Maryland advocates argue "self deport" posters attack immigrants' rights
The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, an immigrant legal services nonprofit with offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., says it's been hearing about the poster from clients since April.
Amica's main concern is that the poster doesn't fully explain the consequences that could ultimately prompt people to leave the country forever.
Concern for immigrants' legal rights
Titled, "A Warning to Self-Deport," the top half of the post goes over the benefits of self-deportation, saying it's safe and there will be future opportunities for returning with legal status.
The bottom half of the poster goes over consequences for staying, which include immediate deportation, fines and penalties, and possible imprisonment.
CBS News Baltimore
Michael Lukens, executive director for Amica, said the poster has been put up in immigration courts and detention facilities.
He also said the poster doesn't have credible legal advice.
"It talks about taking a self-deport, well, that's not really a thing," Lukens said. "If someone is in front of a judge, they have the right to fight their case. A person can ask for something called involuntary departure to the judge."
Lukens said that the poster doesn't get into all of the negative impacts someone could run into if they take this option, which includes being barred from returning to the country and fighting their case in court.
"There's a reason we have courts and there's a reason we have attorneys to help people," Lukens said. We don't use posters to try and get people to give up their legal rights," he said.
WJZ reached out to the Executive Office for Immigration Review about the poster and concerns raised by Lukens. EOIR conducts removal proceedings in immigration courts.
A press secretary for EOIR declined to comment via email.
Migrants take Trump's offer to self-deport
Meanwhile, the first group of undocumented migrants who took President Donald Trump's $1,000 offer to self-deport arrived in Honduras and Colombia on Monday.
In total, 64 migrants took the voluntary charter flight from Houston, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
One of those migrants, 22-year-old Wilson Ariel Saenz, told reporters after arriving in Honduras that he took the offer because things are "ugly" in the U.S.
The president said he's open to bringing certain undocumented migrants back into the country.
"We're going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they're good people," Trump said. "If they're the kind of people that we want in our company."
This all comes as the government has cut funding for immigrant legal support services, including a program Amica ran to provide legal support in detention centers.
Lukens said Amica will continue to help as much as it can.
"Is it efficient? No. Is it as effective? No. Are we doing it unfunded? Yes," Lukens said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How the unraveling of two Pentagon projects may result in a costly do-over
By Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump's Navy and Air Force are poised to cancel two nearly complete software projects that took 12 years and well over $800 million combined to develop, work initially aimed at overhauling antiquated human resources systems. The reason for the unusual move: officials at those departments, who have so far put the existing projects on hold, want other firms, including Salesforce and billionaire Peter Thiel's Palantir, to have a chance to win similar projects, which could amount to a costly do-over, according to seven sources familiar with the matter. Trump took office vowing to rid the government of what he calls waste and abuse. The website of the Department of Government Efficiency, the agency he created to spearhead those efforts, lists over $14 billion in Defense Department contracts it claims to have cancelled. But seven months into his presidency, some of his own actions have complicated DOGE's work, from firing the Pentagon's inspector general to issuing an executive order prioritizing speed and risk-taking in defense acquisitions. Coupled with high-level vacancies in the Navy and Air Force that persisted well into the summer, the moves limit oversight of the Pentagon's contracting process and risk wasting hundreds of millions of additional taxpayer dollars as old projects are thrown out and new projects are agreed to, Reuters reporting based on sources, internal emails and documents, shows. 'There is a very real sense that we are in the regulatory Wild West with this administration – and it should come as no surprise that the traditional limits of 'normal contracting' are repeatedly going to be pushed and pressed in this environment,' said Franklin Turner, a federal contracting lawyer at McCarter & English. He said it is legal for the government to terminate any contract "for convenience," but said the Pentagon would be on the hook to reimburse the companies for wind-down costs plus take on the cost of any new replacement project. Trump officials say the administration is striving to make the contracting process more efficient. "Defense Secretary Hegseth is doing a great job restoring a focus on warfighters at the DOD while carrying out the American people's agenda to more effectively steward taxpayer dollars," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement. Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the agency is taking "swift action" to fix the "antiquated" defense contracting process by implementing Trump's executive orders. "This is how we will rebuild the military with necessary speed while ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely in the process,' she added. 'STRATEGIC PAUSE' In 2019, Accenture said it had won a contract to expand an HR platform to modernize the payroll, absence management, and other HR functions for the Air Force with Oracle software. The project, which includes other vendors and was later expanded to include Space Force, grew to cost $368 million and was scheduled for its first deployment this summer at the Air Force Academy. An April "status update" on the project conducted by the Air Force and obtained by Reuters described the project as "on track," with initial deployment scheduled for June, noting that it would end up saving the Air Force $39 million annually by allowing it to stop using an older system. But on May 30, Darlene Costello, then-Acting assistant Secretary of the Air Force, sent out a memo placing a "strategic pause" on the project for ninety days and calling for the study of alternate technical solutions, according to a copy of the memo seen by Reuters that was previously unreported. Costello, who has since retired, was reacting to pressure from other Air Force officials who wanted to steer a new HR project to SalesForce and Palantir , three sources said. Palantir co-founder Thiel was an early backer of President Donald Trump and has close ties with key Washington lawmakers, including Vice President JD Vance, whom he supported in a 2022 U.S. Senate race. Palantir in April won a $30 million contract from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to develop an operating system that identifies undocumented immigrants and tracks self-deportations, its largest single award from the agency among 46 federal contract actions since 2011. The Air Force said in a statement that it "is committed to reforming acquisition practices, assessing the acquisition workforce, and identifying opportunities to improve major defense acquisition programs." Accenture, Costello, Palantir and SalesForce did not respond to requests for comment. Space Force, which operates within the Air Force, was set to receive the Air Force's new payroll system in the coming months. But it is also pulling out of the project because officials there want to launch yet another HR platform project to be led by Workday, according to three people familiar with the matter. The service put out a small business tender on May 7 for firms to research HR platform alternatives, with the goal of selecting a company that will recommend Workday as the best option, the people said. Space Force did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Now the Air Force and Space Force "want to start over with vendors that do not meet their requirements, leading to significant duplication and massive costs," said John Weiler, director of the Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council, a government-chartered nonprofit group that makes recommendations to improve federal IT contracting. Oracle said in a statement it was "working closely with DOGE to accelerate the government's transformation to modern technology at the best price for the taxpayer." 'BEYOND EXASPERATED' In 2022, the Honolulu-based Nakupuna Companies took over a 2019 project with other firms to integrate the Navy's payroll and personnel systems into one platform using Oracle software and known as "NP2". The project, which has cost about $425 million since 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office, was set to be rolled out earlier this year after receiving a positive review by independent reviewer and consulting firm Guidehouse in January, according to a copy obtained by Reuters. But the head of Navy's human resources, now retired Admiral Rick Cheeseman, sought to cancel the project according to a June 5 memo seen by Reuters, directing another official to "take appropriate contractual actions" to cancel the project. Navy leaders instead mandated yet another assessment of project, according to a memo seen by Reuters, leaving it in limbo, two sources said. Cheeseman's reason for trying to kill the project was his anger over a decision by DOGE earlier this year to cancel a $171 million contract for data services provider Pantheon Data that essentially duplicated parts of the HR project. In an email obtained by Reuters, he threatened to withhold funding from the Nakupuna-led project unless the Pantheon contract was restored. "I am beyond exasperated with how this happened," Cheeseman wrote in a May 7 email to Chief Information Officer Jane Rathbun about the contract cancellation, arguing the Pantheon contract was not "duplicative of any effort." "From where I sit, I'm content taking every dime away from NP2 in order to continue this effort," he added in the email. Cheeseman did not respond to a request for comment. Rathbun and Pantheon Data declined to comment. The pausing of NP2 was "unexpected, especially given that multiple comprehensive reviews validated the technical solution as the fastest and most affordable approach," Nakupuna said in a statement, adding it was disappointed by the change because the project was ready to deploy. The Navy said it "continues to prioritize essential personnel resources in support of efforts to strengthen military readiness through fiscal responsibility and departmental efficiency." Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información
CNN
18 minutes ago
- CNN
A UFC fight at the White House? Dana White says it's happening
Media Donald TrumpFacebookTweetLink Follow Hours after Paramount and UFC announced a billion-dollar rights deal, Dana White said he had yet to hear from his friend, President Donald Trump, on his thoughts about the fight company's new streaming home. That was fine with White. The UFC CEO was set to travel to Washington on August 28 to meet with Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, to catch up and discuss logistics on the proposed Fourth of July fight card next year at the White House. Trump said last month he wanted to stage a UFC match on the White House grounds with upwards of 20,000 spectators to celebrate 250 years of American independence. 'It's absolutely going to happen,' White told The Associated Press. 'Think about that, the 250th birthday of the United States of America, the UFC will be on the White House south lawn live on CBS.' The idea of cage fights at the White House would have seemed improbable when the Fertitta brothers purchased UFC for $2 million in 2001 and put White in charge of the fledging fight promotion. White helped steer the company into a $4 billion sale in 2016 and broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN before landing owner TKO Group's richest one yet — a seven-year deal with Paramount starting in 2026 worth an average of $1.1 billion a year, with all cards on its streaming platform Paramount+ and select numbered events also set to simulcast on CBS. ESPN, Amazon and Netflix and other traditional sports broadcast players seemed more in play for UFC rights — White had previously hinted fights could air across different platforms — but Paramount was a serious contender from the start of the negotiating window. The Paramount and UFC deal came just days after Skydance and Paramount officially closed their $8 billion merger — kicking off the reign of a new entertainment giant after a contentious endeavor to get the transaction over the finish line. White said he was impressed with the vision Skydance CEO David Ellison had for the the global MMA leader early in contract talks and how those plans should blossom now that Ellison is chairman and CEO of Paramount. 'When you talk about Paramount, you talk about David Ellison, they're brilliant businessmen, very aggressive, risk takers,' White said. 'They're right up my alley. These are the kind of guys that I like to be in business with.' The $1.1 billion deals marks a notable jump from the roughly $550 million that ESPN paid each year for UFC coverage today. But UFC's new home on Paramount will simplify offerings for fans — with all content set to be available on Paramount+ (which currently costs between $7.99 and $12.99 a month), rather than various pay-per-view fees. Paramount also said it intends to explore UFC rights outside the US 'as they become available in the future.' UFC matchmakers were set to meet this week to shape what White said would be a loaded debut Paramount card. The UFC boss noted it was still too early to discuss a potential main event for the White House fight night. 'This is a 1-of-1 event,' White said. There are still some moving parts to UFC broadcasts and other television programming it has its hands in as the company moves into the Paramount era. White said there are still moving parts to the deal and that includes potentially finding new homes for 'The Ultimate Fighter,' 'Road To UFC,' and 'Dana White's Contender Series.' It's not necessarily a given the traditional 10 p.m. start time for what were the pay-per-view events would stand, especially on nights cards will also air on CBS. 'We haven't figured that out yet but we will,' White said. And what about the sometimes-contentious issue of fighter pay? Some established fighters have clauses in their contracts that they earn more money the higher the buyrate on their cards. Again, most of those issues are to-be-determined as UFC and Paramount settle in to the new deal — with $1.1 billion headed the fight company's way. 'It will affect fighter pay, big time,' White said. 'From deal-to-deal, fighter pay has grown, too. Every time we win, everybody wins.' Boxer Jake Paul wrote on social media the dying PPV model — which was overpriced for fights as UFC saw a decline in buys because of missing star power in many main events — should give the fighters an increased idea of their worth. 'Every fighter in the UFC now has a clear picture of what the revenue is…no more PPV excuses,' Paul wrote. 'Get your worth boys and girls.' White also scoffed at the idea that the traditional PPV model is dead. There are still UFC cards on pay-per-view the rest of the year through the end of the ESPN contract and White and Saudi Arabia have teamed to launch a new boxing venture that starts next year and could use a PPV home. White, though, is part of the promotional team for the Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford fight in September in Las Vegas that airs on Netflix. 'It's definitely not run it's course,' White said. 'There were guys out there who were interested in pay-per-view and there were guys out there that weren't. Wherever we ended up, that's what we're going to roll with.' White said UFC archival footage 'kills it' in repeat views and those classic bouts also needed a new home once the ESPN deal expires. Just when it seems there's little left for UFC to conquer, White says, there's always more. Why stop at becoming the biggest fight game in the world? Why not rewrite the pecking order in popularity and riches and go for No. 1 in all sports? 'You have the NFL, the NBA, the UFC, and soccer globally,' White said. 'We're coming. We're coming for all of them.'
CNN
18 minutes ago
- CNN
The number of ICE flights is skyrocketing — but the planes are harder than ever to track
Amid the hubbub of passengers and planes shuttling in and out of the international airport in Richmond, Virginia, each week there's also a steady stream of flights bearing men and women in handcuffs. Last week, CNN was there to see some of these passengers — detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — being unloaded from unmarked white vans, lined up under the wing of a Boeing 737. One by one, some 50 detainees were told to board the aircraft. According to data from immigrant advocacy group Witness at the Border, Richmond is one of about 70 domestic hubs that the Trump administration has used as stoppage points for ICE flights that shuttle detainees in its custody between detention centers around the country, with the goal of eventually deporting them. As President Donald Trump moves to remove as many as 1 million immigrants a year from the US, putting more detainees on more airplanes, and with more frequency, has become a key feature of carrying out that endeavor. Though flights have been a part of US immigration operations for years, the speed and scale of the ICE program today is unprecedented. Since Trump's inauguration, there have been more than 1,000 deportation flights to other countries, up 15% over the January to July period last year, according to Witness at the Border. The flights are operated by a mix of private charter companies and at least one commercial airline, who are subcontractors to ICE, with a smaller portion carried out by military aircrafts. But recently, experts have noticed a new trend. Beginning in March, major companies operating the flights began requesting that their tail numbers — identifiers for planes akin to license plates on cars — be removed from public flight-tracking websites, according to Ian Petchenik of Flightradar24, one such website. These websites provide real-time tracking of flights, displaying their positions, routes and other relevant data. They help consumers track flight delays, but are also a notable tool for public accountability. The move to block tail numbers became possible after the Federal Aviation Administration last year broadened its rules to allow companies the ability to request their information be removed by filling out a form online. This means that even as more flights are carrying ICE detainees, they have become much harder to track, raising accountability concerns. 'This is vital information to be able to understand how ICE is conducting its enforcement and deportation activities,' said Eunice Cho, senior counsel for the ACLU National Prison Project. 'Sometimes this is the only information that the public has with respect to where ICE is placing people because of a general lack of transparency around detention and deportation under this particular administration.' These changes have made it far harder for relatives of those detained and transported by ICE to find their loved ones, according to Guadalupe Gonzalez, a spokesperson for La Resistencia, an immigration advocacy group. 'Families can't track where their loved ones are being sent, they're just being disappeared.' The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not return CNN's request for comment to clarify whether the agency had requested the tail numbers be hidden and why. A spokesperson for Avelo Airlines, a commercial airline that has devoted three of its aircraft to ICE flights, told CNN in an email: 'Flights operated on behalf of the United States government are often unidentified at the government's request. As subcontractors to the United States government, we ask that you direct your questions to them.' GlobalX Airlines, a charter company, told CNN in an email that it 'is not authorized to comment on matters related to the ICE contract,' and referred CNN to ICE. Eastern Air Express, another major charter flight provider, did not respond to a request for comment. Immigration flights have taken place under Democratic as well as Republican administrations in the past, but the increase is notable in its expansiveness as well as volume. Besides the increase in deportation flights, there has been an even bigger rise in flights transporting detainees between airports within the US, according to Witness at the Border. These trips move detainees between detention facilities, as more ICE arrests means those in custody are being shuffled between sites around the country in a complex, coordinated scramble to find available beds. In July, Tom Cartwright of Witness at the Border tracked 207 deportation flights to several dozen countries, but 727 domestic 'shuffle flights' of ICE detainees being moved within the US — the highest number since he began tracking flights in 2020, he said. A vast network of private firms operates the flights, and the industry around them, from refueling to security. Today, the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based CSI Aviation is the largest private contractor for ICE Air. It does not operate flights directly but rather acts as the federal government's main broker for subcontracting flights and flight-related operations. In February 2025, CSI Aviation won an award of $128 million as the prime contractor for ICE flight operations. The contract is now worth more than $321 million. The company works with subcontractors that operate the flights. Among the top subcontractors for flights in July were GlobalX, Eastern Air Express and Avelo Airlines, according to data from Witness at the Border. Leaders at firms involved in the administration's deportation operation have strongly backed Trump and his party. CSI Aviation CEO Allen Weh is a GOP donor who has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party and its candidates. The company hosted a Trump campaign rally at one of its hangars in Albuquerque in October 2024. Eastern Air Express, which Witness at the Border observed operating 24% of ICE flights in July, also owned and operated a 737 used for the Trump/Vance campaign. Last month, La Resistencia, which has been tracking ICE flights on the US West Coast, noted in a report on these activities that in addition to masking their tail numbers, flights are also changing their air traffic call signs. An air traffic call sign is an identifier a flight uses to communicate with air traffic controllers and usually contains some indication of the flight's operator. The air traffic call sign now being used by most of these ICE flights is 'Tyson '— the same call sign Trump used for his personal plane after he was elected in 2016. La Resistencia said in its report: 'We have witnessed extensive efforts on behalf of ICE air contractors to make their immigration work as hard to observe as possible.' Gonzalez, the La Resistencia spokesperson, said: 'Our biggest concern is transparency. If we can't observe how humans are being treated, we are worried human rights will be violated.' CNN's Audrey Ash contributed to this report.
