Tag Archives: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Axios: What we’re hearing about ICE in Charlotte

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ICE targets arrests at Charlotte courthouse, other sensitive locations

Lately in Charlotte, ICE agents come wearing plain clothes — sometimes khakis or baseball caps. They wait outside apartments, workplaces, but mostly, courtrooms. They take people, put them in the back of unmarked vehicles and drive off. We’re unsure when we’ll hear from them again.

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It’s hard to confirm whether those arrested locally are all undocumented or if they committed violent crimes.

  • ICE’s release of public information and cooperation with the media are limited. Local journalists often struggle to get answers from ICE when following up on cases. Families whose loved ones are detained must wait until an online database is updated to learn where they were taken, advocates say.
  • “There seems to be an intentional ambiguity,” says Rusty Price, CEO of Camino, a health center supporting the Latino community in Charlotte.

Two Charlotte immigration lawyers tell Axios they are increasingly seeing and hearing of ICE deploying its newest tactic in the courthouse. Immigration cases are being dismissed, then ICE agents — no longer restrained by a pending court case — stop the defendants outside and make arrests, just moments after the hearing.

What we’re hearing about ICE in Charlotte
Here’s what we know about ICE in Charlotte: Virtually nothing

https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2025/06/12/ice-immigration-courthouse-arrests-trump-mecklenburg

Reason: Police Target Dozens of Reporters During L.A. Anti-ICE Protests

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Dozens of journalists have been assaulted and injured by federal and local law enforcement in Los Angeles during protests earlier this week against Donald Trump’s mass deportation program.

Press freedom groups are demanding that law enforcement stop targeting reporters covering the L.A. protests after on-air news broadcasts and cellphone video showed federal, state, and local police firing indiscriminately on crowds with pepper balls, rubber bullets, and other so-called less-than-lethal ammunition, while in other cases officers are seen firing on clearly identified members of the press.

A coalition of 28 groups including the Los Angeles Press Club, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the American Civil Liberties Union, sent a letter to Department Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday “to express alarm” over the incidents and urge Noem to ensure that federal law enforcement officers uphold the First Amendment.

According to the groups, there were at least 24 documented instances of journalists being targeted by law enforcement while covering Los Angeles protests between June 6 and June 8.

“A number of reports suggest that federal officers have indiscriminately used force or deployed munitions such as tear gas or pepper balls that caused significant injuries to journalists,” the letter said. “In some cases, federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news.”

Police target dozens of reporters during L.A. anti-ICE protests
Dozens of journalists have been assaulted and injured by federal and local law enforcement in Los Angeles during protests earlier this week against Donald

https://reason.com/2025/06/12/police-target-dozens-of-reporters-during-l-a-anti-ice-protests

Newsweek: Texas’ largest newspaper trashes Greg Abbott protest move: ‘Expect better’

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The Houston Chronicle, Texas’s top selling newspaper, has published an editorial fiercely critical of Governor Greg Abbott over his rhetoric and decision to deploy Texas National Guard troops in response to protests against immigration enforcement, saying “we expect better of him.”

On Tuesday, Abbott announced the deployment of Texas National Guard soldiers. The following day on X he said “5,000+” National Guard personnel would help manage protests in the state adding: “Don’t mess with Texas.”

The move came after days of unrest in Los Angeles which began on June 6 when demonstrators clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents attempting to conduct raids in the city. The following days saw more violent disorder with Waymo self-driving vehicles set on fire and rocks thrown at police who responded with tear gas and other “less lethal” weapons.

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In its editorial, the Houston Chronicle said Abbott’s decision to deploy National Guard troops following protests “seems like an overreaction,” adding: “But there was no serious indication Tuesday that Texas was on the verge of exploding. No burning cars. No looting. No mayors imposing curfews.”

Instead the editorial claimed the “most significant provocation to violence seemed to come from Abbott himself, citing the governor’s warning that “Peaceful protesting is legal. But once you cross the line, you will be arrested. FAFO.” FAFO is an acronym for ‘F*** around find out.’

The editorial described this as “the kind of thing that middle schoolers say before a fistfight” adding: “This isn’t the grown-up leadership that Texas needs.”

Greg Abbott is just another sycophant sucking up to King Donald.

Texas’ largest newspaper trashes Greg Abbott protest move: ‘Expect better’
Anti-Trump protests are expected across Texas on Saturday as part of the “No Kings” movement.

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-largest-newspaper-trashes-greg-abbott-protest-move-expect-better-2085043

Newsweek: Woman detained on honeymoon faces deportation despite being stateless

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Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old who recently married a U.S. citizen, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February after returning from her honeymoon, and her husband fears she may soon be deported.

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ICE detained Sakeik in February as she and her husband, Taahir Shaikh, returned from their honeymoon to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The couple got married in January.

Shaikh told reporters that his wife may be deported to an unknown location soon. The ICE detainee database showed that as of Friday, she was still being held at the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas.

However, a spokesperson for the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) told Newsweek that she was being detained in the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

Sakeik, who is of Palestinian descent, was born in Saudi Arabia but holds no citizenship there. Her husband said she was unable to obtain Saudi citizenship.

“She’s stateless, she doesn’t hold citizenship in any part of this world,” he told WFAA.

Sakeik first came to the United States when she was 8 years old. Her husband said her family applied for asylum but a judge signed a removal order. She was later given legal permission to work in the country, he said.

She was in the process of obtaining her green card and had attended all the mandatory immigration appointments, with one slated for July prior to her detention, her husband said.

In December 2023, Sakeik graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism, her LinkedIn page said. She has been working as a wedding photographer for more than five years.

On Thursday, the North Texas chapter of CAIR held a news conference on the matter, saying in a media advisory, “Despite a pending green-card application, a lawful marriage to a U.S. citizen, and a spotless compliance record for the past 15 years, ICE has notified Sakeik’s legal counsel that Sakeik could be removed as early as tonight—but will not disclose the destination country. Sakeik’s husband fears she could be sent to a country that she has no birth or national ties to, after being given a life to live here for 15 years.”

Woman detained on honeymoon faces deportation despite being stateless
Ward Sakeik has been detained for four months and now faces deportation to an unknown location, her husband says.

https://www.newsweek.com/stateless-woman-detained-honeymoon-faces-deportation-2085161

Newsweek: LA Taco chain closes 15 locations amid ICE crackdown

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In a message shared Thursday night on Instagram, Angel’s Tijuana Tacos announced that its Anaheim restaurant will remain open, while its other 15 locations—primarily taco trucks and stands—are closed until further notice.

Though the statement did not explicitly cite U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity as the reason for the closures, the post appeared to reference ongoing enforcement actions across Southern California.

They probably don’t want to expose their staff and customers to abusive ICE thugs grabbing anyone who looks brown. Meanwhile, employees at 15 locations are out of work.

LA Taco chain closes 15 locations amid ICE crackdown
Angel’s Tijuana Tacos said its Anaheim restaurant will remain open, while its other 15 locations are closed until further notice.

https://www.newsweek.com/los-angeles-taco-chain-closed-ice-crackdown-2085076

Associated Press: 4 detainees have escaped from an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, DHS says

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Four detainees have escaped from a federal immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, amid reports of disorder breaking out there, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

More “law enforcement partners” have been brought in to find the detainees missing from Delaney Hall, according to an emailed statement attributed to a senior DHS official whom the department did not identify. The statement also didn’t specify which law enforcement agencies are involved.

Newark’s mayor had cited reports of a possible uprising and escape after disorder broke out at the facility Thursday night, and protesters outside the center had locked arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles passed through gates. Much is still unclear about what unfolded there.

4 detainees have escaped from an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, DHS says

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/disorder-breaks-out-at-new-jersey-immigration-detention-center/ar-AA1GEFFG

Deadline: Trump Regains Control Of Troops In L.A. From Newsom Thanks To Appeals Court; Governor Was To Take Command Of National Guard On Friday – Updated

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Gavin Newsom’s renewed control of the California National Guard didn’t last more than a few hours thanks to a federal appeals court.

“The request for an administrative stay is GRANTED,” the court wrote in a short order tonight after the White House and DOJ came up short this afternoon in their bid to maintain a hold on the unrequested and widely seen as unnecassary troop deployment. “The district court’s June 12 temporary restraining order is temporarily stayed pending further order,” a three-judge panel of two Trump appointees and one Joe Biden appointee said.

All of which has put the brakes on returning control of the Guard that Trump federalized on June 7 to Gov. Newsom at noon on June 13. It gives Trump at least one more hot weekend to inflame the situation on the ground in L.A. with more immigration enforcement raids. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals trio has now set a June 17 Zoom hearing on the matter.

Newsom Beats Trump As Court Curtails POTUS’ “Illegal” Use Of Troops In L.A.
POTUS just took a hit in his battle with the Governor of California for the streets of LA & troops being there

https://deadline.com/2025/06/trump-court-ruling-troops-la-newsom-1236432420

DHS sends out provocative new poster

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a new poster online featuring World War II imagery, urging citizens to help locate and report immigrants who are in the country without documentation.

“Help your country and yourself,” reads the poster, which shows Uncle Sam with a hammer nailing a flier to a wall. “Report all foreign invaders,” it says, providing a phone number to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The poster’s language mirrors a sentiment coming from President Trump and his aides in the White House in recent weeks characterizing immigrants in the country illegally as “foreign invaders” and blaming Democrats for allowing mass migration into the U.S. during former President Biden’s time in office.

The poster was posted to DHS’s social media channels and was being widely shared on social platform X this week, including by White House officials.

DHS sends out provocative new poster

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5346337-dhs-sends-out-provocative-new-poster

NBC News: Sen. Alex Padilla is forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles

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[Bimbo #2] Noem was in L.A. to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Federal agents handcuffed Padilla after his removal.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem during a media event related to immigration.

“I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla told [Bimbo #2] Noem, which prompted several men dressed in plainclothes to push him out of the room. A top FBI official later said bureau personnel and Secret Service agents were involved in his removal.

Padilla’s office shared a video of the incident with NBC News. The video shows Padilla being taken into a hallway outside and pushed face forward onto the ground as officers with FBI-identifying vests tell him to put his hands behind his back. The officers then handcuff him.

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Padilla to reporters later Thursday that he was waiting for a scheduled briefing from military officials when he learned [Bimbo #2] Noem was in the same building and decided to join her briefing.

“I was there peacefully,” he said. “At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.”

Like everything else that spews out of her mouth, Bimbo #2 Noem lied; He had clearly identified himself, and Bimbo #2 Noem had met with him previously on several occasions:

Bimbo #2 Noem offered a different account in an interview on Fox News in which she falsely said Padilla did not identify himself before he was forced out.

And a summary from Senator Padilla:

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” he said.

Sen. Alex Padilla is forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles
Noem was in L.A. to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Federal agents handcuffed Padilla after his removal.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna212688