Tag Archives: Immigration

Latin Times: At Least a Dozen Migrants Arrested After Attending Immigration Hearings in Arizona

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A dozen people who attended a morning session of immigration hearings in Phoenix were arrested and taken away in vans after prosecutors asked to dismiss their cases.

Multiple people who attended civil immigration hearings were arrested in Phoenix outside the courtroom this week.

At least a dozen people who attended a morning session of hearings in Phoenix were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and taken away in vans after prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss their cases, AZ Mirror reported.

Isaac Ortega, a Phoenix-based immigration attorney, said one of his clients was among those arrested Tuesday morning. He recalled that the officials who took the people refused to identify themselves and wore masks. It remained unclear whether his client was taken to an immigration detention facility in Eloy or Florence, or sent to another state.

“My client has no criminal history; he entered the U.S. through the CBP program,” Ortega said. He added his client was preparing for a credible fear interview, the first hurdle as part of the asylum process when federal agents grabbed him from the court.

This is very deceitful, dishonest behavior on the part of DHS & ICE:

“There were two ICE officers inside the courtrooms who would notify the officers sitting in the hallway when a case was dismissed,” she wrote on social media. “It appears the (government attorneys) were moving to dismiss cases where people have been in the U.S. less than 2 years. By arresting them post-dismissal they will now try to put them in expedited removal proceedings and move towards deportations at lightning speed.”

And the locals weren’t particularly impressed:

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs denounced the arrests on a social media statement, saying, “we need to prioritize efforts to deport criminals and secure the border. Indiscriminately rounding up people following the rules won’t make us safer.”

In time, Karma will come around.

At Least a Dozen Migrants Arrested After Attending Immigration Hearings in Arizona
A dozen people who attended a morning session of immigration hearings in Phoenix were arrested and taken away in vans after prosecutors asked to dismiss their cases.

https://www.latintimes.com/least-dozen-migrants-arrested-after-attending-immigration-hearings-arizona-583619

Miami Herald: ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court

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Federal agents in plain clothes staked out the hallways of Miami’s downtown immigration courthouse for hours and arrested at least four unsuspecting men as they walked out of courtrooms on Wednesday.

Miami Herald reporters witnessed how Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sat in on run-of-the-mill immigration proceedings and followed the men outside the courtrooms after their hearings wrapped up.

Then, a group of about 10 other ICE agents, also in plain clothes, caught them off guard in the hallway. The agents identified themselves in Spanish before handcuffing each of the men and escorting them to a van outside.

“I am not afraid,” a Cuban man said to his wife and daughter as ICE agents arrested him.

In each case, Department of Homeland Security attorneys moved to drop the deportation cases before immigration judges. That is important because ICE cannot place someone in expedited removal proceedings — an administrative process that doesn’t require a judge and that the government uses to quickly deport people — if they have a pending case in court.

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The reason behind Wednesday’s arrests at immigration court is unclear. The Herald does not know if the men detained have criminal records. But several immigration attorneys told the Herald they believe the arrests are being driven by a Homeland Security memo from January directing ICE agents to consider putting immigrants in expedited removal proceedings if they have been in the U.S. for less than two years. Expedited removals are deportation proceedings that are administrative and don’t require a judge.

“Take all steps necessary to review the alien’s case and consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether to apply expedited removal. This may include steps to terminate any ongoing removal proceeding,” the DHS memo says.

Lawyers had previously told the Herald the memo could lead to agents showing up at immigration court, and called it a “tool for mass deportation.”

“In my opinion, they are taking removal cases out of the docket… to put it on expedited removal, which is a lot faster,” said Antonio Ramos, an immigration attorney whose office is based in the downtown immigration court building.

Ramos urged people with pending cases to seek legal counsel and request virtual hearings to avoid unnecessary exposure at in-person court dates.

ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court
The Herald witnessed ICE agents arresting at least four men inside the immigration courthouse in downtown Miami.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article306900486.html

MSNBC: The Trump administration likely sent scores of legal immigrants to a foreign prison

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The Cato Institute published the most comprehensive review to date of how the roughly 240 Venezuelans expelled to El Salvador came to the United States.

This week, the Cato Institute published the most comprehensive review to date of how the roughly 240 Venezuelans expelled on March 15 came to the United States. We found that at least 50 reported that they arrived in the United States legally before being subject to arbitrary arrest, detention and rendition to El Salvador without due process.

Information about the men was not easy to obtain. The U.S. government has aggressively suppressed disclosures. It not only denied them any due process before their imprisonment, leaving no court records, but it has failed to detail any individual explanations either.

In fact, DHS has refused even to confirm who it has imprisoned there, leaving families to rely on incomplete leaks to the media to uncover the whereabouts of their loved ones. As for the men, they are being held incommunicado — with no ability to communicate with their attorneys, families or the outside world at all — so they can’t tell their stories.

We attempted to fill this void by compiling all known information about these men. 

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Some of the CBP One applicants sent to El Salvador were initially detained at their interview, but two dozen were first granted parole, a legal designation that permitted them to enter, live and work legally in the United States — which they did until their arrest and imprisonment in El Salvador. 

One of the now-imprisoned men entered as a tourist, and four men came through the U.S. refugee admissions program — where U.S. refugee officers believed they would face persecution abroad and officially approved them for resettlement. These refugees expected to receive a permanent legal status and a path to U.S. citizenship when they came here. Instead, they were handcuffed, detained and rendered to a foreign prison in March. 

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The government has selectively released information about some men who it wants to discredit, noting whenever possible if they entered illegally, but it has not rebutted the claims made by the legal immigrants’ families and attorneys.

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For instance, Jerce Reyes Barrios — a former Venezuelan professional soccer player — came to the United States with advanced permission via a CBP One appointment (confirmation of which his attorney still has). In response, a DHS official said Reyes Barrios “was in the country illegally,” but this doesn’t explain DHS’s actions: he arrived legally with a CBP One appointment in accordance with all U.S. laws. It was DHS that made him technically be “in the country illegally” by arresting him based on his tattoos and denying him entry.

DHS also disappeared Ricardo Jesus Prada Vasquez and then lied to the family about his whereabouts for weeks, only admitting to his rendition after The New York Times reported on the case. In his case, DHS said that he had “entered the United States illegally … via the CBP One App.” But it was legal to enter via the CBP One app, so he didn’t enter illegally. 

DHS claims that these legal immigrants are all members of a Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA). But in nearly all the men’s cases, DHS was not able to identify any crimes committed, and background checks run by Bloomberg, The New York Times and CBS News have found that the vast majority have no criminal record in the United States or abroad.///

DHS’ gang identification is based on little more than their tattoos. According to court documents, DHS is using a checklist to deem people “gang members” based primarily on common tattoos, clothing and other imprecise signs …

DHS is arresting, detaining and expelling legal immigrants: student visa holders, tourists, refugees, parolees and even legal permanent residents who have no criminal records. In this case, it went further: to imprison them.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-dhs-legal-immigrants-el-salvador-prison-report-rcna207751

CNN: Vance says Roberts is ‘profoundly wrong’ about judiciary’s role to check executive branch

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Vice President JD Vance called Chief Justice John Roberts’ comments earlier this month that the judiciary’s role is to check the executive branch a “profoundly wrong sentiment” and said the courts should be “deferential” to the president, particularly when it comes to immigration.

“I thought that was a profoundly wrong sentiment. That’s one half of his job, the other half of his job is to check the excesses of his own branch. And you cannot have a country where the American people keep on electing immigration enforcement and the courts tell the American people they’re not allowed to have what they voted for,” Vance told New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat on the “Interesting Times” podcast, which was taped on Monday.

This idiot J.D. Dunce has a law degree?

Did he even pass civics in high school?

Vance says Roberts is ‘profoundly wrong’ about judiciary’s role to check executive branch | CNN Politics
Vice President JD Vance called Chief Justice John Roberts’ comments earlier this month that the judiciary’s role is to check the executive branch a “profoundly wrong sentiment” and said the courts should be “deferential” to the president, particularly when it comes to immigration.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/jd-vance-john-roberts-judiciary-role

Law & Crime: ‘Unquestionably violative of this court’s order’: Judge upbraids Trump admin for deporting migrants to war-torn third country without due process

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A federal judge on Wednesday said that the Trump administration had “unquestionably” violated his order by deporting several migrants to South Sudan — a country from which none of the migrants are from — without due process or a reasonable opportunity to raise concerns of their fear of the war-torn nation, an action he said could amount to criminal contempt of court.

U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy upbraided attorneys from the Justice Department, accusing them of ignoring the “long history” of legal precedent surrounding due process rights as well as recent orders from the U.S. Supreme Court when they sent seven men to South Sudan with less than 24 hours notice.

Murphy last month issued a preliminary injunction barring the government from deporting migrants to third countries without giving them a “reasonable opportunity” to raise concerns about that country and the possible violence they could face.

Murphy scheduled a hearing after an emergency motion filed by attorneys for the plaintiffs informed the court that at least two of their clients had been notified on Monday evening that they were being removed to South Sudan and were transported out of ICE facilities at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

“The department’s actions in this case are unquestionably violative of this court’s order,” Murphy said at Wednesday’s hearing. “It is plain to me that an ‘opportunity to be heard’ of only several hours that were not during business hours, where you couldn’t raise consult with your attorney or your family is insufficient. It was impossible for these people to have a meaningful opportunity to object to their removal to South Sudan.”

Murphy emphasized that even the Supreme Court justices recently confirmed that 24 hours of notice is “plainly insufficient” for the purpose of due process, stating, “I don’t see how anybody could think these people had a reasonable chance to object.”

Judge slams Trump admin for ‘unquestionably’ violating order on third-country deportations
A federal judge on Wednesday said that the Trump administration had “unquestionably” violated his order by deporting several migrants to South Sudan without due process.
‘Unquestionably violative of this court’s order’: Judge upbraids Trump admin for deporting migrants to war-torn third country without due process

Inquirer: US senator denounces ICE raid on home of Filipino teachers in Hawaii

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Sen. Brian Schatz describes the raid as ‘racial profiling and a shameful abuse of power’

Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) has denounced the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on the home of Filipino teachers in Kahului, Maui.

“The reported interrogation and efforts to detain Filipino teachers in their home on Maui by ICE agents is outrageous,” Schatz said in a statement. “This is racial profiling and a shameful abuse of power.”

The teachers and their families were detained at the multi-family home for more than 40 minutes, one of the teachers told The Maui News.

“The whole situation was really overwhelming and traumatic for all of us, but I felt the need to speak out because I felt it could have been handled better, and I really do not want to see that happen again with teachers who are here to help our children, who are here legally as well,” the teacher said.

ICE told Island News the federal search warrant served during the May 6 raid was related to an immigration investigation.

“For the safety of the agents and the occupants, residents of the home were briefly detained and interviewed in addition to the search,” an ICE agent said in a statement. “At the conclusion of the search, HSI special agents left the location without any arrests made.”

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“In this case, with educators rousted from their beds at gunpoint, there was no public apology for the harm that was done,” Tui said.

“We’re concerned that, if this was a mistake, what other mistakes are being made or will be made affecting other innocent people.”

Senator Schatz said the ICE raids were “clearly designed to instill fear” among the teachers.

US senator denounces ICE raid on home of Filipino teachers in Hawaii
Senator Brian Schatz has denounced the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on the home of Filipino teachers in Kahului, Maui.

https://usa.inquirer.net/172200/us-senator-denounces-ice-raid-on-home-of-filipino-teachers-in-hawaii

Huffington Post: The Supreme Court Has Officially Had Enough Of Donald Trump’s Excuses

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A recent decision by the court shows just how done it is with the Trump administration’s failure to obey its orders in Alien Enemies Act cases

Early Friday evening, the Supreme Court issued a pointed decision in the case of a group of Venezuelan detainees who previously faced the imminent risk of being sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration. In addition to rejecting the administration’s choice to give these detainees only 24 hours notice of their removal, the decision answered a question indirectly posed in the case. Is the highest court in the nation sick of the Trump administration’s bullshit?

The answer, the decision states rather definitively, is yes — at least in immigration cases involving removals under the Alien Enemies Act.

In an eight-page unsigned decision, with only Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting, the court firmly rejected how the administration has been using the Alien Enemies Act to quickly remove Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants with little to no due process while also effectively calling the administration liars, in so many words.

The Supreme Court Is Officially Sick Of Donald Trump’s B.S.
A recent decision by the court shows just how done it is with the Trump administration’s failure to obey its orders in Alien Enemies Act cases.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-supreme-court-alien-enemies_n_682b736ce4b0dc52ee2bfd8b

Houston Chronicle: ICE reportedly visiting homes of Houston migrant children, sparking fear of sponsor deportations

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Alexa Sendukas, managing attorney at the Galveston-Houston Immigration Project, said in recent weeks, 18 of her clients sponsoring unaccompanied children have reported ICE officers in plain clothes have visited or called their homes, prompting fear and concern they are being targeted for deportation.

The visits have also been reported in recent weeks across the U.S as an effort to crack down on potential human trafficking, The Washington Post reported.

Sendukas said the visits — which in some cases, clients have told her involved ICE agents asking sponsors for their immigration status — are concerning because sponsors and their homes have already gone through rigorous vetting by contractors part of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Most clients have reported that four ICE officers visit their homes, with 3 men and 1 woman, and ask varying questions, from asking how the child is doing in school to wanting to speak to the child and see their bedroom, Sendukas said. She added all the unaccompanied minors have already had removal orders dimissed through immigration court, or are in proceeding to have them dismissed.

But the immigration status of the children’s sponsors, whom the immigration project does not represent, is not entirely known, Sendukas said.

“If ICE does go after undocumented sponsors, we’re looking at the next version of family separation, and it will be devastating,” she said. “We have young children who are going to be irreparably harmed.”

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/ice-dhs-welfare-checks-migrant-children-houston-20295086.php

NBC Boston: ICE agents swarm Lowell gas station, round up workers from vans

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A SWAT team was called in alongside ICE and DEA agents, surrounding vans belonging to a roofing company as workers were lined up against a wall

Michael Tabman, a former FBI special agent in charge, said he spent his career working drug interdictions and rarely had to hide his identity from the public or make such a display of force.

“This level of force, and intimidation, and psychological warfare, just doesn’t seem necessary,” he said.

He believes it can be counterproductive, as the immigrant community may make more desperate attempts to evade police.

“The person being arrested should be assured that this is actually a law enforcement operation. We want to reduce the fear, reduce the chance of them fighting back because they fear they’re being kidnapped,” said Tabman.

ICE agents swarm Lowell gas station, round up workers from vans
A SWAT team was called in alongside ICE and DEA agents, surrounding vans belonging to a roofing company as workers were lined up against a wall

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/ice-agents-swarm-lowell-gas-station-round-up-workers-from-vans/3716265

Sacramento Bee: ‘Shocked’: Judge Delivers Blow to Sweeping Migrant Arrests

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U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a temporary restraining order after officers arrested about 15 people, including a U.S. citizen.

Attorney General James Uthmeier reportedly told law enforcement the law can still be enforced, even with Judge Kathleen Williams’s court order. Williams questioned whether Uthmeier influenced local officers to continue enforcement against the order, noting that she was “surprised and shocked” by the decision.

Williams said, “What I am offended by is someone suggesting you don’t have to follow my order, that it’s not legitimate.”

Williams added, “Even prior to any formal discovery, there is evidence that AG Uthmeier has used his authority to encourage local law enforcement to continue making arrests under a law the Court has, for the time being, found unconstitutional.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier apparently thinks he’s above the law.

‘Shocked’: Judge Delivers Blow to Sweeping Migrant Arrests
Florida local governments and universities now let officers work with federal immigration authorities and question people about their immigration status. The decision has caused concern among immigrant communities and human rights groups. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a temporary restraining order after officers arrested about 15 people, including a U.S. citizen. Attorney General JamesContinue reading ”‘Shocked’: Judge Delivers…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/shocked-judge-delivers-blow-to-sweeping-migrant-arrests/ar-AA1F0hhZ