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Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Immigration arrests in courthouses have become the new deportation tool, stripping migrants of a legal process
After Julio David Pérez Rodríguez attended an immigration hearing last week in pursuit of a refugee status in the U.S., the Cuban national was stopped by undercover agents at an elevator, handcuffed and taken into custody. 'If I have done nothing illegal, why do you have me handcuffed?' the 22-year-old implored in Spanish amid tears. The arrest in Miami was captured in an emotional video aired by Noticias Telemundo. 'We're coming to this country to seek freedom. ... What is happening with this country?' he said before plainclothes officers whisked him away. Pérez Rodríguez is one of dozens of immigrants caught in similar dragnets drawn in cities around the country since last week, as the reality of President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation penetrates further into American families' consciousness. Many of those who saw loved ones handcuffed and taken away had accompanied their family members to ongoing immigration processes seeking asylum or hoping to make a case before a judge to stave off deportation, a legal process long afforded to immigrants and spelled out for immigration judges in court practice manuals. The arrests are happening immediately after immigration cases are dismissed or closed, leading some people to express joy, give thanks in prayer or celebrate, only to have all that replaced by sorrow, fear and anger, as they are handcuffed and taken into custody, said Billy Botch, an observer who works for the American Friends Service Committee Florida, a social justice nonprofit formed by Quakers. "We are talking about people who are already complying with the legal court process and who have claims of asylum or have other legal protection," Gregory Chen, senior director of government relations for American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), told NBC News. "They should have a right to a fair day in court." Trump campaigned for the presidency on a pledge to focus on eradicating violent criminals, often invoking the names of crime victims of immigrants illegally in the country. But Chen said that, with arrests taking place in courthouses and in immigration and citizenship services offices, 'the dragnet is sweeping in foreign nationals of all stripes, people who are members of our communities, who have been here for a long time, who have family here, who have jobs here. ... Those are the people who are really getting targeted now in mass numbers.' Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Trump administration is reinstating the rule of law after President Joe Biden adopted policies that "allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets." But immigration attorneys and advocates said the dragnets appear to be an attempt by the Trump administration to bypass constitutional due process protections for immigrants. Based on observations by attorneys and advocates who have been monitoring the arrests, Chen said Immigration and Customs Enforcement trial attorneys are showing up in immigration courts where people have scheduled hearings and asking the judges to dismiss the cases. "They are doing it in most cases verbally, even though the practice manual of the court typically requires a written motion," Chen said, "and they are asking that these be granted immediately, even though people are required in the practice manual to be given time to respond." Similar arrests have been witnessed at field offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which handles such things as applications for citizenship or legal permanent residency, also known as green cards, as well as visas for workers and other benefits. "There have been arrests in several cities at those USCIS interviews," Chen said. He said AILA and immigration attorneys are instructing people at the court hearings to insist on a written motion from the government spelling out their dismissal request, to ask for time to respond to the motion — 10 days, according to the court manual — and to ask judges to not immediately rule on the government motions to dismiss. Some immigration judges, who are part of the administrative branch of government under the Department of Justice and not the judicial branch, appear to be going along with ICE requests and dismissing cases. "Some judges are granting the motions immediately, even without a written motion and not giving a person 10 days to have that due process to understand and to respond to the motion," Chen said. With the case dismissed, plainclothes officers who have been stationed in hallways or other locations arrest them and set up the immigrants for accelerated deportation, which is known as expedited removal. Criminality often isn't an issue in these immigration arrests. Instead, the criteria seem to be to capture immigrants who came under the Biden administration and haven't been living in the country more than two years. The Trump administration has eliminated many of the programs that allowed immigrants to come to seek asylum or allowed them into the country through parole. Administration officials deem the people who used these programs as having entered the U.S. illegally, a misdemeanor. McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary, said Biden disregarded the fact that most of those people are subject to expedited removal and released millions of immigrants, "including violent criminals," with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. "If they have a valid claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim can be found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation," she said. Expedited removal typically has been reserved for people who are apprehended less than 100 miles from the border and people who are in the country for two years or less. But the Trump administration is using expedited removal everywhere in the country. Chen said the way the dragnets are playing out is troubling, because of the lack of due process and because ICE attorneys are not being required to present written motions explaining their basis for dismissal. "We are also concerned that there is a high level of cooperation between the courts and ICE, which is increasingly appearing to be a cooperative law enforcement operation where the judges are making these speedy decisions to dismiss the cases so that ICE can take them into custody and rapidly deport them," he said. DHS did not respond to questions about whether immigration judges had been instructed to close cases and, if so, provide copies of those instructions. Botch, the hearings observer from American Friends Service Committee Florida, said a Miami judge refused one person's request for their case not to be dismissed, saying, "We all have bosses." Botch said another judge stood out because he denied government attorneys' dismissal requests in six of seven cases and granted the immigrants six-day continuances, giving them time to find attorneys. He said most of the immigration cases he observed in court dated back to 2022. The arrests of people who are seeking asylum or relief is a waste of law enforcement resources, Chen said, because ICE will have to give them a "credible fear" interview. Such interviews determine if the person has reason to fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion if returned to their home country. Immigrants who already are in the asylum process have a good chance of passing the credible fear interview and will end up back in front of a judge for a hearing on the asylum claim, Chen said. "You are seeing this dramatic scale-up of not only ICE law enforcement but several other agencies coming into these courts; that's a huge expenditure of resources, taking them to detention, and expending taxpayer resources to detain these people already complying with the law," Chen said. According to attorneys, ICE officers have been clearing courtrooms during hearings, which are open to the public, and threatening with arrests or intimidating people who try to observe the proceedings or arrests. In some cases, they've forced closure of courtrooms even when hearings are public, Chen said. The immigration court arrests have put immigrants on edge, shocking and panicking those with pending cases and their families. On Tuesday, when Peréz Rodríguez showed up to his hearing, another 20 or so people went through similar scenarios in different floors of the building, said Karla De Anda, a legal observer who has been watching the arrests. Among those arrested was a New York City high school student who ICE took into custody after his hearing last week, prompting a clamor of protests. Arrests have been reported last week and this week at courthouses in Miami; San Francisco; Sacramento, California; San Antonio; and several other cities. On Wednesday night, protesters clashed with police as they tried to interrupt arrests at a New York City building where immigration courts are located, The City news site reported. Chen said the law enforcement presence at courthouses has become "essentially a cooperative arm" and is intimidating. He said it is going to frighten people from coming to court appearances "when they have a legal right to their fair day in court." "It's going to undermine the rule of law that Americans expect," he said. This article was originally published on
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Immigration arrests in courthouses have become the new deportation tool, stripping migrants of a legal process
After Julio David Pérez Rodríguez attended an immigration hearing last week in pursuit of a refugee status in the U.S., the Cuban national was stopped by undercover agents at an elevator, handcuffed and taken into custody. 'If I have done nothing illegal, why do you have me handcuffed?' the 22-year-old implored in Spanish amid tears. The arrest in Miami was captured in an emotional video aired by Noticias Telemundo. 'We're coming to this country to seek freedom. ... What is happening with this country?' he said before plainclothes officers whisked him away. Pérez Rodríguez is one of dozens of immigrants caught in similar dragnets drawn in cities around the country since last week, as the reality of President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation penetrates further into American families' consciousness. Many of those who saw loved ones handcuffed and taken away had accompanied their family members to ongoing immigration processes seeking asylum or hoping to make a case before a judge to stave off deportation, a legal process long afforded to immigrants and spelled out for immigration judges in court practice manuals. The arrests are happening immediately after immigration cases are dismissed or closed, leading some people to express joy, give thanks in prayer or celebrate, only to have all that replaced by sorrow, fear and anger, as they are handcuffed and taken into custody, said Billy Botch, an observer who works for the American Friends Service Committee Florida, a social justice nonprofit formed by Quakers. "We are talking about people who are already complying with the legal court process and who have claims of asylum or have other legal protection," Gregory Chen, senior director of government relations for American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), told NBC News. "They should have a right to a fair day in court." Trump campaigned for the presidency on a pledge to focus on eradicating violent criminals, often invoking the names of crime victims of immigrants illegally in the country. But Chen said that, with arrests taking place in courthouses and in immigration and citizenship services offices, 'the dragnet is sweeping in foreign nationals of all stripes, people who are members of our communities, who have been here for a long time, who have family here, who have jobs here. ... Those are the people who are really getting targeted now in mass numbers.' Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Trump administration is reinstating the rule of law after President Joe Biden adopted policies that "allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets." But immigration attorneys and advocates said the dragnets appear to be an attempt by the Trump administration to bypass constitutional due process protections for immigrants. Based on observations by attorneys and advocates who have been monitoring the arrests, Chen said Immigration and Customs Enforcement trial attorneys are showing up in immigration courts where people have scheduled hearings and asking the judges to dismiss the cases. "They are doing it in most cases verbally, even though the practice manual of the court typically requires a written motion," Chen said, "and they are asking that these be granted immediately, even though people are required in the practice manual to be given time to respond." Similar arrests have been witnessed at field offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which handles such things as applications for citizenship or legal permanent residency, also known as green cards, as well as visas for workers and other benefits. "There have been arrests in several cities at those USCIS interviews," Chen said. He said AILA and immigration attorneys are instructing people at the court hearings to insist on a written motion from the government spelling out their dismissal request, to ask for time to respond to the motion — 10 days, according to the court manual — and to ask judges to not immediately rule on the government motions to dismiss. Some immigration judges, who are part of the administrative branch of government under the Department of Justice and not the judicial branch, appear to be going along with ICE requests and dismissing cases. "Some judges are granting the motions immediately, even without a written motion and not giving a person 10 days to have that due process to understand and to respond to the motion," Chen said. With the case dismissed, plainclothes officers who have been stationed in hallways or other locations arrest them and set up the immigrants for accelerated deportation, which is known as expedited removal. Criminality often isn't an issue in these immigration arrests. Instead, the criteria seem to be to capture immigrants who came under the Biden administration and haven't been living in the country more than two years. Rendering legal pathways illegal The Trump administration has eliminated many of the programs that allowed immigrants to come to seek asylum or allowed them into the country through parole. Administration officials deem the people who used these programs as having entered the U.S. illegally, a misdemeanor. McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary, said Biden disregarded the fact that most of those people are subject to expedited removal and released millions of immigrants, "including violent criminals," with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. "If they have a valid claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim can be found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation," she said. Expedited removal typically has been reserved for people who are apprehended less than 100 miles from the border and people who are in the country for two years or less. But the Trump administration is using expedited removal everywhere in the country. Chen said the way the dragnets are playing out is troubling, because of the lack of due process and because ICE attorneys are not being required to present written motions explaining their basis for dismissal. "We are also concerned that there is a high level of cooperation between the courts and ICE, which is increasingly appearing to be a cooperative law enforcement operation where the judges are making these speedy decisions to dismiss the cases so that ICE can take them into custody and rapidly deport them," he said. DHS did not respond to questions about whether immigration judges had been instructed to close cases and, if so, provide copies of those instructions. Botch, the hearings observer from American Friends Service Committee Florida, said a Miami judge refused one person's request for their case not to be dismissed, saying, "We all have bosses." Botch said another judge stood out because he denied government attorneys' dismissal requests in six of seven cases and granted the immigrants six-day continuances, giving them time to find attorneys. He said most of the immigration cases he observed in court dated back to 2022. 'Already complying with the law' The arrests of people who are seeking asylum or relief is a waste of law enforcement resources, Chen said, because ICE will have to give them a "credible fear" interview. Such interviews determine if the person has reason to fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion if returned to their home country. Immigrants who already are in the asylum process have a good chance of passing the credible fear interview and will end up back in front of a judge for a hearing on the asylum claim, Chen said. "You are seeing this dramatic scale-up of not only ICE law enforcement but several other agencies coming into these courts; that's a huge expenditure of resources, taking them to detention, and expending taxpayer resources to detain these people already complying with the law," Chen said. According to attorneys, ICE officers have been clearing courtrooms during hearings, which are open to the public, and threatening with arrests or intimidating people who try to observe the proceedings or arrests. In some cases, they've forced closure of courtrooms even when hearings are public, Chen said. The immigration court arrests have put immigrants on edge, shocking and panicking those with pending cases and their families. On Tuesday, when Peréz Rodríguez showed up to his hearing, another 20 or so people went through similar scenarios in different floors of the building, said Karla De Anda, a legal observer who has been watching the arrests. Among those arrested was a New York City high school student who ICE took into custody after his hearing last week, prompting a clamor of protests. Arrests have been reported last week and this week at courthouses in Miami; San Francisco; Sacramento, California; San Antonio; and several other cities. On Wednesday night, protesters clashed with police as they tried to interrupt arrests at a New York City building where immigration courts are located, The City news site reported. Chen said the law enforcement presence at courthouses has become "essentially a cooperative arm" and is intimidating. He said it is going to frighten people from coming to court appearances "when they have a legal right to their fair day in court." "It's going to undermine the rule of law that Americans expect," he said.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
U.S. citizen with REAL ID detained by ICE
May 25 (UPI) -- An American citizen born in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers despite having a REAL ID. He was later released from custody after providing his Social Security number. The incident was first reported by Noticias Telemundo, which obtained video footage of a raid that led to the arrest of 25-year-old Leonardo Garcia Venegas at a job site in Alabama. The video shows ICE officers grabbing Venegas and putting handcuffs on him before someone off-camera yelled that he was a citizen. He told the broadcaster that authorities took his ID from his wallet before handcuffing him and dismissed it as fake. "We all made sure we have the REAL ID and went through the protocols the administration is asking for," his cousin Shelah Venegas said. "He has his REAL ID and then they see him and I guess because his English isn't fluent and/or because he's brown, it's fake." Shelah Venegas, in a post to social media, alleged that the federal authorities refused to let him identify himself and held him in handcuffs "for almost an hour" despite him yelling that he was a citizen. The Department of Homeland Security alleged in a statement to NBC News that Garcia had interfered with an arrest that was being carried out at the job site. "He physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary. The brief video shared by Noticias Telemundo and Shelah Venegas on social media does not appear to show Leonardo Garcia Venegas getting between two agents as described. "Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest," McLaughlin said. A spokesperson for the agency told Newsweek that "there was no mistake" made by authorities during the encounter.
UPI
7 days ago
- UPI
U.S. citizen with REAL ID detained by ICE
An American citizen born in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers despite having a REAL ID. Photo courtesy Immigration and Customs Enforcement May 25 (UPI) -- An American citizen born in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers despite having a REAL ID. He was later released from custody after providing his Social Security number. The incident was first reported by Noticias Telemundo, which obtained video footage of a raid that led to the arrest of 25-year-old Leonardo Garcia Venegas at a job site in Alabama. The video shows ICE officers grabbing Venegas and putting handcuffs on him before someone off-camera yelled that he was a citizen. He told the broadcaster that authorities took his ID from his wallet before handcuffing him and dismissed it as fake. "We all made sure we have the REAL ID and went through the protocols the administration is asking for," his cousin Shelah Venegas said. "He has his REAL ID and then they see him and I guess because his English isn't fluent and/or because he's brown, it's fake." Shelah Venegas, in a post to social media, alleged that the federal authorities refused to let him identify himself and held him in handcuffs "for almost an hour" despite him yelling that he was a citizen. The Department of Homeland Security alleged in a statement to NBC News that Garcia had interfered with an arrest that was being carried out at the job site. "He physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary. The brief video shared by Noticias Telemundo and Shelah Venegas on social media does not appear to show Leonardo Garcia Venegas getting between two agents as described. "Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest," McLaughlin said. A spokesperson for the agency told Newsweek that "there was no mistake" made by authorities during the encounter.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's ICE Detains U.S. Citizen, Claiming His REAL ID Was Fake
Amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested and detained a Florida-born U.S. citizen, claiming his REAL ID was fake, Noticias Telemundo reported Friday. Law enforcement came to Leonardo Garcia Venegas' construction job in Foley, Alabama, on Wednesday. Before his arrest, he told NBC News, he was taking out his phone. One ICE agent threw it on the ground, and another grabbed him. 'I'm a citizen!' he said, according to video. 'He's a citizen, bro!' an onlooker yelled. Garcia Venegas, whose parents are from Mexico, told Noticias Telemundo that Immigration and Customs Enforcement said his REAL ID was fake. They detained him in a vehicle, where he gave officials his Social Security number. He was released hours later. 'They took out my wallet, took out my ID,' he told the outlet in Spanish, via The Latin Times. 'And they told me it was fake. Said it wasn't valid and that it was fake. My ID. They handcuffed me and they handcuffed me really tight.' 'I feel really sad, honestly, and I feel a bit nervous for everything that's happening,' he said. Immigration officials have arrested and deported thousands of people, making good on Trump's xenophobic campaign promises. Citizens have been deported, including at least two children with cancer. Trump has defied a judge by deporting people to a notorious prison in El Salvador. And earlier this week, he deported two Asian immigrants to South Sudan, violating a court order. 'He was actually pretty sore when he got back,' Garcia Venegas' cousin Shelah Venegas told NBC News. 'He said his arms were hurting and his hands. His wrists, you could see where he had all the marks from the handcuffs. … The way they put him on the ground, his knees also were hurting.' 'Apparently a REAL ID is not valid anymore. He has a REAL ID,' she said. 'We all made sure we have the REAL ID and went through the protocols the administration is asking for. … He has his REAL ID and then they see him and I guess because his English isn't fluent and/or because he's brown it's fake, it's not real.' A REAL ID is an identification card that can be used to fly and enter federal buildings. It has higher federal security standards than a driver's license. A rule went into effect earlier this month that travelers need a REAL ID or a passport in airports. ICE also detained Garcia Venegas' brother, who was not in the country legally. He reportedly signed deportation papers, wanting to avoid another family member's experience of spending months in a detention center. Garcia Venegas 'physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands,' Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, told NBC News. 'Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest.' Venegas said her family owns a contracting company, and some people are refusing to come to work in the current political climate. 'It's just insane we can't be different, the color that we are. We contribute to this country the same way every other citizen does with their taxes,' she said. 'But we have to be the ones that every time we go to work, we are going to be scared that we're going to get discriminated [against].' More from Rolling Stone Trump Brags to West Point Grads He Can Do Whatever He Wants Now Trump Tries to Make Sure States Don't Fight Climate Change Either Rubio Says Blocking Deportations to South Sudan Will Harm Humanitarian Aid Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
