Latest news with #ISAP
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
San Jose's undocumented residents ‘under attack' by ICE, councilman says
(KRON) — Following recent arrests in San Jose carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, a city councilman declared that local undocumented residents are 'under attack.' Councilmember Peter Ortiz described increased federal immigration enforcement as 'disturbing.' Ortiz sent a memo Friday calling on the city to allocate $1 million in emergency funding to support and protect immigrant and undocumented communities. The councilman said he is making the request in the midst of increased ICE apprehensions and the recent opening of a new ICE office in South San Jose. 'Our community is under attack. ICE has begun to increase its presence in our neighborhoods, and families are being torn apart. These are not abstract headlines — these are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers. The people of San Jose deserve to feel safe in their own city,' Ortiz said. The memo calls on the City Council to approve the funding during a final budget hearing on Tuesday, June 10th, as a moral response to the 'crisis.' The requested $1 million will provide legal assistance, rapid response services, and community outreach to ensure undocumented residents know their rights and have access to help. ICE agents made arrests in San Jose Wednesday. On Tuesday, ICE agents were seen conducting an operation in the area of Snell Avenue and Blossom Hill Road. 'We know the federal government is ramping up enforcement efforts and expanding their capacity to detain and deport. What we've seen here in San Jose is likely just the beginning,' Ortiz said. 'We cannot allow members of our community to be hunted and captured like animals.' A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told KRON4 on Friday that ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program and Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) exist to ensure compliance. The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said, 'All illegal aliens are afforded due process. Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order. If you are in the country illegally and a judge has ordered you to be removed, that is precisely what will happen. During the Biden administration, thousands of illegal aliens — including violent criminals — with final orders of removal were on ATD and allowed to roam our communities. This should never have been the case. Thanks to the leadership of Secretary Noem and President Trump, the proper policy is back in place.' Ortiz's memo said immigrants serve a critical role in the cultural, social, and economic vitality of San Jose. The San Jose City Budget Hearing will take place June 10 at City Hall. Public comment will be open, and residents are encouraged to attend and speak out. Federal immigration agents raided several locations in downtown Los Angeles Friday. Agents reportedly detained dozens of people while encountering protesters. Officers wearing vests emblazoned with HSI — an acronym for Homeland Security Investigations — were seen taking people into custody, KTLA reported. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
'Have mercy': Families plead as migrants arrested at routine DHS check-ins
Outside a nondescript building in downtown Manhattan, Ambar was pleading to God and immigration authorities that her husband Jaen would not walk out the doors of the Elk Street facility in handcuffs. "It's the only thing I ask of God and them, to have mercy for his family. I don't have anyone else. I'm alone with my daughter, I don't want to be separated from him," Ambar told ABC News with tears welling up as her daughter Aranza kept herself distracted on an iPad. But her prayers were not answered. That afternoon, Jaen and two other men were brought outside by masked agents in plainclothes and quickly ushered into unmarked vehicles, with Ambar wailing and making a last plea. Aranza, 12, tried to push past the agents to prevent them from leading him toward the vehicles, tears streaming down her face. ABC News observed the emotional moments as an uncontrollably distraught Ambar threw herself on the ground pleading for her husband to be released. The masked individuals did not respond to multiple questions asked by ABC News regarding what agency they belonged to, why they were covering their faces, and which authority was being invoked to detain the men. But Jaen's lawyer, Margaret Cargioli, says his detention follows a growing pattern of migrants being detained during check-ins with the Department of Homeland Security and being quickly deported under expedited removal. DHS did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. In 2023, ABC News did a sit-down interview with the Colombian-Venezuelan family about their tearful reunion after being separated at the border by U.S. authorities in Texas. Jaen, Ambar and Aranza made the dangerous journey from Colombia hoping to seek asylum in the U.S. "[It was] traumatic," Jaen said during the interview. "It was a risky decision. We knew we had someone to take care of, our daughter. As a family, we felt we didn't have another option." MORE: In a new tactic, ICE is arresting migrants at immigration courts, attorneys say Once they reached the border the family said they were separated and were placed in different types of removal proceedings. Ambar and her daughter said they were eventually released and placed on a bus to Los Angeles, funded by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star. Jaen was issued a removal order under the expedited removal process, but Cargioli and other attorneys with Immigrant Defenders Law Center were able to successfully challenge the separation and he was released on humanitarian parole for one year. Cargioli says Jaen has petitioned for asylum, a renewal of parole and a stay of removal but all are pending. Jaen was scheduled for a check-in on June 16 as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) — an alternative to the detention program run by ICE -- but was unexpectedly told to come in on June 3 or 4, Ambar told ABC News. That raised major red flags for his legal team, who has been monitoring increasing incidents of the Trump administration detaining migrants in the interior of the country and placing them on "expedited removal." The process allows the government to remove migrants in a streamlined manner without requiring them, in some cases, to go before a judge. Under the Biden administration, the process applied to migrants who had entered the U.S. within 14 days and within 100 miles of the border. Under the Trump administration, it has been expanded to apply to migrants anywhere in the interior who have arrived within two years. Jaen and his family entered the United States on June 4, 2023, exactly two years before his latest detention, leading Cargioli to fear he's being placed in expedited removal. Despite asking the ISAP officers where he was going to be detained, and if it was through expedited removal, the attorney says she has not received an answer. Jaen spoke with Ambar on the phone after his detention and said he did not know where he was, but that he was being held at a facility close to where he was detained, Ambar said. MORE: Families separated by Trump's 'zero-tolerance' policy at risk due to lapse in legal services, ACLU argues Ambar and Aranza have an asylum hearing scheduled for June 2028. Cargioli believes Jaen would be with his family if they had not been separated at the border. "If he had not been separated from his family at that stage and put into expedited removal, he would have his case in immigration in New York, in immigration court with her, with both of them," she told ABC News. ISAP check-ins are carried out through a government contractor called BI Incorporated, according to DHS reports. Jaen has been regularly checking in at the Elk Street office since his initial detention, Ambar said. Families with loved ones checking in stand outside the facility hoping they will not be detained. On Wednesday, ABC News saw one woman cry with joy when a relative and her baby walked out with no handcuffs in sight. Another woman was shocked to see her mom being quickly led into one of the vehicles waiting outside the building. "Mom what happened, what is this," the woman asked. The masked agents did not respond to her repeated questions about why her mom was being detained. "I don't understand," the woman yelled. "She didn't do anything. She has a work card." "Who do we speak to…what is going on," she asked as the agents closed the car door and drove off with her mother.
2 days ago
- Politics
'Have mercy': Families plead as migrants arrested at routine DHS check-ins
Outside a nondescript building in downtown Manhattan, Ambar was pleading to God and immigration authorities that her husband Jaen would not walk out the doors of the Elk Street facility in handcuffs. "It's the only thing I ask of God and them, to have mercy for his family. I don't have anyone else. I'm alone with my daughter, I don't want to be separated from him," Ambar told ABC News with tears welling up as her daughter Aranza kept herself distracted on an iPad. But her prayers were not answered. That afternoon, Jaen and two other men were brought outside by masked agents in plainclothes and quickly ushered into unmarked vehicles, with Ambar wailing and making a last plea. Aranza, 12, tried to push past the agents to prevent them from leading him toward the vehicles, tears streaming down her face. ABC News observed the emotional moments as an uncontrollably distraught Ambar threw herself on the ground pleading for her husband to be released. The masked individuals did not respond to multiple questions asked by ABC News regarding what agency they belonged to, why they were covering their faces, and which authority was being invoked to detain the men. But Jaen's lawyer, Margaret Cargioli, says his detention follows a growing pattern of migrants being detained during check-ins with the Department of Homeland Security and being quickly deported under expedited removal. DHS did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. In 2023, ABC News did a sit-down interview with the Colombian-Venezuelan family about their tearful reunion after being separated at the border by U.S. authorities in Texas. Jaen, Ambar and Aranza made the dangerous journey from Colombia hoping to seek asylum in the U.S. "[It was] traumatic," Jaen said during the interview. "It was a risky decision. We knew we had someone to take care of, our daughter. As a family, we felt we didn't have another option." Once they reached the border the family said they were separated and were placed in different types of removal proceedings. Ambar and her daughter said they were eventually released and placed on a bus to Los Angeles, funded by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star. Jaen was issued a removal order under the expedited removal process, but Cargioli and other attorneys with Immigrant Defenders Law Center were able to successfully challenge the separation and he was released on humanitarian parole for one year. Cargioli says Jaen has petitioned for asylum, a renewal of parole and a stay of removal but all are pending. Jaen was scheduled for a check-in on June 16 as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) — an alternative to the detention program run by ICE -- but was unexpectedly told to come in on June 3 or 4, Ambar told ABC News. That raised major red flags for his legal team, who has been monitoring increasing incidents of the Trump administration detaining migrants in the interior of the country and placing them on "expedited removal." The process allows the government to remove migrants in a streamlined manner without requiring them, in some cases, to go before a judge. Under the Biden administration, the process applied to migrants who had entered the U.S. within 14 days and within 100 miles of the border. Under the Trump administration, it has been expanded to apply to migrants anywhere in the interior who have arrived within two years. Jaen and his family entered the United States on June 4, 2023, exactly two years before his latest detention, leading Cargioli to fear he's being placed in expedited removal. Despite asking the ISAP officers where he was going to be detained, and if it was through expedited removal, the attorney says she has not received an answer. Jaen spoke with Ambar on the phone after his detention and said he did not know where he was, but that he was being held at a facility close to where he was detained, Ambar said. Ambar and Aranza have an asylum hearing scheduled for June 2028. Cargioli believes Jaen would be with his family if they had not been separated at the border. "If he had not been separated from his family at that stage and put into expedited removal, he would have his case in immigration in New York, in immigration court with her, with both of them," she told ABC News. ISAP check-ins are carried out through a government contractor called BI Incorporated, according to DHS reports. Jaen has been regularly checking in at the Elk Street office since his initial detention, Ambar said. Families with loved ones checking in stand outside the facility hoping they will not be detained. On Wednesday, ABC News saw one woman cry with joy when a relative and her baby walked out with no handcuffs in sight. Another woman was shocked to see her mom being quickly led into one of the vehicles waiting outside the building. "Mom what happened, what is this," the woman asked. The masked agents did not respond to her repeated questions about why her mom was being detained. "I don't understand," the woman yelled. "She didn't do anything. She has a work card."
Axios
2 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Chicago officials decry ICE tactics in surprise detentions
At least 20 people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Wednesday in the South Loop, advocates say. Elected officials and advocates tell Axios the detainees received text messages asking them to check in as part of a federal monitoring program that requires them to wear ankle monitors. Why it matters: Chicago alders say masked ICE agents did not identify themselves nor inform attorneys why individuals were being detained or where they were going. The other side: ICE sent a statement to NBC 5 saying the agency had " final orders of removal" signed by a judge for those detained. ICE did not respond to Axios' multiple requests for comment. The big picture: After the people were separated from their lawyers at the 2245 S. Michigan Ave. administrative office, activists called supporters to gather outside the building, leading to clashes between protesters and agents. Elected officials on the scene included Alds. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), Andre Vasquez (40th), Jessie Fuentes (26th) and Anthony Quezada (35th). Quezada says agents pushed him to the ground. What they're saying: "They cannot be operating with that level of secrecy," Sigcho-Lopez tells Axios. "These people came in with no identification, pointing guns, wearing masks, shoving people to the ground, without giving any reason for why they were being detained. This was not safe. This was mayhem." "Using text messages to call people into ISAP [Intensive Supervision Appearance Program] facilities to arrest the exact immigrants who are demonstrating their commitment to the rule of law by complying with ICE's instructions runs counter to every claim the Trump Administration has made," Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Illinois) said in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The intrigue: Immigrant advocates The Resurrection Project noted that ICE agents brought a photographer with them during the action, suggesting the agency is, "turning our pain into political theater," according to a statement. "Today wasn't about public safety or law enforcement. It was about creating fear and confusion in our communities," the group said. Zoom in: Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement Wednesday saying in part, "I condemn the reckless and dangerous escalation from ICE agents." State of play: Chicago police officers were also at the scene, but according to spokesperson Tom Ahern, they were there for crowd control and were not cooperating with ICE. "No arrests were made by CPD and the crowd dispersed without incident," Ahern said in a statement. Zoom out: Wednesday's incident came after ICE officers this week reportedly detained two people who worked at a Pilsen restaurant.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Local officials, protesters clash with ICE outside office over detentions in growing escalation over Trump's immigration tactics
In another sign of escalating tension over President Donald Trump's immigration policies, community organizers, protesters and several Chicago aldermen clashed with federal agents Wednesday as they detained immigrants outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. The office in the 2200 block of South Michigan Avenue operates the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, or ISAP, which is run by ICE. The program utilizes technology, such as ankle monitors, as an alternative to detention, providing enhanced supervision for individuals in immigration proceedings who haven't been detained. Organizers were first alerted of ICE activity when Yolanda Chavez, a member of Organized Communities Against Deportations, went into the office for a check-in Wednesday morning and didn't come out for hours. The organization quickly mobilized supporters outside, said Antonio Gutierrez, president of the nonprofit. Chavez is from Honduras and has been in the United States for 10 years, Gutierrez said. She has a child and was in asylum proceedings, he added. Gutierrez hasn't heard from her since she went in. 'This is only the beginning,' he said. By Wednesday afternoon, elected officials, including Aldermen Anthony Quezada, 35th, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd, joined the growing number of people. Quezada and Rodriguez-Sanchez sat down in front of a white van as it attempted to enter the office parking lot. The vans drove away, and then federal immigration officers wearing sunglasses and face coverings suddenly arrived in a large group and began to jostle and push the approximately 30 people who were there. Sigcho-Lopez told the Tribune that he, Rodriguez-Sanchez and Quezada were attempting to form a human chain as federal agents entered the building and pushed Quezada to the ground. 'We were trying to hold arms,' Sigcho-Lopez said. 'These ICE agents came in with batons, and they came hard. They stomped into the building, they shoved Alderman Quezada to the ground, pushed the rest of us, stepped on everybody, threatened everybody. This is the Gestapo.' Sigcho-Lopez said he saw Quezada 'shaking' afterward, and Rodriguez-Sanchez texted the Tribune that she was 'bruised but okay' after being 'thrown around a lot.' 'This is a really sad day for the city. We will not allow this to happen again,' Sigcho-Lopez said. Police were notified of the growing protest and showed up at the scene to 'ensure the safety of all involved, including those exercising their First Amendment rights,' said Tom Ahern, a Chicago police spokesman. No arrests were made, police said. The clash between Chicago community members and federal immigration agents is representative of a growing wave of grassroots resistance and pro-immigrant groups that are challenging ICE operations across the country. Residents and advocates are mobilizing rapidly to report ICE sightings, disrupt arrests and show up in force at immigration court hearings. ICE did not say how many people were detained Wednesday. The city and organizations that work against federal deportation efforts estimated the number to be more than 10, with whom they have lost contact. 'Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order,' an ICE spokesman said in a statement. Clashes between ICE and protesters erupted in San Diego last week and in Minneapolis this week, when residents learned that ICE agents were conducting raids at local restaurants. In May, protests erupted outside immigration courts in San Francisco, New York and Arizona when advocates learned ICE would be detaining certain migrants after their hearings. On Michigan Avenue on Wednesday, after ICE officials got into shiny black SUVs and trucks and drove away, Gerardo Perez, 23, stood outside the office with his family. His mother was taken, he said. They live in Rogers Park, and he has six siblings. She had been here for close to 40 years. 'It's just an act of racism,' he said as he got into a car. 'This is nobody's land.' 'They are destroying families because they know they can,' said Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd, at a hastily organized news conference afterward. 'This is a moment of solidarity. Este es un momento de solidaridad.' The more recent aggressive tactics from ICE have had a chilling effect across Chicago, with people opting out of work, church services, doctor appointments and school. Now, immigration attorneys and advocates are reporting that people aren't showing up for court hearings. Lawyers said the Trump administration appears to be coordinating efforts to dismiss cases of individuals in the U.S. who have been in the country for less than two years, so that federal agents can immediately detain them, potentially for an expedited removal order. Immigration officials confirmed to the Tribune that Chicago's courtrooms will also be an epicenter for the detentions. 'Most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals,' a statement from Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem said. 'ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been.' That means that, as attorneys and advocates suspected, ICE agents will be targeting migrants who have been in the country less than two years by dismissing their case during the hearing and arresting them afterward. Unless migrants have 'a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings,' the DHS statement says. 'But if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.' According to immigration experts and lawyers in the Chicago area, the move is another strategy to limit the migrants' ability to present their case before a judge, forcing them to leave the country instead. Reports of arrests in Chicago's immigration court surfaced in mid-May when several attorneys reported seeing ICE agents roaming the courtrooms with a list in hand, followed by a series of arrests. Advocates demand release of Milwaukee father still facing deportation after being falsely accused of threatening Trump 'For many families trying to 'do it the legal way' and dutifully attending their court dates, they expect a normal check-in that brings them closer to stability. Instead, Trump and Noem are weaponizing a moment of hopeful anticipation to terrorize our communities further. Their vile actions show just how little they respect our courts, due process, our rights, and laws,' said U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, who sent a letter to ICE demanding answers about the arrest made at Chicago's immigration courts. Ramirez also urged other members of Congress to to demand answers from the administration. Because of the lack of transparency from DHS and other immigration agencies, attorneys can offer limited help, depending on people's cases, said Azadeh Erfani, policy director of the National Immigrant Justice Center. 'They are boxing them in: you will get deported if you show up to your hearing as mandated by law, but you will also get deported if you don't show up to your hearing,' said Erendira Rendon, vice president of immigrant justice at the Resurrection Project, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to immigrants in need. Over the last week, reports of ICE agents in some of Chicago's predominantly Latino neighborhoods spread rapidly. When neighbors noticed unfamiliar cars on the corner of Troy and 27th streets, in Little Village at around 8 a.m. Tuesday, they quickly contacted their local rapid response team and their aldermen, who confirmed they were ICE agents. Members of the rapid response team, including members of La Villita Se Defiende, which is made up of area residents, approached the agents and patrolled the area until the agents left without making any arrests, according to officials. '(The terrorizing of ICE in our communities) needs to stop, but I fear it won't,' said Ald. Mike Rodriguez, 23rd Ward. 'We need to work like hell to protect people and to resist until we get this person (Trump) out of office.' Though the sighting of ICE were just outside his ward, Rodriguez said his office is vigilant and ready to respond when they are notified of immigration officials in the neighborhood 'to make sure people's rights are preserved.' In a Wednesday evening statement, Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office is 'reviewing' the clash, which he described as an 'assault' by federal authorities. 'Mayor Johnson condemns the reckless and dangerous escalation by ICE agents this afternoon in the South Loop,' he wrote. 'Chicagoans have the right to protest the separation of family members by federal immigration enforcement. Federal agents should never be allowed to come into our city and assault elected officials or any Chicagoan.' In Pilsen, however, the community remains alert after ICE, in conjunction with the FBI, arrested two residents who work at a local business near the 1800 block of South Carpenter Street. In both instances, the agents failed to properly identify themselves or present arrest warrants, according to Sigcho Lopez and local rapid response teams. The Pilsen Migra Watch team reported that one of the arrests took place in the private residential area above the local business, which federal agents are not allowed to enter without a warrant signed by a judge. Chicago Tribune's Alice Yin contributed.
