Tag Archives: Immigration

Guardian: ‘Abducted by Ice’: the haunting missing-person posters plastered across LA

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The handmade posters of immigrants have become a symbol of quiet resistance. Their creators reveal the story behind the project

“Missing son.” “Missing father.” “Missing grandmother.”

The words are written in bright red letters at the top of posters hanging on lampposts and storefronts around Los Angeles. At first glance, they appear to be from worried relatives seeking help from neighbors.

But a closer look reveals that the missing people are immigrants to the US who have been disappeared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Some of the faces are familiar to anyone who has been following the news – that missing father, for instance, is Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in March without a hearing, in what the Trump administration admitted was an error. “Abducted by Ice,” the poster reads, under a picture of Ábrego García with his small son. “Did not receive constitutional protections. Currently being held in detention.”

The missing grandmother is Gladis Yolanda Chávez Pineda, a Chicago woman who was taken by Ice when she showed up for a check-in with immigration officials this month. She had arrived in the US seeking a better life for her daughter and was in the midst of applying for asylum. “Lived in the US for 10 years,” the poster states. “No criminal history.”

The missing son is Andry Hernández Romero, a makeup artist who fled persecution in Venezuela. On arrival in the US, he was detained, with US authorities claiming his tattoos indicated gang membership. His family and friends say that’s ridiculous. He was among hundreds of people deported to the El Salvador mega-prison known as Cecot in March. “Currently being held in a concentration camp,” the poster says.

The posters are just a few examples of a campaign of quiet resistance on the streets of Los Angeles. On Monday, a walk down Sunset Boulevard in the historic Silver Lake neighborhood meant encountering an array of flyers, artwork and spray-painted messages of support for disappeared immigrants and fury at the administration.

The “missing” posters, which have also appeared in other neighborhoods, were particularly effective. Duct-taped to telephone polls amid ads for comedy shows, guitar lessons and yard sales, they reminded passersby of the individual lives derailed by Trump’s immigration crackdown – instead of names in the news, these were families and friends who might have lived just down the road.

Humanizing people’s stories was precisely the goal, said the creators behind the posters.

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‘Abducted by Ice’: the haunting missing-person posters plastered across LA
The handmade posters of immigrants have become a symbol of quiet resistance. Their creators reveal the story behind the project

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/18/los-angeles-missing-posters-ice

Associated Press: ICE takes custody of Spanish-language journalist arrested at Georgia protest

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U.S. immigration authorities said Wednesday they have detained a Spanish-language journalist, who will face deportation proceedings following his arrest on charges of obstructing police and unlawful assembly while covering a weekend protest outside Atlanta.

Mario Guevara was turned over by police to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody three days after he was jailed in DeKalb County, agency spokesman Lindsay Williams said in an emailed statement. His case now goes to immigration court to determine whether Guevara, a native of El Salvador, can remain in the U.S.

His attorney, Giovanni Diaz, has said that Guevara was doing his job and committed no crime when police arrested him. He also says Guevara has legal authorization to live and work in the U.S., and has a pending application for permanent residency. Diaz did not immediately return phone and email messages Wednesday.

ICE takes custody of Spanish-language journalist arrested at Georgia protest
Immigration officers have taken custody of a Spanish-language journalist arrested on obstruction and unlawful assembly charges while covering a weekend protest outside Atlanta.

https://apnews.com/article/journalist-detained-immigration-ice-mario-guevarra-atlanta-77158055cda30f6be3707fb40bf661d6

CNN: Wife of Colorado attack suspect says she and her 5 children are ‘suffering’ in ICE custody

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The wife of an Egyptian man accused of carrying out an antisemitic attack in Colorado earlier this month says she was in “total shock” when she learned what her husband had allegedly done, detailing the “grieving and suffering” her family is enduring in after federal custody, in a statement released Wednesday.

Hayam El Gamal, 43, and her five children were detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement two days after federal prosecutors say her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, drove to downtown Boulder with a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails and attacked demonstrators at a peaceful event to support Israeli hostages in Gaza, injuring at least 12 people.

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But El Gamal says she and the children were not aware of Soliman’s plan to hurt innocent people.

“Why punish any of us, who did nothing wrong?” El Gamal said in the statement. “We are treated like animals by the officers, who told us we are being punished for what my husband is accused of doing.”

On June 3, El Gamal says she and her children were arrested, put on a flight in the middle of the night and transferred from Colorado to the Dilley Family Detention Center in southern Texas.

In the two weeks that have passed, El Gamal said her eldest daughter turned 18 in federal custody and her younger children – aged 4, 4, 7 and 15 – were “forced to watch officials rough-up” another detainee.

“They cried and cried, thinking they would be roughed-up, too,” El Gamal said. “How much longer will we be here for something we didn’t do?”

Conditions in the detention center are inhumane, according to El Gamal, who says detainees are always being watched and woken up in the middle of the night.

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“Now my seven-year-old is about to have her birthday in jail, and my fifteen-year-old, too,” El Gamal added. “All they want is to be home, to be in school, to have privacy, to sleep in their own beds, to have their mother make them a home-cooked meal, to help them grieve and get through these terrible weeks.”

And the legal basis for the family’s detainment?

The exact reason for the detention of Soliman’s wife and children is not clear, according to Eric Lee, the family’s immigration attorney based in Michigan.

The family entered the United States in August 2022, Lee told CNN Wednesday, before overstaying their visas. However, that’s not why they were detained, he said.

“The issue here is whether they can be detained when the government has explicitly stated that its reason for detaining them is not because their visa overstays, but is because of their family relationship to their husband/father,” Lee told CNN Wednesday.

Once detained, El Gamal and the children were placed under expedited removal, a process that allows immigration officials to remove noncitizens without a hearing before an immigration judge, Lee says.

At the time of their detention, DHS did not provide additional details on the expedited removal process.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has said the agency is “investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”

El Gamal has not been charged with a crime, according to Lee, who notes there is no legal basis for deporting Soliman’s family.

“The government can’t detain individuals for unlawful purposes,” Lee added.

Wife of Colorado attack suspect says she and her 5 children are ‘suffering’ in ICE custody | CNN
The wife of a man who told investigators he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people” when he threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators raising awareness of Israeli hostages.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/18/us/colorado-attack-suspect-family-ice-detention

LA Times: Will employers be targeted for hiring undocumented workers?

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Federal authorities have arrested hundreds of potentially undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles this month, targeting day laborers at a Home Depot, factory workers at a downtown apparel company and cleaners at car washes across the city.

But the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents aren’t going after the business owners who may have illegally hired these workers.

President Trump’s crackdown on immigration has spared small and large U.S. employers that rely on thousands of undocumented employees, even though hiring undocumented workers can be a criminal offense.

“There are some instances of criminal prosecutions of people for knowingly hiring unauthorized workers, but it is extremely rare,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. “There’s not an appetite for that kind of enforcement.”

Instead, the recent raids have affected rank and file workers, most of whom were detained suddenly and face deportation.

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A federal program called E-Verify makes it easy for employers to validate the status of potential hires and ensure they aren’t unknowingly employing someone without proper authorization. But the program is widely underused, especially in California, where only about 16% of employers are enrolled.

Participation in the program is voluntary for everyone except federal contractors and other businesses that receive money from the government, Reisz said. The program is largely ignored because many companies are dependent on undocumented laborers and don’t want to be forced to reject their services.

Employers told The Times last year that requiring the use of E-Verify would devastate their businesses, unless other overhauls to immigration policy allowed them access to more workers.

Lots more in the article, click one of these links to read it:

Will employers be targeted for hiring undocumented workers?
Immigration raids in Los Angeles have affected rank and file employees, not the business owners who hired them. Here’s what experts say about who ICE targets and why.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-06-18/immigration-raids-employer-employee

Mediaite: Fox News Reporter Slams ICE Arrest of Afghan-Born U.S. Army Interpreter at Asylum Hearing

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Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin has publicly condemned the ICE arrest of an Afghan national who served as an interpreter for American troops.

“This should anger every American,” Griffin posted on X in response to the story.

Footage of the arrest shows the man, who worked alongside the U.S. Army in one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous regions, being handcuffed by masked immigration agents as he exited a courtroom immediately after his asylum hearing in San Diego.

The interpreter, whose identity is being withheld by his attorney over fears of Taliban retaliation, had legally entered the U.S. through the CBP One app following the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had applied for a Special Immigrant Visa and was awaiting a follow-up court date when the arrest occurred.

“I came here to make a better life,” he can be heard saying in video of the incident. “I didn’t know that this would happen… I worked with the U.S. military.”

His lawyer, Brian McGoldrick, said the move was not only inhumane, but politically baffling: the man’s brother was granted asylum just last month in Texas.

“What is the government doing?” McGoldrick asked, “That one brother is being granted asylum and the other has to be treated like a criminal?”

ICE has declined to comment on the arrest.

Fox News Reporter Slams ICE Arrest of Afghan-Born U.S. Army Interpreter at Asylum Hearing
Griffin publicly condemned ICE for the arrest of an Afghan national who served as an interpreter for American troops.
Fox News Reporter Slams ICE Arrest of Afghan-Born U.S. Army Interpreter at Asylum Hearing

Newsweek: Support for ICE flips

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Public opinion on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has undergone a dramatic shift, as new polling has revealed a reversal in support for the agency.

The polling comes after President Donald Trump sent 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in response to reported violence against law enforcement, specifically ICE agents carrying out deportation raids in the city amid protests of White House immigration policies.

Trump faced criticism over the decision to send in troops, as nationwide protests taking place over the weekend were attended by an estimated 4 to 6 million people, and polls show that public opinion about ICE may be shifting.

According to the latest YouGov/Economist poll, conducted between June 13 and June 16 among 1,512 adults, ICE’s net favorability rating currently stands at a net -5 points, with 42 percent holding a favorable opinion, and 47 percent holding an unfavorable opinion.

That is down from a week ago, when a survey by the same pollsters put ICE’s net favorability at +2 points, with 45 percent holding a favorable opinion, and 43 percent holding an unfavorable opinion.

Both polls had a margin of error of between plus or minus 3.3 and 3.5 percentage points.

Support for ICE flips
President Donald Trump’s recent approval ratings on immigration issues have also dropped.

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-donald-trump-approval-rating-polls-immigration-2087184

Associated Press: California senators demand Trump immigration officials stop using Medicaid data

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California’s two U.S. senators demanded on Wednesday that the Trump administration stop using personal data of millions of Medicaid enrollees — including their immigration status — as part of its sweeping deportation campaign.

In a letter to top administration officials, Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla expressed alarm over an Associated Press report last week that detailed how deportation officials had obtained the sensitive data over the objections of career health officials. They wrote that health officials needed to stop sharing the information and that the Department of Homeland Security should “destroy any and all such data” it had obtained.

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The AP reported that CMS transferred the data last week to DHS officials. Internal CMS records obtained by the AP showed the Medicaid agency fought the request, arguing that sharing the data would violate rules and federal law. Trump appointees overruled them, giving CMS a 54-minute deadline to share the information with DHS, according to emails obtained by AP.

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“We are deeply troubled that this administration intends to use individuals’ private health information for the unrelated purpose of possible enforcement actions targeting lawful noncitizens and mixed status families,” the senators wrote.

California senators demand Trump immigration officials stop using Medicaid data
The Trump administration’s decision to provide deportation officials with personal data — including the immigration status — on millions of Medicaid enrollees prompted two California U.S. senators on Wednesday to demand that the data sharing “cease” and for Homeland Security officials to “destroy” t

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-medicaid-trump-deportation-padilla-schiff-california-a7a701026de1f954cfbdf545a7d91cb8

Geekwire: Immigration crackdown rattles tech employers and workers amid ICE raids

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U.S. immigration crackdowns aimed at undocumented workers in agriculture, construction and elsewhere are having ripple effects in the tech world, which employs thousands of foreign-born workers with highly sought-after computer science skills.

Two Seattle startups providing immigration services say the climate is stoking fears and a sense of urgency.

“Anxiety has increased,” said Xiao Wang, co-founder and CEO of Boundless. “The volume of questions, inquiries, and the amount of misinformation that goes on through social media is such that people are increasingly concerned about what is real, what is not real.”

Priyanka Kulkarni, founder and CEO of Casium, also sees corporations that sponsor employees from abroad examining their options.

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Even if the administration’s current policies aren’t directly disrupting the flow of tech workers from abroad, Wang said he’s seeing a “chilling effect” on new immigrants coming to the U.S. and companies recruiting foreign workers.

By turning people away, “there can be a real dampening effect on new job creators, new innovators, new entrepreneurs that will also cause the U.S. to lose its lead in science, technology and the global economy,” he said. “It’s against our own interest.”

Immigration crackdown rattles tech employers and workers amid ICE raids
The Trump administration’s hostility against immigration has caught the attention of the tech sector, stoking anxieties and a sense of urgency.

https://www.geekwire.com/2025/flight-to-security-tech-employers-foreign-workers-anxious-amid-ice-raids-and-immigration-uncertainty

Latin Times: ‘It’s Going Overboard. It’s Too Much’: Some California Republicans Are Reacting To Trump’s Immigration Tactics

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Dozens of Californians in the swing region of northern Los Angeles County told the Washington Post that even though they wanted the president to enforce immigration laws, it has gone “too far.”

Following days of protests in Los Angeles over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids, dozens of Californians in the swing region of northern Los Angeles County are saying they wanted President Donald Trump to enforce immigration law, but that now it has gone too far.

The Washington Post recently spoke with four dozen people in the Antelope Valley, a closely divided region in the state about an hour north of Los Angeles, about their views on the administration’s handling of immigration. Some of them said they felt deceived over ICE seemingly targeting all migrants, not just criminals, as Trump promised on the campaign trail.

“It’s going overboard. It’s too much,” said Jesus Martinez, a 36-year-old aerospace worker, who initially supported the president’s decision to send the military to shut down immigration protests in his home state. A former Democrat, Martinez said he supported Trump in 2020 and sat out the 2024 election.

“They said only criminals, and now they’re saying, ‘well, they did come in illegally so they are criminals,'” he added. “Hispanics or Latinos that voted for Trump, they didn’t think he was going to go after kids.”

Others further explained that while they supported increased deportations for migrants with criminal records, they opposed the scope of mass deportation and ICE raids, and to a lesser extent, sending troops to crack down on protesters.

‘It’s Going Overboard. It’s Too Much’: Some California Republicans Are Reacting To Trump’s Immigration Tactics
Dozens of Californians in the swing region of northern Los Angeles County told the Washington Post that even though they wanted the president to enforce immigration laws, it has gone “too far.”

https://www.latintimes.com/its-going-overboard-its-too-much-some-california-republicans-are-reacting-trumps-585245

Raleigh News & Observer: Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets in New Poll

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President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 38%, according to Quinnipiac, amid a public clash with Elon Musk over the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” A CBS/YouGov poll earlier this month showed 45% approval and 55% disapproval, underscoring the growing public scrutiny he faces.

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Republican lawmakers … are viewed unfavorably by 61% of the general public. This disparity comes amid ongoing challenges Republicans have faced in appealing to a wider audience beyond their base.

Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets in New Poll
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-approval-rating-plummets-in-new-poll/ss-AA1GVnKX