but these are my people. California is my people. And it bothers me what might happen in this country if people don’t stand firm … I just said, ‘I gotta do something.’ I’m doing this now so I don’t hate myself later.”

Nicholls told me she was an activist many years ago, and then turned her focus to work and raising a family. But the combination of wildfires, the cleanup and rebuilding, and the raids, brought her out of activism retirement.

“The first people to come out after the firefighters—the second-responders—were day laborers cleaning the streets,” Nicholls said. “You’d see them in orange shirts all over the city, cleaning up.”

The East Pasadena Home Depot is “an important store,” because it’s a supply center for the rebuilding of Altadena, “and we’re going out there to show our love and solidarity for our neighbors,” Nicholls said. To strike the fear of deportation in the hearts of workers, she said, is “inhumane, and to me, it’s morally wrong.”

Nicholls had a quick response when I asked what she thinks of those who say illegal is illegal, so what’s left to discuss?

“That blocks the complexity of the conversation,” she said, and doesn’t take into account the hunger and violence that drive migration. Her husband, she said, left El Salvador 35 years ago during a war funded in part by the U.S.

They have family members with legal status and some who are undocumented and afraid to leave their homes, Nicholls said. I mentioned that I had written about Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, who was undocumented as a child, and has kept his passport handy since the raids began. In that column, I quoted Gordo’s friend, immigrant-rights leader Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

“Full disclosure,” Nicholls said, “[Alvarado] is my husband.”

It was news to me.

When the raids began, Nicholls said, she told her husband, “I have the summer off, sweetie, but I want to help, and I’m going to call my friends.”

On Wednesday, after Nicholls welcomed demonstrators, Alvarado showed up for a pep talk.

“I have lived in this country since 1990 … and I love it as much as I love the small village where I came from in El Salvador,” Alvarado said. “Some people may say that we are going into fascism, into authoritarianism, and I would say that we are already there.”

He offered details of a raid that morning at a Home Depot in Westlake and said the question is not whether the Pasadena store will be raided, but when. This country readily accepts the labor of immigrants but it does not respect their humanity, Alvarado said.

“When humble people are attacked,” he said, “we are here to bear witness.”

Nicholls led demonstrators through the parking lot and into the store, where she read aloud the letter asking Home Depot to take a stand against raids.

Outside, where it was hot and steamy by mid-morning, several sun-blasted day laborers said they appreciated the support. But they were still fearful, and desperate for work.

Jorge, just shy of 70, practically begged me to take his phone number.

Whatever work I might have, he said, please call.

Commentary: ‘Silence is violence’: Teachers, retirees, first-time activists stand up to immigration raids
‘You can’t not be an activist’ in the face of continued raids on working immigrants. ‘If you’re an American, it’s the only option’

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-09/teachers-retirees-first-time-activists-standing-up-to-immigrationraids-because-silence-is-violence

Guardian: IRS commissioner’s removal reportedly over clash on undocumented immigrant data

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Trump removed Billy Long from post months after agency said it couldn’t release information on some taxpayers

The removal of the Internal Revenue Service commissioner Billy Long after just two months in the post came after the federal tax collection agency said it could not release some information on taxpayers suspected of being in the US illegally, it was reported on Saturday.

The IRS and the White House had clashed over using tax data to help locate suspected undocumented immigrants soon before Long was dismissed by the administration, according to the Washington Post.

Long’s dismissal came less than two months after he was confirmed, making his service as Senate-confirmed IRS commissioner the briefest in the agency’s 163-year history. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting commissioner, making him the agency’s seventh leader this year.

The outlet reported the Department of Homeland Security had sent the IRS a list of 40,000 names on Thursday that it suspects of being in the country illegally. DHS asked the tax service to crosscheck confidential taxpayer data to verify their addresses.

The IRS reportedly responded that it was able to verify fewer than 3% of the names on the DHS list, and mostly names that came with an individual taxpayer identification, or ITIN number, provided by DHS.

Administration officials then requested information on the taxpayers the IRS identified, which the service declined to do, citing taxpayer privacy rights.

The White House has identified the IRS as a component of its crackdown on illegal immigration and hopes that the tax agency help locate as many as 7 million people in the US without authorization. In April, homeland security struck a data sharing agreement with the treasury department – which oversees the IRS.

But Long appears to have resisted acting on that agreement, saying the IRS would not hand over confidential taxpayer information outside its statutory obligation to the treasury.

Related: Trump removes IRS commissioner Billy Long two months after he was sworn in

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson rejected the notion that the IRS was not in harmony with administration priorities.

“Any absurd assertion other than everyone being aligned on the mission is simply false and totally fake news,” Johnson told the Post. “The Trump administration is working in lockstep to eliminate information silos and to prevent illegal aliens from taking advantage of benefits meant for hardworking American taxpayers,” she addedIn fact, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7bn in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, including $59.4bn to the federal government, helping to fund social security and Medicare, despite being excluded from most benefits, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy thinktank.

DHS told the Post that its agreement with IRS “outlines a process to ensure that sensitive taxpayer information is protected, while allowing law enforcement to effectively pursue criminal violations”.

Pressure on federal agencies to conform to administration priorities has also led to pressures on the Census Bureau to conduct a mid-decade population review as well as the firing of Bureau of Labor head last week after it published a unfavorable job report.

After being dismissed on Friday, Long, a former six-term Missouri congressman, said that he would be the new US ambassador to Iceland.

“It is a honor to serve my friend President Trump and I am excited to take on my new role as the ambassador to Iceland,” Long said in post on X. “I am thrilled to answer his call to service and deeply committed to advancing his bold agenda. Exciting times ahead!”

He followed that up with a more humorous entry that referred to former TV Superman actor Dean Cain’s decision, at 59, to join to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency.

“I saw where Former Superman actor Dean Cain says he’s joining ICE so I got all fired up and thought I’d do the same. So I called @realDonaldTrump last night and told him I wanted to join ICE and I guess he thought I said Iceland? Oh well.”

IRS commissioner’s removal reportedly over clash on undocumented immigrant data
Trump removed Billy Long from post months after agency said it couldn’t release information on some taxpayers

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/09/billy-long-irs-removal-immigrant-data-trump

Newsweek: Trump administration suffers double legal blow within hours

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The Trump administration suffered two legal defeats within hours on Friday.

A judge in California ordered the release of a Syrian national it has been seeking to deport while a federal Rhode Island judge blocked the imposition of new conditions on domestic violence programs as part of the president’s campaign against “gender ideology.”

Details of both cases were shared on X by Kyle Cheney, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico.

Newsweek contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice for comment on Saturday outside of regular office hours via email and press inquiry form respectively.

Why It Matters

With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress as well as the White House the courts have emerged as one of the main impediments to Trump administration policy.

The administration has suffered a number of prominent legal defeats including courts striking down punitive measures introduced by Trump against law firms involved in proceedings against him, blocking a bid to strip thousands of Haitian migrants of legal protection and removing sanctions aimed at International Criminal Court employees.

Release of Salam Maklad

U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston, of the Eastern District of California, on Friday instructed the release of Salam Maklad, a Syrian from the Druze religious minority who arrived in the United States in 2002 without valid entry documents and claimed asylum, according to court documents seen by Newsweek.

Maklad went on to marry a man who was granted asylum, which her legal team argued made her eligible for legal immigration status.

On July 9, Maklad was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers after arriving for what she believed was a routine “check-in” meeting and subsequently placed in “expedited removal proceedings” seeking to deport her from the U.S.

Thurston noted that Maklad had no criminal history and wasn’t considered a flight risk, and concluded that “the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in favor of Ms. Maklad.” Consequently she ordered her release from custody and said authorities are blocked from rearresting her “absent compliance with constitutional protections, which
include at a minimum, pre-deprivation notice—describing the change of circumstances necessitating her arrest—and detention, and a timely bond hearing.”

Domestic Violence Funding

Friday also saw Senior District Judge William Smith of Rhode Island rule the Trump administration couldn’t impose fresh conditions on funds granted by the Violence Against Women Act due to the president’s Executive Order 14168 titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

This funding is distributed by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women.

Trump’s order stated that sex is a person’s “immutable biological classification as male or female,” and that the federal government should “prioritize investigations and litigation to enforce the rights and freedoms” associated with this position.

The Office on Violence Against Women updated its policy on what constitutes “out of scope activities,” and therefore should not be funded by its grants, after this order was issued in “approximately May 2025,” according to the court filing.

This added spending on “inculcating or promoting gender ideology as defined
in Executive Order 14168″ to the prohibited list.

The case was brought by a coalition of 17 nonprofit groups which argued adhering to President Trump’s position on gender was impeding their ability to assist victims of domestic violence.

Judge Smith backed the coalition’s position concluding that the fresh requirements imposed by the Trump administration “could result in the disruption” of services for victims of domestic and sexual violence.

What People Are Saying

In the California case Judge Thurston ruled: “Respondents are PERMANENTLY ENJOINED AND RESTRAINED from re[1]arresting or re-detaining Ms. Maklad absent compliance with constitutional protections, which include at a minimum, pre-deprivation notice—describing the change of circumstances necessitating her arrest—and detention, and a timely bond hearing.

“At any such hearing, the Government SHALL bear the burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that Ms. Maklad poses a danger to the community or a risk of flight, and Ms. Maklad SHALL be allowed to have her counsel present.”

In his ruling Judge Smith wrote: “On the one hand, if the Court does not grant preliminary relief, then the Coalitions will face real and immediate irreparable harm from the challenged conditions, conditions which the Court has already concluded likely violate the APA.

“This could result in the disruption of important and, in some cases, life[1]saving services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. On the other hand, if the Court grants preliminary relief, then the Office will simply have to consider grant applications and award funding as it normally does.”

What’s Next

It remains to be seen whether the Trump’s administration will seek to appeal either of Friday’s rulings.

Trump administration suffers double legal blow within hours
The courts have developed into one of the main impediments of Trump administration policy.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-suffers-double-legal-blow-within-hours-2111192

Guardian: Trump Burger owner in Texas faces deportation after Ice arrest

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Roland Beainy from Lebanon, who opened chain of restaurants in support of president, says charges ‘not true’

The owner of a Donald Trump-themed hamburger restaurant chain in Texas is facing deportation after immigration authorities under the command of the president detained him.

Roland Mehrez Beainy, 28, entered the US as “a non-immigrant visitor” from Lebanon in 2019 and was supposed to have left the country by 12 February 2024, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) spokesperson told the Guardian.

Citing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Texas’s Fayette County Record newspaper reported that Beainy applied for legal status after purportedly wedding a woman – but the agency maintained there is no proof he ever lived with her during the alleged marriage.

Ice said its officers arrested Beainy on 16 May – five years after he launched the first of multiple Trump Burger locations – and placed him into immigration proceedings, an agency statement said.

“Under the current administration, Ice is committed to restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system by holding all individuals accountable who illegally enter the country or overstay the terms of their admission,” the agency’s statement also said.

“This is true regardless of what restaurant you own or political beliefs you might have.”

In remarks to the Houston Chronicle, Beainy denied Ice’s charges against him, saying: “Ninety percent of the shit they’re saying is not true.” He is tentatively scheduled for a hearing in immigration court on 18 November.

Trump Burger gained national attention after Beainy opened the original location in Bellville, Texas, in 2020, the same year Trump lost his bid for a second presidential term to Joe Biden. Replete with memorabilia paying reverence to Trump as well as politically satirical menu items targeting his enemies, Beainy’s chain expanded to other locations, including Houston.

Trump won a second presidency in January, and his administration summarily began delivering on promises to pursue mass deportations of immigrants. Political supporters of Trump in the US without papers, at least in many cases, have not been spared.

One case which generated considerable news headlines was that of a Canadian national who supported Trump’s plans for mass deportation of immigrants – only for federal authorities to detain her in California while she interviewed for permanent US residency and publicly describe her in a statement as “an illegal alien from Canada”.

In another instance, Ice reportedly detained a Christian Armenian Iranian woman who lost her legal permanent US residency, or green card, after a 2008 burglary conviction and incarcerated her at a federal detention facility in California despite her vocal support of Trump. Her husband, with whom she is raising four US citizen children, subsequently blamed the couple’s plight on Biden’s “doing for open borders”, as Newsweek noted.

Beainy’s detention by Ice is not his only legal plight, according to the Houston Chronicle. He sued the landlord of a Trump Burger location in Kemah, Texas, whom Beainy claimed forcibly removed staff and took over the restaurant.

The landlord responded with his own lawsuit accusing Beainy of unpaid debts and renamed the Kemah restaurant Maga Burger.

In 2022, Beainy told the Houston Chronicle he endured threats to have Trump Burger burned down when the first one opened its doors. But the brand had since gained a loyal following and a portion of its profits were set aside to aid Trump’s fundraising, Beainy said to the outlet.

“I would love to have [Trump’s] blessing and have him come by,” Beainy said at the time. “We’re hoping that he … sees the place.”

Trump Burger owner in Texas faces deportation after Ice arrest
Roland Beainy from Lebanon, who opened chain of restaurants in support of president, says charges ‘not true’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/09/trump-burger-ice-arrest

Newsweek: Man applying for green card detained by ICE after decades in US

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You Chen Yang, a 56-year-old Chinese national who owned Hong Kong Restaurant in Perry, New York, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on July 14 during what his family believed was a routine immigration check-in, according to local station WHAM-TV.

Yang had been living in Wyoming County for three decades and was in the process of applying for a green card when he was arrested at the local immigration office.

Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE via email on Saturday for comment.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump campaigned on mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, specifically targeting those with violent criminal records, and his administration ramped up immigration enforcement since his return to office in January. Recent polls, however, suggest some Americans are turning on Trump’s immigration policy amid reports that individuals with no criminal records or nonviolent offenses are being targeted.

The administration said it deported around 100,000 illegal immigrants in the initial months of Trump’s second term, and many individuals have been deported following the president invoking the rarely used Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been criticized and blocked by judges.

What To Know

According to ICE Buffalo, Yang was arrested “pursuant to a warrant of removal issued by an immigration judge in 2002.” The agency stated that Yang “has had his due process and remained at large for over 20 years.” Despite the outstanding warrant, Yang had maintained regular contact with immigration authorities through periodic check-ins and possessed a work authorization card.

Yang’s daughter, Elizabeth Yang, explained to WHAM-TV that her father had recently received approval for the first step in his green card application process.

“He asked his lawyer, and his lawyer was like, ‘Oh, it’s OK because you should be fine,’ because he just recently got approved for the first step in applying for his green card,” she told the news station. “So, he just went in thinking it was going to be OK.”

After stepping down from his restaurant nearly a year ago, he had been actively working toward obtaining permanent legal status. His attorney had reportedly assured the family that the routine check-in would proceed normally given his recent immigration progress.

The arrest occurred after Yang received a call on July 14 requesting his appearance at the immigration office. Elizabeth Yang described the family’s shock, noting they expected a standard check-in similar to previous encounters with immigration officials.

What People Are Saying

ICE Buffalo Statement: “ICE Buffalo arrested Chinese national You Chen Yang July 14 pursuant to a warrant of removal issued by an immigration judge in 2002. This alien has had his due process and remained at large for over 20 years.”

It continued: “Under President Trump and DHS Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE is focused on removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to the security of our communities as well as those who have a final order of removal. Yang is in custody pending execution of his removal from the U.S.”

Yang’s daughter Elizabeth Yang told WHAM-TV: “The immigration office asks him to come in, or they’ll set up an interview on the phone and just make check in with him every once in a while. So, this time, we thought it was a normal routine check-in.”

What Happens Next?

Yang remains in custody at the ICE detention center in Batavia, New York, pending execution of his removal from the United States.

His family has maintained phone contact, and some have visited him at the facility. They are currently working with an attorney to address the legal situation and explore potential resolution options.

Man applying for green card detained by ICE after decades in US
A Chinese national with a decades-old removal warrant was arrested while pursuing a green card application.

https://www.newsweek.com/man-applying-green-card-detained-ice-after-decades-us-2111317

Guardian: ‘Horrific’: report reveals abuse of pregnant women and children at US Ice facilities

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Report from senator Jon Ossoff’s office found 510 credible reports of human rights abuses since Trump’s inauguration

A new report has found hundreds of reported cases of human rights abuses in US immigration detention centers.

The alleged abuses uncovered include deaths in custody, physical and sexual abuse of detainees, mistreatment of pregnant women and children, inadequate medical care, overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions, inadequate food and water, exposure to extreme temperatures, denial of access to attorneys, and child separation.

The report, compiled by the office of Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat representing Georgia, noted it found 510 credible reports of human rights abuses since 20 January 2025.

His office team’s investigation is active and ongoing, the office said, and has accused the Department of Homeland Security of obstructing congressional oversight of the federal agency, which houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Ossoff said the government was limiting his team’s access to visit more detention sites and interview detainees.

Under the second Trump administration, a Guardian analysis found average daily immigration arrests in June 2025 were up 268% compared with June 2024, with the majority of people arrested having no criminal convictions. And US immigration detention facilities are estimated to be over capacity by more than 13,500 people.

The problem is not new, as before Trump took office again, US immigration detention centers faced allegations of inhumane conditions. But controversy has ramped up amid the current administration’s widespread crackdown on immigration and undocumented communities within the US, including people who have lived and worked in the US for years or came in more recently under various legal programs that Trump has moved to shut down.

Among the reports cited in the new file from Ossoff’s office, there are allegations of huge human rights abuses include 41 cases of physical and/or sexual abuse of detainees while in the custody of the DHS, including reports of detainees facing retaliation for reporting abuses.

Examples include at least four 911 emergency calls referencing sexual abuse at the South Texas Ice processing center since January.

The report also cites 14 credible reports of pregnant women being mistreated in DHS custody, including a case of a pregnant woman being told to drink water in response to a request for medical attention, and another case where a partner of a woman in DHS custody reported the woman was pregnant and bled for days before DHS staff took her to a hospital, where she was left in a room alone to miscarry without water or medical assistance.

The report cites 18 cases of children as young as two years old, including US citizens, facing mistreatment in DHS custody, including denying a 10-year-old US citizen recovering from brain surgery any follow-up medical attention and the detention of a four-year-old who was receiving treatment for metastatic cancer and was reportedly deported without the ability to consult a doctor.

The report from Ossoff’s office was first reported by NBC News. The DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to NBC News in response to the report: “any claim that there are subprime conditions at Ice detention centers are false.” She claimed all detainees in Ice custody received “proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members”.

Meredyth Yoon, an immigration attorney and litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, told NBC News she met with the woman who miscarried, a 23-year-old Mexican national.

“The detainee who miscarried described to Yoon witnessing and experiencing ‘horrific’ and ‘terrible conditions’, the attorney said, including allegations of overcrowding, people forced to sleep on the floor, inadequate access to nutrition and medical care, as well as abusive treatment by the guards, lack of information about their case and limited ability to contact their loved ones and legal support,” NBC News reported. DHS denied the allegations.

“Regardless of our views on immigration policy, the American people do not support the abuse of detainees and prisoners … it’s more important than ever to shine a light on what’s happening behind bars and barbed wire, especially and most shockingly to children,” Ossoff said in a statement his office issued about the investigation.

‘Horrific’: report reveals abuse of pregnant women and children at US Ice facilities
Report from senator Jon Ossoff’s office found 510 credible reports of human rights abuses since Trump’s inauguration

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/06/physical-sexual-abuse-pregnant-women-children-immigration-centers

NBC News: ICE is leaning hard on recruitment, but immigration experts say that could come at a price

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ICE is using signing bonuses and a celebrity endorsement to encourage Americans to join its ranks. Experts doubt that the recruitment will improve public safety.

“If you actually wanted the immigration system to work, you would be hiring thousands of immigration judges, you would be funding prosecutors, you would be funding defense lawyers,” he said. “If what we wanted was a fair and fast system, it would be the complete opposite of this.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pushing the message that it wants “patriotic Americans” to join its ranks — and that new perks come with signing up.

The agency enforcing President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations is promising new recruits maximum $50,000 signing bonuses over three years, up to $60,000 in federal student loan repayments and retirement benefits. ICE announced this week it is waiving age requirements and, on Wednesday, actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” announced on social media that he was joining the ranks of ICE as an honorary officer.

“I felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it, so I joined up,” Cain said. He encouraged others to join ICE as officers, touting the job’s salary and benefits.

The possibility of monetary benefits and the celebrity endorsement have experts concerned. They fear the recruitment push could endanger public safety if it takes local police away from their communities, removes important personnel from other critical missions or cuts corners in the rush to hire.

Immigration and law enforcement experts also said the hiring push does not reflect the public safety threat posed by unauthorized immigrants, as recent data shows many people who have been arrested by ICE during the Trump administration do not have criminal histories. One in 5 people ICE apprehended in street arrests was a Latino with no criminal history or removal orders, according to an analysis of new ICE data by the Cato Institute, a libertarian public policy think tank.

“We’re moving further away from actually keeping people safe through this,” Jason Houser, who held senior Department of Homeland Security positions during the Obama and Biden administrations, told NBC News.

DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on concerns about recent recruitment efforts and whether they could come at the expense of other critical tasks.

The administration has said it wants to add 10,000 ICE agents to carry out Trump’s promise of mass deportations. That effort recently received an unprecedented influx of funding after the Republican-led Congress passed a bill that includes nearly $30 billion for ICE’s deportation and enforcement operations, tripling the agency’s budget.

DHS recently launched an initiative called “Defend the Homeland” with the goal of recruiting “patriots to join ICE law enforcement” and meet Trump’s goal of deporting 1 million immigrants per year.

The department has since announced new incentives or waived previous requirements to fulfill its goal.

“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement announcing the initiative.

On Wednesday, DHS said it was ending age limits to join ICE “so even more patriots will qualify to join ICE in its mission.”

Previously, new applicants needed to be at least 21 years old to join. They had to be no older than 37 to be criminal investigators and 40 to be considered as deportation officers. Asked whether there would be any age limits, DHS referred NBC News to a social media clip of Noem saying recruits could sign up at 18.

The department is also using its monetary incentives to try to lure recruits. The “significant new funding” from Congress will fund perks like the signing bonuses, federal student loan repayments and options for enhanced overtime pay and retirement benefits.

Houser raised concerns over the claim that more ICE officers would directly equate to better public safety.

“ICE now has this new gorge of money. But what is the public safety and national security threat? Is it the individuals ICE is now arresting? Many of them are not criminals; a lot of them have no removal orders,” he said.

Almost half of the people in ICE custody have neither been convicted of nor charged with any crime, ICE data shows. In late June, internal data obtained by NBC News showed that after six months of aggressive immigration enforcement and promises to focus on deporting violent criminals, the Trump administration has arrested and detained only a small fraction of the undocumented immigrants already known to ICE as having been convicted of sexual assault and homicide.

DHS did not immediately respond to questions about the arrests of those with criminal records compared with those without.

“Arresting people who are not public safety or national security threats because of the current atmosphere of limited resources just simply means that there are fewer resources for prioritizing people who pose bigger threats,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst with the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute.

Shifting resources to immigration enforcement

In its push, DHS is recruiting not just those new to law enforcement.

The agency has also faced some recent criticism for aggressively recruiting new agents from some of its most trusted local partners.

Jonathan Thompson, the executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association, said in a previous interview that the recruitment efforts targeting local law enforcement were “bad judgment that will cause an erosion of a relationship that has been improving of late.”

“It’s going to take leadership at DHS to really take stock, because, hey, they need state and locals,” Thompson said.

The administration is also shifting current personnel to help arrest undocumented immigrants — including more than 5,000 personnel from across federal law enforcement agencies and up to 21,000 National Guard troops, according to an operation plan described to NBC News by three sources with knowledge of the personnel allocations who detailed the previously unreported plans.

The plan, which is already underway, calls for using 3,000 ICE agents, including 1,800 from Homeland Security Investigations, which generally investigates transnational crimes and is not typically involved in arresting noncriminal immigrants. In addition, it involves 2,000 Justice Department employees from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration and 500 employees from Customs and Border Protection. It also includes 250 IRS agents, some of whom may be used to provide information on the whereabouts of immigrants using tax information, while others would have the authority to make arrests, according to the operation plan.

“You have people, literally, whose job it is to go after fentanyl being forced to spend their time arresting grandmas on the streets of Los Angeles,” said Scott Shuchart, who was an ICE official in the Biden administration. “That is a huge and bizarre public safety trade off.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson previously said in a statement: “Enforcing our immigration laws and removing illegal aliens is one big way President Trump is ‘Making America Safe Again.’ But the president can walk and chew gum at the same time. We’re holding all criminals accountable, whether they’re illegal aliens or American citizens. That’s why nationwide murder rates have plummeted, fugitives from the FBI’s most wanted list have been captured, and police officers are empowered to do their jobs, unlike under the Biden Administration’s soft-on-crime regime.”

The administration is also shifting some employees with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, during hurricane season, to assist ICE, DHS said in a statement Thursday.

“DHS is adopting an all-hands-on-deck strategy to recruit 10,000 new ICE agents. To support this effort, select FEMA employees will temporarily be detailed to ICE for 90 days to assist with hiring and vetting,” DHS said. “Their deployment will NOT disrupt FEMA’s critical operations. FEMA remains fully prepared for Hurricane Season.”

DHS said on July 31 that it has issued over “1,000 tentative job offers since July 4, marking a significant milestone in its ongoing recruitment efforts.” Some of the offers were to several retired officers.

The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment about its seeking to recruit local law enforcement or shifting other federal personnel to ICE.

Houser said it will be important to see what kind of standards will be in place for new hires and whether they are being properly vetted and trained.

Houser said that traditionally it has been difficult to recruit such hires. “ICE officers take about 12 to 18 months to come online,” he said.

Shuchart said the Trump administration is “not irrational for wishing they could make things quicker. The question is, are they making things quicker in ways that make sense, or are they taking shortcuts that are dangerous?”

He said that prioritizing increasing the number of deportation officers could be “exacerbating the problems.”

“If you actually wanted the immigration system to work, you would be hiring thousands of immigration judges, you would be funding prosecutors, you would be funding defense lawyers,” he said. “If what we wanted was a fair and fast system, it would be the complete opposite of this.”

ICE is leaning hard on recruitment, but immigration experts say that could come at a price
ICE is using signing bonuses and a celebrity endorsement to encourage Americans to join its ranks. Experts doubt that the recruitment will improve public safety.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-recruitment-dean-cain-signing-bonus-noem-immigration-rcna223463

Independent: Trump administration tried to reopen deportation proceedings for man who was long dead: ‘They’re very negligent’

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Government rushes to reopen years-old removal proceedings to boost Trump’s mass deportation agenda

Thousands of immigrants who have legally lived and worked in the United States for years have assumed they would be protected against their removal from the country after their cases were frozen.

But the Trump administration is stripping immigrants of their legal status and reopening removal proceedings as the Department of Homeland Security expands its mass deportation machine.

Homeland Security isn’t even checking to see whether these immigrants targeted for deportation are even alive, let alone legally protected from removal, according to California immigration attorneys speaking to The Los Angeles Times.

An immigration judge had closed removal proceedings against construction worker Helario Romero Arciniega, who was severely beaten with a metal sprinkler head and qualified for a special visa for victims of crime.

Earlier this year, the government reopened removal proceedings against him. He died in January, according to the LA County Coroner’s Office.

“They don’t do their homework,” immigration attorney Patricia Corrales told the newspaper. “They’re very negligent in the manner in which they’re handling these motions to re-calendar.”

Corrales, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service and Homeland Security attorney, told The Independent that the government’s recent motions to recalendar removal proceedings that were administratively closed — and not active — are “boilerplate motions” and “DHS doesn’t do their homework” and are “lazy or negligent in the information they provide to the court.”

“My client was in removal proceedings before he passed away. He was alive when his removal proceedings were administratively closed,” she added.

DHS filed a motion to recalendar on July 10 and “failed to mention an important detail,” she told The Independent.

“So, DHS was negligent in failing to even do some basic research to determine whether my client was alive or moved or anything,” she said.

In another case, Adan Rico, a new father studying to be an HVAC technician, said he had no idea the government restarted deportation proceedings against him.

His original lawyer had died, and “if it wasn’t for his daughter calling, I would have never found out my case was reopened,” Rico told The LA Times. “The Department of Homeland Security never sent me anything.”

A statement from Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Donald Trump’s administration is “once again implementing the rule of law” and accused former President Joe Biden of indefinitely delaying cases that left “criminals” stay in the country illegally.

“Now, President Trump and Secretary Noem are following the law and resuming these illegal aliens’ removal proceedings and ensuring their cases are heard by a judge,” she said in a statement shared with The Independent.

Rico, however, is among immigrants with removal protections under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which doesn’t come up for renewal until 2027, according to Corrales.

The Trump administration has effectively “de-legalized” more than 1 million immigrants since January.

Thousands of people who are following immigration law — including those showing up for their court-ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-ins, immigration court hearings and U.S. Customs and Immigration Services appointments — have become easy targets for arrests.

Unlike federal district courts, immigration court judges operate under the direction of the attorney general’s office.

When immigrants have appeared for their hearings, Homeland Security attorneys have moved for the cases to be dismissed, while the Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Department of Justice has issued guidance to judges to grant those motions on the spot.

Those quick dismissals mean immigrants can then be subject to removal, leading to scenes of masked ICE agents dragging people out of courtrooms across the country.

Those arrests have been condemned by immigrants’ rights groups and attorneys as a “corruption” of the courts, “transforming them from forums of justice into cogs in a mass deportation apparatus,” American Immigration Lawyers Association president Kelli Stump said earlier this year.

“The expansion of expedited removal strips more people of their right to a hearing before a judge — as our laws promise,” she added.

In April, Sirce E. Owen, acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, issued a memo calling the suspension of removal proceedings “de facto amnesty program with benefits” because immigrants can still have authorization and deportation protections.

Owen stated that, as of April, roughly 379,000 cases were still administratively closed in immigration courts, adding to the system’s backlog of 4 million cases.

A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review confirmed to The Independent that immigration courts must first receive the underlying initial motion before accepting a response to that motion.

Immigration attorney Edgardo Quintanilla told The LA Times that he has received 40 cases, some dating back to the 2010s. “There is always the fear that they may be arrested when they go to the court,” he said. “With everything going on, it is a reasonable fear.”

Mariela Caravetta told the newspaper that roughly 30 clients have been targeted with new motions from the government reopening their cases in the last month, some of which have been frozen for a decade.

By law, she has only 10 days to reply, forcing her to try to track down clients who have since moved.

“People aren’t getting due process,” Caravetta said. “It’s very unfair to the client because these cases have been sleeping for 10 years.”

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.

Trump admin tried to reopen deportation proceedings for man who was long dead
Government rushes to reopen years-old removal proceedings to boost Trump’s mass deportation agenda

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-immigration-cases-dead-ice-b2803051.html