Latest news with #detentioncenter
The Independent
23-05-2025
- The Independent
Private security at ICE jail in Texas accused of choking a handcuffed detainee
A private security officer stands accused of putting his hands around a handcuffed detainee's neck and slamming him against walls at an immigrant detention center in Conroe, Texas. The officer, Charles Siringi, was criminally charged last week. The detainee was taken to the medical unit at the Montgomery Processing Center. The 66-year-old Siringi was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas with deprivation of rights while acting under the government's authority, resulting in bodily injury, The Washington Post noted. On Tuesday, Siringi posted $10,000 bail. The company that employed Siringi, the GEO Group, operates the detention center. The firm told The Post that Siringi no longer worked for the group. Following an internal review, the company referred the incident to Immigration and Customs Enforcement 's Office of Professional Responsibility. The Independent has contacted ICE for comment. 'We are committed to respecting the human rights and dignity of all individuals in our care, and we have a zero-tolerance policy with respect to staff misconduct,' the GEO Group told The Post. The detainee claimed that Siringi handcuffed him outside his housing unit and took him into a small room alongside other officers, according to the criminal complaint. In the room, Siringi is alleged to have told the officers, 'You better get him before I do.' The complaint added that Siringi subsequently grabbed the detainee by the neck and slammed his face into a wall. As the detainee turned around, Siringi is alleged to have put enough force on his throat that he 'tucked his chin down to his chest because he was gasping for air.' The detainee said Siringi 'did not remove his hands from his throat' and 'used the choke hold to move him across the room and slam him into the wall near the doorway,' court documents state. One of the two officers in the room, Elbert Griffin, backed up the detainee's version of events and took him to the medical unit for treatment. 'Griffin stated he did not believe it was an appropriate use of force, nor did he believe [the detainee] had been resisting in any manner,' the complaint notes. The Post noted that experts said the incident was a rare moment when an officer at a detention facility was being held criminally accountable for alleged abuse. It's more common for detainees to file civil lawsuits. American Civil Liberties Union 's National Prison Project senior staff attorney Eunice Hyunhye Cho told the paper that detainees don't have much power to reveal abuses. 'The power dynamic is so significant that people are either afraid to come forth [or] they are not believed when they raise complaints about abusive treatment,' she told The Post. 'And facilities have all sorts of incentives to keep those types of incidents under wraps.' A spokesperson for the nonprofit Freedom for Immigrants, Jeff Migliozzi, told the outlet that the allegations of abuse against Siringi were 'unfortunately characteristic' of similar altercations. 'A lot of people don't realize how common that actually is,' he said. 'But again, in the vast majority of those cases, nothing results, in terms of an oversight process or some sort of lawsuit or investigation.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump news at a glance: Newark mayor Ras Baraka fights back over arrest at immigration detention center
The battle with the Trump administration over illegal immigration continues, with Newark mayor Ras Baraka saying he would fight his arrest in court. The mayor was arrested on Friday after joining three members of Congress at a protest and press conference outside a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention facility in Newark called Delaney Hall. The mayor was released about five hours later and charged with trespassing. Baraka has pushed back against the construction and opening of Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues. Here are the key stories at a glance: Speaking out after his arrest on Tuesday, Ras Baraka said his city would continue its fight in court against the company that runs an immigration detention facility in New Jersey. 'I know there are some protests that other people are planning and if I feel obligated to be there, I will,' Newark's mayor told the Rev Al Sharpton on MSNBC Saturday afternoon. 'This doesn't stop the city's contention with the Geo Group, and we're going to continue in court with them.' Read the full story Military leaders and commanders at the Pentagon were ordered on Friday to go through their libraries and review all books that were related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the US military's latest anti-DEI move. Leaders were ordered to 'promptly identify' materials that promote 'divisive concepts and gender ideology [that] are incompatible with the department's core mission', according to a memo sent to leaders that was seen by the Associated Press. The department gave leaders until 21 May to remove the books. Read the full story Days after the University of Michigan president, Santa Ono, announced he was leaving his post to lead the University of Florida, his name was quietly removed on Wednesday from a letter signed by more than 600 university presidents denouncing the Trump administration's 'unprecedented government overreach and political interference' with academic institutions. Read the full story The daughter of actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard was among those arrested at the latest Columbia University protests, marking the latest development in the anti-war demonstrations that also led to the temporary suspension of student journalists. Read the full story Donald Trump's administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge in California said on Friday. US district judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments in blocking large-scale mass layoffs known as 'reductions in force' for 14 days. Read the full story A 4.1-magnitude earthquake in Tennessee woke up families and rattled homes as far away as Atlanta as it spread tremors across portions of the southern US on Saturday morning. No injuries or major damage were immediately reported. Google has agreed to pay $1.375bn in a settlement in principle reached with the state of Texas over allegations the company violated users' data privacy, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, said on Friday. A recently introduced bill, if it passes, would allow research on cannabis despite its schedule I status, which some experts say could help policymakers 'craft effective' legislation in the future. Catching up? Here's what happened on May 9.
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump news at a glance: Newark mayor Ras Baraka takes on Trump administration over immigration
The battle with the Trump administration over illegal immigration continues, with Newark mayor Ras Baraka saying he would fight his arrest in court. The mayor was arrested on Tuesday after joining three members of Congress at a protest and press conference outside a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention facility in Newark called Delaney Hall. The mayor was released about five hours later and charged with trespassing. Baraka has pushed back against the construction and opening of Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues. Here are the key stories at a glance: Speaking out after his arrest on Tuesday, Ras Baraka said his city would continue its fight in court against the company that runs an immigration detention facility in New Jersey. 'I know there are some protests that other people are planning and if I feel obligated to be there, I will,' Newark's mayor told the Rev Al Sharpton on MSNBC Saturday afternoon. 'This doesn't stop the city's contention with the Geo Group, and we're going to continue in court with them.' Read the full story Military leaders and commanders at the Pentagon were ordered on Friday to go through their libraries and review all books that were related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the US military's latest anti-DEI move. Leaders were ordered to 'promptly identify' materials that promote 'divisive concepts and gender ideology [that] are incompatible with the department's core mission', according to a memo sent to leaders that was seen by the Associated Press. The department gave leaders until 21 May to remove the books. Read the full story Days after the University of Michigan president, Santa Ono, announced he was leaving his post to lead the University of Florida, his name was quietly removed on Wednesday from a letter signed by more than 600 university presidents denouncing the Trump administration's 'unprecedented government overreach and political interference' with academic institutions. Read the full story The daughter of actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard was among those arrested at the latest Columbia University protests, marking the latest development in the anti-war demonstrations that also led to the temporary suspension of student journalists. Read the full story Donald Trump's administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge in California said on Friday. US district judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments in blocking large-scale mass layoffs known as 'reductions in force' for 14 days. Read the full story A 4.1-magnitude earthquake in Tennessee woke up families and rattled homes as far away as Atlanta as it spread tremors across portions of the southern US on Saturday morning. No injuries or major damage were immediately reported. Google has agreed to pay $1.375bn in a settlement in principle reached with the state of Texas over allegations the company violated users' data privacy, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, said on Friday. A recently introduced bill, if it passes, would allow research on cannabis despite its schedule I status, which some experts say could help policymakers 'craft effective' legislation in the future. Catching up? Here's what happened on May 9.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Completely violated my rights': Newark Mayor Ras Baraka speaks out after arrest
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, joined Jen Psaki on "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" following his arrest on trespassing charges during a chaotic scene involving protesters, members of Congress and federal agents at an ICE detention facility. Baraka has spoken out against the detention center throughout the week. "They obviously targeted me...I wasn't the only one out there. They came directly to me," Baraka said.
CNN
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
New Jersey mayor arrested at ICE detention center where he was protesting, prosecutor says
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday at an ICE Detention Center where he was protesting its opening, a federal prosecutor said. Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka committed trespass and ignored warnings from Homeland Security personnel to leave Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility run by private prison operator GEO Group. The mayor has been protesting the opening of the facility throughout this week, saying its operators did not get proper permits. In her social media post, Habba said Baraka had 'chosen to disregard the law.' She added that he was taken into custody. An email and phone message left with the mayor's communications office were not immediately answered Friday afternoon. Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues. The two-story building next to a county prison operated as a halfway house before a February announcement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it and the GEO Group reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal for a detention center there. Baraka sued GEO Group soon after the deal was announced.
