Latest news with #OperationGuardian
The Independent
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
ICE raids wrong Oklahoma home, seizes life savings and leaves family ‘traumatized for life'
An Oklahoma mother and her daughters, all U.S. citizens, were reportedly subject to a violent and humiliating raid by federal immigration agents last week, despite allegedly not being the intended targets of the operation. 'It was so denigrating. That you do all of this to a family, to women, your fellow citizens,' the mother, using the pseudonym Marisa, told KFOR of the raid. 'You literally traumatized me and my daughters for life,' she added. 'We're going to have to go get help or get over this somehow.' Early Thursday morning, a multi-agency team of agents burst into the Oklahoma City rental home where the family had just settled after moving from Maryland, according to Marisa. The agents demanded the woman and her daughters go outside before they were able to fully change into day clothes, she said. 'They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,' Marisa told KFOR. 'My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it's respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.' Agents told the family they had a search warrant, though it named an individual who appeared to have been a previous tenant of the home, Marisa said. Nonetheless, the officers tore through the home and seized phones and much of the woman's life savings in cash as evidence, while declining to leave a business card or give any indication of when she'd get her property back, Marisa said. 'I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,' she added in her KFOR interview. 'I have to feed my children. I'm going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.' The mother said that the agents identified themselves as members of the FBI, the US Marshals, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Marshals denied participating in the raid, while the FBI told the outlet it had assisted on the case. "ICE was carrying out a court authorized search warrant for a large-scale human smuggling investigation. The case has been accepted for federal prosecution in the Northern District of Oklahoma,' a senior DHS official told The Independent. "The search warrants included the location of an address where U.S. citizens recently moved. The previous residents were the intended targets. The investigation resulted in the indictment of eight Guatemalan nationals for their roles in smuggling illegal aliens into the United States. Two of the eight indicted aliens have criminal convictions for narcotics possession, identity fraud, money laundering, and re-entry after deportation." In February, Oklahoma finalized multiple agreements with federal officials to increase cooperation on immigration operations as part of its 'Operation Guardian.' Multiple U.S. citizens have been mistakenly detained as part of a push from the Trump administration and its allies to increase immigration enforcement. As part of the crackdown, the Trump administration has also resumed pursuing so-called ' collateral arrests ' of individuals who weren't the intended target of immigration raids but who were nonetheless encountered by officers. Such arrests were the subject of a 2022 class action settlement, putting strict limitations on how officers use such arrests.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Oklahoma family say they're ‘traumatized for life' after being mistakenly targeted in ICE raid
An Oklahoma mother and her daughters, all U.S. citizens, were reportedly subject to a violent and humiliating raid by federal immigration agents last week, despite allegedly not being the intended targets of the operation. 'It was so denigrating. That you do all of this to a family, to women, your fellow citizens,' the mother, using the pseudonym Marisa, told KFOR of the raid. 'You literally traumatized me and my daughters for life,' she added. 'We're going to have to go get help or get over this somehow.' Early Thursday morning, a multi-agency team of agents burst into the Oklahoma City rental home where the family had just settled after moving from Maryland, according to Marisa. The agents demanded the woman and her daughters go outside before they were able to fully change into day clothes, she said. 'They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,' Marisa told KFOR. 'My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it's respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.' Agents told the family they had a search warrant, though it named an individual who appeared to have been a previous tenant of the home, Marisa said. Nonetheless, the officers tore through the home and seized phones and much of the woman's life savings in cash as evidence, while declining to leave a business card or give any indication of when she'd get her property back, Marisa said. 'I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,' she added in her KFOR interview. 'I have to feed my children. I'm going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.' The mother said that the agents identified themselves as members of the FBI, the US Marshals, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Marshals denied participating in the raid, while the FBI told the outlet it had assisted on the case. The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, for comment. In February, Oklahoma finalized multiple agreements with federal officials to increase cooperation on immigration operations as part of its 'Operation Guardian.' Multiple U.S. citizens have been mistakenly detained as part of a push from the Trump administration and its allies to increase immigration enforcement. As part of the crackdown, the Trump administration has also resumed pursuing so-called 'collateral arrests' of individuals who weren't the intended target of immigration raids but who were nonetheless encountered by officers. Such arrests were the subject of a 2022 class action settlement, putting strict limitations on how officers use such arrests.
The Independent
29-04-2025
- The Independent
Oklahoma family say they're ‘traumatized for life' after being mistakenly targeted in ICE raid
An Oklahoma mother and her daughters, all U.S. citizens, were reportedly subject to a violent and humiliating raid by federal immigration agents last week, despite allegedly not being the intended targets of the operation. 'It was so denigrating. That you do all of this to a family, to women, your fellow citizens,' the mother, using the pseudonym Marisa, told KFOR of the raid. 'You literally traumatized me and my daughters for life,' she added. 'We're going to have to go get help or get over this somehow.' Early Thursday morning, a multi-agency team of agents burst into the Oklahoma City rental home where the family had just settled after moving from Maryland, according to Marisa. The agents demanded the woman and her daughters go outside before they were able to fully change into day clothes, she said. 'They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,' Marisa told KFOR. 'My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it's respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.' Agents told the family they had a search warrant, though it named an individual who appeared to have been a previous tenant of the home, Marisa said. Nonetheless, the officers tore through the home and seized phones and much of the woman's life savings in cash as evidence, while declining to leave a business card or give any indication of when she'd get her property back, Marisa said. 'I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,' she added in her KFOR interview. 'I have to feed my children. I'm going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.' The mother said that the agents identified themselves as members of the FBI, the US Marshals, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Marshals denied participating in the raid, while the FBI told the outlet it had assisted on the case. The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, for comment. In February, Oklahoma finalized multiple agreements with federal officials to increase cooperation on immigration operations as part of its 'Operation Guardian.' Multiple U.S. citizens have been mistakenly detained as part of a push from the Trump administration and its allies to increase immigration enforcement. As part of the crackdown, the Trump administration has also resumed pursuing so-called ' collateral arrests ' of individuals who weren't the intended target of immigration raids but who were nonetheless encountered by officers. Such arrests were the subject of a 2022 class action settlement, putting strict limitations on how officers use such arrests.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill creating new felony for undocumented Oklahomans advances to Senate
Protestors wave the flags of Mexico and Guatemala as a large crowd gathers in front of the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. 3 to protest deportations and immigration enforcement in schools. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure along partisan lines that would create a new felony for being in the country illegally, despite critics calling it 'un-American' and saying it would create unnecessary fear. House Bill 1362 would allow an individual to be arrested and charged with a new felony punishable by five years in prison if they are apprehended for a violation of Oklahoma's criminal law and are determined to be an undocumented immigrant. But in lieu of imprisonment, they could agree to be returned to their country of origin by federal immigration enforcement if they have no other felony charges or previous convictions for a violent offense. 'America was built by immigrants coming in, but legally,' said Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell, the bill's author. 'And everybody is welcome into this country as long as they're legal, that's the end of the story. So all this bill does is it gives us a mechanism to align with the Trump administration.' The effort would repeal a controversial law signed by the governor in 2024, House Bill 4156, that created the crime of 'impermissible occupation' and is in limbo following court challenges. Hardin's legislation comes as immigration and the push for mass deportations remain a priority of Oklahoma's Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration. The bill, which passed along party lines, leaves determining a person's immigration status up to the 'discretion' of law enforcement, Hardin repeatedly said, but the officer must be 'sure' and 'without a doubt' when detaining someone for being undocumented. In response to questions about how this bill could lead to racial profiling, Hardin said that is not the intent of his legislation and that law enforcement goes through training to prevent this. Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Operation Guardian in November to deport undocumented immigrants held in Oklahoma's correctional facilities and recently said the deportation of these 525 incarcerated people will be weighed against the severity of the crime committed and the amount of the sentence served. The Republican governor also signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to grant three state law enforcement agencies the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. This agreement gives specially trained officers from each agency the power to interrogate people over immigration status, serve and execute arrest warrants for immigration violations. Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, called the bill 'un-Oklahoman and un-American.' He said being in the U.S. illegally is a civil violation, so escalating the penalty to a felony with a minimum cost of $35,000 to bond out of jail is a 'big jump.' 'I wish that the United States had an immigration system that actually works, but the reality is that that's not the case right now. Our immigration system is broken,' he said. '… But the bill itself is just flawed in so many different ways. It's unconstitutional, and each one of us swore an oath to the Constitution.' Alonso-Sandoval said undocumented immigrants pay $227 million in taxes to Oklahoma alone and work essential jobs. Other critics of the bill questioned if it would hold up in court since the earlier measure is on hold by the courts. Another lawmaker asked why the Legislature would align with a presidential administration, rather than laws passed by Congress. Resources for enforcing the bill also came into question as Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said funding and staff for law enforcement is already strained. Hardin said while he hadn't discussed this bill with any law enforcement officials, this is not a mandate. Each department can choose whether to enforce it. The bill passed with a 73-16 vote after moving through the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee on March 3. It is eligible to be heard in the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Yahoo
Traffic stop leads to fentanyl arrest, OHP reports
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is highlighting a traffic stop that lead to a fentanyl bust in Tulsa. According to OHP, troopers seized 2.2 pounds of fentanyl last week after a traffic stop in Tulsa. Deputies confirmed the amount seized is enough fentanyl to kill more than 500,000 people. Severe Weather Expected Overnight/Early Tuesday OHP says the driver was in the country illegally, moving the drugs under the direction of a drug cartel. Oklahoma Governor Stitt chimed in on social media platform 'X' saying, 'Biden's open-border policies let cartels flood our country with fentanyl—that ends now. OHP troopers seized enough fentanyl to kill 500,000 Oklahomans. The suspect, in the country illegally, will be prosecuted and deported under Operation Guardian.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
