Latest news with #worksiteenforcement
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
Contractor construction workers detained at A&M-Kingsville still in ICE custody
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 27 laborers working for a contractor to complete repairs to a fire-damaged building at Texas A&M University-Kingsville on June 26. Twenty-two remain in custody, according to a June 30 email from an ICE Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson. The "worksite enforcement operation" was related to "suspected violations of U.S. employment law" by a contractor, according to Homeland Security Investigations. At about 7 a.m. June 26, federal agents "were present on campus," according to Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The individuals detained were working for contractor Cotton Commercial. They are not university employees or students. Part of the west wing of the second floor of the university's Memorial Student Union was damaged by a fire on May 25. The building is a gathering place for students on campus, typically housing dining options, the university bookstore, several university offices and a post office. Cotton Commercial was working on remediation for the damaged building. According to the university, federal agents were on campus for about two hours, until 9 a.m. June 26. Officials from the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Police Department were on site "to ensure campus security" during the investigation. The university shared a statement with the campus community on June 26, sharing that the contractor reported it anticipated the return of the individuals detained to the work site. Cotton Commercial could not be reached for comment. According to the email from Homeland Security Investigations, 27 were taken into ICE custody to be processed for "administrative immigration violations" and 22 individuals remain in ICE custody pending disposition of their immigration proceedings. ICE has "ramped up arrests and removals" since President Donald Trump took office, according to an ICE news release. Homeland Security Investigations arrested more than 1,000 undocumented workers and proposed more than $1 million in fines against businesses between Jan. 20 and mid-April, according to an ICE news release. According to an analysis of U.S. census data by the Pew Research Center, about 8% of Texas households included an undocumented immigrant in 2022. An estimated 30% of undocumented workers in Texas work in construction, according to a Migration Policy Institute analysis of 2019 U.S. Census Data. 'It will affect all families': Challenges await Texas parents if birthright citizenship ends After nearly 10 years, Corpus Christi's new Harbor Bridge opens for motorists Who are the top teachers in the Coastal Bend in 2025? See here This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: A&M-Kingsville witnesses ICE investigation at building repair worksite
The Independent
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
ICE raids and their uncertainty scare off workers and baffle businesses
Farmers, cattle ranchers and hotel and restaurant managers breathed a sigh of relief last week when President Donald Trump ordered a pause to immigration raids that were disrupting those industries and scaring foreign-born workers off the job. 'There was finally a sense of calm,'' said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition. That respite didn't last long. On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin declared, 'There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine (immigration enforcement) efforts. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.'' The flipflop baffled businesses trying to figure out the government's actual policy, and Shi says now 'there's fear and worry once more.' 'That's not a way to run business when your employees are at this level of stress and trauma," she said. Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the United States illegally — an issue that has long fired up his GOP base. The crackdown intensified a few weeks ago when Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, gave the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a quota of 3,000 arrests a day, up from 650 a day in the first five months of Trump's second term. Suddenly, ICE seemed to be everywhere. 'We saw ICE agents on farms, pointing assault rifles at cows, and removing half the workforce,'' said Shi, whose coalition represents 1,700 employers and supports increased legal immigration. One ICE raid left a New Mexico dairy with just 20 workers, down from 55. 'You can't turn off cows,'' said Beverly Idsinga, the executive director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico. 'They need to be milked twice a day, fed twice a day.'' Claudio Gonzalez, a chef at Izakaya Gazen in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district, said many of his Hispanic workers — whether they're in the country legally or not — have been calling out of work recently due to fears that they will be targeted by ICE. His restaurant is a few blocks away from a collection of federal buildings, including an ICE detention center. 'They sometimes are too scared to work their shift,' Gonzalez said. 'They kind of feel like it's based on skin color.' In some places, the problem isn't ICE but rumors of ICE. At cherry-harvesting time in Washington state, many foreign-born workers are staying away from the orchards after hearing reports of impending immigration raids. One operation that usually employs 150 pickers is down to 20. Never mind that there hasn't actually been any sign of ICE in the orchards. 'We've not heard of any real raids,'' said Jon Folden, orchard manager for the farm cooperative Blue Bird in Washington's Wenatchee River Valley. 'We've heard a lot of rumors.'' Jennie Murray, CEO of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum, said some immigrant parents worry that their workplaces will be raided and they'll be hauled off by ICE while their kids are in school. They ask themselves, she said: 'Do I show up and then my second-grader gets off the school bus and doesn't have a parent to raise them? Maybe I shouldn't show up for work.'' The horror stories were conveyed to Trump, members of his administration and lawmakers in Congress by business advocacy and immigration reform groups like Shi's coalition. Last Thursday, the president posted on his Truth Social platform that 'Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.' It was another case of Trump's political agenda slamming smack into economic reality. With U.S. unemployment low at 4.2%, many businesses are desperate for workers, and immigration provides them. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, foreign-born workers made up less than 19% of employed workers in the United States in 2023. But they accounted for nearly 24% of jobs preparing and serving food and 38% of jobs in farming, fishing and forestry. 'It really is clear to me that the people pushing for these raids that target farms and feed yards and dairies have no idea how farms operate,' Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said Tuesday during a virtual press conference. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, estimated in January that undocumented workers account for 13% of U.S. farm jobs and 7% of jobs in hospitality businesses such as hotels, restaurants and bars. The Pew Research Center found last year that 75% of U.S. registered voters — including 59% of Trump supporters — agreed that undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs that American citizens don't want. And an influx of immigrants in 2022 and 2023 allowed the United States to overcome an outbreak of inflation without tipping into recession. In the past, economists estimated that America's employers could add no more than 100,000 jobs a month without overheating the economy and igniting inflation. But economists Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the Brookings Institution calculated that because of the immigrant arrivals, monthly job growth could reach 160,000 to 200,000 without exerting upward pressure on prices. Now Trump's deportation plans — and the uncertainty around them — are weighing on businesses and the economy. 'The reality is, a significant portion of our industry relies on immigrant labor — skilled, hardworking people who've been part of our workforce for years. When there are sudden crackdowns or raids, it slows timelines, drives up costs, and makes it harder to plan ahead,' says Patrick Murphy, chief investment officer at the Florida building firm Coastal Construction and a former Democratic member of Congress. ' We're not sure from one month to the next what the rules are going to be or how they'll be enforced. That uncertainty makes it really hard to operate a forward-looking business.' Adds Douglas Holtz Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and now president of the conservative American Action Forum think tank: 'ICE had detained people who are here lawfully and so now lawful immigrants are afraid to go to work ... All of this goes against other economic objectives the administration might have. The immigration policy and the economic policy are not lining up at all.'' ____ AP Staff Writers Jaime Ding in Los Angeles; Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas; Lisa Mascaro and Chris Megerian in Washington; Mae Anderson and Matt Sedensky in New York, and Associated Press/Report for America journalist Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Fox News
18-06-2025
- Fox News
Louisiana racetrack ICE raid nets more than 80 illegal migrants during worksite enforcement operation
FIRST ON FOX: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and several other federal law enforcement agencies worked together to arrest more than 80 illegal migrants, including several with criminal records, during a worksite enforcement operation at a Louisiana racetrack. The joint operation — which was carried out on June 17th — was conducted after a brief pause on immigration arrests at farms, hotels and restaurants was lifted. Authorities received intelligence that businesses operating out of the stables at the Delta Downs Racetrack in Vinton, Louisiana, were employing unauthorized workers, according to sources at ICE. "ICE Homeland Security Investigations is working closely with our federal and state partners to review each case of unauthorized employment at the racetrack to identify any other criminal activities that were taking place in addition to labor exploitation and immigration violations," said ICE HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Eric DeLaune. While most of the arrests at the racetrack were related to immigration violations, several criminal migrants were also identified. Among the arrested was Enrique Gonzalez Moreno, 36, who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico four times. While in the country illegally, Moreno was convicted twice for driving under the influence and once for cocaine possession and illegal reentry, according to ICE. Authorities are continuing to process the illegal migrants. "Oftentimes, when we're conducting these worksite enforcement operations, we uncover other forms of criminal conduct, such as document and benefit fraud, money laundering and human trafficking," DeLaune said. "As a result, we're able to bolster public safety in the local community by eliminating that criminal activity and removing any dangerous criminal aliens, transnational gang members or other egregious immigration offenders who illegally entered the country and are working at the business without authorization." Worksite enforcement investigations focus on identifying businesses involved in hiring unauthorized workers. They aim to reduce illegal employment and hold employers accountable, according to the ICE website. The joint operation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, Louisiana State Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The arrests follow a week of anti-ICE protests that have taken place in major cities across the U.S., with some turning into violent riots in areas like LA and Portland. Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel & Casino did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
ICE conducts operations at Buona Forchetta restaurants in South Park
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it conducted two worksite enforcement operations Friday in South Park. The incident occurred at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta at 30th and Beech Street, Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe with the United States Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement to FOX 5/KUSI. San Diego police were also asked to assist with the incident by Homeland Security, according to authorities. Remains found at Torrey Pines State Beach identified as 10-year-old girl Multiple federal officials were seen standing in front of the Italian restaurant. The manager of Buona Forchetta told FOX 5/KUSI two workers were detained. Check back for updates on this developing story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
