Latest news with #deLeon
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
This is what an ICE arrest in Boston immigration court looks like.
As Diaz Martinez left the courtroom, the five officers approached. Most of the other petitioners — men, women, families with children — had walked in and out of their hearings without issue that day. But she was not so lucky. As agents arrested the mother of two, she had a medical episode. Advertisement She pleaded not to be separated from her husband, Wiliz de Leon, whom she had just married the previous Saturday. And she had two children, 10 and 7 years old, who were back in the Dominican Republic. A lawyer standing nearby interjected. 'You don't have to take her into custody,' Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a clinical associate professor of law and associate director of the Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic at Boston University School of Law, told the ICE officials. Sherman-Stokes was there to observe Advertisement 'We're doing our job,' one of the agents said. Diaz Martinez, 29, had been in the US for a little over a year, after crossing the southern border unlawfully and being apprehended by immigration officials. She was fleeing domestic violence in her home country, Sherman-Stokes said, and is seeking asylum. Diaz Martinez's arrest was the result of a new immigration enforcement tactic that has played out across the nation: Department of Homeland Security lawyers have paired this tactic with a new legal strategy: pressing immigration court judges to dismiss pending cases or issue deportation orders against petitioners who have been in the country for less than two years, at their initial hearings. Dismissals and deportation orders leave immigrants more vulnerable to deportation. In Massachusetts, the immigration court arrests began in the last two weeks. Last Tuesday, at least three people were arrested at the Boston court, including a man who said he was a political torture survivor from Angola, according to Sherman-Stokes. Wiliz de Leon left the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston on June 3 after his wife suffered a medical emergency while being arrested by ICE, while she was in the building for an immigration court appearance. He is a U.S. citizen. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff de Leon, Diaz Martinez's husband, is a US citizen. The couple met in the Dominican Republic about four and a half years ago, and have been together since. They live together in Providence. de Leon told the Globe that the couple had seen reports of arrests at Advertisement 'She was really scared to be deported,' de Leon said in Spanish. Now, de Leon said, the couple felt 'betrayed.' 'We always want to follow the rules,' de Leon said the morning after his wife's arrest, sounding defeated in a phone call. 'I don't understand what the motive for this is.' In a statement to the Globe, a Homeland Security spokesperson said most immigrants who entered the country illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals, and blamed the Biden administration for allowing 'millions of illegal aliens' into the United States. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the spokesperson said. ICE did not respond to a request for comment on Diaz Martinez's case. Last Tuesday, as she was taken into custody, she seemed to need medical attention. She was struggling to breathe, had chest pain, and was having trouble standing upright. ICE called Emergency Medical Services, who examined her and eventually brought a gurney. 'I just don't understand. She's doing exactly what she's supposed to do,' Sherman-Stokes said, appealing again to the ICE agents to allow Diaz Martinez to return home. But it didn't sway the officials. An ICE agent accompanied her to the hospital because she was in custody. Her husband was not allowed to enter the ambulance, or, later, her hospital room. 'You have to let him go,' an EMS worker told Diaz Martinez in Spanish, gently, as she lay on the gurney in the hallway of the court. Advertisement Diaz Martinez reluctantly released her husband's hand. That night, she was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, and then to the ICE field office in Burlington, where she has been sleeping on a concrete floor in a holding cell with about 12 other women, and using a foil blanket to cover herself, Sherman-Stokes said. Derege B. Demissie, a criminal defense attorney, filed a habeas petition for Diaz Martinez not to be moved out of state, in collaboration with Sherman-Stokes. A Massachusetts federal judge temporarily granted the motion last week. Sherman-Stokes filed a motion for Diaz Martinez to be released on bond. 'She hasn't stopped crying,' de Leon, 40, said in an interview. He followed up in a text: 'I don't know what to do.' Sherman-Stokes, who has been practicing immigration law for more than a decade, said she had seen asylum seekers enduring agonizing conditions at the US-Mexico border, in detention facilities, and elsewhere. But watching someone get arrested at court, where they were trying to follow the law and request asylum, was uniquely distressing. 'I just can't shake what just happened,' Sherman-Stokes said. 'These are folks trying their very best to comply with the law, and instead they're taken away in handcuffs.' Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at
GMA Network
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Lotlot de Leon asks for privacy, vows to protect Nora Aunor's dignity as their family grieves
Lotlot de Leon, through her legal counsel, has appealed to the public and the media to respect her right to privacy as their family grieves for Nora Aunor, who passed away on April 16. De Leon released a statement through her lawyer, Atty. Mark Julius Estur of Estur and Associates, via Facebook and Instagram on Sunday, notifying the public that Estur would be representing her "in all matters related to the recent events which has placed her in false light and malicious narratives." In the statement, Estur urged the public to respect the actress's boundaries and give her "the privacy she deserves." "Any concerns or issues regarding Ms. de Leon will be addressed through proper channels and forums, and we will not engage in online debates or respond to personal attacks," the statement read. As Aunor's eldest child, de Leon vowed to protect her mother's dignity and take action to safeguard the rights and interest of herself, her family, and her siblings. This includes "taking action against any online harassment, cyberbullying, defamation and all acts which tarnishes and besmirches the reputation of the family." Moreover, Estur underscored through the statement that they "will not tolerate any form of online abuse or invasion of her privacy and will pursue all available legal remedies to ensure that her rights are protected and respected." Estur also expressed the law firm's commitment to handling all matters in relation to de Leon's representation and requested "that the public and media cooperate in respecting Ms. de Leon's privacy during this time." "There will always be different narratives and perspectives, but the truth will always prevail," the statement read. De Leon and her sister, Matet De Leon, recently paid tribute to Aunor on what would have been her 72nd birthday on May 21. The National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts passed away on April 16 at the age of 71. According to her son, Ian De Leon, she died of acute respiratory failure. She was honored with a state necrological service and was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on April 22 The Philippines continues to mourn and pay tribute to the one and only Superstar through initiatives like film viewings. A local bakery has also named a pastry after her. —CDC, GMA Integrated News
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Rocking Pink and Ready to Party
The blink of an eye is rarely enough time to decide whether to pull out my camera when someone passes by on the street. After noticing Jelani de Leon on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on a Friday afternoon in May, we exchanged glances and brief hellos and then went our separate ways. I walked half a block before turning around, seeing her pink knit hat and pale coat in the distance and doubling back to ask her about what she was wearing. Ms. de Leon, 64 and a property manager of buildings she owns, does not usually dress so vibrantly, she said. But the day we met, she was attending the hip-hop-themed Brooklyn Basement Party at Lincoln Center. 'I wanted to wear something funky,' said Ms. de Leon, who lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. 'I felt the urge to do something bright and different because of the season and the weather, and because I haven't put on any cute clothes in a long time.' When asked if her ensemble involved anything special or sentimental, Ms. de Leon pointed to her bag. She said it was among the first styles carried at her daughter Kai Avent-deLeon's store, Sincerely Tommy in Bed-Stuy, when it opened in 2014. Ms. de Leon added that before we met, she had run into her daughter, who was surprised by her colorful attire. 'She was like, Wow, I never saw you in so much pink!' Ms. de Leon recalled. 'I thought, Oh my god, it's too much pink, I should go home and change. And I said, Screw it, I'm going out anyway.' Tap to see more looks
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Man arrested after mother killed in hit-and-run wreck could now face deportation
A man arrested for a deadly hit-and-run could now face deportation. Gwinnett police say he tried to hide from them after the crash, as the victim died on a road notorious for crashes. A memorial still stands on Singleton Road where the Gwinnett County mother died Monday night. Now, Gwinnett police have arrested Anibal Orlando de Leon, 33, who is charged with felony hit and run, driving without a license, and using a false license plate. Court documents say de Leon hit the woman with his Toyota Echo during a multicar crash Monday night, then took off. 'When the car hit the other car, one of the cars hit her,' friend Tracey Wiley said. TRENDING STORIES: 'Whites only,' 'colored only' signs posted in Rockdale elementary school Atlanta police investigating 'swatting call' at home owned by TV attorney Nancy Grace Caregiver accused of buying Shein outfits, paying bills with Alzheimer's patient's credit card He helped set up the memorial for his friend, who died – a woman police identified as Tamera Brown. Wiley said she was with her teenage daughter at the time. 'By the time I got there, she was already dead, and her daughter was lying over there, but she lived,' Wiley said. Police say de Leon admitted to swapping his license plate to avoid being pulled over. Neighbors along the road and friends of the victim say dangerous conditions on Singleton Road make it hard for people to cross safely. Police say Brown was not in the crosswalk. 'They need to put a light right here, that's what they need to do,' Wiley said. As friends mourn, the county said safety upgrades to Singleton Road are coming. But for some, those changes won't bring back who they lost. 'Nice person, always laughing, talking, always having fun,' Wiley said. Police say they were able to track the suspect down at his home and make an arrest. Safety upgrades are expected to be in place as early as this summer.
