Latest news with #immigration-related
Chicago Tribune
06-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Did a British woman accused of drug trafficking try to use ICE to flee the country?
Last year, 29-year-old Kimberly Hall was arrested at O'Hare International Airport with 21 bundles of cocaine after traveling from Mexico, according to court records, in a case that was splashed across her hometown British tabloids. Now, as the United Kingdom citizen faces felony drug charges, she is entangled in an immigration-related fight with the state's attorney's office as she seeks release from the Cook County Jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors say that, while initially released on electronic monitoring, she sought out federal immigration authorities in an attempt to get deported and evade trial. She was very nearly able to pull it off, according to prosecutors. Her attorney, though, in court documents countered that she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after simply asking questions about how to obtain authorization to find work. In a recently-filed request for her release, her attorney argued that a Cook County judge improperly detained her, reasoning that the Trump administration is 'wildly unpredictable.' 'It's abnormal. That's what caused this whole fiasco,' said Hall's attorney, Brandon Carter, of ICE's attempt to deport Hall. 'From my understanding, the prosecution was barely able to keep her here.' The unusual dispute will next week go before a judge, who will hear arguments about whether Hall should remain jailed. Hall's trouble started when she flew from Cancún, Mexico to the United Kingdom with a connection through O'Hare, court records say. She was arrested on Aug. 19 while trying to clear customs. Customs officers searched her bag and found the bundles, weighing around 43 kilograms, or nearly 100 pounds, according to court documents. It had an estimated street value of around $6.2 million. Hall, who gave an address in a town in Northern England, admitted she agreed to deliver the bags to someone in Manchester, the documents say. Carter said Hall was under duress when she was caught with the bags, having been threatened with violence after meeting some 'shady figures' in Mexico. 'Kimberly is obviously a very small fish in a grander scheme of things,' he said. Prosecutors sought to keep her jailed, arguing in a petition that she is a flight risk as a foreigner with no connection to Cook County. A Cook County judge, though, denied the petition and instead ordered her to electronic monitoring and to surrender her passport. In September, a grand jury returned an indictment that charged her with two serious class X felonies, controlled substance trafficking and possession with intent to deliver. Then, in February, the state's attorney's office filed an emergency motion to get the case on the judge's calendar. In the motion, prosecutors said Hall was taken into ICE custody and was scheduled for deportation. Asking a judge again to jail Hall, prosecutors said that while on electronic monitoring, Hall 'presented herself to Immigration and Customs intending to be removed to the United Kingdom to avoid prosecution.' This time, a judge ordered her detained. In the order granting the detention petition, Judge Michael McHale wrote that Hall was 'almost successful in her attempt' and had a departure flight scheduled before authorities alerted immigration. But last week, Hall's attorney filed a motion asking for her to be released, arguing that she did not seek out immigration authorities with the intent to be expelled from the country. Instead, the motion said, she was looking for information about obtaining employment. 'The kiosk official saw the electronic monitoring device on Ms. Hall and assumed it was from ICE and instructed her to go to their office in the same building,' the motion said. 'When she spoke to an ICE official she was arrested and placed in custody.' Usually, Carter said, defendants with pending cases that encounter immigration authorities will be put on an immigration hold so that the immigration issue can be handled after the case is resolved. Officials obtained a writ from the Department of Homeland Security that said the government will no longer try to deport Hall while she has a pending case, the motion said. The motion argues that the judge didn't detain Hall because she was dangerous or a flight risk, but rather because of the unpredictability of the current administration on immigration matters. 'In this city there are thousands of undocumented people, some of whom have pending criminal cases but they get pretrial release,' he said. 'So if you want to use that logic, anybody who has questionable immigration status with a pending criminal case can be denied pretrial release. I think that's definitely improper.' The parties will argue the motion on May 16.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Marijuana billboard ban, towing rules stripped from Senate's BMV bill, but advance in House
From left: Rep. Bob Morris questions Rep. Jim Pressel about towing regulations on the House floor on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) A finance-focused Senate panel excised a billboard-specific ban on marijuana advertising and regulations on towing services from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles's legislation Thursday morning — hours before the House advanced tweaked versions. Commercial driver's license (CDL) reciprocity also got the ax, with lawmakers citing immigration-related fears. Appropriations Committee chair Sen. Ryan Mishler, said the marijuana and towing provisions were nixed — just a week after both were inserted — because they weren't germane to the underlying agency bill. The edits were accepted by consent. But both ideas advanced in the House that same afternoon. Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, commandeered Senate Bill 73 in a Monday committee hearing for amendments outlawing all marijuana advertising and regulating towing. He made further changes on the House floor Thursday — despite opposition from fellow Republicans — setting up a contentious vote as soon as next week. Lawmakers cited illegal immigration as they scrapped a provision allowing CDL holders from other states to get Indiana CDLs without the written or skills exams. 'There are other states in our union that hand out driver's licenses like candy,' said amendment author Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis. '… I'm fine if they follow the Indiana process to get a license. I am not fine if that process is California's or New York's or name your other state's process, and I wanted to ensure that I didn't have a non-citizen getting a license.' Freeman promised to undo the change 'if this needs to go back in.' Pressel said CDL requirements are federal, describing them as another layer of standards that lie atop state mandates. He resisted the amendment, but added, 'This is not a hill I'm going to die on. If you all would like to take it out, I'm okay with that.' The committee adopted the changes by consent. But some expressed hesitation. CDL holder Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond noted the tests take 'a lot of time and money.' Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said her district is a major logistics hub, and would benefit from reciprocity. She instructed her colleagues to 'get this figured out.' The committee advanced Senate Bill 1390 — sans deletions — on a 12-1 vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Reuters
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
LA 2028 Games organisers move to ease IOC concerns over visas
PYLOS, Greece, March 20 (Reuters) - Organisers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on Thursday moved to ease concerns among International Olympic Committee members over visas and entry requirements for athletes and officials for those Games. Since taking office on January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a number of immigration-related executive orders that focus on stricter border policy, tighter visa vetting procedures and a crackdown on undocumented migrants in the United States. IOC members, including the President of the International Equestrian Federation Ingmar De Vos, asked LA 2028 Games chairman Casey Wasserman at the session in southern Greece about concerns about visas and entry requirements for athletes at the Games given the recent developments in the United States. "We have had four different administrations, three different presidents in our bid process," Wasserman told the IOC session. "All of them have affirmed and reaffirmed their commitment to both full access for everyone and the Olympic Charter. Los Angeles was awarded the Games in 2017. "The Commerce and the State Department under (former President Joe) Biden at the end, created an accelerated visa programme specifically for athletes," Wasserman said. "And in my many conversations with President Trump and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio, they understand the scale and complexity required to deliver these Games, the access required for not just athletes but for delegations and the incredibly short timeframe on which to do those." The IOC has repeatedly said it was fully confident of the full support of Trump for the Games, with the president also in charge back in 2017 when the U.S. won the nod to host them. "We will have a fully staffed desk at State (department) focusing just on this issue in the next 12 months to get prepared for this and I don't anticipate any problems from any country to come and participate and have their delegations in full force and be part of the Games in Los Angeles," Wasserman said.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
81 immigrants arrested in Kentucky under 'Operation Take Back America'
Federal law enforcement agents arrested 81 people living in the country illegally through an operation coordinated in Louisville, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Kentucky. The arrests were made across Kentucky between March 10 and 14 as part of "Operation Take Back America." Of the 81 people arrested, 25 were charged with immigration-related criminal offenses, including illegal reentry after deportation or removal, illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of controlled substances, the release stated. Those not criminally charged will remain in custody with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending removal proceedings and potential deportation, according to the release. The operation was coordinated by a Homeland Security Investigations office in Nashville and an ICE office in Chicago. Representatives from the ATF Louisville Field Division, the DEA Louisville Field Division, the FBI Louisville Field Office and the Western District of Kentucky were included in the announcement. According to ABC News, ICE has arrested more than 32,000 migrants living in the U.S. illegally since Jan. 21, a day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 81 immigrants arrested in Kentucky by ICE, federal agents
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant detention centers are at capacity, Trump admin officials say
The Department of Homeland Security says its immigrant detention centers are at capacity, housing about 47,600 individuals. Speaking to reporters Wednesday on background, DHS officials said they are working with the Marshals Service, Department of Defense and Federal Bureau of Prisons to increase bed space as they ask Congress for more funding. Arrested individuals are also being released from detention on a case-by-case basis using ICE's Alternatives to Detention program based on medical or humanitarian concerns, they said. The senior DHS and ICE officials also provided new arrest data cataloging Trump's first 50 days back in office. According to DHS data, from Jan. 20 to March 10, 2025 ICE has arrested 32,809 individuals. According to officials, of those, 14,111 were convicted criminals, 9,980 have pending criminal charges and 8,718 have only immigration-related violations. "We expect these ICE arrests and removal numbers will only go up as we unleash an agency that has had its hands tied behind its back for the past four years," said acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. "These ICE enforcement operations are not only removing criminals from the American communities, but they are also discouraging people from coming to our country illegally." In terms of those with suspected ties to criminal organizations using the same time frame, officials said ICE had arrested 1,155 suspected gang members and 39 known or suspected terrorists. DHS did not say on the call how many people have been deported under the new Trump administration. On Monday, NBC News reported that the Trump administration had deported fewer people in February than the Biden administration had during the same month a year ago, according to data obtained by NBC News. Since being appointed as White House border czar, Tom Homan has sought cooperation from local and state governments to assist ICE in immigration-related arrests. On Wednesday, Homan visited lawmakers in Albany, New York, and slammed so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that limit cooperation with ICE. "So sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don't want, more agents in the community and more collateral arrests, because you have forced us in the community, because you have failed to let us in the jail," Homan said. This article was originally published on
