Latest news with #DepartmentofHomelandSecurityandImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Florida Democrats file bill to block federal funds to Alligator Alcatraz
Florida's Democratic congressional delegation has introduced legislation aimed at shutting down the controversial immigration detention center in the Everglades. Dubbed the 'No Cages in the Everglades Act,' the six-page bill is led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. It aims to ban the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating or funding the detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz, or any other 'immigration detention facility located within or adjacent to the Everglades ecosystem.' The bill also seeks to increase transparency and federal oversight of immigration detention centers nationwide. 'Trump and Ron DeSantis have exploited legal ambiguity around this Everglades internment camp to avoid any scrutiny of abuses there,' said Wasserman Schultz in an statement. 'Our bill would shut down this atrocity, strengthen oversight of detention facilities nationwide, and mandate public reporting on costs, conditions, and the treatment of detainees, as well as report on any harms to the environment and nearby tribal lands.' Wasserman Schultz is joined by fellow Florida Democrats Reps. Kathy Castor, Frederica Wilson, Lois Frankel, Darren Soto, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Maxwell Frost and Jared Moskowitz. The bill is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The facility — operated and funded by Florida's state government, with the expectation of federal reimbursement — has drawn sharp criticism from environmental advocates, Miccosukee tribal leaders and human rights groups, who call it both inhumane and ecologically disastrous. Multiple reports allege detainees are being held in unsafe, unsanitary conditions without access to clean water, medical care or legal support. Florida's Division of Emergency Management, which is overseeing the detention center, says those stories are false. READ MORE: Miccosukee Tribe moves to join environmental lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz The detention center sits on an airstrip on the edge of the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected wilderness area that is home to endangered species. The bill coincides with a rapidly growing MoveOn Civic Action petition demanding the immediate closure of the Everglades detention camp. The petition has now surpassed 43,000 signatures, amplifying public pressure on state and federal officials. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick emphasized the broader moral stakes of the legislation. 'No one should be subjected to unsafe, degrading treatment, and we cannot meet these injustices with silence or symbolic gestures. We have a moral responsibility to act decisively,' Cherfilus-McCormick said. 'Every person in our custody deserves dignity, safety, and basic human rights.' The legislation has garnered support from major human rights and immigration organizations, including the ACLU, Detention Watch Network, Church World Service and the National Immigration Law Center. The bill comes just days after Wasserman Schultz, Moskowitz and Frost visited the facility alongside Florida state representatives. The visit followed complaints by detainees and attorneys about conditions inside and a lack of transparency. During the visit, Frost said they were denied permission to speak with any detainees, without explanation. Republicans who took the tour said the facility was clean and properly run. The Florida Division of Emergency Management and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
Los Angeles Times
23-06-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Immigrant father of three Marines is violently detained, injured by federal agents, son says
Video of a landscaper being taken down, pinned and repeatedly punched by masked federal agents in Orange County has gone viral online, and Alejandro Barranco finds it painful to watch. The Marine veteran says his father, Narciso Barranco, was working outside of a Santa Ana IHOP on Saturday when several masked men approached him. Frightened, he began to run away, his son said. Moments later, he was on the ground, held down by the men, who struck him. The younger Barranco said Sunday that his father was pepper sprayed and beaten, and that his shoulder was dislocated. After speaking with him Sunday at about 6 p.m., Barranco said his father had not received medical treatment, food or water after more than 24 hours in a detention facility in Los Angeles. 'I don't think it was just, I don't think it was fair,' Barranco said of the use of force against his father. 'I don't think they need four 200[-pound] plus guys to hold down a 5-6 or 5-7, 150-pound guy.' The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return The Times' request for comment. The video of the encounter between Barranco and immigration officials has circulated on social media, sparking outrage and the creation of a GoFundMe to help with legal representation that had generated more than $48,000 as of Sunday night. The 48-year-old is a hardworking landscaper and a kind person, his son said. 'If anyone ever needed any help, he was always there,' he said. 'He's very well known in our community.' On his first call to his son after the detainment, Barranco was less concerned with his injuries and more concerned with his job. He told him where his truck and equipment were and asked him to speak with his client and finish the job, the younger Barranco said. Alejandro Barranco, 25, is a veteran of the U.S. Marines and his two younger brothers, Emanuel and José Luis Barranco, are active-duty members. With 700 Marines from Twentynine Palms deployed in Los Angeles in the wake of protests over recent immigration raids, Barranco said he understood that many of his fellow Marines are just following orders. 'I just know that ... they also have mixed feelings about everything going on,' Barranco said. 'I know they love their country, they want to serve their country, but I'm also sure that they love their parents and they love their family members who are undocumented. 'I'm pretty sure we're all pushing for the same thing,' he said, 'which is a change in our system.'
06-06-2025
- Politics
Detained Columbia graduate claims ‘irreparable harm' to career and family as he pleads for release
NEW YORK -- A Columbia graduate facing deportation over his pro-Palestinian activism on campus has outlined the 'irreparable harm' caused by his continued detention as a federal judge weighs his release. Mahmoud Khalil said in court filings unsealed Thursday that the 'most immediate and visceral harms' he's faced in his months detained in Louisiana relate to missing out on the birth of his first child in April. 'Instead of holding my wife's hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone,' the 30-year-old legal U.S. resident wrote. 'When I heard my son's first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.' He also cited potentially 'career-ending' harms from the ordeal, noting that Oxfam International has already rescinded a job offer to serve as a policy advisor. Even his mother's visa to come to the U.S. to help care for his infant son is also now under federal review, Khalil said. 'As someone who fled prosecution in Syria for my political beliefs, for who I am, I never imagined myself to be in immigration detention, here in the United States,' he wrote. 'Why should protesting this Israel government's indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians result in the erosion of my constitutional rights?' Spokespersons for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Khalil's 13-page statement was among a number of legal declarations his lawyers filed highlighting the wide-ranging negative impacts of his arrest. Dr. Noor Abdalla, his U.S. citizen wife, described the challenges of not having her husband to help navigate their son's birth and the first weeks of his young life. Students and professors at Columbia wrote about the chilling effect Khalil's arrest has had on campus life, with people afraid to attend protests or participate in groups that can be viewed as critical of the Trump administration. Last week, a federal judge in New Jersey said the Trump administration's effort to deport Khalil likely violates the Constitution. Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote the government's primary justification for removing Khalil — that his beliefs may pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy — could open the door to vague and arbitrary enforcement. Khalil was detained by federal immigration agents on March 8 in the lobby of his university-owned apartment, the first arrest under Trump's widening crackdown on students who joined campus protests against .
Hindustan Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Detained Columbia graduate claims ‘irreparable harm' to career and family as he pleads for release
NEW YORK — A Columbia graduate facing deportation over his pro-Palestinian activism on campus has outlined the 'irreparable harm' caused by his continued detention as a federal judge weighs his release. Mahmoud Khalil said in court filings unsealed Thursday that the 'most immediate and visceral harms' he's faced in his months detained in Louisiana relate to missing out on the birth of his first child in April. 'Instead of holding my wife's hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone,' the 30-year-old legal U.S. resident wrote. 'When I heard my son's first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.' He also cited potentially 'career-ending' harms from the ordeal, noting that Oxfam International has already rescinded a job offer to serve as a policy advisor. Even his mother's visa to come to the U.S. to help care for his infant son is also now under federal review, Khalil said. 'As someone who fled prosecution in Syria for my political beliefs, for who I am, I never imagined myself to be in immigration detention, here in the United States,' he wrote. 'Why should protesting this Israel government's indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians result in the erosion of my constitutional rights?' Spokespersons for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Khalil's 13-page statement was among a number of legal declarations his lawyers filed highlighting the wide-ranging negative impacts of his arrest. Dr. Noor Abdalla, his U.S. citizen wife, described the challenges of not having her husband to help navigate their son's birth and the first weeks of his young life. Students and professors at Columbia wrote about the chilling effect Khalil's arrest has had on campus life, with people afraid to attend protests or participate in groups that can be viewed as critical of the Trump administration. Last week, a federal judge in New Jersey said the Trump administration's effort to deport Khalil likely violates the Constitution. Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote the government's primary justification for removing Khalil — that his beliefs may pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy — could open the door to vague and arbitrary enforcement. Khalil was detained by federal immigration agents on March 8 in the lobby of his university-owned apartment, the first arrest under Trump's widening crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Antisemitism is on the rise. Here's how the West is reacting
President Donald Trump condemned the attack in Boulder, Colorado, on a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The police arrested a man who allegedly threw Molotov cocktails and used a makeshift flamethrower on a crowd of 20 people. The suspect, disguised as a gardener, yelled 'free Palestine' during the attack, according to eyewitnesses. He faces hate crime charges in federal court, according to The Associated Press. Twelve people suffered injuries. Trump on Monday said the attack 'will not be tolerated' and blamed former President Joe Biden's border policies for allowing the suspect to come to the U.S. Sources at the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Fox News the suspect 'is an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa.' Trump promised that such 'acts of terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law' before expressing his condolences to the victims and Coloradans. This is one of the latest high-profile incidents of violence to make headlines. Late last month, another suspect chanting 'free Palestine' fatally shot two staff members at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The police identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, a Christian Israeli man, and Sarah Milgrim, a Jewish American woman, as the Deseret News reported. Antisemitism and political violence are on the rise in the U.S. According to the Anti-Defamation League, more than 9,350 instances of antisemitism were recorded in 2024, a 344% increase over the past five years. The White House is putting up a fight against colleges by directly negotiating for more oversight with prestigious educational institutions like Harvard University. The Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism led the fight against Harvard and other universities where antisemitic incidents have been reported. Several states are also taking note of a rise in hate crimes against American Jews in the U.S. and proposing legislation to address this troubling trend. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis, who is Jewish and represented the state in Congress for a decade, condemned the Boulder attack publicly and through a letter signed by more than two dozen state and local leaders. Here's what other Western states are proposing. A recent bill from the state House, which was passed in the state Senate, would ban educators in Arizona's public schools and colleges from teaching antisemitism. Teachers and university professors can be held liable if they are found to be teaching or promoting antisemitism. Rep. Michael Way, a Republican, introduced the bill to make schools a place of learning, 'not breeding grounds for hatred and discrimination,' he said in February. 'Arizona has zero tolerance for antisemitism, and this bill ensures that our classrooms are free from the toxic ideology that fuels division and hostility,' the press release said. The state's teacher's union wrote a letter to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, opposing the bill, which, they argue, 'strips Arizona public school educators of professional liability protections if they face accusations of antisemitism.' The letter added the bill doesn't address 'racism, sexism, anti-LDS bias, Islamophobia, or other forms of bigotry.' HB2867 also does not cover incidents of antisemitism at private schools supported by taxpayer-funded vouchers. The Democratic-led Nevada Legislature passed a bill that defines antisemitism for discrimination investigations. The language in the bill, now on the governor's desk, defines antisemitism as 'a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish Individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.' It uses the widely used definition provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Jolie Brislin, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal this definition 'does not limit free speech or punish criticism of Israel.' The final vote on the bill came a day after the attack in Boulder. Two Jewish teenagers from Las Vegas — 15-year-old Ethan Cohen and 14-year-old Meyer Delee — helped put a spotlight on the bills that designate Jan. 27 each year as 'International Holocaust Remembrance Day' and define antisemitism for the Nevada Equal Rights Commission. Like other states in the West, members of California's Legislative Jewish Caucus initially pursued a bill to create standards for what's acceptable coursework for the state's ethnic studies classes. They wanted to prevent students from being exposed to dangerous content in classrooms. But the caucus shifted strategies and decided to widen the scope by backing a law that strengthens the processing of discrimination complaints to include educators and board members and install an 'antisemitism coordinator' for the state. 'There have been troubling reports of incidents of antisemitism happening within the very spaces meant to foster inclusion and critical thinking,' state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, D-La Mesa, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, told J-Weekly. Her caucus supports the bill. 'We've heard allegations that some educators and even school board members have made comments that marginalize or exclude Jewish voices.' Activists who support Palestine said the bill censors people who criticize Israel.
