The wife of Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration, has been moved to a safe house by supporters after U.S. officials posted a court document on social media that included the family’s address.
A British backpacker. A Harvard researcher. A Canadian actress. An Australian mixed martial arts coach. Dozens of international college students.
The Trump administration’s sweeping immigration-and-visa crackdown has begun ensnaring a class of people long-accustomed to being welcomed with open arms into the United States.
And those uncommon detainees are bringing new attention to the often-harsh U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention system, where people can be held without charge indefinitely, sometimes in shocking conditions, or abruptly removed from the country.
This type of treatment has long been the case in ICE detention, but the people held by the government often didn’t have the resources ‒ the access, language or middle-class expectations ‒ to denounce the conditions.
Now, with President Donald Trump’s crackdown, native English speakers, people with PhDs, and others are getting the word out to a broader public about a system they describe as arbitrary and punishing ‒ although ICE detention is not supposed to resemble prison.
“It’s insane how easily someone can take away your freedom, lock you in a federal prison, without a clear reason. No explanation. No warning,” ….
Boycott Avelo Airlines!
Budget carrier Avelo Airlines has signed a deal to conduct deportation flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with operations beginning in May out of Arizona, the company confirmed.
The Houston-based airline will provide both domestic and international flights for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement arm as part of what CEO Andrew Levy described as a “long-term charter program.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-airline-agrees-to-deport-migrants-for-ice/ar-AA1Cx53b
In January, just days after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, immigration agents came to Dana Beauty Salon in Mount Rainer, Maryland, located just two minutes from the Washington D.C. border. They were looking for one of the employees, an undocumented migrant, who was taken into custody and is being held at a detention center in New Hampshire pending a court hearing. That day changed the life of the salon’s owner, Daysi García. “They showed up one day, I think it was a Thursday. By the time the weekend came around, no one was coming in, our workers weren’t coming in for their shifts, not even the clients were coming in,” she recalls sadly.
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“What is happening now is worse than what we experienced during Covid. Back then, people could put on a mask and come in. Now, they don’t even want to leave their homes,” says García.
In a statement released Monday, the president of Minnesota State University-Mankato said a student was detained by ICE at an off-campus residence last Friday.
“No reason was given,” Edward Inch said. “The University has received no information from ICE, and they have not requested any information from us.”
The detained student is currently in the jail in Albert Lea, a facility that partners with ICE.
Inch said he has contacted elected officials to share his concerns and ask them for assistance in “stopping this activity within our community of learners.”
“Our international students play an important role in our campus and community,” Inch said. “They are a valued part of our campus culture. This action hurts what we try to accomplish as a university—support all learners to receive the education they desire to make the impact they want in their communities.”
Minnesota State University student detained by ICE near Mankato campus – CBS Minnesota
Laguna Niguel residents with no criminal record were detained during routine immigration check-in
The American dream ended abruptly last month for Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez, a Laguna Niguel couple deported to Colombia after 35 years of building their lives in Southern California. The pair, who raised three U.S.-born daughters, were detained during what should have been a routine check-in with immigration officials on February 21, according to Fox 11.
Their oldest daughter, Jessica, 33, described the confusion that day. Her mother called after initially receiving an extension, only to be arrested moments later when a different agent intervened. “This official was cruel,” said Stephanie, one of their three daughters. “They arrested my dad first and then called my mom in and arrested her too.”
They were put into handcuffs by their wrists and ankles and treated as criminals before getting to these detention centers,” Stephanie Gonzalez told KTLA. “All they said is they extended their stay, even though every year they’ve had permission to be here, and they’re law-abiding citizens who show up and are doing their duty to check in with immigration and say, ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m not hiding or doing anything wrong.’ Then they just arrested them like that.
The deportation left three adult daughters—Jessica, Stephanie, and 23-year-old Gabby—plus a young grandson behind in the United States.
For decades, the Gonzalezes had diligently followed immigration protocols. Nelson worked as a phlebotomist; Gladys maintained their household. Their daughters insist their parents never missed appointments and continually pursued legal pathways to remain in the country they called home since 1989 when they fled Colombia seeking asylum from violence and drugs.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson provided a different perspective, telling The Orange County Register the couple had “exhausted all legal options to remain in the U.S. between March 2000 and August 2021,” despite numerous appeals through various immigration channels.
After their initial detention, the couple spent weeks moving through the system—first to a San Bernardino facility, then Arizona, and finally Louisiana before being deported. The experience left them traumatized but grateful to reconnect with family in Colombia who are helping them restart their lives.
“We are thankful this nightmare is over, while at the same time grieving the reality that our parents will not be coming home anytime soon,” the daughters wrote in a GoFundMe update on March 20, confirming their parents had arrived in Colombia together.
The Gonzalez family’s story reflects the broader shift in immigration enforcement priorities that now target anyone living in the country without authorization rather than focusing primarily on those with criminal records.
Orange County Couple Deported to Colombia After 35 Years in U.S. – LAmag
The University of Minnesota has confirmed that one of its graduate students was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) officials.
“The University had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred,” said a statement from the school’s president, Rebecca Cunninham.
The university is taking steps to ensure students are connected to support services like Student Legal Services and International Student and Scholar Services.
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Democrat State Senator Doron Clark, who represents parts of the University area, spoke to KARE 11 Friday evening.
“What stood out to me was the lack of information. We don’t know where the student is, we don’t know the students name, we just don’t know what happened,” he said. “The only way we found out was not from the federal government.”
“I think the blindness to what is going on is maddening, and it’s frightening,” Clark continued.
