Massive search effort launched in Holyoke for missing person in Connecticut River
Law enforcement is searching the Connecticut River in Holyoke for a missing person on Tuesday morning after at least two people went into the water Monday night and only one was rescued.
At around 8 p.m. on May 19, a call came in to report there were people who needed help in the water below the Holyoke Dam, according to the Holyoke Fire Department.
One person was pulled from the river before first responders arrived, while a second person was still in the water.
This prompted a massive rescue effort from law enforcement using boats and drones to search the shore and water. The efforts expanded down river and caused the Willimansett Bridge to close until 10:25 p.m., the Holyoke Fire Department said.
But despite their search, law enforcement could not find the second person on Monday night.
Search efforts were ongoing as of 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the Holyoke Fire Department said. The Holyoke Fire Captain was on scene Tuesday morning.
The Holyoke Fire Department's search efforts on Monday were assisted by crews from the South Hadley, Chicopee and Springfield Fire Departments. Police officers from Holyoke, South Hadley, Chicopee and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection were also assisting.
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Los Angeles Times
6 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Glendale jail is holding ICE detainees, an outlier in California, as immigration arrests rise
Immigrants detained by federal agents in Southern California are being housed at the Glendale City Jail, making the Los Angeles suburb one of the few, if not the only, known jurisdiction in the 'sanctuary' state to sidestep rules prohibiting local law enforcement from assisting in federal immigration enforcement. It's unclear how many detainees are being held at the 96-bed facility, but The Times confirmed at least two individuals were placed there over the last week by immigration officials. The facility is one of the busiest jails in the state and is staffed by the Glendale Police Department. Glendale City Council members defended the detentions this week, saying that the city had an 18-year-old contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to temporarily house noncriminal detainees. They said the agreement is in compliance with state Senate Bill 54, a landmark law that made California the first in the nation to create a sanctuary state. 'Glendale has a contract with ICE, and yes, on occasion, ICE detainees will be given bed space at our facility,' said Annette Ghazarian, a spokesperson for Glendale. Shortly before President Trump took office, Glendale Police Chief Manuel Cid told the council that the jails hadn't been used frequently for immigrant detainees since the Obama administration. He said that the mass sweeps would be logistically difficult given the capacity of the federal detention centers and that he didn't expect local agencies to fill the gap given state law. But advocates fear that is exactly what's happening. They believe that Glendale's arrangement takes advantage of a loophole in state sanctuary laws that omit standing contracts. And it raises questions about the state law amid ramped up enforcement efforts by the Trump administration, which has said it aims to arrest 3,000 undocumented immigrants daily. 'It is deeply, deeply troublesome,' said Andres Kwon, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. 'This contract very much goes against the principle and value of creating a bright line between local resources and federal immigration enforcement.' At a minimum, Kwon said the contract should end immediately. 'This is where the attorney general has jurisdiction and responsibility to review and oversee how Glendale is acting pursuant to this contract,' he said. The attorney general also has a mandate to review and report on conditions of confinement, which it has yet to do. Other municipalities terminated their contracts after then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 54, which prohibited local and state municipalities from using funds for federal immigration enforcement purposes, including the use of jail facilities. But Glendale's then-Police Chief Robert Castro, who opposed the law, did not. And at the time, the city manager warned against nixing the contract in a bid to maintain a good relationship with federal authorities. Jennie Quinonez-Skinner, a resident of Glendale, said she has been urging council members to abandon the contract since learning about it during the first Trump administration. 'They can end if they want to, they just don't want to,' she said. 'I see no justification for doing it. Under the current administration, with lack of due process, it's harmful.' At the time the contract was signed in 2007, the federal government promised to pay Glendale $85 a day for each detainee. Nearly 10 years later in 2016, the city reported that it received a little more than $6,000 for its services in one year. City documents show the contract terms are indefinite and 'may be terminated by either party with 60 days' written notice.' At the Glendale City Council meeting Tuesday night, immigration lawyer Sarah Houston, whose client had been detained at the jail and been without food for nine hours due to being transferred between multiple facilities, questioned why Glendale was adhering to a decades-old agreement that runs afoul of SB 54. 'We have SB 54 that says very explicitly, local law enforcement cannot provide resources, including cells, to immigration enforcement. California is a sanctuary state,' Houston said at the meeting. 'Do you want Glendale to be one of the only cities that allows local police departments to work with the Department of Homeland Security, so that they can just house and detain a lot of our immigrant sisters and brothers?' Glendale Councilmember Elen Asatryan tried to distance the city from immigration operations. 'We do not get involved, we are not even booking them, they are using the cells as a holding place in the city of Glendale,' Asatryan said. She disputed that detainees were not being provided food or water. The use of the Glendale City Jail to hold migrants has come up in recent weeks as the Trump administration pushes to increase the number of immigrant arrests by targeting them as they leave the courtroom. Immigration officials admit the effort has stressed their own resources as they look to increase capacity. ICE has about 7,000 beds in California with six privately owned facilities and has been looking to expand its footprint in the state as its enforcement begins to outstrip its detention space. 'U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's enhanced enforcement operations and routine daily operations have resulted in a significant number of arrests of criminal aliens that require greater detention capacity,' said Richard Beam, an ICE spokesman. 'While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements.' In Los Angeles, Santa Ana and around the country, masked federal agents in plain clothes have been arresting migrants as they leave their immigration hearings, often after a government lawyer asks that their deportation proceedings be dismissed. Family members who come to support their loved-ones often are left distraught. Typically, someone arrested by ICE in public would be transferred to a detention facility, but the rush of detaineesprobably strained the system and forcedofficials to look for other options, said Melissa Shepard, legal services director at Immigrant Defenders Law Center. 'I can imagine it will be an influx for detention centers that probably don't have the resources in place to keep all of these folks,' Shepard said. 'In Southern California, the detention centers were quite unprepared for the number of people being detained.' Times reporters witnessed more than half a dozen arrests at courthouses in downtown Los Angeles and Santa Ana courthouses Monday. In Los Angeles, Jianhui Wu, of China, was detained after the government moved to dismiss his case and seek expedited removal proceedings. The judge granted the man another hearing in August to give him time to find an attorney, telling him 'you need to talk to someone competent' about his case. But as he left the courtroom, a plainclothes ICE agent followed him, while another stopped him in the hallway. One agent took the man's backpack as they handcuffed him and swiftly took him down a service elevator. By Tuesday, he was being held at the Glendale City Jail.
New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Bans Citizens of 12 Countries From Entering U.S.
In recent years, people in Myanmar have endured a military coup, civil war, enforced conscription, aerial bombardment and a devastating earthquake. A new hardship landed Thursday morning, as President Trump ordered a sweeping travel ban that included the citizens of Myanmar. The action is an effort to stop immigration from nations that Mr. Trump deemed to have a 'large-scale presence of terrorists,' among other concerns. The travel ban, announced by the president on Wednesday night in Washington, is set to take effect on Monday. It applies to the people of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Many of these countries have been wracked by conflict, while others are ruled by repressive regimes. In both cases, Mr. Trump's proclamation closes the door on those hoping to flee to the United States to build new lives. Citizens of seven other countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela — will be barred from entering the United States on tourist and student visas. They also will not be able to settle permanently in the U.S. Image In Yangon, Myanmar, in March. Credit... Sai Aung Main/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 'We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,' Mr. Trump said in a message on social media. 'As soon as I woke up, bad news was already waiting for me,' said Ko Min Nwe, a 35-year-old accountant in Myanmar who last month won a U.S. immigration lottery that put him on the path for a green card next year. 'Being a Myanmar citizen means that wherever we go, we face discrimination and now, even this rare stroke of luck feels like it's been stolen from me.' Mr. Trump said that his new travel restrictions also apply to countries that do not have proper ways to vet travelers to the United States, that have a track record of citizens who overstay their American visas and that have not easily accepted back their nationals. But the restrictions overwhelmingly target nations with vulnerable populations eager for sanctuary in the U.S. 'This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' said Abby Maxman, the president of Oxfam America, the charity dedicated to fighting global inequality and poverty. The ban provides for certain exceptions. For instance, Afghans can still apply for special visas designed to safeguard those who worked for the U.S. government or military as translators and other assistants before the American withdrawal in 2021. Legal permanent residents of the United States are exempt from the order. So are athletes and their entourages visiting for major sporting events. Adoptions from the restricted nations will be allowed. Image Afghan women receiving food aid in Kabul last month. Credit... Wakil Kohsar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images During his first term, Mr. Trump imposed a series of travel bans on mostly Muslim-majority nations, some of which were countered by the courts. Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. revoked the immigration restrictions when he took office, calling them 'a stain on our national conscience.' Hashmat, an Afghan journalist, said he had been granted a visa to go to the United States, after enduring a month in a Taliban prison for his reporting. He is now in hiding. The new travel ban, which appears to apply to the type of visa he received, has left him with no hope, said Mr. Hashmat, who goes by only one name. 'I devoted 14 years of my life working with respected media outlets to promote democracy, freedom of speech and global values — values I believed the U.S. shared,' he said. 'Today, I suffer because of those very values.' Some of the countries affected by Mr. Trump's latest travel order reacted quickly, vowing to tackle problems. Somalia, according to Mr. Trump's proclamation, was targeted because it lacks a central authority that can properly screen travelers and it is a 'terrorist safe haven.' 'Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,' Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the U.S., said in a statement. Myanmar erupted into full-blown civil war four years ago, following a military coup that ousted an elected government. Criminal networks in the country's poorly governed borderlands have filled war chests and flooded the world with synthetic drugs, cyberscams and dubiously sourced minerals. Still, there is scant evidence that Myanmar is exporting terrorism, much less to the United States. Most immigrants from Myanmar arrived in the United States as refugees escaping persecution. Waves of immigration to the United States by Myanmar nationals have followed moments of political turmoil, such as crackdowns on democracy movements in 1988 and 2007. More recently, more than 3.5 million people in Myanmar, out of a population of about 55 million, have been uprooted from their homes because of the civil war. Millions more have sought shelter abroad, mostly in neighboring Thailand and Bangladesh. Image A refugee from the Mae La camp in Myanmar after being transferred to a hospital in Thailand in February. Credit... Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Starting last July, a resettlement initiative brought Myanmar refugees living in camps in Thailand to the United States. But that program has effectively stopped since Mr. Trump's second inauguration. American aid for Myanmar refugees in Thailand and Bangladesh has been slashed, too; without access to medical care, babies and elderly patients have died, doctors say. From 2005 to 2015, about 100,000 refugees from camps in Thailand were resettled overseas, mostly in the United States, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Myanmar is now a fractured nation. Most of the heartland of the country is controlled by the military junta, while ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy forces have carved out territory in the vast outer areas. Airstrikes by the Myanmar military have destroyed hundreds of villages. Thousands of people have been imprisoned and tortured for daring to oppose the military junta and call for democracy. Since the coup in 2021, the United States has imposed sanctions on top junta officials and the business cronies who prop them up. But some critics say Washington's actions don't have enough bite. Ma Mya Thiri Lwin, 24, was accepted at a college in Minnesota to study computer science beginning in August. As part of a large student-led boycott of government institutions, she had not attended university in Myanmar. Now, she said, her dreams of one day working in Silicon Valley have withered. 'It feels like Myanmar is cursed,' she said, learning that Mr. Trump's travel ban included her homeland. 'Even the U.S., which claims to be a stronghold of human rights, has turned a blind eye to people like us who are poor, oppressed and at risk.' Safiullah Padshah and Mike Ives contributed reporting.
Bloomberg
37 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Trump's Administration Has Asked Ally Serbia to Accept Deportees
President Donald Trump's administration is pushing Serbia and other Balkan nations to take in migrants deported from the US, according to people familiar with the matter. The requests to countries in the region are ongoing and part of a broader strategy to find foreign governments willing to receive migrants sent from the US, including some who originally entered under Biden-era protections, according to the people, who requested anonymity because the talks were private.
