Latest news with #Spanish-speakers
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Too good to be true': Fraud targets ads on Facebook Marketplace
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Imagine paying for a good or service online, receiving what you paid for and told you owe more money. A local attorney tells KXAN more people are coming to him in that situation after losing money on Facebook Marketplace. Attorney George Lobb said not everything posted on the site is what it seems. 'The ads will have a phone number that's not the business's phone number. It's the cellphone number for the scammer.' George Lobb, Attorney This year, Lobb said he received at least a half a dozen calls about people posing as legit companies and then stealing thousands. Specifically, he said the ads target Spanish-speakers and are focused on construction-related services. Lobb said someone will pose as a company on Facebook Marketplace, take someone's money and call the actual company they're posing as to then act as the customer they're targeting. 'Weeks later, the company says, 'Hey, you didn't pay us,'' Lobb said. 'The law says, well, yeah, technically you benefited from the service. So then you're going to have to sue the scammer when the company files the lien.' Lobb said one of his clients rented dumpsters for a discounted price of $5,000 via Facebook Marketplace. The ad posed as a well-known company. He received the dumpsters, but the actual company showed up later and told him he owed them $15,000 because they didn't receive payment. 'I've had several clients come to me because they either have liens filed on their property or they're threatened with criminal investigation for theft,' Lobb said. Lobb said it is unlikely a victim would get all their money back, but he's helped people recover some. 'They have caught a few and they are making payment plans while on probation,' Lobb said. Ultimately, he stressed the importance of verifying a company's phone number and physical location and asking a friend for their thoughts on the deal before going through with it. 'If it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true,' Lobb said. Katie Galan with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) said these fake ads online remain a top concern around the state. 'These person to person transactions is where we see a lot of these issues arise,' Galan said. 'Once that money is gone, that money is pretty much gone.' Galan said it's a red flag if a person is asking you to send them money before you received a product or service. 'With these person to person sellers, we really highly encourage you to meet at a neutral location,' Galan said. 'See the product in person first, before you hand over any sort of money or any deposit.' When it comes to how you pay, Galan recommended using a credit card for online purchases. She said people lost $1.5 million due to online purchase frauds like this in Texas. However, Galan said that number is likely a lot higher because only about 5-10% of people report the crime. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'What is the American dream?': Kootenai County Jail's border holds jump 450% after Trump inauguration
Feb. 10—Border detainments in Kootenai County's jail have skyrocketed in less than a month following the second inauguration of President Donald Trump. Trump promised a massive immigration overhaul during his campaign to deport "criminals" in the country without authorization. But as his presidency took shape over the last few weeks, "anyone that doesn't have status is deportable," said Vanessa Gutierrez, the co-deputy director of Northwest Immigrant Rights Project . Gutierrez's organization runs an immigrant education and orientation program at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma for those who are being held and are looking for guidance. Those detained in or around Spokane are sent to Kootenai County Jail first, which allows ICE and Border Patrol to hold detainees there. Each federal hold in the North Idaho jail is reimbursed at a rate of $112 per day per person, according to reporting by the Coeur D'Alene Press. In the first 29 days of January, the jail saw 22 holds, with five in one day . The numbers jumped 450% from December, when the jail recorded just four holds. The number was slightly higher in November, with 10 recorded Border Patrol and ICE holds. The sharp rise in holds in Kootenai County mirrors those seen elsewhere in the Northwest since Trump's second term began. Gutierrez's organization gets the rosters of everyone held at the detainment center — and Gutierrez is seeing 800 to 1,000 people detained at any given time, she said, which increased after Trump's inauguration. If Tacoma's detainment center isn't already at capacity, it soon will be, Gutierrez said. While a majority of Border Patrol's contact in Idaho were with unauthorized immigrants from Canada, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told The Spokesman-Review in an interview last year that more contact with Spanish-speakers is an indicator that a rise in criminal cases is "going to come." This week, he pledged in a statement that all of the county's resources will be used to "assist in the deportation" of noncitizens who commit crimes, noncitizens who are here "legally" and commit crimes, and any unauthorized person in general. "As part of our policing practice, if we come in contact with anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, we notify Border Patrol," said sheriff's office spokesperson Lt. Jeff Howard. Nothing has changed as part of their enforcement efforts, he said. "We have had an increase of inmates brought in on detainers under our contact with the U.S. Marshal's Office," Howard wrote in an email last week. "Several of those that have been brought in are foreign nationals." All are typically held for less than 48 hours unless a court order prompts otherwise. Howard said the jail ends up taking "several detainees" from around the area, which includes Washington, Montana and Idaho. But it's unclear how many people held in Kootenai County's jail are coming from Washington. While the Spokane County Jail has a contract with the U.S. Marshals to hold people facing federal criminal charges, the jail does not have a contract with Border Patrol or ICE in compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act. The act was passed in 2019 and prevents local law enforcement from giving federal authorities information about a civil immigration matter. This means anyone arrested by ICE or Border Patrol in Spokane will be transferred to the Kootenai County Jail and then back across the Washington border to Tacoma. While there are criminal acts related to immigration, being an unauthorized immigrant in the U.S is not a crime, it's a civil offense. It's why Gutierrez calls the word "illegal" her pet peeve. "Most immigration cases brought before courts are civil, not criminal. There are immigration related criminal charges, like a re-entry ... There are lots of people here, undocumented, without crossing the border because they legally entered in a port of entry," she said. As soon as Trump entered office, he issued a sweeping executive order that suspended migrants from seeking asylum at the southern border. His administration also shut down the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to apply to enter the U.S legally as they sought asylum from war-torn or violent countries. Pending appointments were also canceled. "We see asylum seekers now expressing fear. Before Trump, they were given permission to come in, apply for asylum and appear in court," Gutierrez said. "That's legal ... Now they can't seek asylum, even though they are permitted to ... People still have rights, regardless of their immigration status." On Monday, at least 200 flooded Spokane City Hall in a pro-immigration rally. Among the attendees was 17-year-old Mia Pelayo. She peered above the Chase Gallery, draping a Mexican flag over the barrier, as she watched the crowd below her. "I'm here for my parents," she said. "My mom is an immigrant." Pelayo's parents came to the U.S. "without anything," she said, and worked hard to give her a better life. This weekend, her mother came into her room and was talking about making copies of Pelayo's passport and other legal documents to put in her school backpack. "It made me bawl, because I was thinking about how I have to worry about carrying my papers around. Now, that is relevant to who I am as a person," Pelayo said. "This is supposed to be the American dream. But ... what is the American dream?"
USA Today
30-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Milwaukee officials, advocates working to verify viral report of Puerto Rican family detained by ICE
Milwaukee drew national attention this week after a report said U.S. citizens were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being overheard speaking Spanish in a store. Elected officials and immigration rights groups say they are working to authenticate the incident but have few details to go on. ICE did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Telemundo Puerto Rico reported a Puerto Rican mother, her three-year-old son and mother-in-law were taken into custody by ICE while shopping at an unnamed store in Milwaukee on Jan. 24. According to the TV station's report, ICE bused the family and several other Spanish-speakers from the store to an unidentified detention center, according to the TV station's report. Telemundo aired a live audio interview with the mother, who was not named. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Sheriff's offices in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, Sheboygan County and Kenosha County said they had no record of the family being detained in their jails. "It should also be noted that we would not house a 3-year-old in our facility under any circumstances," said Amy Tesch with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department in an email Thursday. Telemundo's report erupted online. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and thousands more shared Telemundo's report on social media. Moore told the Journal Sentinel she's still gathering information about the incident but hasn't been able to verify it. "However, regardless of its validity, many of my constituents are concerned about mass deportation efforts," Moore said in a text message Thursday. Ald. Jose Perez says his office is also working to authenticate the incident. "Any time an allegation occurs in Milwaukee, I will exhaust every resource I have to verify it for accuracy and respond," Perez said in an email Thursday. Local immigrants' rights groups like Forward Latino and Voces De La Frontera are also looking into the report. In general, advocates have asked community members to refrain from sharing unverified information to avoid causing unnecessary panic and distress. Since President Donald Trump took office, there have been several false reports of ICE raids in Wisconsin. Forward Latino said on Facebook Thursday that it debunked "numerous reports" of ICE operations at Latino-owned businesses in the south side. The group identified two Facebook accounts that are intentionally spreading false information about ICE activity in Wisconsin, according to Darryl Morin, president of Forward Latino. "It is having an impact on our business community," Morin said. The false rumors of ICE raids combined with real instances of raids and U.S. citizens being detained are only causing confusion and doubling the immigrant community's fears, said Voces De La Frontera spokesperson Alexandra Guevara. In New Jersey, a Puerto Rican veteran was among the people detained by ICE during a raid at a seafood store last week. And Thursday, the owners of Boricua 2, a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, said ICE came to their business under the false impression that Puerto Ricans could be undocumented. "While we can't confirm whether it's happening here, it's happening elsewhere," Guevara said. Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Milwaukee officials, advocates working to verify viral report of Puerto Rican family detained by ICE
Milwaukee drew national attention this week after a report said U.S. citizens were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being overheard speaking Spanish in a store. Elected officials and immigration rights groups say they are working to authenticate the incident but have few details to go on. ICE did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Telemundo Puerto Rico reported a Puerto Rican mother, her three-year-old son and mother-in-law were taken into custody by ICE while shopping at an unnamed store in Milwaukee on Jan. 24. According to the TV station's report, ICE bused the family and several other Spanish-speakers from the store to an unidentified detention center, according to the TV station's report. Telemundo aired a live audio interview with the mother, who was not named. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Sheriff's offices in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, Sheboygan County and Kenosha County said they had no record of the family being detained in their jails. "It should also be noted that we would not house a 3-year-old in our facility under any circumstances," said Amy Tesch with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department in an email Thursday. Telemundo's report erupted online. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and thousands more shared Telemundo's report on social media. Moore told the Journal Sentinel she's still gathering information about the incident but hasn't been able to verify it. "However, regardless of its validity, many of my constituents are concerned about mass deportation efforts," Moore said in a text message Thursday. Ald. Jose Perez says his office is also working to authenticate the incident. "Any time an allegation occurs in Milwaukee, I will exhaust every resource I have to verify it for accuracy and respond," Perez said in an email Thursday. Local immigrants' rights groups like Forward Latino and Voces De La Frontera are also looking into the report. In general, advocates have asked community members to refrain from sharing unverified information to avoid causing unnecessary panic and distress. Since President Donald Trump took office, there have been several false reports of ICE raids in Wisconsin. Forward Latino said on Facebook Thursday that it debunked "numerous reports" of ICE operations at Latino-owned businesses in the south side. The group identified two Facebook accounts that are intentionally spreading false information about ICE activity in Wisconsin, according to Darryl Morin, president of Forward Latino. "It is having an impact on our business community," Morin said. The false rumors of ICE raids combined with real instances of raids and U.S. citizens being detained are only causing confusion and doubling the immigrant community's fears, said Voces De La Frontera spokesperson Alexandra Guevara. In New Jersey, a Puerto Rican veteran was among the people detained by ICE during a raid at a seafood store last week. And Thursday, the owners of Boricua 2, a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, said ICE came to their business under the false impression that Puerto Ricans could be undocumented. "While we can't confirm whether it's happening here, it's happening elsewhere," Guevara said. Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Report of ICE detaining Puerto Rican family in Milwaukee draws concern
