ICE is Trash

[carmenjonze]

Ex-special envoy: Biden's approach to Haiti a 'recipe for disaster' - The Hill

A former special envoy in the Biden administration is warning that the president’s approach to Haiti could further destabilize the already fragile Caribbean nation.

Under Biden, the U.S. has expelled more than 14,000 Haitians since September while avoiding any major policy announcements regarding the country.

While top State Department and White House officials have visited the country to shore up political stability, the policy of expulsions led to the resignation of Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote in September.

“Desperate people without anything being reintroduced into a city with tens of thousands of displaced people already from the gangs — recipe for disaster,” Foote told The Hill Monday, referring to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

In the past year, Haiti has gone through a devastating earthquake, a constitutional crisis, the assassination of a sitting president, an attempt on the acting prime minister’s life and the forced return of scores of Haitians from the U.S.

In September, around 15,000 Haitians amassed under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after crossing the Rio Grande.

The political scandal that ensued prompted the Biden administration to slap a “Title 42” designation on Haitians at the border, allowing the feds to quickly expel Haitians under the guise of sanitary protections related to the pandemic.

Those expulsions have continued in the form of near-daily flights to Haiti — 131 since the Del Rio incident, according to statistics distributed by the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti.

[carmenjonze]

Aura Bogado
@aurabogado

If Trump were still in office, his admin defending Stephen Miller's Title 42 in court today would mean stories, analysis, tweets, cable news, everything.

Instead, Biden is in office, and his admin defended Stephen Miller's Title 42 in court today. All I hear is crickets.

https://twitter.com/aurabogado/status/1 ... 6038013954

[carmenjonze]

The Elusive Freedom of Juan Castillo - Latino USA, podcast

Juan Castillo left war-torn El Salvador when he was only 12. After struggling to find his footing in Reno, Nevada, he was lured into a gang. And then after a shooting left a girl dead, and Juan was pinned with the charges, he was condemned to two life sentences without the possibility of parole and has been living behind bars ever since.

Almost three decades into his confinement, and now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in one of the country’s most brutal immigration detention centers, Juan tells his story of how he found art, literature, service to others, and God, managing to make a life for himself in prison even as he continues to fight for his release.

Almost all he knows of life in the United States is a series of prison cells, and yet, despite solitary confinement, paltry medical care, rotting food, and barely any sunlight, Juan has been able to strive.

[carmenjonze]

This is way worse than Obama or Trump. This administration's immigration and border policies are sh#t.

Feature Article: Robot Dogs Take Another Step Towards Deployment at the Border - DHS

The American Southwest is a region that blends a harsh landscape, temperature extremes and various other non-environmental threats that can create dangerous obstacles for those who patrol the border. The territory is vast and monitoring it is critical to our nation’s security. That’s why the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is offering U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a helping hand (or “paw”) with new technology that can assist with enhancing the capabilities of CBP personnel, while simultaneously increasing their safety downrange.

S&T has a deep understanding of CBP’s technology needs in the field. In its role as the research and development arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), S&T is always identifying solutions to support the complex CBP mission. For instance, S&T is currently supplementing CBP’s bipedal human personnel with quadruped mechanical reinforcements to help the agency better allocate resources. In this case, Man’s best friend comes with a very futuristic twist.

“The southern border can be an inhospitable place for man and beast, and that is exactly why a machine may excel there,” said S&T program manager, Brenda Long. “This S&T-led initiative focuses on Automated Ground Surveillance Vehicles, or what we call ‘AGSVs.’ Essentially, the AGSV program is all about…robot dogs.”

[Libertas]

WHY

writing my reps now

[Libertas]

I am a loyal Democratic party member but I am furious with the administration about this.

https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technol ... deployment

Are you KIDDING me? Robot dogs on top of an already oppressive and inhumane border policy? Disgusting. Making it real hard for me to ignore this when I consider all of my usual party support, REAL HARD!

My message...

[carmenjonze]

After review, U.S. maintains border policy of expelling migrants, citing Omicron - CBS News

After a recent internal review, the Biden administration decided to maintain a pandemic-era order put in place under former President Donald Trump that authorizes the rapid deportation of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told CBS News Thursday.

Since March 2020, the Trump and Biden administrations have expelled migrants over 1.5 million times without affording them the opportunity to request U.S. asylum, citing a series of CDC orders that argue the expulsions are needed to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in border processing facilities.

The latest order authorizing the border expulsions, signed by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in August 2021, instructed public health officials to evaluate the need for the policy every 60 days. Two reviews last fall led the agency to keep the order in place.

Trash.

[carmenjonze]

They're not dogs.

Exclusive: Lawmakers express "extreme concern" over border robot dog plan - Axios

Be smart: Robots and drones are becoming a bigger part of law enforcement, but their presence makes some people feel uncomfortable, as they've come to symbolize the growing militarization of the police.

[ap215]

Judge rules against Biden administration rules for ICE deportation agents

A federal judge in Ohio on Tuesday partially blocked a Biden administration directive that instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to prioritize certain groups of immigrants for arrest and deportation, agreeing with a legal challenge mounted by three Republican-led states.

Judge Michael Newman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said a September 2021 memo issued by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas led ICE agents to violate laws mandating the detention of certain immigrants facing deportation because of criminal convictions.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigratio ... den-judge/

[carmenjonze]

Camilo Montoya-Galvez
@camiloreports

DHS Secretary Mayorkas has struck a more defiant tone during today's hearing, rebuffing Republican criticism that he's allowing too many asylum-seekers into the U.S.

"I'm confident that you would not have me propose that we return Ukrainians encountered at the border to Ukraine"


"Some colleagues would not want us to return every Cuban that we encounter at the border because of their claims of fear of persecution by reason of the authoritarian regime there … It is that flight from that authoritarian regime that lands me here in this country.”

https://twitter.com/camiloreports/statu ... 1040967681

[carmenjonze]

[carmenjonze]

Wow, does this go in Ice is Trash, or the Covid-19 Pandemic thread, or the White Conservatism is Destroying This Country thread?

How federal pandemic aid helped Texas pay for Greg Abbott’s border mission - Texas Tribune

State officials freed up cash for Operation Lone Star with the help of federal funds meant to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and top state lawmakers shifted around roughly $1 billion in federal coronavirus aid to help pay for their campaign to arrest migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, exposing gaps in a law meant to bolster the country’s response to the ongoing pandemic.

Relying on the availability of generous federal relief funds, Texas repeatedly in recent months rerouted state money toward its controversial immigration crackdown — all without leaving a massive hole in its budget. But critics say the money would have been put to better use tending to a public health crisis that has killed more than 86,000 people in the state.

The trouble centers on Operation Lone Star, an initiative announced by Abbott last year, when he promised that law enforcement would “start arresting everybody” crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The campaign, which detains migrants on state trespassing and other charges, relies on extensive and expensive deployments of National Guard troops.

[carmenjonze]

Report finds ‘unnecessary’ force by agents at Rio Grande - AP News

U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback engaged in “unnecessary use of force” against non-threatening Haitian immigrants but didn’t whip any with their reins “intentionally or otherwise,” according to a federal investigation of chaotic scenes along the Texas-Mexico border last fall that sparked widespread condemnation.

In a 511-page report released Friday, Customs and Border Protection blamed a “lack of command control and communication” for mounted agents using their horses to forcibly block and move migrants during an influx of Haitians arriving last September at the U.S. border outside Del Rio, Texas.

“We’re gonna learn from this incident and we’ll find a way to do better,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said during a news conference announcing the report. “Not everyone’s going to like all the findings but the investigation was comprehensive and fair.”

Video and photos of the incident made it appear agents were whipping Haitians, which caused outrage among advocacy groups and civil rights leaders. The Biden administration promised a full investigation after many in the president’s own party objected that such tactics with racial overtones were the kinds of policies the U.S. was supposed to be moving away from after years of hardline immigration tactics under President Donald Trump.

[Libertas]

https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1 ... MBuPovUZmA

The Supreme Court just let a Trump judge seize control of ICE, at least for now

Is there a name for the kind of state where police agencies are not under the command and control of political leaders? Because if there is one, that's what the Supreme Court just made us.

[ap215]

ICE is again transferring immigrants to remote locations without any notice to family or lawyers

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials transferred detained immigrants from a New York jail to facilities as far away as Mississippi without any prior notice to loved ones or legal advocates, New York Family Immigrant Unity Project (NYIFUP) providers said this week. They now believe at least 60 people were transferred from Orange County Correctional Facility (OCCF), with more than half of them to Mississippi.

“Throughout the week of July 18th, NYIFUP had contacted ICE multiple times to confirm rumors of imminent transfers out of the NYC area of immigrant New Yorkers detained at OCCF,” advocates said in the release, pointing out that ICE denied specific plans, “but clarified that OCCF requested ICE ‘assist them by drawing down the overall population in their facility’ and that they were in the planning stages of that population reduction.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7 ... or-lawyers

[carmenjonze]

Posting this while CNN still has a modicum of being a somewhat normal news organization..

First on CNN: A record number of migrants have died crossing the US-Mexico border - CNN

Nearly 750 migrants have died at the southern border this fiscal year, a record that surpasses last year’s total by more than 200 people, according to Department of Homeland Security figures shared with CNN.

Migrants often face treacherous terrain when crossing the border – including oppressive desert heat, dangerous waters and falling from the border wall.

Since October 1, which marks the start of the fiscal year, there have been 748 deaths, a Homeland Security official told CNN, with a month still left to go in the fiscal year. That’s up from 557 southwest border deaths during fiscal year 2021, the previous record.

The figures don’t always capture all deaths, as other state and local agencies may recover bodies without Border Patrol involvement, meaning the number of deaths is likely higher.

Last week, the bodies of at least eight migrants trying to cross the US border from Mexico were found in the Rio Grande, Customs and Border Protection said. The remains were discovered by agents and Mexican authorities while rescuing other migrants in the river.

An increasing number of migrants continue to appear at the US-Mexico border as conditions deteriorate in Latin America. Arrests of migrants along the US southern border this year remained high, including during months when numbers usually dip, meaning that thousands were exposed to even more difficult elements.

In July, the US Border Patrol made more than 181,000 arrests on the US southern border, according to the latest available agency data.

In the past, many migrant deaths have been related to heat exposure, according to the Border Patrol.

[Libertas]

That statistic says one thing loud and clear, the LAST thing the United States is, is Christian.

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ...

If you support this action by ICE and our govt you cannot say you are a xtian, you simply cannot.

[carmenjonze]

San Diego Sheriff's Dept. Investigating Death of Girl, 11, in Suspected Child Abuse Case - NBC San Diego

The same day the girl died, law enforcement officials say her adoptive father took his life

Aarabella’s biological mother and a neighbor who lives on Lakeview Drive told NBC 7 Investigates that Aarabella’s adoptive father was a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent named Brian McCormack. They said McCormack and his wife, Leticia, adopted Aarabella and her two younger sisters.

CBP would only confirm that one of their employees recently died by suicide. Aarabella’s biological mother said the two younger girls are now in the care of social services.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office said the case is under seal and they are unable to release any details. San Diego County officials told NBC 7 that Child Welfare Services, in addition to law enforcement, is investigating Aarabella’s death.

The Rock Church confirmed to NBC 7 Investigates that Leticia McCormack is a volunteer ministry leader for the church. We contacted Leticia for comment but have not heard back.

[carmenjonze]

Lying and Denying: ICE & CoreCivic at Torrance County Detention Facility - Innovation Law Lab

Torrance County is an ICE detention center in New Mexico, notorious for terrible living conditions & retaliation against anyone who speaks out. We have been working there with individuals to fight side-by-side for their release, learn about the horrors of living there, and to advocate together for the closure of the facility. In March the OIG issued a report saying that Torrance had failed to meet basic standards and should be shutdown. ICE denied the allegations and continued to keep hundreds of individuals locked up in Torrance.

In July, ICE Director Tae Johnson assured Senator Heinrich of New Mexico that all was well at Torrance County Detention Facility. However, those words were a lie. Many were being verbally abused by CoreCivic staff & ICE officers and had their basic constitutional rights infringed upon. And then a man died by suicide.

Conditions continue to deteriorate and retaliation against the men inside has intensified, leading several men to go on hunger strike and several others to suicide watch. OIG recently issued a follow up report that says what we have known all along: No human should have to live in Torrance County Detention Facility.

Shamefully, ICE and CoreCivic’s response has been to evade transparency, lie about the abuse and abhorrent conditions at Torrance, and retaliate against the detained individuals who tell the truth. In a recent article in the Santa Fe New Mexican that provides ample evidence of the awful situation at Torrance, a CoreCivic representative did nothing other than lie to the people of Torrance County and New Mexico. “[CoreCivic] spokesman Matthew Davio wrote in an email Monday, ‘Not one detainee has missed a meal.’ Davio also denied reports of cold and dirty living quarters, inoperable plumbing, the presence of insects and other insanitary conditions.”

[Libertas]

Lying and Denying: ICE & CoreCivic at Torrance County Detention Facility - Innovation Law Lab

And while ICE clearly should be dismantled, can you imagine how the right would frame that and how many elections we would lose because of it! I mean while MTG sells DEFUND THE FBI shirts she attacks our candidate about defunding the police. People are STUPID! I am still for dismantling this racist department.

My friend who still talks to our mutual trumper friend had lunch with said trumper this week and within minutes of sitting down and getting the niceties out of the way he was on about the problem at the border.

This is the friend who's wife (when we were friends she was a pot smoking hippie from Connecticut) but who now says the reason we have so much trouble with "Our Blacks" is the good ones were sold in Europe before the ships got here and we got the worst ones. This is a person who used to be an honest to goodness peace and love hippie type. She watches Fox news, btw. I dont talk to either of them anymore.

[carmenjonze]

Top border official Magnus say he’s been asked to resign but refuses - LA Times

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus said Friday he was asked to resign but is refusing to do so.

In a statement to The Times, Magnus said he was asked by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to step down or face firing. He said he was not and defended his record, including internal reforms, border security and pursuit policies.

“I am excited about the progress I made and look forward continuing that work,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mayorkas told Magnus he had lost confidence in Magnus in a conversation between the two. The meeting came after the commissioner had decided to not continue a “retention” bonus for the head of Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz. Magnus had told Mayorkas previously that Ortiz did not share his philosophy and approach to reforms.

On Tuesday, Magnus had also gone to a meeting of border patrol chiefs in El Paso after Mayorkas had ordered him not to, Magnus said.

“After me making extensive attempts to reach [Mayorkas] and discuss the matter, I went to the meeting so I could engage with the chiefs on various issues and concerns. I also met with Chief Ortiz to see how we might best work together moving forward,” he said.

In the meeting with Mayorkas on Wednesday, Magnus was told to resign or Mayorkas would recommend to President Biden that he be fired, Mangus said. Then, on Thursday, John Tien, the second in command at DHS, also told Magnus that he should resign or he would be fired within the next few days, he said.

[ProfX]

Texas Guard to send tank-like military vehicles to the border
A document obtained by The Texas Tribune and Army Times shows that the Vietnam-era M113 armored personnel carriers will be sent to 10 locations along the Texas-Mexico border.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/18 ... lone-star/

Three days after Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted a legally dubious invocation of the “invasion clause” of the U.S. and Texas constitutions over the high number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border, his border mission is set to include armored personnel carriers designed to carry troops into battle alongside tanks, according to a planning document obtained by Army Times and The Texas Tribune.

The order issued Thursday by Texas Military Department officials to the headquarters overseeing Operation Lone Star reveals that the National Guard will soon deploy 10 M113 armored personnel carrier vehicles to the border.

According to the order, around 50 soldiers will be trained to operate the vehicles, and state officials will identify 10 positions to station them along the border.

The Texas Military Department said in a written statement Friday that in addition to the 10 armored vehicles, the Texas National Guard is increasing “aircraft flights and security efforts” on the border.

[snip][end]

We can debate what civilian law enforcement should be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border. But no, this is not a military invasion, and the border should not be militarized. This violates Posse Comitatus.

[Glennfs]

Texas Guard to send tank-like military vehicles to the border
A document obtained by The Texas Tribune and Army Times shows that the Vietnam-era M113 armored personnel carriers will be sent to 10 locations along the Texas-Mexico border.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/18 ... lone-star/

Three days after Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted a legally dubious invocation of the “invasion clause” of the U.S. and Texas constitutions over the high number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border, his border mission is set to include armored personnel carriers designed to carry troops into battle alongside tanks, according to a planning document obtained by Army Times and The Texas Tribune.

The order issued Thursday by Texas Military Department officials to the headquarters overseeing Operation Lone Star reveals that the National Guard will soon deploy 10 M113 armored personnel carrier vehicles to the border.

According to the order, around 50 soldiers will be trained to operate the vehicles, and state officials will identify 10 positions to station them along the border.

The Texas Military Department said in a written statement Friday that in addition to the 10 armored vehicles, the Texas National Guard is increasing “aircraft flights and security efforts” on the border.

[snip][end]

We can debate what civilian law enforcement should be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border. But no, this is not a military invasion, and the border should not be militarized. This violates Posse Comitatus.

The Biden administration is refusing to do anything about the situation. So Governor Abbott is taking matters into his own hands.

[ProfX]

No, Biden is (at least) refusing to militarize the border, which is illegal, but Abbott is doing it. The U.S. is NOT being militarily invaded by Mexico.

[carmenjonze]

So Governor Abbott is taking matters into his own hands.

Governor Abbott is a confederate, and this is why you defend this type of fascism.