Latest news with #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Federal immigration agents asked to leave Dodger Stadium parking lot, team says
The Los Angeles Dodgers organization said Thursday that it asked federal immigration agents to leave the Dodger Stadium grounds after they arrived at a parking lot near one of the gates. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agents were with Customs and Border Protection and that they were not trying to enter the stadium.
CNN
2 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Federal agents seen outside Dodger stadium
CNN's Natasha Chen reports from outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles where federal agents were posted after being denied access to the stadium according the the Dodgers. The Department of Homeland Security stated that the agents who were at Dodger Stadium were not from ICE and their presence wasn't related to the immigration crackdown throughout Los Angeles.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE Insists That Congress Needs Its Permission To Conduct Oversight
This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released new guidance on "facility visit and engagement protocol for Members of Congress and staff." "ICE detention locations and Field Offices are secure facilities. As such, all visitors are required to comply with [identity] verification and security screening requirements prior to entry," it specified. "When planning to visit an ICE facility, ICE asks requests to be submitted at least 72 hours in advance." Incidentally, it's perfectly legal for members of Congress to visit ICE detention facilities, even unannounced. And ICE's attempt to circumvent that requirement threatens the constitutional system of checks and balances. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which funded the government through September 2024, specified that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may not "prevent…a Member of Congress" or one of their employees "from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens" or to modify the facility in advance of such a visit. It also clarified that the DHS cannot "require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility." ICE's new guidance tries to get around this by stipulating that "ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities and fall outside of the [law's] requirements." Nevertheless, it adds that "while Member[s] of Congress are not required to provide advance notice for visits to ICE detention facilities, ICE requires a minimum of 24-hours' notice for visits by congressional staff" (emphasis in the original). Further, "visit request[s] are not considered actionable until receipt of the request is acknowledged" by ICE. The new rules also stipulate that visiting members of Congress may not bring in cellphones or recording devices, they must be escorted by ICE staff at all times, and they may not "have any physical or verbal contact with any person in ICE detention facilities unless previously requested and specifically approved by ICE Headquarters." In recent weeks, Democratic lawmakers have tried to enter ICE facilities, only to be turned away or threatened with imprisonment. Last week, authorities charged Rep. LaMonica McIver (D–N.J.) with three felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers. McIver and other lawmakers visited Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark last month. A scuffle apparently ensued when authorities arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for trespassing, though those charges were later dropped. This week, four members of Congress who visited the ICE Processing Center in Broadview, Illinois, were apparently denied access when they arrived. "We have reports that immigrants are being detained here without access to their attorneys, sleeping on the floor and without food," Rep. Chuy Garcia (D–Ill.), one of the members in attendance, alleged in a post on X. The DHS replied from its official account, "Congressman, all members and staff need to comply with facility rules, procedures, and instructions from ICE personnel on site." On Wednesday, Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman (D–N.Y.) visited an office in Manhattan where migrants were allegedly being kept, only to be denied entry by Bill Joyce, the deputy director of the field office. Joyce denied it was a detention facility, saying that even though migrants were being kept on-site, ICE was simply "housing them until they can be detained." In video captured at the scene in Manhattan, Goldman said he and Nadler had requested permission to visit—even though they "have the authority to show up unannounced"—but were denied. This isn't uncharacteristic of the agency: Earlier this year, ICE agents denied Reason's C.J. Ciaramella access to an immigration court at a federal detention facility in Miami, in defiance of both federal law and guidance listed on the agency's own website. (ICE later admitted the facility was "open daily to the public.") Regardless of the actual conditions of any ICE facility, it's clear Congress' intent was to establish its legislative oversight role over an executive agency. Checks and balances are a key feature of American government: Each of the three branches has the power to keep the others in check. For ICE to claim an all-encompassing right to operate in the dark, apart from the prying eyes of even a co-equal branch of government, flies in the face of the Constitution's clear meaning. "This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants – and sometimes even U.S. citizens – for days at a time. They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time," Rep. Bennie Thompson (D–Miss.), the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement. "There is no valid or legal reason for denying Member access to ICE facilities and DHS's ever-changing justifications prove this….If ICE has nothing to hide, DHS must make its facilities available." The post ICE Insists That Congress Needs Its Permission To Conduct Oversight appeared first on
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE agents denied entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot, team says
A line of unmarked white vans and SUVs at Dodger Stadium sparked a wave of speculation online about immigration enforcement at the stadium Thursday, but team officials say the agents were denied entry. In photos posted on social media, the vehicles appeared to be staging near the downtown parking lot entrance to the stadium, which was empty Thursday morning except for a small contingent of local media. Images of the government vehicles immediately played out on social media and fueled speculation about their activities. The agents declined to say why they were at the stadium when asked by a Times reporter. According to a statement by the team, the agents were denied entry to the Dodger Stadium grounds when they attempted to enter the parking lots. "This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight's game will be played as scheduled," the statement said. The agents were at the location only briefly, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. "This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. [U.S. Customs and Border Patrol] vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement," the agency said. A Los Angeles Police Department source denied that the department received a request from the Dodgers to remove federal agents from the stadium grounds. Federal agents had gathered near the stadium to conduct a briefing, but had left by the time images of the gathering began circulating on social media, the source said. The Dodgers did, however, ask police to intervene after a group of protesters showed up to the area, according to the source, who requested anonymity in order to discuss internal matters. Among those outside the stadium were members of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA. 'The fact that these raids continue is what we Angelenos should be very concerned about,' said CHIRLA member Jorge-Mario Cabrera, who was in contact with fellow members monitoring activity at the stadium Thursday. 'Dodger stadium is a place where Angeleno families come and have fun." The parking lot is jointly owned by the Dodgers' ownership group and the team's former owner, billionaire Frank McCourt. The Dodgers have been under pressure since the raids began this month to make a statement in support of immigrants. On Wednesday, the team said it intended to announce plans Thursday to assist the immigrant communities recently affected in Los Angeles. Singer and social media personality Nezza sang a Spanish version of the national anthem at Dodger Stadium in an act of protest against the immigration raids, despite being asked by a team employee to sing in English. Staff writers Libor Jany, Andrew Campa and Bill Shaikin contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
LA Dodgers say they denied ICE agents access to Dodger Stadium parking lot
LOS ANGELES, June 19 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday said they had denied U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents access to the parking lot at Dodger Stadium earlier in the day. "This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots," the team said in a post on X. "They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight's game will be played as scheduled." The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said CBP vehicles used the parking lot briefly. "This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. The Dodgers, whose fanbase includes a large number of Latinos, have come under fire in recent days for not speaking out publicly against raids by ICE agents across the city.
