Homeland security denies reports that Ice ‘secretly deported' Pennsylvania grandfather
On 18 July, the Morning Call newspaper of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reported that the family of the man, Luis Leon, said he was handcuffed after showing up at to immigration office on 20 June to report a lost green card. They said he was first sent to a detention facility in Minnesota, then to Guatemala, where they said a Chilean relative informed them he was in a hospital.
The report said Leon was 82 years old and had come to the US after being granted political asylum in 1987 after being tortured under the regime of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. It said in his nearly 40 years living in the US he spent his career working in a leather manufacturing plant, raised a family and had since retired.
DHS, however, denied in a statement that Leon had been deported and that there was no record of Leon having a green card appointment in Philadelphia on that date. The department also said that its only record of Leon entering the US 'was from 2015 from Chile under the visa waiver program'.
The Guatemalan government also denied that Leon had been deported. In a statement, the Guatemalan Migration Institute said it coordinates with Ice on all deportations from the US and that no one matched Leon's name, age or citizenship, according to the Associated Press.
The AP added that Guatemala agreed in February to receive people deported from the US who are from other Central American countries, but that its agreement does not extend to Chileans.
On Monday, Morning Call published a new story reflecting DHS and Guatemala's claims, and noting that it 'repeatedly requested information from Ice during its reporting; an Ice spokesperson previously refused to confirm details, including whether or not Leon was even at the Philadelphia office, and said Monday that Ice investigators were not able to contact the family'.
It added that Leon's granddaughter, Nataly, who refused to provide her last name, said she had visited Leon in a hospital in Guatemala City, where she claimed he was being treated for pneumonia.
But the outlet also reported that a Chilean journalist, Jose Del Pino, said a doctor at the hospital in question had no record of him.
Del Pino also reportedly provided a copy of an alleged death certificate to the Morning Call for a man with the same name and date of birth who died in Santiago, Chile, in 2019. It added that Del Pino said Chilean citizens all have national identification numbers, and none matches another person with that name and birthday.
Late on Sunday her family issued a statement saying they would no longer speak to media and asked for privacy, and Leon's granddaughter did not respond to the Morning Call's further requests for comment on Monday.
The Guardian has approached Ice, the Chilean embassy in the US, the municipality of Allentown and various immigration organizations for comment. An attorney at Campos Firm said multiple immigration attorneys had tried to contact the family asking to represent them, but could not reach them.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Eswatini opposition attacks US deal as ‘human trafficking disguised as deportation'
Civil society and opposition groups in Eswatini have expressed outrage after the US deported five men to the country, with the largest opposition party calling it 'human trafficking disguised as a deportation deal'. The men, from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Cuba, were flown to the small southern African country, an absolute monarchy, last week as the US stepped up deportations to 'third countries' after the supreme court cleared them last month. Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, is landlocked by South Africa and Mozambique and has a population of about 1.2 million. It is Africa's last absolute monarchy and has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. The government estimated the five men would be held for about 12 months, a spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, said, adding: 'It could be slightly less or slightly more.' She said Eswatini was ready to receive more deportees, depending on the availability of facilities and negotiations with the US, which has also deported eight people to South Sudan after holding them for weeks in a shipping container in Djibouti, and more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador. Officials have said the men, who were put in solitary confinement, were safely imprisoned in Eswatini. However, they have refused to disclose the terms of the deal, other than to say the US was footing the costs of keeping the men locked up and that they would work with international organisations to deport them to their home countries. Many civil society organisations and politicians were not convinced. 'This action, carried out without public consultation, adequate preparation, or community engagement, raises urgent questions about legality, transparency, and the safety of both the deported individuals and the people of Eswatini, especially women and girls,' said a coalition of seven women's groups. The organisations delivered a petition to the US embassy on Monday calling for the US to take back the deportees, for the deportees' human rights to be respected, and for Eswatini not to become a 'dumping ground for unresolved problems from elsewhere'. The groups' leaders held a protest outside the US embassy on Friday, where they sang, danced and held up signs with messages including: 'Whose taxpayers?', 'Eswatini is not a prison for US rejects' and 'Take the five criminals back to the US!!' Eswatini's largest opposition party, the People's United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), said in a statement: 'Pudemo vehemently condemns the treacherous and reckless decision by King Mswati III's regime to allow the United States of America to dump its most dangerous criminals on Swazi soil. 'This is not diplomacy but human trafficking disguised as a deportation deal. It is an insult to all Emaswati who value peace, security, and the sanctity of our homeland.' The coordinating assembly of NGOs, an umbrella group, said the situation was 'deeply alarming' and condemned the 'stigmatising and dehumanising language used by US officials'. It called for the Eswatini-US agreement to be made public and to be suspended pending 'genuine public consultation and transparent national dialogue'. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on X on 16 July that the men, who she said had been convicted of crimes including child rape, murder and burglary, were 'so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back'. She added: 'These depraved monsters have been terrorising American communities but … they are off of American soil.' Eswatini's prime minister, Russell Dlamini, told local media on Friday that the government was confident it would safely manage the prisoners. 'Eswatini is currently holding inmates who have committed more dangerous crimes than those attributed to the five deportees,' he said. A prison service spokesperson, Baphelele Kunene, said the country's citizens should not be afraid. 'We can confirm that the five inmates in question have been admitted to one of our high-security centres where they are responding very well to the new environment,' he said. 'Even though they come from the US, there is no preferential treatment for them as they are guided by the same prison regulations, eat the same food as others and are also expected to exhibit the same and equal amount of respect for prison protocols.' The US state department's most recent human rights report on Eswatini, in 2023, said there were 'credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; [and] political prisoners or detainees'. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections, which the system's advocates argue makes MPs more representative of their constituents. In September, Pudemo's leader, Mlungisi Makhanya, was allegedly poisoned in South Africa. The party said it was an assassination attempt, which Eswatini's government has denied. The Department of Homeland Security has been contacted for comment.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Asian markets gain, with Japan's Nikkei up more than 3%, lifted by deal on Trump's tariffs
Asian shares rallied on Wednesday, with Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index up more than 3% after Japan and the U.S. announced a deal on President Donald Trump's tariffs. The agreement as announced calls for a 15% import duty on goods imported from Japan, apart from certain products such as steel and aluminum that are subject to much higher tariffs. That's down from the 25% Trump had said would kick in on Aug. 1 if a deal was not reached. 'This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it,' Trump posted on Truth Social, noting that Japan was also investing 'at my direction' $550 billion into the U.S. He said Japan would 'open' its economy to American autos and rice. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.1% to 25,397.81, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.8% to 3,608.58. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.6% to 8,731.90 and the Kospi in South Korea edged 0.1% higher to 3,172.10. 'President Trump has signed two trade deals this week with the Philippines and Japan which is likely to keep market sentiment propped up despite deals with the likes of the EU and South Korea remaining elusive, for now at least,' Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at Kohle Capital Markets, said in a report. There was a chorus of no comments from the Japanese automakers, despite the latest announcement, including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Corp. Japanese companies tend to be cautious about their public reactions, and some business officials have privately remarked in off-record comments that they hesitate to say anything because Trump keeps changing his mind. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association also said it had no comment, noting there was no official statement yet. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba welcomed the agreement as beneficial to both sides. Wall Street inched to another record on Tuesday following some mixed profit reports, as General Motors and other big U.S. companies gave updates on how much Trump's tariffs are hurting or helping them. The S&P 500 added 0.1% to the all-time high it had set the day before, closing at 6,309.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 44,502.44. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4% from its own record, to 20,892.68. General Motors dropped 8.1% despite reporting a stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. The automaker said it's still expecting a $4 billion to $5 billion hit to its results in 2025 from higher tariffs and that it hopes to mitigate 30% of that. GM also said it will feel more pain because of tariffs in the current quarter than it did during the spring. That helped to offset big gains for some homebuilders after they reported stronger profits for the spring than Wall Street had forecast. D.R. Horton rallied 17%, and PulteGroup jumped 11.5%. That was even as both companies said homebuyers are continuing to deal with challenging conditions, including higher mortgage rates and an uncertain economy. So far, the U.S. economy seems to be powering through the uncertainty created by Trump's on-and-off tariffs. Many of Trump's proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and the next big deadline is Aug. 1. Talks are underway on possible trade deals with other countries that could lower the stiff proposals before they kick in. Trump said he reached a trade agreement with the Philippines following a meeting Tuesday at the White House, that will see the U.S. slightly drop its tariff rate for the Philippines without paying import taxes for what it sells there. In the bond market, Treasury yields sank as traders continue to expect the Federal Reserve to wait until September at the earliest to resume cutting interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.34% from 4.38% late Monday. In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 14 cents to $65.45 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard added 18 cents to $68.77 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched up to 146.80 Japanese yen from 146.64 yen. The euro cost $1.1745, down from $1.1754. ___ AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
There's 115,000 reasons why Trump should be welcomed to Scotland
Little is yet clear on the economic implications of America's new trade policies and Scotland's position within a radically changed global trade structure. The Trump administration is actively reshaping the way the world does business wherever the US is involved. Unfortunately the recent UK-US tariff deal is not yet the broadly-based trade agreement that would secure jobs for Scottish exporters. A baseline 10% tariff on most goods entering the United States might be less challenging than the EU position but it has hit growth and jobs. For Scotland, it represents a significant challenge to our transatlantic trade relationship, which generated £3.8 billion in exports to the US in 2024. Exporters have been forced to re-route product and quickly develop new markets. The urgency of this month's discussions is underscored by the imminent review in August of the UK-US trade arrangements. The present temporary agreement is fragile, creating anxiety in many sectors of the Scottish economy, from universities to food and drink. The impact on Scotland's key industries is already tangible. Scotch whisky, which suffered a major hit to sales during Trump's first presidency when he imposed 25% tariffs, faces renewed uncertainty. The US remains the largest Scotch export market by value, but global trade turmoil is a big headwind for an industry that exports 90% of its product. Read more: Similarly, Scottish salmon exports to the US are significant. Worth over £200 million annually, this trade is the second largest market for the product. And the pressure that lies ahead to harmonise with American regulatory standards could fundamentally alter Scotland's economic landscape. The US now views trade imbalances in simplistic terms, regulatory differences much more important than tariff levels. This represents a profound challenge to European standards on food safety, environmental protection, and product regulations. Food standards in particular are contentious and any changes could have far-reaching implications. Scotland still aims to keep in lock-step with the EU but may have to make some compromises with Westminster running the negotiations. American investment in Scotland extends far beyond Trump's golf properties. The USA is Scotland's largest inward investor, accounting for around 25% of total foreign inward investment in Scotland. More than 650 US-owned businesses employ around 115,000 people across the country. The pharmaceutical sector, financial services, and technology companies in particular have established significant operations ranging from JP Morgan to Amazon and Microsoft. Encouragingly, it seem that some American businesses are actually now viewing Scotland more favourably. If the UK can successfully negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement that provides greater certainty, Scotland could benefit from increased US investment as companies seek to establish operations that can serve both American and European markets from a single location. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that some individual Americans are considering Scotland for potential relocation, attracted by our political stability, social democratic values, and cultural heritage. The relationship also involves exchange of ideas, as the US is Scotland's top global research collaborator. Eighty links between Scottish and US universities and colleges involve staff and student exchanges and many joint publications. The thousands of US students who come to our universities help to forge long lasting relationships between the two nations. The controversial nature of Trump's presidency may actually be driving some North American tourism to Scotland. Many Canadians say they have changed their thinking about travelling to the USA. But overall Scotland's tourism sector is under pressure, as a weak US dollar makes Scotland expensive for American visitors. Combined with new visitor taxes, this means that the sector does not need any new frictions. Trump's approach to international relations reflects a broader strategy to reshape the global economic order around American interests. The traditional multilateral framework that has governed international trade since the Second World War is being replaced by a more transactional system where countries must demonstrate an alignment of interests to maintain favourable treatment. Scotland's relationship with the US clearly matters but, however much it grates to be dictated to, we have relatively few negotiating levers. Even the EU as a whole seems to be in that position at the moment. It will take our leaders all their skill to make the best of the forthcoming meetings. We must find common ground and realise we might learn from new US policies. It seems reasonable for example, that countries should pay their fair share for what is effectively an American security and financial umbrella. And it took US pressure for the UK recently to drop some surprising tariffs; on pasta, pineapples and fruit juice. In some ways, Trump is pursuing a typical agenda for second term presidents - recognising that time and domestic political leverage is not on his side, making foreign policy a bigger focus. US exceptionalism may be unwinding even as it tears up longstanding agreements. In an increasingly fragmented global order it is more important than ever to protect Scottish interests. When emotion and reason are in conflict, the heart often overrules the head. But this is a time to look beyond personalities. The path forward requires acknowledging uncomfortable realities about American power and Scottish dependence while working to preserve the values and interests that define Scotland. Colin McLean is director of Barnton Capital Holdings
