Tag Archives: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Axios: Mahmoud Khalil was arrested without a warrant, DHS lawyers say

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Immigration authorities did not have an arrest warrant when agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security said in a court filing this week.

The big picture: Khalil, a leader of Columbia’s pro-Palestinian protests, is a legal U.S. resident who has been in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since last month. His arrest sparked outcry across the U.S.

Zoom in: Government lawyers argue in the filing that DHS was not required to obtain a judicial arrest warrant before taking Khalil, a U.S. green card holder from Syria, into custody on March 8.

  • The “officers had exigent circumstances to conduct the warrantless arrest, it is the pattern and practice of DHS to fully process a respondent once in custody,” wrote the lawyers in the document that was originally filed in immigration court Wednesday and submitted to federal court Thursday

  • They argued agents had reasons to believe Khalil “would escape before they could obtain a warrant” when they approached him inside the foyer of his apartment building.

  • Khalil was eventually served an arrest warrant after being taken into custody and transported to an ICE office in New York.

    The other side: The revelation contradicts what agents told Khalil at the time of his arrest and what agents wrote in the arrest report, Khalil’s lawyer said.

    • “The government’s admission is astounding, and it is completely outrageous that they tried to assert to the immigration judge – and the world – in their initial filing of the arrest report that there was an arrest warrant when there was none,” said Khalil’s attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, in an emailed statement.
    • Van Der Hout called it “egregious conduct by DHS that should require under the law termination of these proceedings.”

      Never forget: Cops lie. All. The. Time.

      Mahmoud Khalil was arrested without a warrant, DHS lawyers Trump admin lawyers say
      The revelation contradicts what agents told Mahmoud Khalil at the time of his arrest, his lawyer said.

      https://www.axios.com/2025/04/24/mahmoud-khalil-detained-ice-arrest-warrant

      Independent: Wife of wrongly deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia forced into safe house after government posts address online

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      Homeland Security shared copy of protective order from 2021 revealing family’s address on social media

      The wife of a wrongly deported Salvadoran father living in Maryland was moved to a safe house after Donald Trump’s administration posted a court document that included her address on social media.

      In an interview with The Washington Post, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura said she began fearing for her safety and the safety of her three children after the Department of Homeland Security shared a protective order from 2021 that prominently featured her address to the department’s 2.4 million followers on X.

      “I don’t feel safe when the government posts my address, the house where my family lives, for everyone to see, especially when this case has gone viral and people have all sorts of opinions,” she told The Washington Post. “So, this is definitely a bit terrifying. I’m scared for my kids.”

      No doubt Kristi Noem (Bimbo #2) is experiencing intense orgasmic pleasure at the thought of their torment and misfortune. Making people miserable must be a lot more exciting than killing puppies and goats.

      Wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia moves to safe house after DHS posts address online
      Homeland Security shared copy of protective order from 2021 revealing family’s address on social media

      https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/kilmar-abrego-garcia-wife-safe-house-b2738214.html

      The Handbasket: US “relocates” Iraqi refugee to Rwanda via new diplomatic arrangement

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      A State Department cable indicates at least 10 more people will be subjected to the same.

      Now the U.S. is dumping refugees in Rwanda:

      A US State Department cable was sent from the American Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 13th with some major news: Rwanda said it was willing to accept deportees from the United States who are unable to be sent to their country of origin for fear of persecution. A copy of the cable reviewed by The Handbasket in March confirmed the news. And now according to a new cable, which has also been reviewed by The Handbasket, the first person has officially been deported from the US to Rwanda via this new arrangement.

      The Trump administration’s efforts to deport as many people as possible is loudly and publicly underway, most notably with the 238 men who were sent to El Salvador in March without due process. Unlike those cases, however, the administration has opted to quietly send Iraqi national Omar Abdulsattar Ameen from the US to Rwanda, wherein Rwanda acts as a “third country.” But it remains unclear what legal processes allowed for this to happen.

      The cable, sent today—April 22, 2025—confirms Ameen’s “relocation” has already happened.

      https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/us-rwanda-relocates-iraqi-refugee-omar-ameen

      CNN: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s bag, including $3,000 in cash, is stolen from DC restaurant

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      Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fell victim to a thief while eating dinner at a downtown Washington, DC, restaurant Sunday night, the secretary confirmed Monday.

      Breaks my heart … not! This is a petty inconvenience compared to the misery that she has inflicted on thousands of others, not to mention the two family pets that she killed in cold blood and then bragged about killing.

      Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s bag, including $3,000 in cash, is stolen from DC restaurant
      Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fell victim to a thief while eating dinner at a downtown Washington, DC, restaurant Sunday night, the secretary confirmed Monday.

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem-s-bag-including-3-000-in-cash-is-stolen-from-dc-restaurant/ar-AA1DkcHU

      Union-Bulletin: Multiple Venezuelan men arrested by ICE disappeared from system

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      At least two Venezuelan immigrants who were detained by ICE and deported from the U.S. have completely disappeared, their families said Tuesday.

      Relatives of Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel, 27, spoke with the Miami Herald, while family and friends of Ricardo Prada Vasquez, 32, told his story to the New York Times.

      Leon Rengel arrived in the U.S. in June 2023 and was allowed to remain in the country while his immigration case was considered, the Herald reported. But on March 13, ICE agents stopped him at his apartment in the Dallas suburb of Irving and hauled him away.

      Prada Vasquez was similarly permitted to stay in the U.S. while his immigration case was handled, according to the Times. However, he made a wrong turn from Detroit into Canada in January and was sent to immigration jail.

      Both families suspect Leon Rengel and Prada Vasquez were on one of three deportation flights on March 15 from the U.S. to El Salvador, where suspected gang members were sent to a mega-prison in the capital city of San Salvador.

      However, neither Leon Rengel nor Prada Vasquez have any criminal history of gang involvement. Prada Vasquez had no record in the U.S., while Leon Rengel paid a single fine for marijuana possession in Texas, the Herald reported.

      Both men were no longer listed in the U.S. immigration system, and federal officials confirmed both had been removed from the country. However, family members in Venezuela haven’t been able to find either man.

      Multiple Venezuelan men arrested by ICE disappeared from system
      At least two Venezuelan immigrants who were detained by ICE and deported from the U.S. have completely disappeared, their families said Tuesday.

      https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/national/multiple-venezuelan-men-arrested-by-ice-disappeared-from-system/article_4ddc748c-08d1-5ea4-847c-f2f0ab1354ed.html

      New York Times: A Venezuelan Is Missing. The U.S. Deported Him. But to Where?

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      The immigrant does not appear on a list of people sent to a prison in El Salvador, and his family and friends have no idea of his whereabouts. He has essentially disappeared.

      Ricardo Prada Vásquez, disappeared Venezuelan immigrant

      In late January, Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan immigrant working in a delivery job in Detroit, picked up an order at a McDonald’s. He was heading to the address when he erroneously turned onto the Ambassador Bridge, which leads to Canada. It is a common mistake even for those who live in the Michigan border city. But for Mr. Prada, 32, it proved fateful.

      The U.S. authorities took Mr. Prada into custody when he attempted to re-enter the country; he was put in detention and ordered deported. On March 15, he told a friend in Chicago that he was among a number of detainees housed in Texas who expected to be repatriated to Venezuela.

      That evening, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have been ever since, locked up in a maximum-security prison and denied contact with the outside world.

      But Mr. Prada has not been heard from or seen. He is not on the list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador that day. He does not appear in the photos and videos released by the authorities of shackled men with shaved heads.

      https://archive.is/5WSq8

      Texas Tribune: UT-Rio Grande Valley students caught in nationwide sweep sue Homeland Security over immigration status

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      Four international students at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley are suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging its recent steps to terminate their legal immigration status based on minor criminal cases that have already been resolved are unlawful and designed to coerce them into leaving the country voluntarily.

      …

      • Castellanos was given a class C misdemeanor ticket for public intoxication in 2020 and pleaded guilty to failing to yield the right of way when turning left. He paid a fine in 2024.
      • Timilsena was charged in 2024 with “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury” to his wife, a class A misdemeanor. The case was dismissed upon the prosecution’s request.
      • Gholami was charged in October with preventing or interfering with the ability to place an emergency call, a class A misdemeanor. He has not been convicted.
      • Wong was convicted of driving while intoxicated. His conviction was dismissed after he completed a pre-trial diversion program.
      UT-Rio Grande Valley students caught in nationwide sweep sue Homeland Security over immigration status
      The four students were involved in minor criminal cases that have been resolved, which they argue shouldn’t be used to justify ending their higher ed goals in Texas.

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ut-rio-grande-valley-students-caught-in-nationwide-sweep-sue-homeland-security-over-immigration-status/ar-AA1D3Lo6

      CNN: A Maryland mother was detained by ICE nearly two weeks ago. So far, no evidence has been provided

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      To Karen Cruz Berrios, her mother is a hard-working, devoted single parent. To the Department of Homeland Security, she is “ … an associate of the vicious MS-13 gang.”

      However, nearly two weeks after Elsy Noemi Berrios, 52, was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, DHS has yet to disclose any evidence to substantiate its claim against the Salvadoran woman to the public or, her attorneys say, to them.

      Noemi Berrios was arrested by federal agents in Westminster, Maryland, on the morning of March 31 as she drove to work with her daughter, according to her family.

      Cell phone video, shot and shared by Cruz Berrios, shows authorities demanded her mother step out of the vehicle. She’s heard refusing and asking the officers to show her a detention order.

      “I do not need to show you the warrant,” responded one of the officers wearing a tactical vest marked “Federal Agent.”

      Seconds later, officers shattered her driver’s side window to unlock the door and removed Noemi Berrios from the car before handcuffing her hands behind her back.

      A Maryland mother was detained by ICE nearly two weeks ago. So far, no evidence has been provided. | CNN
      To Karen Cruz Berrios, her mother is a hard-working, devoted single parent. To the Department of Homeland Security, she is “ … an associate of the vicious MS-13 gang.”

      https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/12/us/maryland-mother-ice-trump-gang/index.html

      Daily Beast: Trump’s DOJ Brazenly Defies Judge’s Orders on Wrongly Deported Dad

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      Government attorneys argued they should have more time to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home.

      The Trump administration said it would not provide information on how it will get a wrongly deported Maryland dad home by a Friday morning deadline because the timeframe a judge imposed was “impracticable.”

      In effect, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is openly defying a court order that requires it to provide details about 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts and how he will be brought back stateside.

      Abrego Garcia was flown to a mega prison in El Salvador last month due to an “administrative error.” Despite the DOJ admitting its mistake, it argued it did not have the authority to bring Abrego Garcia home because he was now in the custody of El Salvador.

      Maryland District Court Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, disagreed and ruled that Abrego Garcia must be returned stateside, where he has an American wife and child and was working legally as a sheet metal apprentice prior to being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during what he believed to be a routine traffic stop.

      The issue reached the Supreme Court on Thursday. The high court, which has a conservative majority, ruled unanimously that the Trump administration must take steps to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia.

      Trump’s DOJ Brazenly Defies Judge’s Orders on Wrongly Deported Dad
      Government attorneys argued they should have more time to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home.

      https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-doj-refuses-to-comply-with-judges-order-to-return-wrongly-deported-dad-kilmar-abrego-garcia

      New York Times: Pressuring Migrants to ‘Self-Deport,’ White House Moves to Cancel Social Security Numbers

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      By placing migrants in Social Security’s “death master file,” the Trump administration is seeking to cut off their access to credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services.

      People who have been here LEGALLY may soon discover that they are “dead”.

      Since taking office, the Trump administration has moved aggressively to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were allowed into the country under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

      Now, the administration is taking drastic steps to pressure some of those immigrants and others who had legal status to “self-deport” by effectively canceling the Social Security numbers they had lawfully obtained, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with six people familiar with the plans.

      The goal is to cut those people off from using crucial financial services like bank accounts and credit cards, along with their access to government benefits.

      The effort hinges on a surprising new tactic: repurposing Social Security’s “death master file,” which for years has been used to track dead people who should no longer receive benefits, to include the names of living people who the government believes should be treated as if they are dead.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/migrants-deport-social-security-doge.html