Latest news with #ICEarrest
CNN
26-07-2025
- CNN
Friend of pastor arrested by ICE details ‘subhuman' conditions of his detainment
54-year-old Maryland pastor, Daniel Fuentes Espinal, who fled Honduras 24 years ago to escape poverty and violence is waiting to hear when he will face an immigration judge after his arrest this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for overstaying his visa in 2001, according to his family.
CBS News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Rally held outside of Philadelphia courthouse in response to controversial arrest by ICE
A few dozen people gathered at the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice in Philadelphia on Friday to protest a controversial arrest by ICE that took place outside the courthouse. "They refused to identify themselves. They didn't present a warrant," said Erika Guadalupe Nunez, with Juntos, an immigrant advocacy organization. A volunteer with Juntos captured the moment the man was arrested Wednesday as he was leaving a court hearing. The organization created a program called ICE Watch to monitor the activity of federal agents at courthouses. "[ICE agents] physically, violently restrained the community member. He couldn't breathe. They had his leg on his back on his neck," Nunez said. Nunez believes this recent incident underscores a bigger issue of immigrants being treated unfairly across the country. She said the city needs to do more to make sure immigrants' rights aren't violated. "The same way that [ICE is] being just as forceful and just as aggressive, we request our city to meet that energy in the same in defense of immigrant communities if we truly are a sanctuary city," Nunez said. The arrest happened on the same day ICE agents raided the Super Gigante grocery store in West Norriton Township, which led to the arrest of 14 undocumented immigrants, including six Mexican nationals. Nunez is now calling on the city to expand its sanctuary city policies as well as to better protect immigrants from surveillance, detention and deportation. City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier attended the rally and said an executive order that prohibits Philadelphia police from collaborating with ICE remains in effect. Gauthier said she came to the rally to stand in solidarity with the immigrant community "Philadelphia is considered a welcoming city," she said. "That is a distinction that we received several years ago, that is an expression of how much we value immigrants, and we need to stand on that and make sure that immigrants feel protected at this time."
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
MAGA supporter arrested by ICE detention issues statement about Trump
An Iranian native who was arrested by ICE agents from her California home and locked up in a detention center is still an avid Donald Trump supporter - saying the president is 'doing the right thing.' Arpineh Masihi, 39, who moved from Iran to America when she was two years old, was taken into custody on the morning of June 30. When federal agents arrived at her house in Diamond Bar, about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, the mother-of-four calmly walked back inside to say goodbye to her four kids - unsure of the next time she'd be able to see them. Before her detainment, her husband, Arthu Sahakyan, received a chilling phone call from an anonymous number, alerting him ICE officials were going to arrest his wife. But he thought it was some kind of cruel but empty threat, like the ones his family often gets for having a large MAGA flag waving in front of their home. Masihi and Sahakyan have been proud Trump proponents, and Masihi being unexpectedly ripped away from her loved ones has not changed that, the couple said. 'I vote Trump all the way. I'll never take it back. He did the right thing,' Masihi told The Orange County Register over the phone from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Victorville. 'He's doing the right thing. I would never take it back. And a lot of people hate me in here for that.' Inside the ICE facility, Masihi described her company as 'all from the border' and non-English speaking. She was first placed in another center in downtown LA, which she said was 'the worst facility in the world,' as she had no blankets and could not shower. Masihi, who is of Armenian descent, fled Iran as a refugee with her family in the late 1980s. They all made their way to California, where she has lived ever since. She had a Green Card - but in 2008, she was convicted of burglary and served two years in prison, the Department of Homeland Security told The Orange County Register. As a result of the crime - which both she and Sahakyan claimed was a petty incident involving less than $200 in check fraud - she had the document revoked. 'She made mistakes, but we all make mistakes,' Sahakyan told the outlet. The DHS said she was ordered to leave the US in 2009, but she never did. 'She had more than 15 years to self-deport and leave the US,' the agency wrote in a statement. Acknowledging she made 'mistakes' in the past, Masihi said she also 'blames the Democrats' for her unfavorable situation. 'It's mine [the mistake], but I blame the Democrats for allowing people in, because Trump would never have done this,' she told the outlet. While remaining in the country, she and her husband have been tirelessly trying to get her citizenship back. 'She just went in [for an immigration check-in] in April,' Sahakyan told Fox 11 . 'They said you're fine. Have a good day. See you back in September or October.' Terrified for her future, the family said they have found a lawyer and are hoping to resolve the matter soon in court. Masihi's arrest comes as Southern California has been subjected to sweeping ICE raids amid Trump's immigration crackdown. Adding to the mix, the US recently bombed three nuclear sites in Iran - raising concerns about sleeper cells.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Iranian MAGA supporter thrown into ICE detention makes jaw-dropping statement about Trump
An Iranian native who was arrested by ICE agents from her California home and locked up in a detention center is still an avid Donald Trump supporter - saying the president is 'doing the right thing.' Arpineh Masihi, 39, who moved from Iran to America when she was two years old, was taken into custody on the morning of June 30. When federal agents arrived at her house in Diamond Bar, about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, the mother-of-four calmly walked back inside to say goodbye to her four kids - unsure of the next time she'd be able to see them. Before her detainment, her husband, Arthu Sahakyan, received a chilling phone call from an anonymous number, alerting him ICE officials were going to arrest his wife. But he thought it was some kind of cruel but empty threat, like the ones his family often gets for having a large MAGA flag waving in front of their home. Masihi and Sahakyan have been proud Trump proponents, and Masihi being unexpectedly ripped away from her loved ones has not changed that, the couple said. 'I vote Trump all the way. I'll never take it back. He did the right thing,' Masihi told The Orange County Register over the phone from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Victorville. 'He's doing the right thing. I would never take it back. And a lot of people hate me in here for that.' Inside the ICE facility, Masihi described her company as 'all from the border' and non-English speaking. She was first placed in another center in downtown LA, which she said was 'the worst facility in the world,' as she had no blankets and could not shower. Masihi, who is of Armenian descent, fled Iran as a refugee with her family in the late 1980s. They all made their way to California, where she has lived ever since. She had a Green Card - but in 2008, she was convicted of burglary and served two years in prison, the Department of Homeland Security told The Orange County Register. As a result of the crime - which both she and Sahakyan claimed was a petty incident involving less than $200 in check fraud - she had the document revoked. 'She made mistakes, but we all make mistakes,' Sahakyan told the outlet. The DHS said she was ordered to leave the US in 2009, but she never did. 'She had more than 15 years to self-deport and leave the US,' the agency wrote in a statement. Acknowledging she made 'mistakes' in the past, Masihi said she also 'blames the Democrats' for her unfavorable situation. 'It's mine [the mistake], but I blame the Democrats for allowing people in, because Trump would never have done this,' she told the outlet. While remaining in the country, she and her husband have been tirelessly trying to get her citizenship back. 'She just went in [for an immigration check-in] in April,' Sahakyan told Fox 11. 'They said you're fine. Have a good day. See you back in September or October.' Terrified for her future, the family said they have found a lawyer and are hoping to resolve the matter soon in court. Masihi's arrest comes as Southern California has been subjected to sweeping ICE raids amid Trump's immigration crackdown. Adding to the mix, the US recently bombed three nuclear sites in Iran - raising concerns about sleeper cells. During the last week for June - when Masihi was detained - ICE agents took about 130 Iranian nationals into custody across eight states. Federal agents arrived in front of her house in Diamond Bar (pictured), the mother-of-four calmly walked back inside to say goodbye to her four kids 'I'm very for [the United States vetting] Iranian nationals because of the sleeper cells,' Sahakyan told Fox 11. 'I think it will resolve a lot of issues because we'll know exactly who's in here for what reasons, even though I miss [my wife] dearly. 'I think we could have a faster process [where they determine] she's not a radical, or tied to the crazies, let her out.'
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- The Guardian
After 47 years in the US, Ice took this Iranian mother from her yard. Her family just wants her home
Kaitlynn Milne says her mother is usually always up first thing in the morning, hours before the rest of the family. She enjoys being productive in the quiet hours around sunrise. It's an especially optimal time to do yard work, when the rest of her New Orleans neighborhood still sleeps and she can count on peacefully completing chores. Gardening and rearranging the shed is how an average morning would go for Mandonna 'Donna' Kashanian, a 64-year-old Iranian mother, wife, home cook, parent-teacher association (PTA) member and lifelong community service volunteer. 'She always says: 'I've already done most of my day before y'all even wake up,' complaining at us,' said Kaitlynn, 32. It was always done with love, she says, as her mother adores taking care of others and would wake up every morning excited to do just that. But the morning of Sunday, 22 June, didn't go like every other morning. In the early hours, while her husband, Russell Milne, slept inside the house, Kashanian was approached in her yard by plainclothes men who identified themselves as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents. She was quickly arrested without her family being told anything. They only found out after a neighbor who happened to be awake witnessed the arrest and notified them. According to the neighbor, Kashanian was handcuffed before being taken away by multiple agents, details Kashanian herself was later able to confirm to her family. Her arrest involved three unmarked cars, including one that appeared to be a lookout, which her neighbor and family believe had been watching for a moment when Kashanian was outside and alone. 'Had the neighbors not walked out at the same time they were pushing her into the car, we would not have known she was taken,' said Russell. Kashanian was able to call her family about an hour later, when she relayed to them what had happened and where she was. Ice officers told her that she was being taken to a holding center in Mississippi, before eventually being transferred back to a detention center in Louisiana. After that Sunday morning call, her husband and daughter didn't hear from her again until Tuesday. She remains in Ice custody in Basile, Louisiana, despite having no criminal record. The timing of Kashanian's detention was just hours after US airstrikes in Iran, a move that has coincided with the ramping-up of deportations of Iranians by the Trump administration. It also comes amid a nationwide crackdown by Ice, which has seen tens of thousands of immigrants detained, often by masked agents, plunged many communities into fear and outraged civil liberties advocates. Kashanian arrived in the US in 1978 on a student visa and has lived in the country ever since. She later applied for asylum, citing fears of persecution due to her father's ties to the US-backed Shah of Iran. Her asylum request was ultimately denied, but she was granted a stay of removal on the condition she comply with immigration requirements, a condition her family says she always met. Kashanian was so careful about regularly attending her meetings with immigration officials that she once checked in from South Carolina during Hurricane Katrina. Despite having to juggle constant immigration checks, Kashanian remained devoted to community service work. She volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, helping rebuild homes after Katrina. She worked with Nola Tree Project, a local non-profit that replants trees after disasters. She served on a PTA, volunteering at her daughter's elementary school, middle school and high school. 'She was constantly around,' said Kaitlynn. 'She was constantly helping with upkeep of the schools. She was always there, always helping the teachers and custodial staff, anything to be supportive. Everyone knew Kaitlynn's mom.' She also found the time to become a skilled home cook. Her YouTube channel, titled Mandonna in the Kitchen, is dedicated to sharing her favorite Persian recipes with aspiring cooks. According to her daughter and husband, Kashanian is an optimist who is almost impossible to upset. But there is one thing that never fails to unsettle her, and that's improperly cooked rice. Now that she has been moved to a facility in Louisiana, her family has been able to set up a line of communication, speaking to her once a day. But she is given a limited amount of time to call or message, so communication is restricted. She says she has still not been assigned a case worker. 'She's in pretty good spirits,' said Russell. 'She's more worried about us, and about the lack of communication she's getting about her situation. They're not really giving her any information, and that's what's scary.' Russell and Kaitlynn have been working tirelessly to find legal help, but it has been challenging due in part to the complexity of Donna's case, with some of her documents seeming to have been lost over decades of changing hands in the immigration offices. But the other big challenge is the limited availability of immigration lawyers. As the Trump administration has escalated the number of Ice arrests, there is a shortage of legal counsel for immigrants and their families to go to for help. 'We have been on the phone nonstop from 8am to 10pm almost every day the last week trying to find help, and it's proving difficult because all the immigration lawyers are all dealing with everyone else's crises as well,' said Kaitlynn. 'So far, we haven't gotten a lot of optimistic responses.' Like her mother, Kaitlynn remains in good spirits despite the constant obstacles, staying focused on helping someone else who currently needs it. But there is one moment in her show of resilience when her voice falters, as she recalls a memory from her childhood when her mother created a French book section in her New Orleans elementary school library. 'I had forgotten that until just now,' Kaitlynn said, through tears. 'Because there were no French books in the library. She organized that and got it together and painted this little tiny nook.' Russell says the focus currently is just to get his wife out of detention. 'We're working on a grassroots campaign and a letter-writing campaign on her behalf, that will hopefully be able to at least gain her release from the detention center,' he said. 'After that, we can move forward with next steps through the immigration offices,' he added. 'But right now, just getting her home is the challenge.'
