Newsweek: ICE arrests 11 Iranian nationals in US amid fears of secret terror cells

The Trump administration said Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had arrested 11 Iranian citizens over the weekend who were in the U.S. illegally.

Among those arrested was a man ordered for removal from the United States 20 years ago, and others accused of breaking immigration laws.

Goody goody for them! If there are any Iranian terrorists running around loose in the U.S.A., I sure wouldn’t count on ICE to catch them! They’re too busy snatching gardners off the front lawns of L.A.

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-arrests-iranian-nationals-us-citizen-2089977

Houston Chronicle: She called 911 to report domestic abuse. Then Houston police called ICE on her.

Houston police called federal immigration agents on a woman who dialed 911 to report domestic abuse by her ex-husband in April, newly released records show. 

The woman, an immigrant from El Salvador who has lived in Houston for seven years, had a removal order stemming from the denial of her asylum claim. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents declined to pick her up because they said there was no one to take custody of her children, according to a copy of the police report obtained by the Houston Chronicle through a public records request.

So fortunately she’s still free, for now at least!

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/immigration/article/houston-police-ice-domestic-violence-20382891.php

Newsweek: Utah college student says ICE agent who detained her “knew it wasn’t right”

A 19-year-old student at the University of Utah says the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who detained her repeatedly apologized and “knew it wasn’t right,” but his “hands were tied.”

Caroline Dias Goncalves was pulled over by police in Fruita, Colorado, on June 5 on the way to Denver. Shortly after being let go by the officer, Dias Goncalves was stopped again a few miles away in Grand Junction—this time by immigration agents.

“He kept apologizing and told me he wanted to let me go, but his ‘hands were tied.’ There was nothing he could do, even though he knew it wasn’t right. I want you to know—I forgive you,” Dias Goncalves said in a statement.

https://www.newsweek.com/caroline-dias-goncalves-utah-college-student-ice-agent-2089824

Daily Mail: Tourist who claimed he was banned entry to US because of a JD Vance meme on his phone was actually denied for a different reason, Homeland reveal

A Norwegian tourist who claimed he was denied entry to the United States after immigration officers found a meme of JD Vance on his phone was actually turned away for a different reason, U.S. officials have revealed.

Mads Mikkelsen, 21, was sent away after arriving at New Jersey‘s Newark Airport on June 11 for a holiday. 

He told Norwegian outlet Nordlys that he had been pulled aside by border control and put in a cell.

‘They asked questions about drug trafficking, terrorist plots and right-wing extremism totally without reason,’ he alleged in an interview with the outlet.

Mr Mikkelsen claimed that the officers then threatened him with a $5,000 fine or five years in prison if he refused to give the password to his mobile phone.

The guards were said to have found a meme on the device’s camera roll showing an edit of US vice president JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head. Mikkelsen said after discovering the image the authorities sent him home to Norway the same day.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, operating under the Department of Homeland Security, has since clarified that ‘Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons’.

Bullshit! Just another lie from Homeland Security!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14842359/Norwegian-tourist-21-barred-entering-US-ICE-guards-meme.html

LA Times: ‘Who are these people?’ Masked immigration agents challenge local police, sow fear in L.A.

Increasingly aggressive immigration raids carried out by masked federal agents, sometimes using unmarked vehicles, are creating problems for local law enforcement agencies.

Police have little or no insight into where the federal enforcement actions are taking place but often have to deal with the aftermath, including protests and questions from residents about what exactly happened. In some cases, local cops have been mistaken for federal agents, eroding years of work to have immigrant communities trust the police.

In Bell, chaos erupted when masked men arrived at a car wash and began detaining its workers, sparking a confrontation with residents and immigration rights advocates before they were forced to hastily drive over curbs and street islands to escape.

In Pasadena last week, a man stepped out of his unmarked vehicle at an intersection, unholstered his pistol and aimed it at a group of pedestrians before returning to his car, turning on its red and blue emergency lights and speeding off. Video of the incident went viral.

That incident left the police chief of Pasadena resigned to figure out whether it was a crime or part of a federal raid.

“There’s no way for us to verify,” Police Chief Gene Harris said.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-24/masked-immigration-agents-local-law-enforcement-tension

Miami Herald: Trump Orders Increased ICE Deportations Nationwide

President Donald Trump has directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to intensify deportations in Democrat-run cities. He called it the “largest Mass Deportation Program in History.” ICE, however, is reportedly falling short of the 3,000 daily arrest target set by the White House.

Nationwide “No Kings” protests have erupted against Trump’s immigration policies. In Los Angeles, federal raids sparked demonstrations and National Guard deployment.

Trump said, “ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”

Trump added, “We must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”

Trump’s immigration crackdown has hit industries like agriculture and hospitality, which depend on immigrant labor. Acknowledging workforce losses, Trump has directed ICE to pause operations in these sectors.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-orders-increased-ice-deportations-nationwide/ss-AA1HdAmY

USA Today: Trump is on a collision course with millions of Americans. He’s not backing down.

The White House is doubling down on President Donald Trump’s signature campaign promise and escalating efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, targeting Democrat-run cities and heightening tensions with powerful liberal governors from California to New York.

The pressure-cooker campaign comes after the massive “No Kings” protests on June 14 that drew millions of Americans out to the streets to oppose Trump’s administration, which has made immigration enforcement a top priority. The protests included about 5 million people nationally, according to organizers, and many attendees specifically cited concerns about immigration enforcement.

A week before, fierce protests in Los Angeles sparked by aggressive detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents led to clashes, tear gassing, scattered looting and multiple vehicles being set on fire. The vast majority of attendees were peaceful, however.

To quell the protests and protect ICE agents in California, Trump called up thousands of National Guard troops over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom − referred to by Trump as “Newscum” − and has told federal agents they have his unconditional support to continue aggressive enforcement.

Trump has also invoked military powers usually reserved for wartime, declaring that Biden-era immigration policies facilitated an invasion. And the president is pushing to dramatically expand detention centers and deportation flights while finishing the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

While border crossings have dropped dramatically, videos of masked federal agents chasing people across fields or grabbing them off city streets have horrified many Americans, and liberal leaders across the country say construction sites, farms and some entire neighborhoods are falling silent as undocumented workers stay home to avoid detention.

Some critics accused Trump of causing chaos with ICE raids, then using the community response to justify even harsher measures.

On June 19, federal immigration agents were briefly blocked at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles by protesters trying to stop detentions.

Trump remains undeterred and is pushing Congress to pass a funding measure that would allow him to hire 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 more customs officers, and 3,000 additional Border Patrol agents.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/21/trump-immigration-enforcement-no-kings/84245929007

Newsweek: Amazon worker fears deportation after humanitarian parole revoked

An Amazon employee in Indiana fears she will be deported to a war-torn country after her humanitarian parole was revoked by the Trump administration.

Now, her husband believes that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will come for her.

Daphnee S. Poteau, 33, originally from Haiti, had been working at an Amazon customer returns center in Speedway since entering the United States on July 4, 2023, under the Biden-era CHVN humanitarian parole program. On June 14, she was sent home mid-way through her shift after she lost her right to work.

The CHNV parole program was launched in early 2023 by the Biden administration to provide a lawful pathway for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the U.S. temporarily under humanitarian parole. Participants with U.S.-based sponsors could live and work in the country for up to two years.

Though Poteau has not been arrested or detained by immigration authorities, Poteau’s husband, Kristopher D. Vincent, 45, an Amazon associate and U.S. citizen, says the family is feeling “frustrated and scared.”

“I am afraid they will come looking for her eventually. We’ve seen it in the news a lot lately. People in black masks snatching—or attempting to snatch—migrants up, even at immigration hearings,” Vincent told Newsweek. “When judges, and even U.S. representatives, are facing arrests and indictments, how are the little people like us supposed to feel? Her only ‘crime’ seems to be coming from the ‘wrong’ country.”

https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-worker-deportation-humanitarian-parole-revoked-2089333

Style on Main: Home Depot Implements Employee Response Plan Amid Frequent ICE Raids

Home Depot, a retailing giant with over 2,300 stores, has been inadvertently pulled into the rising ICE raids on illegal immigrants. Its parking lots, where day laborers used to gather to seek employment unofficially, are now hot spots for immigration enforcement under President Trump’s increased campaign. 

This combination of street-level labor and federal regulations creates a potent concoction that forces Home Depot into a difficult social and financial impasse.

The conflict between abiding by the law and safeguarding its employees to prevent censure by the larger community illustrates the company’s choice to implement an employee assistance policy while permitting round-ups.

Parking lots at Home Depots have long served as informal labor markets, where contractors and day laborers mix without resumes or contracts.

This subterranean economy supports approximately one million workers at the lower end of the pay scale, many of whom are illegal immigrants engaged in difficult-to-document home repair and construction work.The raids disrupt this fragile equilibrium, causing labor shortages and economic ripple effects.

Home Depot’s identification of these territories as de facto enforcement areas demonstrates workplace culture at the ground level that is at odds with federal immigration policy, which has accelerated the need to reconsider worker policy and community outreach programs. 

Home Depot has since released new guidelines that mandate workers to report ICE encounters directly upon occurrence and to keep their distance from agents for personal safety. Some local bosses permit workers traumatized by the raids to leave with compensation, though this is an in-border initiative, not company policy.

This effort shows an effective tactic: protecting workers from trauma and legal risk while maintaining business operations. It also shows a new corporate mandate, acknowledging the human toll of immigration enforcement without necessarily hindering federal efforts. It is a delicate tightrope walk in today’s polarized culture.

Newsweek: ICE responds after beloved bagel house boss’ arrest sparks protests

A manager of a New York bagel house was detained by federal immigration agents earlier this month, sparking outrage across the community.

Fernando Mejia, 41, who runs Port Washington’s Schmear Bagel & Cafe, was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside the business on June 12, the Long Island Press reported.

When contacted for comment by Newsweek, a spokesperson for ICE said: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement encountered Fernando Alberto Mejia-Flores, a Salvadorian national, during a daily routine law enforcement action in the vicinity of Port Washington, New York, June 12. Mejia-Flores was identified as a fugitive alien with a Final Order of Removal. ICE arrested him and transported him to an ICE processing facility in Central Islip, New York.”

The American Immigration Council estimates that the president’s mass deportation policy could slap a one-time cost of $315 billion on the country.

“Fernando was also recently hospitalized for medical issues, which make his sudden detention all the more dangerous to his well-being,” a post on GoFundMe reads. “His sudden detention has also left his family, including his 14-year-old daughter, emotionally devastated and facing immediate legal battles.”

https://www.newsweek.com/fernando-mejia-bagel-house-ice-immigration-2089381