Latest news with #OperationAlliesWelcome
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Feds could eye Indiana's Camp Atterbury as potential site for ICE detainees amid capacity strain
Federal officials could be eying Indiana's Camp Atterbury as a temporary holding site for immigrant detainees as nationwide deportation efforts continue — and detention demands grow. While no official decision has been announced, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Thursday that the agency is actively 'exploring all options' to meet current and future detention needs. The statement comes amid a push by President Donald Trump's administration to stage the 'largest deportation operation in American history,' vowing to deport millions of people. 'U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's enhanced enforcement operations and routine daily operations have resulted in a significant number of arrests of criminal aliens that require greater detention capacity in Indiana,' the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement. 'While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements.' So far, however, the Indiana National Guard 'has no tasking or request' from federal authorities, a spokesperson told the Capital Chronicle. The federally owned facility is licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard. It offers a variety of training ranges, live-fire venues, managed airspace with air-to-ground firing capabilities and an LVC simulation and exercise center. For now, DHS officials have declined to provide a timeline or identify specific sites under consideration. Camp Atterbury, located about 30 miles south of Indianapolis, has previously been used for large-scale federal operations. Most recently, in 2021, the facility temporarily housed thousands of Afghan refugees evacuated during the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. During Operation Allies Welcome, the base accommodated over 7,000 Afghan evacuees in 82 lodging buildings across six neighborhoods, complete with dining facilities and medical centers. The infrastructure includes dorm-style housing for families and open bay barracks for individuals, all equipped with heating, air conditioning and plumbing. Camp Atterbury wouldn't be the first military or state-owned site proposed to be repurposed by federal officials for immigration-related operations. Most recently, Fort Bliss in Texas was identified as a potential deportation hub, with plans to hold thousands of detainees in massive tents on the Army base. The site could serve as the model for a dozen other holding facilities on military bases nationwide. A lack of detention space could be a reason for ICE to tap Camp Atterbury and other locations. The newest data released last week by DHS showed a drop in the number of immigrants in detention across the country for the first time since January — from 49,184 on May 4 to 48,870 on May 18 — but the shift could be due to existing detention facilities reaching capacity. Congress allocated funds for 41,500 detention beds this year, almost 20% fewer than the current number of detainees. It's unclear exactly how many people are currently being held in Indiana. Numbers can fluctuate daily as detainees are released or moved, so specific data is difficult to track. Recent reporting by Mirror Indy revealed at least 400 ICE detainees being held at the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis. And the federal government is paying Marion County $75 per day for each person held. As of March 17, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University reflected an average daily population of eight detainees at the Marion County Jail; and an average of 238 detainees at the Clay County Jail in Brazil, which is operated by the Clay County Sheriff's Department and began housing ICE detainees in 2013 under contract with the federal government. Using Camp Atterbury instead of local jails could save the federal government money. There are an estimated 11 million immigrants who are not legally authorized to live in the United States, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan think tank. A separate report released Thursday by the Center for Migration Studies found the nationwide population of people without permanent legal status to be closer to 12.2 million. Indiana's unauthorized immigrant population was estimated to be around 102,000 as of 2019. During the 2025 legislative session, state lawmakers passed multiple measures to boost immigration enforcement and ensure local compliance with federal directives. That included House Enrolled Act 1393, which requires local law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities about undocumented immigrants in custody. After sharp debate, a separate and stricter immigration proposal failed to pass, though. House Bill 1531 would have required local law enforcement officers to comply with federal detainer requests for undocumented immigrants. The bill would have also banned employers from hiring unauthorized residents. Though the bill passed out of the House on a 64-26 vote, it never got a hearing in the Senate.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Feds could eye Indiana's Camp Atterbury as potential site for ICE detainees amid capacity strain
Photo by Sgt. Joshua Syberg/Indiana National Guard Federal officials could be eying Indiana's Camp Atterbury as a temporary holding site for immigrant detainees as nationwide deportation efforts continue — and detention demands grow. While no official decision has been announced, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Thursday that the agency is actively 'exploring all options' to meet current and future detention needs. The statement comes amid a push by President Donald Trump's administration to stage the 'largest deportation operation in American history,' vowing to deport millions of people. 'U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's enhanced enforcement operations and routine daily operations have resulted in a significant number of arrests of criminal aliens that require greater detention capacity in Indiana,' the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement. 'While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements.' So far, however, the Indiana National Guard 'has no tasking or request' from federal authorities, a spokesperson told the Capital Chronicle. The federally owned facility is licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard. It offers a variety of training ranges, live-fire venues, managed airspace with air-to-ground firing capabilities and an LVC simulation and exercise center. For now, DHS officials have declined to provide a timeline or identify specific sites under consideration. Camp Atterbury, located about 30 miles south of Indianapolis, has previously been used for large-scale federal operations. Most recently, in 2021, the facility temporarily housed thousands of Afghan refugees evacuated during the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Feds to wind down certain Indiana naturalization ceremonies, block on-site voter registration During Operation Allies Welcome, the base accommodated over 7,000 Afghan evacuees in 82 lodging buildings across six neighborhoods, complete with dining facilities and medical centers. The infrastructure includes dorm-style housing for families and open bay barracks for individuals, all equipped with heating, air conditioning and plumbing. Camp Atterbury wouldn't be the first military or state-owned site proposed to be repurposed by federal officials for immigration-related operations. Most recently, Fort Bliss in Texas was identified as a potential deportation hub, with plans to hold thousands of detainees in massive tents on the Army base. The site could serve as the model for a dozen other holding facilities on military bases nationwide. A lack of detention space could be a reason for ICE to tap Camp Atterbury and other locations. The newest data released last week by DHS showed a drop in the number of immigrants in detention across the country for the first time since January — from 49,184 on May 4 to 48,870 on May 18 — but the shift could be due to existing detention facilities reaching capacity. Congress allocated funds for 41,500 detention beds this year, almost 20% fewer than the current number of detainees. It's unclear exactly how many people are currently being held in Indiana. Numbers can fluctuate daily as detainees are released or moved, so specific data is difficult to track. Recent reporting by Mirror Indy revealed at least 400 ICE detainees being held at the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis. And the federal government is paying Marion County $75 per day for each person held. As of March 17, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University reflected an average daily population of eight detainees at the Marion County Jail; and an average of 238 detainees at the Clay County Jail in Brazil, which is operated by the Clay County Sheriff's Department and began housing ICE detainees in 2013 under contract with the federal government. CONTACT US Using Camp Atterbury instead of local jails could save the federal government money. There are an estimated 11 million immigrants who are not legally authorized to live in the United States, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan think tank. A separate report released Thursday by the Center for Migration Studies found the nationwide population of people without permanent legal status to be closer to 12.2 million. Indiana's unauthorized immigrant population was estimated to be around 102,000 as of 2019. During the 2025 legislative session, state lawmakers passed multiple measures to boost immigration enforcement and ensure local compliance with federal directives. That included House Enrolled Act 1393, which requires local law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities about undocumented immigrants in custody. After sharp debate, a separate and stricter immigration proposal failed to pass, though. House Bill 1531 would have required local law enforcement officers to comply with federal detainer requests for undocumented immigrants. The bill would have also banned employers from hiring unauthorized residents. Though the bill passed out of the House on a 64-26 vote, it never got a hearing in the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Trump Administration Is Preparing to Send American Allies to Their Deaths
OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS, the Trump administration has begun laying the groundwork for a possible mass deportation of the nearly 90,000 Afghans living in the United States, most of whom came during or shortly after the fall of Afghanistan in August 2021. While approximately 76,000 of these refugees arrived during Operation Allies Welcome, the military operation following the fall of Afghanistan, thousands more came under President Biden's Operation Enduring Welcome, which created a pipeline for those Afghans left behind. The Trump administration has plans to shutter OEW. In mid-April, the Trump administration announced plans to revoke 9,000 Afghans' temporary protected status (TPS), which currently protects them from being deported to dangerous and unstable countries. TPS also allows those under its protection to seek lawful employment, a critical need for impoverished immigrants. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security sent emails to Afghan refugees telling them to 'self-deport' back to Afghanistan. At the same time, according to multiple people active in the Afghan-American community who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisals, two Afghan refugees were improperly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and remain in custody. Get the best coverage of Trump 2.0 and join our pro-democracy community by becoming a Bulwark+ member. Meanwhile, the Trump administration appears to be improving relations with the Taliban. Zalmay Khalizad, who served as Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation in both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, arrived in Kabul in late March, ostensibly to secure George Glezmann, an American citizen whom the Taliban released after kidnapping him in 2022. A few days later, the Trump administration removed the bounties on several Taliban officials including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's minister of interior. Concurrently, Pakistan deported nearly 20,000 Afghan refugees, adding to the 80,000 or more who had already left ahead of the Pakistani government's April 30 repatriation deadline. Because if the United States isn't going to welcome Afghans who fought for decades alongside Americans for freedom, justice, human rights, and democracy, why should Pakistan? While America's Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program receives significant media attention, most Afghans in the United States are protected by TPS or humanitarian parole. The SIV program, initially established in 2006 for interpreters, was later expanded to include any Afghan who had worked for the U.S. government for at least a year. This program provides a pathway to legal permanent residence. There is no similarly structured pathway for those here under TPS, although they can apply for a green card. Share Some of the people potentially facing deportation are dear personal friends of mine—including women and children, female commandos and pilots—as well as men who stood by America's combat veterans for twenty years of war. Lieutenant General Haibitullah Alizai, the last head of the Afghan National Army, is the co-founder of the Afghan-American Veterans Alliance and has been an exemplary guest in America. When he isn't working tirelessly to support his family, he writes passionately and speaks publicly about the need to support those the United States abandoned—for his country's benefit as well as America's. Should any trusted Afghan ally be deported, the Taliban will almost certainly execute them. Over the last three years, the Taliban has executed a stealth decentralized campaign targeting Afghans who worked with the United States. The Taliban and al Qaeda run Afghanistan now. And they have brought back all of their greatest hits: public executions, floggings, and government-sponsored sexual assaults. While our Afghan allies will be the primary victims of the Trump administration's deportation fantasies, America's military community will also feel the reverberations. For almost four years, America's Afghan combat veterans, aided ably by civilians, have sunk their savings into a rear-guard attempt to salvage any possible honor from America's longest war. They psychological effects of Trump's action and its exacerbation of moral injury will likely be more veteran suicides, confrontations with the police, and the destruction of military families. Wherever the future leads us, I've now come to the same conclusion that hundreds of my fellow Afghan combat veterans have: We will have to protect our Afghan allies from the very government that ordered us to befriend President Trump deport an Afghan back and the Taliban execute them, he will complete America's betrayal of not only its Afghan combat veterans, their families, and millions of Afghan women and children, but he will finally complete the ultimate betrayal: of ourselves and the values embodied in a generation of American combat veterans. So much for standing up for the 'warfighter.' So much for respecting the military. So much for making America great. Share
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A Neenah resident who is a U.S. citizen was told to self-deport by DHS. Here's what happened
A Neenah man was told by the Department of Homeland Security he had to leave the United States, even though he is a U.S. citizen. Even though he was later confirmed to be an unintended recipient, the notice was blasted by Senator Tammy Baldwin as "completely illegal." Tom Frantz, whose story first broke on WPR, received an email April 11 that told him to "depart the United States immediately" because his humanitarian parole was being terminated. Baldwin's office confirmed Frantz is a natural-born U.S. citizen who has never been on humanitarian parole, nor has he ever applied. While Frantz was confident the government made a mistake, he told WPR he was worried about what would happen if the mistake wasn't fixed, and reached out to Senator Tammy Baldwin's office for help. Tom Frantz did not immediately respond to The Post-Crescent's request for comment. According to Baldwin's office, the email was sent to addresses linked in an app used by Customs and Border Patrol, CBP Home (formerly CBP One). The email could have been sent to the person applying for parole or asylum, an immigration lawyer, an NGO or a financial supporter of the applicant, Baldwin's office said. However, the office said Frantz confirmed he did not fit any of those categories or use the app at all. In response to an inquiry from The Post-Crescent, a senior DHS official said in a statement the department had issued notices terminating parole for people without lawful status except for those in programs like Uniting For Ukraine (U4U) and Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). The DHS official said the notice may have been sent to "unintended recipients," including American citizens, if their email addresses were provided by someone who interacted with CBP, not just someone who used the app. The official also said they would review issues on a case-by-case basis. "To be clear: If you are an alien, being in the United States is a privilege — not a right," the official's statement said. "We are acting in the best interest of the country and enforcing the law accordingly." Frantz's issue was elevated to CBP and has now been resolved, Baldwin's office said. However, Baldwin said in a statement the notice was "completely illegal." "President Trump is trying to deport an American-born, law-abiding citizen and has provided absolutely no justification," the statement continued. "The President cannot kick Americans out of the country just because he wants — no one is above the law, including the President.' Baldwin's office said that if any Wisconsinites receive a similar email, they should call her office at 202-224-5653 or visit to get help. Other news outlets have reported that several other American citizens — a Connecticut doctor, a California immigration advocate and a Massachusetts immigration lawyer — have received similar emails from DHS. A federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked the government's attempt to end humanitarian parole for people who arrived from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Other entries in the docket show that the email terminating parole was sent to U4U and OAW migrants, among others. The government said the emails to U4U migrants were unintentional and has appealed the decision. More: 'We've got their backs': New London neighbors stand with Tyson Foods workers facing deportation Rebecca Loroff is a K-12 education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at rloroff@ This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Neenah man told to leave U.S. in 'unintended' Homeland Security email
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'They're not worried about accuracy': Lawyers, people across Washington state receive a letter telling them they have 7 days to leave
Apr. 18—Lawyers and people across the Inland Northwest received a letter last week from the Department of Homeland Security telling them they have seven days to leave the United States or face legal consequences. "Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately," the letter reads. Olga Lucia Herrera, community liaison at the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition, was told about the letter after someone brought it up to her and didn't know what to do. Since then, she has found at least 20 people who have received the same letter. "They're panicking. They were already scared, and now they're more scared," Herrera said. The confusion comes as the second Trump administration has taken numerous unprecedented measures to crack down on immigration. The emailed letters were not addressed to any specific names and started with: "It is time for you to leave the United States." Jason Givens, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, told The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Public Radio that they have issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain. Many people seeking legal status are paroled, meaning they have to check in with immigration officials on a regular basis. This letter was not limited to users of the federal online and mobile app for immigrants, CBP One, and does not apply to those paroled under programs such as U4U and OAW, according to their statement. U4U stands for Uniting for Ukraine, a humanitarian program that aims to help refugees and immigrants from Ukraine. OAW stands for Operation Allies Welcome, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security-led effort to support refugees from Afghanistan. "To be clear: If you are an alien, being in the United States is a privilege — not a right. We are acting in the best interest of the country and enforcing the law accordingly," Givens said. Luis Cortes, attorney at Novo Legal LLC in Seattle, said parole started for certain individuals, such as Afghans and Ukrainians. But then the Biden Administration expanded the parole program for people from certain nations. These include Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti. "This was Biden's approach to try to stop the surge of people coming from the southern border, because we started seeing a lot of people coming in through the southern border who are from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti," Cortes said. "The idea is that instead of them either coming across the border and not being detected, what's happening is that they would come across the border to try to turn themselves into CBP." When they turn themselves over, Cortes said they go through rounds of background checks, finding a sponsor in the United States and asking questions on the state of their situation. "Once all of that is set, then you can come into the United States; the parole, the authorized stay in the United States, is for typically one year that can be renewed," Cortes said. "Or what most people are doing is that they're applying for asylum once they're here. Has everybody applied for asylum? No. So you have all of these parolees in the United States who are in different sections of their immigration processes. "And what the letter really does in its functionality is that it creates a lot of chaos and confusion, which is part of this administration," he said. Some who are U.S. citizens or have legal status have also received this letter. "I've heard of plenty of immigration attorneys in Washington and others receiving these despite the fact that these immigration attorneys are U.S. citizens and cannot be forced to leave the United States," said Aaron Korthuis, staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Korthuis said knowing that immigration attorneys are receiving this letter undermines the parole process, and he said he finds it strange that they have been thrown into the mix. Other lawyers across the country also have received this message. Nicole Micheroni, a lawyer based in Boston, has been outspoken after receiving the letter last Friday. "It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was sent to me, instead of someone I represent," Micheroni told the Boston Globe. Givens, of CBP, said the agency is aware that some people legally in the country received the order to leave. "CBP used the known email addresses of the alien to send notifications. If a nonpersonal email — such as an American citizen contact — was provided by the alien, notices may have been sent to unintended recipients. CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis," CBP said in the statement. Herrera said she sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner regarding the concerns of numerous people in the community who have received the letter from DHS. "Most of the individuals who received these emails were never granted parole, nor do they have any documentation indicating they ever had such status. Many are asylum seekers, individuals with pending immigration relief, or undocumented people with no criminal history who have lived in the U.S. peacefully for years," her letter to Baumgartner states. A spokesman for Baumgartner said he was unavailable for comment Thursday. "The biggest piece of advice is that people need to make sure that they talk to somebody before they make any moves, before they decide to do or not do anything. They should talk to somebody because, you know, they want to make sure that the steps that they're taking are precise to their situation," Cortes said. He added that there's "nothing illegal" about their entry into the country. "They applied with the government. They came in on their own dime, with the permission of the government. There's nothing about the word 'illegal' that remotely fits in here, but, I mean, the Trump Administration has again shown that they're not worried about accuracy."
