Latest news with #U.S.ImmigrationsandCustomsEnforcement
UPI
5 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
'We don't want them here' Los Angeles mayor says of Guard troops
Protestors rally in Los Angeles amid enforcement raids by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. Photo by Caroline Brehman/ EPA-EFE. June 15 (UPI) -- Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that Los Angeles does not need National Guard troops to bolster city police amid protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, despite the gatherings turning violent in recent days. "We don't want them here," Bass said on CNN's State of the Union. "They don't need to be here. Our local law enforcement have complete control of this situation." President Donald Trump deployed thousands of U.S. National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles to assist ICE with immigration raids of locations that were suspected of employing or harboring undocumented migrants. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump must return control of the situation to the Los Angeles Police Department, and that Trump's deployment of the troops was unconstitutional. But hours later, a federal appeals court panel lifted Breyer's order, allowing the soldiers to continue to assist in the immigration raids. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has also been critical of Trump's troop deployment and said the president overstepped his bounds without first seeking input from state or local officials. Newsom called Trump a "stone cold liar" in response to the president's comments that he consulted the California governor before deploying the soldiers. Immigration raids continue. However, Trump has appeared to be moderating on targeting some workplaces, including some farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurants. Amid the backdrop of the raids and protests, thousands of people rallied in the streets Saturday to protest Trump's policies that his critics have called authoritarian. The "No Kings" rallies took place in cities across the country at the same time that the U.S. paraded high0end military equipment through the streets of Washington in an event that was estimated to cost as much as $45 million. Saturday was also Trump's 79th birthday.
The Intercept
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Intercept
ICE Agent Fled From Angry Residents Outside New York School — and Got in a Car Crash
Support Us © THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A video still of an ICE agent frantically trying to get a colleague away from the scene of car crash in Westbury, N.Y., on June 10, 2025. Courtesy of Oscar Sorto A dozen or more masked men, some with long guns, tried to enter a men's homeless shelter without identifying themselves in a rural town with a long-standing immigrant community on eastern Long Island in New York. Officials from the local police department later admitted they didn't know where the masked men came from — only adding to local residents' concerns. At the same time, 50 miles to the west, six unmarked cars with masked agents from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, parked within hundreds of feet of an elementary school in a working-class town with a large Latino population. In response, a group of residents gathered to shame the agents, accusing the agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, of lying in wait to snatch the parents of students when school let out. The Long Island communities in New York City's suburbs are the latest to be wracked by chaos as the Trump administration ramps up large-scale deportation operations. ICE raids using a hodgepodge of masked federal agents and varying degrees of assistance from local law enforcement agencies are escalating as part of the raids — leaving local immigrants in fear and other residents enraged. On Long Island, the two federal raids on Tuesday saw emergency communiqués from schools to parents, incorrect information distributed to area media by local authorities, a confrontation with angry demonstrators, and a car accident. Last week, top ICE officials ordered officers to increase arrests and to get 'creative' in their methods, including trying to nab people the officers happen to encounter in what are known as 'collateral arrests.' The orders come in the wake of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller setting a quota of 3,000 immigration arrests per day, along with a sharp rise in protests against the crackdown. Late Tuesday morning in Westbury, in western Nassau County, parents and nearby residents noticed what they immediately recognized as unmarked federal agent vehicles parked within feet of Park Avenue Elementary School, two eyewitnesses told The Intercept. One of those residents, Allan Oscar Sorto, picked up his phone and began streaming live on Facebook. As he streamed, a dozen or so people began congregating near the cars, two Nissan Altimas and several Ford SUVs with flashers. People can be heard explaining that they've seen these cars around the neighborhood in recent weeks, part of immigration raids. Now the sight of the cars parked so close to the elementary school seemed to spark heightened outrage and fear that federal immigration agents were lurking to surprise parents going to pick up their children from school. Sorto, from nearby Hempstead, estimated that there were four cars near the school, some within 10 feet of the schoolyard fence, and two other cars on the next block. Another eyewitness, who asked not to be named out of fear of law enforcement retaliation, told The Intercept that he could see uniformed HSI agents sitting in all the cars, most masked. 'No son padres ustedes?' a woman in the video says to the closed window of one of the parked Nissans: 'Are you not parents?' People on the sidewalk yelled at the cars in Spanish and English. 'Show your face!' 'You feel proud?' 'None of us are criminals, we work, we pay taxes like you do.' 'Leave the school grounds!' The Westbury residents' fears seemed well-founded, considering reports from around the country. In California, ICE agents arrested and detained a fourth grader, separating the boy from his father; they were both deported to Honduras. Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said DHS agents lied to school principals that they had permission from children's parents to gain access to schools. In Westbury, the HSI agents didn't respond to the gathered crowd. After a few minutes, the agents drove away. A commotion erupted down the road, off-camera, and onlookers began rushing toward the corner. One of the Nissans, carrying two of the HSI agents, had crashed into a black pickup truck that happened to be passing through the intersection. Three eyewitnesses told The Intercept that the agents' car had sped away. Two of the witnesses believe the Nissan blew a stop sign, causing the crash. (Nassau County police referred questions about the accident to ICE, which did not respond to an inquiry.) After the accident, the crowd gathered around the scene, according to the video stream. The two agents got out of the crashed car, seemingly panicked and, witnesses told The Intercept, appearing to avoid eye contact with bystanders. The agents got into another HSI vehicle. A third agent, an unmasked man with a black polo shirt covering his tactical vest, stood near the crashed car, remaining stoic as people questioned him on the livestream. 'You're looking for criminals in the school?' one bystander asked, as the agent remained expressionless. Then Sorto, the man streaming, said, 'I'm a dad, I have a son waiting for me at home.' The agent gave a slight nod — what Sorto said was the only response to the crowd during the incident. 'You guys need to have feelings, man,' Sorto said. Nassau County police began arriving in short order, eventually swelling to at least two dozen officers, some on horseback, closing the street and barricading residents onto sidewalks. Nassau County Police Department, located in one of the country's safest countries, is one of the most well-funded departments in the nation, with a notoriously opaque transparency record. In March, the department signed a controversial agreement with ICE giving deputized county police officers the ability to interrogate people about their immigration status and make arrests without a warrant. During the Westbury incident, one of the HSI agents, wearing a mask, stood hidden behind several Nassau police officers as the residents appealed to them for information. Soon, the federal agents left, leaving the smashed Nissan with the passenger side airbag deployed behind, and many in the crowd dispersed. The driver of the pickup truck involved in the accident was placed in a stretcher and left in an ambulance. (Neither the police nor ICE offered information on the driver's identity or condition in response to inquiries from The Intercept.) 'Now you're clogging up the street and people have to work,' one of the remaining bystanders can be heard to say during the stream. 'How is this making America great again?' Late Tuesday night, Park Avenue Elementary School took an unprecedented step that reflected the fear in Westbury. 'We want to inform you that due to an incident that occurred near the school vicinity today, we will be providing transportation home for all students who are typically walkers,' the principal, Robert Chambers, wrote in a message to the school community relayed in English and Spanish. 'This is being done out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of all our students.' Sorto told The Intercept he had family members who were too afraid to send their children to school the next day. (Park Avenue Elementary did not respond to a request for comment.) The Long Island newspaper Newsday first reported the Westbury incident with a quote from Nassau County police that the action was not immigration-related and that the agents were not working for ICE on Tuesday afternoon. Late Tuesday, however, an ICE spokesperson issued a statement that contradicted the Nassau police. 'ICE Homeland Security Investigations Long Island personnel were conducting an operation associated to an ongoing federal investigation,' the statement said. 'During the operation special agents were confronted by multiple anti-law enforcement agitators, which prohibited the enforcement action. ICE HSI personnel departed the location and, shortly thereafter, a member of the law enforcement team was involved in a motor-vehicle collision.' News 12, a local TV station, went back to local authorities for clarification, and police replied that 'the agents on scene identified themselves to Nassau police as Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, agents and not as ICE.' Homeland Security Investigations is one of two divisions at ICE. While Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, enforces civil immigration matters, HSI is tasked with investigating transitional crimes. HSI's enforcement is not limited to undocumented immigrants, but its investigations and operations, including workplace raids, frequently touch upon immigration matters. In responses to ICE's allegation that residents were the ones creating chaos, Sorto denied that the residents on hand were agitators. 'We just are people that got together as community because we saw the cars outside the school,' he told The Intercept. 'But we don't belong to any group or anything. We just are good and hard-working people that want to have a regular life like anybody else.' Read Our Complete Coverage As the chaos erupted in Westbury, another alarming scene was unfolding an hour to the east, in Riverhead, on the outskirts of the New York City suburbs. A group of suspected ICE agents could be seen staging their vehicles in the Riverhead Fire Department parking lot, according to video and photographs shared with The Intercept by a community advocacy group. A week earlier, ICE raids using another Long Island fire department sparked outrage in the community. The fire department subsequently issued a statement that fire officials were not previously informed that ICE would be using their parking lot. Several hours after the men were seen at the Riverhead Fire Department, they were spotted again. Twelve to 14 of the masked men, some reportedly carrying long guns, were trying to get into a Riverhead men's homeless shelter, according to a video shared by several immigrant advocates in the area. They would not identify themselves, a shelter employee told local news outlet RiverheadLOCAL. A shelter resident told RiverheadLOCAL that one of the men, wearing a black U.S. Marshals vest, came to the front door seeking entry but would neither show credentials or a warrant, nor give his name. (A representative for the shelter did not respond to inquiries.) A representative for the Riverhead Fire Department told The Intercept, 'We had no idea who they were.' In the East End towns of Long Island, where the rich enclaves of the Hamptons coexist alongside working agricultural communities, authorities have largely opposed helping ICE operations. Riverhead Town Supervisor Tom Hubbard, for example, said in January that town police would not get involved in immigration enforcement, and the majority-Hispanic Riverhead School District also sent a strong message that it would resist unlawful actions by immigration authorities at schools. The president of an Eastern Suffolk BIPOC advocacy group told The Intercept that a network of immigrants' advocates have been closely monitoring the activities of ICE in the area. She believes the Riverhead police were mistaken that the agents at the shelter were not affiliated with ICE. 'I have received information indicating that ICE's New York City Field Office is actively investigating immigration-related offenses across Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley,' Marylin Winter, of the group the African American Educational Cultural Festival, said. (Neither the Riverhead town supervisor nor Riverhead police returned requests for comment.) Winter said her group plans to disseminate 'know your rights' material for immigrants. 'We are resolute in our opposition to the illegal enforcement of immigration without a judicial warrant, asserting that no arrest should occur under such circumstances,' she said. 'Our commitment extends to ensuring that the innocent, particularly children and their families, are fully aware of their legal rights.' Meanwhile, the confusion around ICE actions on Long Island continued. One Wednesday morning, Glen Cove city police, a small local force in Nassau County, responded to a call from a business owner about a possible assault, according to local media reports. When the police arrived, however, they found ICE officers holding a group of men on the ground. Following the outburst of opposition to ICE's presence in Nassau County, the county executive and police chief said that their forces would not be assisting ICE in operations inside schools or houses of worship. 'Raids on schools are not something we do unless there's an emergency or a threat, and if there's an emergency or threat, we're coming in regardless of the situation,' Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told reporters. 'So the bottom line is, there is no program to raid schools here in Nassau County.' Blakeman had been at the forefront of the effort in Nassau County to deputize local police to carry out immigration enforcement and work with ICE. Join The Conversation
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California lawmakers, immigrant advocates denied entry to Adelanto ICE facility
A coalition of California lawmakers and immigrant advocates were denied entry to the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility in Adelanto, where many immigrants detained during recent raids in Los Angeles are being held. U.S. Rep. Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr. (CA-31) traveled to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center with Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) and Rep. Derek Tran (CA-45) and members of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Sunday morning, according to a media release from Rep. Cisneros' office. Heavy military presence seen in downtown Los Angeles after days of immigration protests 'I attempted to conduct Congressional oversight at the Adelanto ICE facility…they locked the gate, ignored our calls and denied us entry,' Rep. Cisneros said. 'At Trump's direction, ICE and DHS agents are harassing our community, questioning our neighbors and disregarding the law by preventing us from conducting oversight.' 'Trump is deliberately manufacturing chaos and inciting fear,' he added. 'I will continue to press for answers as our community is under attack.' Popular swap meet canceled due to possible ICE activity The 31st Congressional District under Rep. Cisneros' constituency encompasses much of the San Gabriel Valley and contains many of the area's predominantly Hispanic communities. Rep. Chu represents much of northeastern Los Angeles County in the 28th District, and Rep. Tran represents the 45th District, which covers parts of L.A. and Orange counties. Another local member of Congress, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), told KTLA on Saturday that he was denied entry to the facility where detained immigrants were being held in downtown Los Angeles. Gomez, whose 34th District includes many of Los Angeles' most prominent ethnic enclaves, said the Trump administration was 'operating outside the bounds of the law' by not letting members of Congress into the detention facilities to conduct oversight. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bronx high school student Dylan detained by ICE asks judge to order his release
Dylan, the 20-year-old Bronx public school student arrested by federal immigration authorities sued the Trump administration late Thursday night over his ongoing detention in Pennsylvania. The 'habeas corpus' petition asked a western Pennsylvania federal judge to find Dylan's arrest was unconstitutional and violated his due process rights — and order his immediate release. 'As long as he remains detained, his health is at continued, serious risk; his ability to [seek a green card] is jeopardized; and he will fall behind on his schoolwork,' read the suit. The complaint, which was first reported by Chalkbeat, names Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and Pennsylvania-based immigration authorities as defendants. The Daily News has withheld Dylan's last name at the request of his family. Dylan, who fled persecution in Venezuela, is currently being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, Penn. He has no criminal history and entered the country legally with humanitarian parole under President Biden. He and his mother appeared on May 21 without a lawyer for a routine court hearing, where the federal government asked a Manhattan immigration judge to dismiss his case. Late last week, his newly retained lawyers at the New York Legal Assistance Group filed a motion to reconsider the dismissal. On their way out of the courthouse, two plainclothes ICE officers followed them into an elevator, handcuffed Dylan and threatened to take in his mother if she tried to record his arrest on her cellphone, according to court documents. His lawyers allege the dismissal was part of a new 'coordinated practice' to transfer Dylan and others out of standard proceedings into a process known as 'expedited removal,' which offers fewer protections. They say the student was selected at 'random.' Removal proceedings are overseen by immigration judges, who are part of the U.S. Department of Justice. Through the process, people can gather evidence and present witnesses, and appeal deportation orders up to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Circuit Courts of Appeals. By contrast, the expedited removal process — which has been greatly expanded during the Trump administration — is overseen by DHS. That means Dylan and other immigrants in his position have no opportunity to bring their case before a judge or appeal their decision, the lawyers said. DHS earlier this week condemned a Biden-era asylum process that allowed immigrants like Dylan to enter the country with a notice to appear before a judge. The agency claimed President Trump has reverted back to following the law and that the student and others in his position should have faced expedited removal from the beginning. 'If individuals have a valid credible-fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings,' officials said in a statement, 'but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.' Dylan's interview with DHS over his fear claim was Thursday morning. If decided in his favor, his case would revert back to the regular deportation process, according to the suit — but he would remain in detention 'far from loved ones and counsel.' His claim remained pending as of the petition's filing. His lawyers claim he did not meet the requirements for an expedited removal due to the length of time he's been in the United States and that he was legally paroled into the country when he entered. 'The government has not justified why it specifically targeted, arrested, and detained Dylan, a high school student without a criminal record and abiding by all immigration laws and procedures,' read the complaint. And the harms of continuing to detain Dylan may be irreparable, the habeas petition argued. Dylan has a chronic illness related to his stomach, according to his lawyers, which his doctors are still trying to diagnose and treat. The process has required various medical tests to determine whether his symptoms are indicators of cancer or Crohn's disease, and on Tuesday, he got results back that require an in-person appointment as soon as possible. Before he was arrested, Dylan was also in the middle of a process to obtain what's known as Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJS) status based on the death of his father, which would give him a pathway to a green card. He had a hearing scheduled in that process for Friday, which his lawyers expected to miss. Dylan turns 21 later this year and would no longer be eligible for that process. While the case plays out, Dylan's lawyers requested that he remain in Pennsylvania. Since he was taken into custody, Dylan has been moved between facilities in Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana and New Jersey. His lawyers accused the federal government of misrepresenting Dylan's whereabouts and said they were unable to speak with Dylan until Wednesday morning — a week after his arrest. In the year and change he was in New York, Dylan enrolled in ELLIS Prep, a program for English learners overaged for traditional high school. Dylan was granted work authorization and took care of his two younger siblings. While his mom worked long hours, he picked the kids up from school. And with the help of his supplemental income as a part-time delivery driver, they were able to move their family out of a homeless shelter — and into their own apartment. New York politicians and immigration advocates have condemned Dylan's detention, including a protest on the steps of the public school system's headquarters on Thursday, which drew hundreds of supporters and even the city schools chancellor. After distancing himself earlier this week from Dylan's arrest, Mayor Adams under pressure from local lawmakers on Friday released a statement that he was 'sad to learn of this incident,' especially since Dylan was following a legal process. 'Keeping New Yorkers safe has always been Mayor Adams' top priority,' said his spokesman Zachary Nosanchuk, 'and he has been clear that our city is less safe when people are afraid to use public resources — like sending their children to school … or partaking in legal proceedings at court.'
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Congressional committees announce investigation into Nashville Mayor
Two Congressional committees announced a federal investigation into Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell on May 30, accusing the mayor of obstructing a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the wake of a major immigration operation in early May. The Committee on Homeland Security—chaired by U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee—and the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives, sent a letter demanding investigative materials from the mayor as part of a federal effort to conduct 'oversight of state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through efforts aimed at thwarting the work of federal immigration officials.' The move comes after weeks of public pressure by U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who held a press conference on Memorial Day weekend calling for the investigation. 'While the state of Tennessee has outlawed sanctuary policies, recent actions from your office threaten to chill immigration enforcement in the City of Nashville and Davidson County,' the letter reads. 'Accordingly, we write to request information about how your recent actions, including a directive to Nashville and Davidson County employees to disclose their communications with federal immigration officials, affects the robust enforcement of immigration law.' Until May 30, O'Connell has declined to comment on Ogles' calls for a congressional investigation. At the mayor's weekly news conference with Nashville reporters, O'Connell said his office intended to 'appropriately respond' to the requests listed in the letter from members of Congress. He also said he's not concerned about the investigation finding any wrongdoing. 'I am not particularly concerned,' O'Connell said. 'We're going to, again, respond appropriately to all inquiries. We have been guided by a full understanding of state and federal law and will continue to be.' More: What to know about how Mayor O'Connell responded to Nashville ICE operation Nashville is weeks removed from the weeklong immigration enforcement operation, during which ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol made 468 traffic stops and arrested nearly 200 immigrants. The ICE sweeps were concentrated in south Nashville, in neighborhoods around Nolensville Pike and Harding Place with a large population of immigrants and Latino residents. Friday's letter condemns O'Connell's public statements of opposition to the ICE operation, as well as a community charity fund that, while announced by O'Connell at a May 5 press conference, is run by a community nonprofit and does not utilize taxpayer funds. More: D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor over ICE response — and imply more action in city It also expresses 'concern' about a previously standing executive order updated by O'Connell requiring city departments to report communications with federal immigration officials to the mayor's office. The order, titled Executive Order 30, isn't new — in fact, it's well over a year old, having first been issued in January 2024. But it's reemerged in the wake of the ICE operation because O'Connell amended it to allow for a shorter timeline for reporting. Regardless, the order is a key focus in the investigation. 'This Executive Order could have a chilling effect on the ability of local law enforcement to communicate freely and candidly with federal immigration employees,' the letter states, adding that there is 'real potential that your Executive Order could have the effect of diminishing ICE enforcement operations.' The letter lists three key requests for the city, all concerning documents created between May 1 and the receiving of the letter: All documents and communications referring or relating to the amendment of Executive Order 30 All documents and communications referring or relating to ICE enforcement actions in the City of Nashville or Davidson County All documents and communications 'between or among Metro employees and non-Metro employees, including but not limited to non-governmental organizations, referring or relating to the arrest of criminal aliens in the City of Nashville and Davidson County' The information is tagged with a June 13 deadline, and is signed by Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Tom McClintock, R-California, Ogles and Green. 'Today, with the full support of Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, we're taking action," said Ogles, in a press release regarding the investigation. "If Mayor O'Connell wants to spy on federal agents doing their job, then Congress is going to investigate him for obstruction.' The letter came a day after the city of Nashville was added to a federal list titled 'Sanctuary Jurisdictions Defying Federal Immigration Law,' which was posted on the Department of Homeland Security's website. There are only two 'sanctuary jurisdictions' listed in Tennessee — Nashville and Shelby County. DHS says each jurisdiction will receive formal notification of its non-compliance with federal statutes. It's not immediately clear why Nashville — or any jurisdiction in Tennessee — is included on the list, given that neither has self-identified as a sanctuary city. In Tennessee, sanctuary cities have been banned for about seven years, and another state law passed earlier this year criminalizes local officials who support sanctuary policies for immigrants. O'Connell also commented on Nashville's appearance on the list at his May 30 news conference. He passed out copies of the state law to reporters and said Nashville complies with 'every single component' of the law and, by definition, is not a sanctuary city. O'Connell added that Nashville does not have — and has never had — a policy violating the state law. He said the city has asserted over the past several weeks that it has no legal authority related to immigration enforcement and does not impede law enforcement action. 'I'm puzzled about the criteria they used to include Nashville (on the list),' O'Connell said. 'We are not and never have been a sanctuary city. If you look at the state law that defines a sanctuary city policy there are six factors, and we do not and never have had a policy that violates any of those factors. I'd be interested to learn what criteria they're using.' The USA TODAY Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@ by phone at 931-623-9485, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Congressional committees announce investigation into O'Connell, city
