Tag Archives: united states

ABC News: Department of Justice suing Los Angeles over sanctuary city policy

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The Department of Justice is suing the city of Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policy, alleging it interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws, officials announced on Monday.

“The challenged law and policies of the City of Los Angeles obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement. The DOJ is seeking a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinance.

Big waste of time and money — the Tenth Amendment (separation of powers) says the federal government can’t hijack state or local governments to do their bidding.

Department of Justice suing Los Angeles over sanctuary city policy
The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/doj-suing-los-angeles-sanctuary-city-policy/story?id=123348526

Straight Arrow News: ICE raids surge, but few employers face charges

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According to The Washington Post, a spokesperson with the Justice Department said in a statement: “Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, the Department of Justice will enforce federal immigration laws and hold bad actors accountable when they employ illegal aliens in violation of federal law.”

However, almost no business owners or managers are being held legally accountable for hiring unauthorized workers. The Post conducted in-depth investigative work, reviewing legal documents and business ownership records to confirm whether any company owners or managers were charged. The Post found that despite numerous raids, just one employer was charged with a crime.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not disclosed how many raids have resulted in employer charges. In April, ICE reported more than 1,000 arrests of migrants residing in the U.S. illegally and proposed over $1 million in fines against businesses during Trump’s first 100 days in the White House, The Post reports.

Only one employer charged, so far:

John Washburn, a company manager of San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in El Cajon, California, was charged with knowingly employing migrant workers who reside in the country illegally. Washburn pleaded guilty, and the DOJ stated that he received one year of probation and was required to complete 50 hours of community service. He did not receive jail time.

Chad Hartmann, the manager of Glenn Valley Foods in Nebraska, will not face charges after federal immigration agents arrested 76 of his workers. According to ICE, an investigation found that about 70 migrant workers who live in the U.S. illegally at the facility were using stolen identities and Social Security numbers to get jobs and benefits. Hartmann said he believed he was hiring people authorized to work in the U.S.

As a result, over 100 real people had their identities misused, causing them serious financial, emotional and legal harm, according to an ICE press release.

It’s unusual for business owners to be prosecuted for hiring migrant workers who reside in the country illegally. To charge someone, prosecutors must prove the employer knowingly hired someone without legal work authorization. Proving what an employer knew in court can be difficult and time-consuming.

ICE raids surge, but few employers face charges
ICE workplace raids have surged under Trump, but employers hiring undocumented workers are rarely prosecuted.

https://san.com/cc/ice-raids-surge-but-few-employers-face-charges

Channel News Asia: Why countries like China, Canada and the UK have issued new warnings about US travel

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China:

On Wednesday, China warned tourists to “fully assess the risks” before travelling to the US, after Beijing raised tariffs on American imports in retaliation for similar duties imposed by Trump.

“Due to the deterioration in China-US trade relations and the domestic security situation in the United States, (we) advise Chinese tourists to fully assess the risks before travelling to the US,” Beijing’s culture and tourism ministry said in a statement.

UK:

In March, the UK revised its advice for citizens travelling to the US to include a warning that anyone found breaking its entry rules could face arrest or detention.

The current British travel advice for the US, published online by Britain’s foreign office and most recently updated on Mar 14, states: “You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.”

At the beginning of February, the guidance had only stated: “The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules.”

The foreign office declined to comment on the reason for the revision or confirm when exactly it took place. It said its travel advice was designed to help people make decisions and that the advice was constantly kept under review.

Earlier in the month, in response to reports that a woman had been detained in the US for more than 10 days over a possible breach of her visa conditions, the foreign office confirmed that it was providing support to a British national detained in the US.

The woman has since returned to Britain.

Germany:

Similarly, in March, Germany updated its US travel advisory to emphasise that a visa or entry waiver does not guarantee entry after several Germans were detained while entering the country.

Germany’s foreign ministry updated its travel advice website for the US on Mar 11 to clarify that neither approval through the US Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, system nor a US visa entitles entry in every case.

“The final decision on whether a person can enter the US lies with the US border authorities,” said a German foreign ministry spokesperson, who emphasised that the change did not constitute a travel warning.

Canada:

The Canadian government updated its US travel advisory on its website in March to say that those who plan to visit the US for more than 30 days “must be registered with the United States government”, NPR reported.

Those who did not do so could face “penalties fines, and misdemeanour prosecution”, the Canadian government said.

In early April, it updated its advisory again, adding a new paragraph about scrutiny at points of entry into the US, Canadian public broadcaster CBC reported.

This was done “quietly”, CBC said.

Part of the new paragraph reads: “Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices. Comply and be forthcoming in all interactions with border authorities. If you are denied entry, you could be detained while awaiting deportation.”

CBC noted that US border agents had long had the power to ask to search travellers’ belongings and demand access to their electronic devices.

However, it reported that security had been stepped up at the US-Canada border, citing an immigration lawyer.

“There’s been much more heightened security and heightened investigations at the border,” the lawyer told the broadcaster.

Denmark, Finland, France, Germany:

In March, several European countries including Denmark, Finland, France and Germany suggested that transgender, non-binary and intersex people may face difficulties when trying to enter the US.

The Danish foreign ministry changed its US travel advisory to say that transgender people should contact the US embassy in the Nordic country before travelling to the United States.

“When applying for an ESTA or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: Male or female,” the travel advisory stated on Mar 21.

“If you have the gender designation X in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the US embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed,” the ministry added.

The “X” gender marker is preferred by many non-binary people, who do not identify as strictly male or female.

While the travel advisory did not explicitly mention the Trump administration, it came only weeks after Trump signed an executive order calling for the US federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents, such as passports, and in policies.

The US State Department has stopped issuing travel documents with the X gender marker.

The department also stopped allowing people to change the gender listed on their passports or get new ones that reflect their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Finland also advised prospective US travellers on its foreign ministry homepage that if their “current gender as recorded in their passport differs from the gender they were assigned at birth, US authorities may deny (them) entry”.

“It is recommended that you check with US authorities in advance for entry requirements,” the ministry said.

France, meanwhile, modified its official advice to its nationals who are travelling to the United States, warning they must now state their gender assigned at birth in visa or ESTA applications.

In advice similar to that issued by Denmark, Germany told travellers who have the X gender entry in their passport or whose current gender entry differs from their gender entry at birth to contact a US diplomatic mission in Germany before they enter the country.

This is so that they can “find out the applicable entry requirements” for the US, the German foreign ministry said.

Why countries like China, Canada and the UK have issued new warnings about US travel
SINGAPORE: Several countries have issued new advice and warnings about travelling to the United States in recent weeks, with China joining in on Wednesday (Apr 9) by telling its citizens to “fully assess the risks” of visiting the US before they head there. Canada and European countries like the United Kin

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-travel-advisories-warnings-trump-china-canada-uk-immigration-tariffs-5059056

KTLA: Man, pregnant woman snatched from parked vehicle in Simi Valley

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A man and his pregnant wife were seen being removed from their vehicle before they were taken into custody by immigration agents in Simi Valley.

The witness, who only identified herself as Briana, said the incident happened near Royal Avenue and Carson Street around 8 a.m.

The pair, who were sitting in an SUV, were suddenly surrounded by three vehicles while several masked agents approached the SUV and opened the doors. The agents were seen pulling the man and woman out of the car.

“They were so quick, they just literally left and broke the windows,” Briana said. “You could see his sandal was left there. It was pretty traumatic. It’s going on everywhere. It’s just the law, I guess.”

Briana said she was driving when she noticed the masked agents and decided to pull over to find out what was happening.

She said the couple appeared to be in their 30s and could only speak Spanish. She was heard yelling at the agents, but did not physically intervene with the arrest.

“The [man and woman] kept looking at me, like, asking for help, but all I could do was record them,” she said. “They just were desperate to get out of the situation. They were scared. There were people with masks. Who are they? Where are they taking them?”

Briana said that at one point, the man being held on the ground told the agents that his wife was pregnant.

“There were three guys pinning down a pregnant woman,” she said. “There’s no reason for that.”

In the video, one of the agents’ vests has a decal that reads, “Police-ICE.” Ultimately, the couple was placed into vehicles and driven away.

KTLA’s Lindsey Pena was able to contact the pregnant woman, who said she and her husband were taken to a facility in Camarillo. She said her husband remains in custody, but she was released with an ankle monitor and has a follow-up appointment at the facility next week.

KTLA has reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security several times for more details on the arrest and any crimes the couple may be accused of and is awaiting a reply. The couple has not been identified.

The White House has vowed to continue immigration enforcement operations in Southern California and across the U.S. 

Local leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, have demanded that the Trump administration stop the raids that sparked protests in early June.

However, federal officials said it would continue conducting immigration raids and deportations. “ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X.

Couple arrested by federal immigration agents in Simi Valley
Editor’s note: KTLA reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment multiple times prior to publication. As of publishing, DHS has not responded. KTLA will update this article w…

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/couple-arrested-by-federal-immigration-agents-in-simi-valley

Guardian: The desperate drive to secure passports for thousands of US-born Haitian kids – before it’s too late

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Advocates in Springfield, Ohio – a city thousands of Haitians now call home – fear the fallout of Trump’s DHS revoking temporary protected status for Haitian nationals

Among the group is a small number of charity volunteers working to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster: that thousands of US-born Haitian children could become stateless, or separated from their families.

“In the last several months we realized that the closer we got to the deportations and revocation of statuses meant that all these people who have babies … if they don’t have passports for their children, how are they going to take them out of the country with them?” says Casey Rollins, a volunteer at the local St Vincent de Paul chapter.

“All you have to look at is the previous [Trump] administration.” A Reuters report from 2023 found that nearly 1,000 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border in 2017 and 2018 had never been reunited.

Springfield is home to about 1,217 and counting American-born Haitian children under the age of four, with several thousand more dependants under the age of 18. While the number of adults in the Ohio town of 60,000 people legally in the country on TPS is not known, local leaders estimate 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian nationals have come to Springfield, drawn by employment opportunities, since 2017. In April, data provided by the Springfield city school district to the Springfield News-Sun found that the district had 1,258 students enrolled as English language learners in K-12 schools, though that doesn’t mean all are children of Haitian descent.

For three months, Rollins, volunteers at Springfield Neighbors United and others have been working with dozens of Haitians who turn up at charity organizations seeking advice and help every day. One of the most requested issues from parents, Rollins says, is figuring out how to apply for birth certificates for their children, before it’s too late.

“If we can’t stop the deportations, we want to help get them a passport. That way, if they are deported or go to Canada or another welcoming nation, they’d be able to take the child,” she says.

“If it takes three or four months [to complete the bureaucratic process from securing a birth certificate to acquiring a passport], we have got to get moving on this.”

The desperate drive to secure passports for thousands of US-born Haitian kids – before it’s too late
Advocates in Springfield, Ohio – a city thousands of Haitians now call home – fear the fallout of Trump’s DHS revoking temporary protected status for Haitian nationals

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/04/passports-haitian-kids-tps-trump-administration

Metro: IDF kills women and children in Gaza beachfront café bombing

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Israel unleashed one of its largest bombardments in weeks, killing at least 58 people, including a cafe filled with 20 people.

Women, children and one journalist were killed while in a beachfront cafe in Gaza City, according to medics on the ground.

The cafe was one of the few businesses to continue operating – at extremely diminished capacity – during the 20-month war, serving as a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones.

Videos circulating on social media showed bloodied and disfigured bodies on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets.

The Trump regime tries to suppress the truth about this genocide and attempts to deport any Palestinian immigrants who oppose this genocide.

Whatever it takes, this genocide must end and will end.

IDF kills women and children in Gaza beachfront café bombing
Israel has claimed they were striking militant targets in northern Gaza in their latest attack.
IDF kills women and children in Gaza beachfront café bombing

MSNBC: The Trump admin is going after Maryland courts for doing exactly what courts are supposed to do

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The suit challenges a May 28 order issued by the district’s chief judge concerning the handling of habeas corpus petitions.

In a move more characteristic of a 17th-century English king than a 21st-century American president, the Trump administration last week filed a lawsuit against every sitting federal judge in the state of Maryland.

The charge? That one judge’s attempt to preserve due process for individuals challenging their deportations is disrupting the president’s immigration policies. This unprecedented lawsuit is a dangerous attack on an independent judiciary and escalates the ongoing struggle between the executive and judicial branches. And it brings America one step closer to a constitutional crisis.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government and the Department of Homeland Security in U.S. District Court in Maryland against all 15 active and senior-status judges in that district, as well as the district’s clerk of court. The suit challenges a May 28 order issued by the district’s chief judge concerning the handling of habeas corpus petitions — legal actions that contest the government’s detention of individuals as unlawful.

The May 28 order expressly addresses the “recent influx” of habeas petitions concerning people subject to deportation, an influx triggered by the administration’s aggressive immigration policies. DHS is trying to move quickly to deport people whom it has identified as illegal aliens; in response, many detainees are filing lawsuits to block those deportations. DHS is proceeding with deportation before courts can hear the cases, and judges are scrambling to manage what the May 28 order describes as “hurried and frustrated hearings” in which “clear and concrete information about the location and status of the [detainees] is elusive.” To ensure that detainees are afforded due process — the U.S. Constitution guarantees due process to all “persons” in the United States, not just “citizens” — the May 28 order prohibits the government from deporting a prisoner for two days after a habeas petition is filed, giving the presiding judge time to review the case.

…

Several appellate courts have similar standing orders.

…

But here, the administration has taken the extraordinary step, apparently for the first time in our nation’s history, of pre-emptively suing all the judges responsible for implementing a ruling it claims is unlawful.

This lawsuit is not about immigration policy. It is a frontal assault on judicial authority, raising separation of powers principles that predate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

…

This attempted power grab should alarm anyone who values our constitutional framework.

Opinion | DOJ’s suit against Maryland judges sends an ominous message
The suit challenges a May 28 order issued by the district’s chief judge concerning the handling of habeas corpus petitions.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-doj-suing-marylands-federal-judges-rcna215771

NBC News: Debate over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center a personal one for members of Miccosukee and Seminole tribes

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The homes of Miccosukee and Seminole people, as well as their ceremonial sites, surround the detention center on three sides.

The constant rumbling of passing dump trucks drowns out the once familiar chirping of birds at the family home of Mae’anna Osceola-Hart in Everglades National Park.

“It’s all-day, all-night truck noise,” says the 21-year-old photographer who describes herself as part Miccosukee and part Seminole, two Florida tribes at the heart of the debate over the detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The homes of Miccosukee and Seminole people, as well as their ceremonial sites, surround the detention center on three sides.

Osceola-Hart’s great-grandfather Wild Bill Osceola fought against the development of an airport at the same site where the ICE facility’s construction is now underway.

In 1968, authorities in Dade County, now known as Miami-Dade County, began building the Big Cypress Jetport on land the Miccosukees used for ceremonial practices. The Dade County Port Authority referred to the project as the “world’s largest airport,” with six runways designed to handle large jets, and officials were quoted as calling the environmental and tribal leaders who opposed it “butterfly chasers.”

The airport became a flashpoint for resistance, but in 1969, a coalition including Osceola-Hart’s great-grandfather, fellow tribesmen and conservationists persuaded Florida Gov. Claude R. Kirk Jr. that the airport would damage the Everglades. He ordered construction be stopped. One runway, approximately 10,000 feet in length, was left behind as a training ground for pilots.

Osceola-Hart is proud of her great-grandfather’s efforts to stop the 1960s development, but she is disappointed the Miccosukees lost land they considered sacred. “We got kicked out of ceremonial grounds,” she says.

Finding a safe place to live has been an ongoing battle for the tribes in Florida. Seminoles retreated into the Everglades after the Seminole wars ended in 1858.

…

Leaders of both tribes are constantly advocating for the preservation of the national park’s wildlife and vegetation, but they don’t have authority over how the land is used.

“It’s a long, fraught battle,” says William “Popeye” Osceola, secretary of the Miccosukee Tribe, describing how tribes are constantly fighting for rights over the land they have lived on for more than a century.

…

William Osceola tells young members of his tribe to stay engaged to protect their rights. “Some of these fights, they come in different forms, but it’s still the same fight.” he said.

Osceola-Hart agrees. “This is history repeating itself,” she says.

Debate over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center a personal one for members of Miccosukee and Seminole tribes
The homes of Miccosukee and Seminole people, as well as their ceremonial sites, surround the detention center on three sides.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alligator-alcatraz-detention-center-personal-rcna215824

Closer to the Edge: Alligator Auschwitz

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Trump built a concentration camp in the Everglades, filled it with tents, barbed wire, and migrants — then laughed about the alligators guarding it.

Donald Trump stood in the middle of a swamp and laughed about who might die there. He didn’t whisper. He didn’t slip up. He smiled for the cameras, gestured like a stand-up comic, and offered survival tips to migrants facing heatstroke and armed guards: “Don’t run in a straight line. Run like this. Your chances go up about one percent.” That’s the punchline. That’s the policy. That’s the sound of a dictator test-marketing genocide as a joke, to see if the country still flinches. And the crowd? They laughed. They always laugh.

Alligator Auschwitz isn’t hyperbole. It’s location-specific horror. It’s a mass detention facility in the Everglades, surrounded by barbed wire and alligators, built in eight days with no due process, no air-conditioning, no press access, and no shame. The people inside are dehydrated, afraid, and invisible. The man who built it treats it like a tourist attraction. He called it “professional.” He called it “beautiful.” He called the alligators “officers” who don’t need to be paid. This is not immigration enforcement. This is fascism with a swamp aesthetic — cruelty as spectacle, stripped of pretense, staged for applause.

There are no live feeds. No outside monitors. No civilian oversight. There is heat. There are guards with AR-15s. There are 5,000 beds and not a single guarantee of due process. Detainees are locked inside tents where the temperature regularly tops 100°F. If they’re sick, they wait. If they’re injured, they pray. If they try to escape, they run through terrain where the president of the United States fantasizes about gators doing the job of bullets. And we’re supposed to treat this as politics. As news. As just another item in the news cycle. But this isn’t a policy dispute. It’s a moral collapse.

Trump knows exactly what he’s doing. He built a concentration camp with branding. He took the iconography of American wilderness — swamps, gators, razor wire — and turned it into a prison so brutal, so theatrical, that it becomes part of the campaign. It is the campaign. Alligator Alcatraz isn’t just a facility. It’s a commercial. A threat. A fantasy. And the only reason more people aren’t calling it Alligator Auschwitz is because they’re too afraid of the implications — of what it means to admit that America is already back in the business of building camps.

When the media says “controversial,” they mean “unthinkable but happening.” When they say “deterrent,” they mean “torture as a warning shot.” And when they say “joke,” they’re pretending there’s still a line to be crossed. But there is no line. There is a swamp. And in it, thousands of people are vanishing behind a wall of heat, isolation, and performative indifference. This is the kind of place that future generations look back on and ask, “How did no one stop it?” And the only honest answer is: we didn’t want to believe it was real.

It is real. It is here. And it is happening in our name.

This is Alligator Auschwitz. And if we don’t call it what it is now, history will — with blood in its mouth..

Alligator Auschwitz
Trump built a concentration camp in the Everglades, filled it with tents, barbed wire, and migrants — then laughed about the alligators guarding it.

https://www.closertotheedge.net/p/alligator-auschwitz

Newsweek: Trump admin shares meme of ICE alligators outside Florida prison

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The Trump regime’s Carnival of Cruelty continues!

The Department of Homeland Security has shared an apparently AI-generated meme depicting alligators as ICE agents outside of a Florida detention center.

“Alligator Alcatraz” is a new migrant detention center being developed on a remote airstrip in the Everglades. The facility aims to house up to 5,000 detainees and uses the area’s natural isolation and wildlife as part of its security measures.

“Coming soon!” DHS said in a post on X.

…

The remote facility is expected to cost Florida approximately $450 million annually to operate. The proposal comes as President Donald Trump‘s administration looks to conduct what it describes as the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.

Critics say that the center’s remote location and rapid deployment raise ethical and legal questions about the treatment of migrants, transparency, and due process. Supporters say the project is a cost-efficient step to handle increased immigration enforcement.

The image shared by DHS shows alligators wearing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) baseball caps outside the fences of the detention center.

The meme and plans have sparked outrage from critics over inhumane conditions and concerns from environmental groups.

“A horrendous lack of humanity,” Georgetown lecturer Brett Bruen, who served as director of global engagement during the Obama administration, said in a post on X.

Former CIA officer Christopher Burgess described the post as “Disgusting.”

Trump admin shares meme of ICE alligators outside Florida prison
The image depicted the security of “Alligator Alcatraz,” which has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-meme-ice-alligator-alcatraz-florida-2092148