Latest news with #MarcoChipantiza
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE agents blasted by families, officials for arresting migrants in NYC courts despite open cases
NEW YORK — The good news for 20-year-old asylum-seeker Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema is that a Manhattan federal judge has left the door open on her bid to stay in the U.S. and avoid what her family says is persecution and certain death if she returns to Ecuador. The bad news is that federal agents, lying in wait outside the courtroom, arrested her anyway despite a pending court date, tossing her in a detention cell with 50 other women where she sleeps on the floor, has no access to a shower and has worn the same clothes for more than a week. 'I don't understand these laws that led to the detainment of my daughter,' said Joselyn's father, Marco Chipantiza, 40 on Thursday. 'I don't understand why they are subjecting her to these conditions. She's not eating. She's sleeping on the floor. I'm begging the authorities to understand my situation, and the situation of many immigrant families who are here looking for a better life.' Chipantiza and his distraught family made their emotional plea just yards from 26 Federal Plaza, where they were joined by advocates, attorneys and elected officials protesting what they said is ICE's 'unlawful' abuse of power. Migrant supporters said that masked agents have been lurking outside federal courtrooms detaining asylum-seekers regardless of the status of their cases. Federal agents have been seen sitting inside, or just outside of courtrooms, and staging themselves in the hallways to ambush and arrest these migrants as they step foot outside the courtroom, the supporters said. 'What we see is Trump again directing agents to break the law,' said Alexa Aviles, chair of the City Council's Committee on Immigration. 'These are people that are following the legal right and their proceedings that they are being asked to do. They are doing the right thing and they are being abducted by masked, armed agents. In many circumstances, it's unclear what agency they even represent. This is abhorrent. It is frightening. There are people with children, and we see an ongoing escalation in these courts against people who are following the law.' Joselyn's family said they fled to the U.S. to escape the lawlessness and vengeful gangs in Ecuador. Joselyn was in a GED program before she was arrested outside a courtroom last month following a routine immigration hearing where she was given a date for a future appearance. Since then, she has been able to speak to her parents only three times, each call no longer than a minute, her father said. 'It's complicated but we came to this country to save our lives because it's very dangerous there,' Chipantiza said. 'It's very different with the gangs that all over the country." City Council member Julie Won told reporters about two West African migrants who were arrested back to back when they stepped outside of the courtroom despite having open cases. 'They were told that their case had to be pushed back because they did not have a translator,' Won said on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday. 'Clearly there is no due process. People are trying to follow the law. People are here with their papers to make sure they have a hearing. They're not even given a hearing. 'They were supposed to have a hearing and they were adjourned because they did not have the proper translation services which is what is due to them by the court of the United States of America. This is not the U.S. anymore.'
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
NYC officials lead "ICE Watch and Accompaniment" effort at federal immigration court. Here's what it means.
New York City officials and advocates went to federal immigration court Thursday to protect people they say are getting "unlawfully kidnapped" by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. It's an effort they call "ICE Watch and Accompaniment." Father begs federal authorities to release daughter Marco Chipantiza stood outside immigration court, where he believes his 20-year-old daughter, Joselyn, has been held since she was detained at a routine hearing on June 24. "What I'm asking is that the authorities listen to me as a human being, as a desperate father who doesn't know what to do," he said in Spanish. Chipantiza said the little he's heard from his daughter has been about terrible conditions. "Sleeping on the floor, not being fed, with the same pants and shirt that she was kidnapped out of her court hearing last Tuesday," he said in Spanish. Advocates translating for the family say Joselyn is a student in Brooklyn who came to the city from Ecuador for a better life. "They said that they cannot return safely to their country because they have been persecuted," an advocate said. CBS News New York reached out to ICE about Joselyn's case, but has not yet heard back. "It's actually lawlessness that we are seeing from ICE" Meanwhile, inside federal immigration court, detainments continue. Immigrant advocates and elected officials were on hand to make sure those who were taken into custody know their rights. State Sen. Julia Salazar and City Councilmember Alexa Avilés are leading the charge. "These are people that are following a legal process that the immigration system has asked them to follow, right? They're coming in for appointments and regardless of whether they're even given another hearing, they're being kidnapped and detained," Avilés said. On Monday, the City Council passed an additional $33.6 million in funding for pro-bono legal services. They say the need for legal support has only increased with President Trump's immigration crackdown. "Many of you were at those rallies in cities and communities across the country when the president spoke about his commitment to removing violent, illegal criminals and anyone who has broken our nation's immigration laws from American communities," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on June 11. "This is not about legal immigration enforcement. At this point, it's actually lawlessness that we are seeing from ICE, that we're seeing from the Trump administration," Salazar said. NYC public advocate holds rally in support of immigrants Separately, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams held what he called a "This Is America" rally in Foley Square. The group condemned what it calls Trump's anti-American threats against immigrants ahead of Independence Day. "To our immigrant communities, to the children of our immigrants, to the grandchildren of our immigrants, Independence Day is a declaration of purpose and a commitment to progress. We, whether they want to hear it or not, are America," Williams said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE agents blasted by families, officials for arresting migrants in NYC courts despite open cases
The good news for 20-year-old asylum seeker Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema is that a Manhattan federal judge has left the door open on her bid to stay in the U.S. and avoid what her family says is persecution and certain death if she returns to Ecuador. The bad news is that federal agents, lying in wait outside the courtroom, arrested her anyway despite a pending court date, tossing her in a detention cell with 50 other women where she sleeps on the floor, has no access to a shower and has worn the same clothes for more than a week. 'I don't understand these laws that led to the detainment of my daughter,' said Joselyn's father, Marco Chipantiza, 40 on Thursday. 'I don't understand why they are subjecting her to these conditions. She's not eating. She's sleeping on the floor. I'm begging the authorities to understand my situation, and the situation of many immigrant families who are here looking for a better life.' Chipantiza and his distraught family made their emotional plea just yards from 26 Federal Plaza, where they were joined by advocates, attorneys and elected officials protesting what they said is ICE's 'unlawful' abuse of power. Migrant supporters said that masked agents have been lurking outside federal courtrooms detaining asylum seekers regardless of the status of their cases. Federal agents have been seen sitting inside, or just outside of courtrooms, and staging themselves in the hallways to ambush and arrest these migrants as they step foot outside the courtroom, the supporters said. 'What we see is Trump again directing agents to break the law,' said Alexa Aviles, chair of the City Council's Committee on Immigration. 'These are people that are following the legal right and their proceedings that they are being asked to do. They are doing the right thing and they are being abducted by masked, armed agents. In many circumstances, it's unclear what agency they even represent. This is abhorrent. It is frightening. There are people with children, and we see an ongoing escalation in these courts against people who are following the law.' Joselyn's family said they fled to the U.S. to escape the lawlessness and vengeful gangs in Ecuador. Joselyn was in a GED program before she was arrested outside a courtroom last month following a routine immigration hearing where she was given a date for a future appearance. Since then, she has been able to speak to her parents only three times, each call no longer than a minute, her father said. 'It's complicated but we came to this country to save our lives because it's very dangerous there,' Chipantiza said. 'It's very different with the gangs that all over the country. City Council member Julie Won told reporters about two West African migrants who were arrested back to back when they stepped outside of the courtroom despite having open cases. 'They were told that their case had to be pushed back because they did not have a translator,' Won said on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday. 'Clearly there is no due process. People are trying to follow the law. People are here with their papers to make sure they have a hearing. They're not even given a hearing. 'They were supposed to have a hearing and they were adjourned because they did not have the proper translation services which is what is due to them by the court of the United States of America. This is not the U.S. anymore.'
