logo
ICE arrests migrants at courthouses, opens door to fast-track deportations

ICE arrests migrants at courthouses, opens door to fast-track deportations

RNZ News24-05-2025

An anti-Trump, anti-deportation protest in Washington last month.
Photo:
AFP / RICHARD PIERRIN
By
Ted Hesson
and
Kristina Cooke
, Reuters
Federal immigration officials arrested dozens of immigrants after their immigration court hearings in US cities this week, in operations that advocates say appeared to target people who had been in the country for less than two years.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained migrants at courthouses in New York City, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Seattle, according to family members, attorneys and news reports.
In at least some of the arrests, immigration judges had just dropped active cases against migrants and family members, advocates said.
The move could potentially allow US authorities to put them in a fast-track deportation process, known as 'expedited removal'.
Republican President Donald Trump aims to deport record numbers of immigrants in the US illegally, but has complained that US courts and existing laws have slowed the effort.
ICE guidance issued earlier this year directed officers to consider all immigrants previously released for expedited removal, if they had not affirmatively applied for asylum.
The operation showcases a new strategy to speed up deportations and bypass lengthier immigration processes.
A senior US Department of Homeland Security official said the effort aimed to deport immigrants allowed to enter the US under former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
"ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been," the official said.
In Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday and Wednesday, ICE arrested several people outside the immigration court.
Among them, Geovanni Francisco and his mother from Guerrero, Mexico, who entered the country legally in 2023, after making an appointment using the Biden-era CBP One app, according to aunt Hilda Ramirez.
Their case was dismissed Wednesday morning, records show.
"They didn't even give them a chance to gather their things," said Ramirez, who accompanied her sister and nephew to their hearing.
- Reuters

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump's border czar defends decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to quell LA protests
Trump's border czar defends decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to quell LA protests

RNZ News

time2 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Trump's border czar defends decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to quell LA protests

By Donald Judd , CNN White House border czar Tom Homan. Photo: AFP/ANDREW HARNIK President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan argued on Monday that it was necessary to deploy hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests that are happening in the city - despite local officials saying it's unclear why they are there or what they are doing. "Yes, it all depends on the activities of these protesters - I mean, they make the decisions. I keep hearing reports that they're rioting because President Trump sent National Guard here, it's just ridiculous," Homan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "We don't know what's going to happen tonight - it seems like at night, the crowds get bigger, the violence peaks. So, we want to be ahead of the game. We'll be well prepared for the military here to protect government property and protect officers' lives," he said. Homan declined to say what standard the Trump administration was using to decide if mobilising the Marines would be necessary. "They're not reinforcing immigration law - we're doing that, we're immigration officers," Homan said. "Their job is protection of property and protection of our agents and their lives and their wellbeing, along with the public's wellbeing." Over the weekend, Trump became the first president in decades to call in the National Guard without a request from a governor - doing so without invoking the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that allows the president to deploy American soldiers to police US streets in extreme circumstances. Trump ordered the Department of Defence to deploy an additional 2,000 California National Guard members to the Los Angeles area on Monday evening, according to the Pentagon. Protesters kneel in the street facing a row of police in riot gear during a protest in response to federal immigration operations in the Little Tokyo neighbourhood of downtown Los Angeles, on June 9, 2025. Photo: AFP/FREDERIC J. BROWN On Monday, the administration mobilised more than 700 Marines based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre in California to respond to the protests in Los Angeles. Homan said there were conversations "every day" within the administration about deploying military domestically, but he said he had not been personally involved in conversations about invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow for the use active-duty military to quell protests. "No - again, I'm here running a Title 8 immigration operation, I was - I'm not involved in discussions, but I do know every day a conversation happens with the leadership of DOJ, DHS and DOD on a decision going forward," he said. "I think decisions on deployment of the National Guard and any other deployment of DOD is a decision being made by the White House, along with the Department of Justice, DOD - I know those calls are happening every day." But pressed if Americans should expect to see military deployed to other US cities where protests against ICE operations pop up, the border czar said, "I hope not." "I hope it's not the new normal - I hope people go out there and protest peacefully, but to attack law enforcement officers who are simply enforcing the laws that Congress enacted," he said. "So, if you want to hate, you want to protest, go to Congress and protest them. ICE is just doing their job." Homan also acknowledged that Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom has not done anything to warrant arrest after Trump said if he were Homan, he would have him arrested. "Governor Newsom has not done anything to warrant an arrest in your view right now, correct?" Collins asked. "Not at this time - absolutely not," he said. Homan told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would continue operations in Los Angeles - and across the country - to enforce immigration law. "They'll continue every day, not only in California, Los Angeles, they're gonna continue every city across the country - we have teams throughout the country that are out there looking for those in the country," Homan said. "We're in every city and country, and ICE is going to be out every single day and will continue to be there regardless what's happening in LA." - CNN

LA demonstrations roll on as political tensions ramp up
LA demonstrations roll on as political tensions ramp up

RNZ News

time2 hours ago

  • RNZ News

LA demonstrations roll on as political tensions ramp up

Street demonstrations in Los Angeles are rolling on as political tensions ramp up. The city's mayor has said LA is being used as a 'test case' for the federal government to take over from local and state authorities. Now more troops are on their way. About 700 marines have been mobilised and the Pentagon has said the US President is deploying another two thousand National Guard Troops to the area after the initial order this weekend. LA correspondent Toni Waterman spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese calls shooting of journalist with rubber bullet in Los Angeles 'horrific'
Australian PM Anthony Albanese calls shooting of journalist with rubber bullet in Los Angeles 'horrific'

RNZ News

time3 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Australian PM Anthony Albanese calls shooting of journalist with rubber bullet in Los Angeles 'horrific'

By Georgie Hewson , ABC Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting on protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles this week. Photo: Screengrab from 9News Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting on protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles this week . Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has spoken with the Channel Nine reporter. He has labelled the footage "horrific" and says the government has spoken with the US administration about the incident. He told the National Press Club he spoke with her this morning and she is going "OK". "But that footage was horrific," he said. "That was the footage of an Australian journalist doing what journalists do at their very best, at their very best, which is to go into an environment that' not comfortable, but where in LA, it is not unreasonable to think that she would not have been targeted with a rubber bullet. "It is not unreasonable to think that she could go about the coverage, clearly as people can see in the footage, clearly identified as media. "So we have already raised these issues with the US administration. "We don't find it acceptable that it occurred and we think that the role of the media is particularly important." Firing rubber bullets is just one of the crowd control tactics being used by authorities at the demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. - ABC

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store