Immigration & Border Security

Nov. 30 (UPI) — The Afghan national accused of shooting a two National Guard troops while they were deployed in Washington, D.C., was part of an elite CIA unit in Afghanistan, members of which have struggled to adjust to life in the United States.

The alleged shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, worked with the CIA in Afghanistan as part of a “zero unit,” or national strike unit, who worked with the American military to track down high value Taliban targets in Afghanistan.

Many members of these units, whom NBC News reports are among the most vetted Afghans who worked with the U.S. military, were evacuated in 2021 when the United States pulled out of Afghanistan because they were expected to targeted for retribution by the Taliban after it retook power.

“He was brought into the country by the Biden administration through Operation Allies Welcome. And then, maybe vetted after that, but not done well, based on what the guidelines were put forward by President Biden,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”

“And now, since he’s been here, we believe he could have been radicalized in his home community and in his home state,” Noem said.

Lakanwal arrived in the United States in 2021, after having been vetted regularly while he was working with U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and was granted asylum in April by the Trump administration after another round of vetting, officials have said.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the Trump administration ordered that visa holders from “every country of concern” would be required to undergo reviews to determine if they will be permitted to stay in the U.S.

The administration also said it would pause all applications for asylum, in addition to “permanently pausing migration from all third world countries.”

Members of the zero units took part in intense combat, which has left them with wartime trauma similar to the special operations forces they worked with, as well legal challenges related to their status in the U.S., and have suffered intense mental health challenges, experts have said.

“If you bring people here and you don’t let them feel like there is any hope, you’re leaving them in a very troubling situation,” a spokesperson for the 1208 Foundation, which helps Afghans who worked with the U.S. during the war, told ABC News, suggesting that treating these people like “pariahs” is going to make for a worse situation.

Although the Trump administration agreed to a deal bringing Afghans who worked with the zero units to the U.S., many have struggled to find work, let alone clarity on their asylum or visa status.

“Without your help, we are trapped,” Mohammad Shah, an Afghan in the U.S. who commanded a zero unit, wrote in a letter to members of Congress.

“Recently, there have been cases of suicide within our community driven by the overwhelming sentiment of helplessness we feel as our requests for immigration assistance go ignored by the U.S. government,” Shah wrote.

Nov. 29 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials might be readying to deploy agents in New Orleans amid the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

At least 200 ICE agents are bound for New Orleans in December, but the deployment plans might change, ABC News, NBC News and Nola.com reported based on information allegedly provided by anonymous sources.

The deployment comes as ICE wraps up its deployment in Charlotte, N.C., where it made more than 250 arrests.

Customs and Border Protection Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino led the Charlotte action and is to lead the New Orleans deployment, according to ABC News.

The pending deployment has local officials and others in New Orleans and nearby preparing for it.

Many public school officials are messaging parents and others to reassure them that all students are safe while on respective school campuses, Nola.com reported.

New Orleans and adjacent Jefferson Parish have significant numbers of “immigrant communities” that likely would be among those impacted by ICE activities.

Many schools also are informing parents and students of their legal rights and advising them on how to communicate with federal agents as needed.

ICE agents generally avoid schools, but the Trump administration has provided federal law enforcement with guidance on how to operate on school campuses.

The guidance so far has not been needed, but many arrests and immigration law enforcement activities have occurred near schools.

Department of Homeland Security officials have said arrests only would be made on school campuses to protect the public.

Despite assurances from federal and local officials, many parents of students remain concerned, which spurred some schools to offer free rides for students while immigration law enforcement activities are underway.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told staff Friday that it will pause all applications for asylum filed by migrants inside the United States in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

On Thursday, the president announced he will “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries.” Then Friday evening, all affirmative asylum applicants were paused.

Affirmative asylum applicants must apply for protection from USCIS asylum officers. Applications must be filed within a year of when migrants arrive in the United States. Defensive asylum applications are used when an applicant faces deportation.

U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in the attack, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. They were both members of the West Virginia National Guard.

The suspect, Rahmanulla Lakanwal, 29, is hospitalized after being shot by another guard member. He is an immigrant from Afghanistan and will face a first-degree murder charge.

Lakanwal came to the United States in 2021 and got asylum in April, The Times reported. But it was not clear if it was affirmative asylum.

“USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” said Joseph Edlow, director of the agency, in a statement Friday. “The safety of the American people always comes first.”

Asylum officers at USCIS were told to not approve, deny or close asylum applications received by the agency, according to CBS News.

Officers were told the pause applied to all USCIS asylum cases, which includes those filed by Afghans who arrived under a Biden administration effort. In-person appointments for asylum applicants would be canceled, at least for Monday. The appointments were for applicants to find out what decisions have been made on their cases.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — Foreign nationals from 19 nations of concern will undergo reviews of their visas following Wednesday’s attack on two National Guard members in Washington.

President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to review the visas held by individuals from those nations.

“At the direction of [the president], I have directed a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said on Thursday in a social media post.

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount,” Edlow continued in another post.

“The American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” he said. “American safety is non-negotiable.”

Edlow on Wednesday announced USCIS has stopped all processing of immigration requests from Afghan nationals after West Virginia National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot about two blocks from the White House while patrolling the capital.

The suspect, Rahmanulla Lakanwal, 29, is an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 through the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome that was intended to protect Afghans who assisted the U.S. military.

Trump and others in his administration have accused the Biden administration of improperly vetting visa applicants.

When asked which nations’ citizens will undergo additional scrutiny, USCIS officials directed NBC News to the president’s related executive order made in June.

The Trump administration identified a dozen nations as national security and public safety risks and potential sources of terrorism and suspended or limited visa approvals for their respective citizens.

They include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea. They also include Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The Trump administration also identified seven nations for partial suspension of visa approvals.

Those are Barundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Tofo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Nov. 25 (UPI) — The United States announced it was ending deportation protection for those from civil war-torn Myanmar, the latest nation to have Temporary Protected Status terminated amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the termination of TPS for Myanmar on Monday, saying it will be in effect in 60 days, on Jan. 26.

Some 3,670 Myanmar nationals were in the United States under the TPS program, according to the National Immigration Forum nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.

The previous Biden administration designated Myanmar for TPS in May 2021 in response to civil conflict that erupted in the country following the Feb. 1, 2021, military coup. The designation has been repeatedly renewed until Monday.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Myanmar, the junta has killed at least 7,488 people, with 30,013 others arrested, and nearly 22,700 still detained.

Since the coup began, more than 275,000 Myanmar nationals have sought refuge or asylum in neighboring countries, according to United Nations statistics.

In terminating deportation protections for those from Myanmar, Noem said the situation in the country “has improved enough that it is safe for Burmese citizens to return home” and conditions no longer meet TPS statutory requirements.

“Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability, including the end of its state of emergency, plans for free and fair elections, successful cease-fire agreements and improved local governance contributing to enhanced public service delivery and national reconciliation,” she said in a statement.

The announcement comes less than a week after the United States co-sponsored a resolution on the situation facing minorities in Myanmar, with Michael Heath, U.S. senior adviser for East Asian and Pacific affairs, stating they “remain deeply concerned” by evidence of human rights violations and abuses continuing to be committed by both the military and other armed groups engaged in the civil war.

The Trump administration has sought to end TPS for nine country, affecting more than 675,000 immigrants in the United States, according to Carolyn Tran, executive director of Communities United for Status and Protection.

Nov. 24 (UPI) — The United States on Monday announced it was imposing visa restrictions on Haitian government officials the Trump administration accuses of supporting gangs and other criminal organizations in the Caribbean nation.

Individuals affected were not identified in the State Department press release, which said the move comes under a Biden-era policy targeting those who provide financial or material support to gangs and criminal organizations operating in Haiti.

“The United States remains committed to supporting Haiti’s stability and expects measurable progress toward free and fair elections,” the State Department spokesperson said.

“The Haitian people have had enough with gang violence, destruction and political infighting. The Trump administration will promote accountability for those who continue to destabilize Haiti and our region.”

Haiti has suffered from a political crisis and a surge in gang violence since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021.

Criminal violence has since exploded, with gangs controlling much of Port-au-Prince. In a Nov. 12 press release, United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti said at least 1,247 people were killed and 710 injured between July 1 and Sept. 30 in the capital area. There were also 145 kidnappings and 400 victims of sexual violence, it said.

More than 1.4 million have been displaced across the country.

Between April 1 and June 30, there were at least 1,520 people killed and 609 injured, 185 kidnappings and 628 victims of sexual violence, the BINUM said in a previous update.

The Biden administration announced the visa restriction policy, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, in October 2022.

The move comes as the Trump administration is conducting an immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration has sought to end temporary protection status for Haiti, which shields some Haitian nationals in the United States from deportation. However, the move is being challenged in the courts.

Nov. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said he is “immediately” ending deportation protections for more than 400 Somali immigrants living in Minnesota.

Trumo made the announcement on Truth Social on Friday night.

The East African nation has had protection since 1991, and it was renewed on Sept. 18, 2024, through March 17, 2026, when Joe Biden was president.

“I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota,” he wrote. “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!”

He did not offer evidence related to the allegations of terrorist gangs in the state.

In addition, he blamed Democratic Gov. Walz of overseeing a state that had become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” — also without proof.

“It’s not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community. This is what he does to change the subject,” Walz, who was Kamala Harris‘ vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election against Trump, said less than two hours later in a post on X.

TPS was created in 1979 to allow migrants who escaped “civil unrest, violence or natural disasters” from being deported from the United Stats.

Somalia, which for decades has experienced civil war and instability, is among 17 migrants’ countries with protection. Somalia’s population is 20 million.

There are 705 Somali immigrants approved for the status as of March 31 with 430 in Minnesota, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood east of downtown Minneapolis is nicknamed “Little Mogadishu” because of its large Somali population.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat representing Minneapolis and born in Somalia, blasted the decision.

“Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate. We are here to stay,” Omar wrote on X, noting that most Somalian immigrants are U.S. citizens.

Trump in the past has been at odds with Omar.

“I look at somebody that comes from Somalia, where they don’t have anything – they don’t have police, they don’t have military, they don’t have anything,” Trump said in a Nov. 11 interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News. “All they have is crime — and she comes in and tells us how to run our country.”

Since 1979, more than 26,000 Somali refugees moved to Minnesota, according to the state Department of Health.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, said his office is “monitoring the situation and exploring all of our options.

“Somali folks came to Minnesota fleeing conflict, instability and famine, and they have become an integral part of our state, our culture and our community,” Ellison wrote on Facebook. “Donald Trump cannot terminate TPS for just one state or on a bigoted whim.”

“I am confident that Minnesotans know better than to fall for Donald Trump’s scare tactics and scapegoating,” he added.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also spoke out with a Facebook post that he is “standing with our Somali community today. Minneapolis has your back — always.”

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuthg, who is running for governor against Walz, applauded the decision.

“The unfortunate reality is that far too many individuals who were welcomed into this country have abused the trust and support that was extended to them, and Minnesota taxpayers have suffered billions of dollars in consequences as a result,” Demuth said in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Minnesota Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer adding a post posted on X that “accountability is coming.”

Emmers post linked to a report from right-wing Breitbart about a letter he wrote to Daniel Rosen, U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, urging him to “open an investigation into reports that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are ending up in the hands of the al-Shabab terrorist network in Somalia.”

The move was criticized by Jaylani Hussein, president of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“This is not just a bureaucratic change; it is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric,” Hussein told CBS News. “We strongly urge President Trump to reverse this misguided decision.”

He added that the protection provided “a legal lifeline for families who have built their lives here for decades.”

Trump has also ended TPS protections for Afghan, Venezuelan, Syrian and South Sudanese nationals. Those actions from each have been challenged in courts.

Nov. 20 (UPI) — Charlotte, N.C., officials said Thursday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have left the city, but the Department of Homeland Security insisted that agents are still enforcing immigration law there.

Shortly after the Mecklenburg, N.C., County sheriff announced that agents had left Charlotte, the Trump administration pushed back.

“Wrong. Operation Charlotte’s Web isn’t ending anytime soon,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

CBP had agents in Charlotte for nearly a week, and DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would continue to enforce laws in the city while also transitioning CBP agents to New Orleans.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, CBP has been in touch with officials in Louisiana about mobilizing and deploying agents to New Orleans after Thanksgiving, NBC News reported.

The Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement action known as “Operation Charlotte’s Web” resulted in the arrests of more than 250 people which prompted fear among residents and business owners, local media reported.

The Charlotte operation was the latest in a series of immigration enforcement actions in several large U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago, where many of those arrested did not have criminal records, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Local law enforcement and state leaders have pushed back on federal law presence in their cities, saying additional enforcement personnel are not necessary to police municipalities.

At least 250 Border Patrol agents are scheduled to begin arriving in New Orleans Friday, where officials have said they expect as many as 5,000 arrests, local media reported.

Nov. 20 (UPI) — The Justice Department on Thursday ended its case against a woman who was shot after allegedly ramming a Customs and Border Protection vehicle in October.

Marimar Martinez, 30, and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, 21, were charged with assault for following and allegedly ramming a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by CBP agent Charles Exum on Oct. 4, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois Andrew Boutros filed court papers to end the prosecution on Thursday without citing a reason, though.

U.S. District of Northern Illinois Judge Georgia Alexakis granted the DOJ’s motion to dismiss the case against both defendants early Thursday evening, KTEN reported.

“Border Patrol law enforcement officers were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles,” the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in a prepared statement, as reported by NBC News.

Martinez “was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and has a history of doxing federal agents,” the DHS added.

Her attorney agreed she had a firearm in her vehicle but argued that she was not brandishing it.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty, but evidence revealed Exum bragged in messages to others about shooting five times and causing seven wounds.

During a recent hearing, a defense attorney asked Exum why he apparently bragged about shooting Martinez while using the Signal messaging app.

He said he is a firearms instructor and “I take pride in my shooting skills.”

Exum was participating in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Midway Blitz” when Martinez and Ruiz allegedly boxed in the vehicle he was driving and then struck it.

The defendants said Exum struck them with the vehicle he was driving and then shot Martinez.

Nov. 16 (UPI) — Britain’s home secretary Shabana Mahmood plans to unveil plans to overhaul the country’s asylum policy Monday after declaring that illegal immigration is “tearing the country apart.”

The new measures will include a two-decade long wait period after people who are granted asylum are allowed to settle in the country permanently, the BBC reported.

The new plans will also require that people who are granted asylum will have their refugee status reviewed regularly, and those whose countries are deemed safe will be required to return. Mahmood said Sunday that she sees reforming Britain’s immigration system as a “moral mission.”

Conservatives would deport undocumented migrants “within a week,” while Liberal Democratic Party leaders have called for asylum seekers to have the right to work.

Mahmood said the changes are designed to make the country less attractive to illegal immigrants, and lead to fewer dangerous small boat crossings across the often turbulent English Channel, and asylum claims.

She said the new plans will also end visas for people from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo if those countries do not quickly improve their cooperation on removing people from Britain.

These countries have been selected “for their unacceptable low co-operation and obstructive return processes,” the BBC reported.

Enver Soloman, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the 20-year wait period for permanent residency would “leave people in limbo for many, many years.

“We need a system that is controlled and fair, and the way you do that is you make decisions fairly, in a timely fashion, and if someone is found to be a refugee they go on and they contribute to our communities and they pay back,” he said Sunday on BBC Breakfast.

At least 109,343 people claimed asylum in Britain in the last 12 months, a 17% increase over the year before, according to government figures. At least 1,069 migrants have arrived in the country in the last 7 days, the data show.

Mahmood is set to unveil her plans in the House of Commons on Monday.

Nov. 16 (UPI) — A senior Border Patrol official said Sunday that 81 “illegal aliens” have been rounded up in raids in Charlotte, N.C., in an operation dubbed “Charlotte’s Web.”

Federal agents arrived in the city Saturday to launch the operation, with businesses closing in the city as people began to be arrested and detained in local neighborhoods.

“Illegal aliens with criminal histories and warrants don’t hang out in front of big box hardware stores? Well, then how did we find this illegal alien from Honduras there?” Greg Bovino, commander-at-large of the agency, said on social media in a post that included a photo of a crying woman he detained in Charlotte.

Bovino said another person he arrested, from Honduras, had been ordered to leave by an immigration judge in April.

“Guess he didn’t get the word, so we let him know…that he’s gotta go,” Bovino wrote.

Overall, he said that his team had arrested 81 people since arriving in Charlotte on Saturday, and that “many” — but not all — of them had significant criminal and immigration history.

“This was done in about five hours!” Bovino said. “Stay tuned to social media to take a look at who we apprehended.”

Charlotte is the latest in a string of cities across the country, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, where federal agencies have staged similar raids as part of immigration enforcement.

The raids have been criticized for their scope and nature, with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week issuing a statement that it opposes “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”

“Human dignity and national security are not in conflict,” the group said. “Both are possible if people of good will work together.”

White House Border Czar Tom Homan, who has championed the city-by-city immigration raids and round-ups, called the bishops “wrong” in comments at the White House on Friday, noting that he is a lifelong Catholic.

“A secure border saves lives,” Homan told reporters outside the West Wing. “We’re going to enforce the law and by doing that we save a lot of lives.”

Bovino himself also has faced criticism for his confrontational manner of arresting people for deportation.

The Project on Government Oversight last week issued a report analyzing four years of federal data that said Bovino has presided over a “disproportionate” amount of use-of-force incidents compared to the amount of assaults they’ve faced.

Meanwhile, Bovino has emerged as a central figure in President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on immigration.

Bovino’s trip to Charlotte comes after raids in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood in recent weeks, in which he ordered his agents to tear-gas civilians.

After the raids in Chicago, he and his team took selfies at Anish Kapoor‘s Cloud Gate, the sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor colloquially known as the “bean.”

In comments to Urgent Matter, Kapoor likened Bovino and his team to “Nazis” for “intimidating the people they seem to be immigrants.”

“I am deeply horrified and saddened that U.S. Border Patrol has chosen to rally in front of Cloud Gate for their self-congratulatory photo-opp,” Kapoor said.

Nov. 15 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents initiated enforcement of federal immigration laws in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday.

Many businesses on Central Avenue in the eastern portion of Charlotte closed as federal agents began making arrests and detained people in local neighborhoods, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Local officials expressed their support for migrants in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

“We want people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to know we stand with all residents who simply want to go about their lives contributing to our larger community,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Mecklenburg County Commission Chairman Mark Jerrell and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Chairwoman Stephanie Sneed said in a joint statement.

“Our region has thrived and grown because our strength lies in our diversity and our collective commitment to each other and to this community,” they said.

“Let us all — no matter our political allegiance — stand together for all hard-working and law-abiding families.”

The local officials said the arrival of the CBP agents unnecessarily created “fear and uncertainty in our community.”

Federal agents have most recently been deployed to Chicago, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent the past month enforcing immigration law amid opposition from protesters and others.

The Charlotte Observer reported a man saying the federal agents smashed a window on his vehicle, and another said agents aimed a rifle and threatened to shoot him after he followed them.

CBP agents also allegedly broke the window of another man’s vehicle and took his keys after stopping him twice in 10 minutes, but the man did not say if he was following the agents as they went about their work.

Local officials earlier said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department does not participate in immigration enforcement and asked community members to stay peaceful amid the immigration enforcement action, according to NBC News.

North Carolina is not a sanctuary state, and state law prevents local governments from declaring themselves to be sanctuaries for those who have illegally entered or otherwise remained in the United States.

The federal immigration enforcement effort in Charlotte prompted Asheville, N.C., Mayor Esther Manheimer to suggest the city could be next, WLOS reported.

Nov. 12 (UPI) — Hundreds of Chicago Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainees will be freed soon after a judge ordered them released on bond.

On Wednesday, District Judge Jeff Cummings ordered bond for at least 615 people in a lawsuit brought by civil rights groups. The people held were arrested in Operation Midway Blitz, President Donald Trump‘s law enforcement operation in Chicago.

Those who will be released must be granted bond by noon Nov. 21, the ruling said. People eligible are those who have no mandatory detention orders and do not pose significant risk.

NBC 5 Chicago investigated the claim that the government has arrested the “worst of the worst,” showing that 85% of those arrested have no criminal convictions.

Cummings ordered the Department of Justice to review all remaining arrests through Wednesday and have a list by Nov. 19.

The plaintiffs in the case, the National Immigrant Justice Center, argued that hundreds of arrests by ICE agents were carried out in violation of a consent decree in Illinois and five neighboring states, according to 7 Eyewitness News. The decree puts limits on warrantless arrests.

The decree said that to arrest someone without a warrant, ICE agents must pre-determine if there is probable cause to believe the person is in the country illegally, and whether they are also a flight risk. Immigrant advocates say ICE has ignored those rules.

“As we’re digging into it, we are very concerned that many, if not most [of ICE arrests], are violations of our consent decree,” Mark Fleming of the National Immigrant Justice Center told 7 Eyewitness News.

“Our initial analysis is that it’s over 3,000 arrests,” that are in violation of the consent decree, Fleming said.

“We’ve started to dig into the case file that they produced to us, and the vast majority are violations. If they did not have a prior order of removal, in almost all circumstances, they’ve been uniformly violating the consent decree.”

The government’s attorneys have argued that Congress had stripped the courts of the power to grant parole to large groups of immigrants in ICE custody.

“Federal courts cannot order the Department of Homeland Security to release any aliens on parole because Congress has stripped them of that authority,” they said.

Nov. 12 (UPI) — Dozens of Venezuelans incarcerated in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT — terrorism confinement mega prison — after being deported from the United States were tortured and subjected to other serious human rights abuses, according to a report out Wednesday.

Titled “You Have Arrived in Hell,” the 81 page report by Human Rights Watch and regional human rights organization Cristosal details the treatment of 40 Venezuelans during four months of incommunicado detention in the maximum security facility this year.

The men were among 252 Venezuelans flown to El Salavador in March and April by U.S. authorities, most of them on the basis of allegations by the U.S. and El Salvadorean governments that they were “terrorists” in the Tren de Aragua organized crime gang, designated a foreign terrorist group by Washington.

Detainees told HRW of constant beatings from the moment they were taken off the plane, being held in inhumane conditions, insufficient food, poor hygiene and sanitation, limited access to health care and medicine and zero recreation or education provision.

Three said they suffered sexual violence and several reported being severely beaten, apparently as punishment for speaking with the International Committee of the Red Cross when the charity visited CECOT in May.

The ill-treatment did not constitute isolated incidents by rogue guards or riot police, but rather systematic violations “designed to subjugate, humiliate, and discipline detainees,” Human Rights Watch and Cristosal said.

“The brutality and repeated nature of the abuses also appear to indicate that guards and riot police acted on the belief that their superiors either supported or, at the very least, tolerated their abusive acts,” they added.

Human Rights Watch and Cristosal said that contrary to the allegations the men were terrorists, only 3% of them had U.S. convictions for violent or potentially violent offenses, half had no U.S. criminal record at all and many had clean records in their home country of Venezuela or other Latin American countries.

The report said the human rights abuses in El Salvadorean prison were well known — including by the State Department which had criticized security and law enforcement in the countrty — but the Trump administration sent the Venezuelans, including dozens of asylum seekers, there anyway.

“The Trump administration paid El Salvador millions of dollars to arbitrarily detain Venezuelans who were then abused by Salvadoran security forces on a near-daily basis,” said HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus.

“The Trump administration is complicit in torture, enforced disappearance, and other grave violations, and should stop sending people to El Salvador or any other country where they face a risk of torture,” she said.

Cristosal executive director Noah Bullock, said the Trump administration was guilty of “hir[ing] the Salvadorian prison system as a prop in a theatre of cruelty.”

“They wanted to demonstrate and send a message of brutality. But I don’t know if they knew how far it would go and how terrible the horrors of torture are,” he said.

HRW and Cristosal also called for an independent investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and warned that U.S. complicity in the violations drew parallels with the human rights abuses meted out to Iraqis by U.S. military and intelligence personnel in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraqib prison in the Iraq War.

Nov. 11 (UPI) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Harris County for allocating $1.35 million to help fund legal defense of those facing immigration deportation hearings.

Harris County, which includes Houston and forms the core of the Greater Houston Area, has historically ranked among the top U.S. counties for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers, according to reporting by The Texas Tribune.

Paxton accused the Harris County Commissioners Court of illegally allocating more than $1.35 million in taxpayer funds to “radical-left organizations” that use the money to “oppose the lawful deportations of illegal aliens.”

He called the fund “blatantly unconstitutional” and “evil and wicked” in a news release announcing the lawsuit Tuesday.

“We must stop the left-wing radicals who are robbing Texans to prevent illegals from being deported by the Trump administration,” Paxton said Tuesday in a news release.

“Millions upon millions of illegals invaded America during the last administration,” Paxton said. “They must be sent back to where they came from.”

He said the Harris County Commissioners Court recently voted 4-1 to allocate $1.35 million to several non-governmental organizations that are “dedicated to fighting the deportation of illegal aliens.”

Recipients include the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, Justice for All Immigrants, Kids in Need of Defense, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and BakerRipley.

The allocations serve no public purpose and amount to illegal grants of taxpayer dollars to pay for the legal defense of those who should not be in the country, Paxton said.

He said the Texas Constitution prohibits allocating taxpayer funds to individuals or groups that do not serve the public interest and filed the lawsuit in the Harris County Judicial District Court on Monday.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the county will oppose the state’s lawsuit in court, The Texas Tribune reported.

“This lawsuit is a cheap political stunt,” Menefee said in a prepared statement.

“At a time when the president has unleashed ICE agents to terrorist immigrant neighborhoods, deport U.S. citizens and trample the law, it’s shameful that Republican state officials are joining in instead of standing up for Texans.”

Although Menafee accused the Trump administration of deporting U.S. citizens, the Department of Homeland Security said that is a false accusation and no U.S. citizens have been deported.

“We have said it a million times: ICE does not arrest or deport U.S. citizens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Oct. 1 in response to a New York Times article accusing ICE of deporting citizens.

Before becoming the Harris County attorney, Menafee’s biography says his private practice “focused heavily on pro bono work, including advising the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, advising immigrants and their families at Bush Intercontinental Airport during the ‘Muslim ban’ and working with Texas Appleseed on expanding alternatives to involuntary commitment for the mentally ill.”

Nov. 8 (UPI) — One or more people fired shots at Customs and Border Protection agents, who were carrying out law enforcement activities in a southwestern Chicago neighborhood on Saturday.

The agents were in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood as part of the Operation Midway Blitz operation to enforce federal immigration laws in the sanctuary city when an unidentified male in a black Jeep fired shots at the agents and then fled in his vehicle.

The number of shots fired was not announced.

“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of violence and obstruction,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X.

“Over the past two months, we’ve seen an increase in assaults and obstruction targeting federal law enforcement during operations,” the post continued.

“These confrontations highlight the dangers our agents face daily and the escalating aggression toward law enforcement. The violence must end.”

The incident occurred near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue when agents detained a young woman, which drew the attention of protesters who demanded CBP release her, according to WLS-TV.

As protesters followed the CBP caravan in which the woman was detained, the man in the black Jeep fired shots at the agents.

Some protesters also threw bricks and a paint can at the agents’ vehicles, CBS News reported.

The Chicago Police Department arrived on the scene to clear it and restore order.

No arrests have been made, but federal law enforcement is continuing to search for the driver of the black Jeep.

Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said the CBP agents “came out of their vehicles pointing their weapons” and “used tear gas on people,” WLS-TV reported.

After Chicago police arrived, one police officer was struck by a vehicle and taken to a local hospital for treatment. His condition was not reported.

The Chicago Police Department said there were no reports of anyone being struck by gunfire.

CBP agents continued their law enforcement activities near 26th and Pulaski and deployed tear gas to fend off protesters as they detained another person.

Many protesters used whistles and car horns to warn others of the CBP activities during an afternoon attempt to detain a man and his niece near 25th and Sawyers.

The incident also required the attention of the Chicago Police Department after someone used a vehicle to ram a CBP vehicle.

Nov. 7 (UPI) — A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction barring federal authorities from using force against protesters, journalists and others in Chicago as the Trump administration conducts an immigration crackdown in the city.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued her ruling Thursday, in a case brought against the Trump administration in early October alleging that federal agents in Chicago have responded to protests and negative media coverage “with a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians.”

The ruling explicitly states that the federal agents are prohibited from using crowd control weapons such as batons, rubber or plastic bullets, flash-bang grenades and tear gas against civilians unless there is “a threat of imminent harm to a law enforcement officer.”

In a bench ruling, reported on by The New York Times, Ellis said government officials, including Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol official leading the operation in Chicago, lied repeatedly about the tactics they employed against protesters.

The ruling comes amid growing criticism of the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration authorities executing Operation Midway Blitz, which began on Sept. 9, targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

Videos circulating online, however, show masked agents hauling a woman, later identified as U.S. citizen Dayanne Figueroa, from her vehicle, which they crashed into, and forcibly detaining a teacher from a daycare in front of school children. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., said they detained the woman without a warrant, calling the actions of the immigration agents “domestic terrorism.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson earlier Thursday said during a press conference the daycare employee’s arrest “shocked the conscience of every single Chicagoan.”

In her bench ruling Thursday, Ellis, a President Barack Obama appointee, rejected the government’s description of Chicago as a violent- and riot-riddled city, saying, “That simply is untrue, and the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion.”

With pointed remarks at Bovino, she said the federal agent “admitted that he lied” about being hit in the head with a rock in October, which was his reasoning for deploying tear gas canisters.

“Video evidence ultimately disproved this,” she said, CNN reported.

Lawyers with Lovey & Lovey who brought the case before the court described it as protecting the right to protest.

Steve Art, a partner at the firm, called Ellis’ preliminary injunction in a press conference a “powerful ruling.”

“For weeks, the Trump administration has deployed Gregory Bovino and his gang of thugs to terrorize our community. They have tear gassed dozens of residential neighborhoods, they have abused the elderly, they have abused pregnant women, they have abused young children. On our streets, they have used weapons of war,” he said.

“We want to be clear every person who is associated with or who has enabled the Trump administration’s violence in Chicago should be ashamed of themselves.”

Nov. 6 (UPI) — The Trump administration has moved to end deportation protections for those from South Sudan as the United Nations warns the country is on the brink of war.

Amid President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on immigration, the Department of Homeland Security has targeted countries that have been given Temporary Protected Status, which is granted to countries facing ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters or other extraordinary conditions.

TPS enables eligible nationals from the designated countries to live and work in the United States legally, without fear of deportation.

DHS announced it was ending TPS for South Sudan on Wednesday with the filing of a Federal Register notice.

The termination will be in effect Jan. 5.

“After conferring with interagency partners, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem determined that conditions in South Sudan no longer meet the TPS statutory requirements,” DHS said in a statement, which explained the decision was based on a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of the conditions in South Sudan and in consultation with the Department of State.

South Sudan was first designated for TPS in November 2011 amid violent post-independence instability in the country, and the designation has been repeatedly renewed since.

The Trump administration has sought to end TPS designations for a total seven countries: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Venezuela and now South Sudan. Court challenges have followed, with decisions staying, at least for now, the terminations for all of the countries except for Afghanistan and Cameroon, which ended July 12 and Aug. 4, respectively.

The move to terminate TPS for South Sudan is also expected to be challenged in court.

The announcement comes a little more than a week after the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned the General Assembly that the African nation is experiencing escalating armed conflict and political crisis, and that international intervention is needed to halt mounting human rights violations.

A civil war erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, just two years after the country gained independence — a conflict that came to an end with a cease-fire in 2018.

Barney Afako, a member of the human rights commission in South Sudan, said Oct. 29 that the political transition spearheaded by the cease-fire agreement was “falling apart.”

“The cease-fire is not holding, political detentions have become a tool of repression, the peace agreement’s key provisions are being systematically violated and the government forces are using aerial bombardments in civilian areas,” he said.

“All indicators point to a slide back toward another deadly war.”

The DHS is urging South Sudanese in the United States under TPS to voluntarily leave the country using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection smartphone application. If they do, they can secure a complimentary plane ticket, a $1,000 “exit bonus” and potential future opportunities for legal immigration.

Nov. 5 (UPI) — A federal district judge on Wednesday ordered authorities to improve conditions inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building near Chicago.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, calling the conditions “unnecessarily cruel,” acted on a class action lawsuit Wednesday after hearing several hours of testimony from five people detained at the Broadview immigration detention site west of Chicago.

“People shouldn’t be sleeping next to overflowing toilets,” Gettleman, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, said. “They should not be sleeping on top of each other.”

The four-page order also mandates detainees to be able to contact their attorneys. The order on the class action lawsuit will run from Nov. 19, when he will have another hearing though the Trump administration was told to give him a status by Friday on complying with the order.

“The court finds that plaintiffs and members of the punitive class have suffered, and are likely to suffer, irreparable harm absent the temporary relief granted herein, that they are likely to prevail on the merits of the claims, that the balance of the equities tips in their favor,” he said.

They also must be provided with a shower at least every other day; clean toilet facilities; three full meals per day; a bottle of water with each meal; adequate supplies of soap, toilet paper, and other hygiene products; and menstrual products and prescribed medications.

Holding cells also must be cleaned at least twice a day.

Regarding legal defense, detainees must have free and private phone calls with their attorneys and a list of pro bono attorneys in English and Spanish.

And they must be listed in ICE’s online detainee locator system as soon as they arrive at the Broadview facility.

The judge heard several hours of testimony about conditions at the building, which is intended to hold detainees for a few hours.

They described the inadequate food, sleeping conditions, medical care and bathrooms near where they slept. They said they slept on the floor or on plastic chairs.

The lawsuit claimed the facility “cut off detainees from the outside world,” which the government has denied.

The judge didn’t act on the plaintiff’s request to limit how many people would be kept in holding cells and limit them to not more than 12 hours if the changes aren’t enacted.

The U.S. government said the restrictions would “halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration law in Illinois.”

Nov. 5 (UPI) — A federal judge was expected to rule Wednesday after he called the conditions at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in a Chicago suburb “disgusting” after hearing more than 6 hours of testimony.

U.S District Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday reviewed the conditions at the facility in Broadview, Ill., that ICE is using as part of Operation Midway Blitz. He’s ruling on a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois last week over detainee access to lawyers and allegedly inhumane conditions there.

Gettleman told the court that what he heard qualifies for court intervention. He said he will issue a final ruling on Wednesday, and that it will not be “impossible to comply with.”

“I think everybody can admit that we don’t want to treat people the way that I heard people are being treated today,” Gettleman said after hearing testimony from five detainees being held at the facility, calling their descriptions of the facility “disgusting” and “unconstitutional.”

“It’s a disturbing record,” Gettleman said. “People sleeping shoulder to shoulder, next to overflowing toilets and human waste — that’s unacceptable.”

The Justice Department argued in a response to the ACLU’s lawsuit that people at the facility are “adequately provided with food, clothing, shelter and medical care before they are transferred to another detention facility.”

During the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Department attorney Jana Brady suggested that the five detainees may not properly recall their experience at the facility, and questioned whether they understood what was going on there in the first place.

Brady also noted, however, that authorities were working to improve conditions at the facility, which was operating beyond its normal capacity. She said there was “a learning curve” as operations continue.

In its lawsuit, the ACLU alleged that agents at the Broadview facility have treated detainees “abhorrently, depriving them of sleep, privacy, menstrual products and the ability to shower,” as well as denied entry and communication with attorneys, members of Congress, and religious and faith leaders.

The MacArthur Justice Center and Roger Baldwin Foundation, of the ACLU, called Broadview a “black hole, and federal officials are acting with impunity inside its walls.”

During the hearing on Tuesday, Gettleman heard from detainees who said they had to step over bodies at night while people slept on the floor; would wake people up when going to the bathroom because they were sleeping next to the toilet; received just a thin foil blanket or a sweater despite freezing temperatures overnight; and observed poor sanitation, clogged toilets, and blood, human fluids and insects in the sinks and the floor.

One detainee told the judge that female detainees at one point used garbage bags to unclog a toilet and that, when they asked for a broom to clean, guards refused.

The facility is a two-story building in an industrial area of the Village of Broadview, about 12 miles west of downtown Chicago, which has long been used by immigration authorities, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

In June, the Department of Homeland Security changed its policy to allow detainees to be held there for as long as 72 hours, up from the 12 hours that previously had been the limit.

After hearing from witnesses that detainees have been held there for as long as 12 days, and that the building does not have beds, blankets or pillows, Gettleman said the building has “become a prison” and may be “unconstitutional.”

The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday afternoon said in a post on X that Broadview is not a detention center, but rather a processing center, and that it is processing “the worst of the worst, including pedophiles, gang members and rapists.”

“All detainees are provided with three meals a day, water and have access to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the department said in the post. “No one is denied access to proper medical care.”

“Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are FALSE,” it added.

Noting that the facility is a key part of the department’s immigration enforcement effort in Chicago, Brady said that a temporary restraining order requiring the department to improve the facility, “as it is currently written, would effectively halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration laws in Illinois.”