Canceled permits, cries for help and a court update
A quick immigration news roundup and a few notes on ICE detaining people at immigration court
Hello everyone,
As promised, here is a follow-up to last week's newsletter which came out early because of the holiday and some breaking news.
I am still following what's happening to people detained at immigration courts.
Several attorneys have suggested to me that this new operation is tied to the recent Supreme Court decision to allow the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for Venezuelans. But, it's worth noting that they are not the only nationality being detained in this new process.
So far at the San Diego court, we have seen a variety of nationalities, including people from Afghanistan, Turkey, Venezuela and Vietnam. Every case that I've been able to get information about involves someone seeking asylum, including people who say they are survivors of torture.
ICE initially detained people after government attorneys got immigration judges to dismiss the cases against them so that the agency could open new fast-track deportation cases instead. Now, we are hearing increased reports of officers arresting people whose court cases remain open.
One attorney shared with me a document called “Notice and Order of Expedited Removal” that a client received after going into custody.
The client was still in custody at Otay Mesa Detention Center as of Thursday. Due to the attorney's belief that the client will be killed upon arrival in the person's home country, I am not publishing more information about the case at this time.
As many predicted, I am already hearing about people who chose not to go to their hearings after they learned about ICE's new tactics.
Advocates protested outside immigration courts in San Francisco and Sacramento this week, and grassroots groups and human rights observers continue to monitor the situation in San Diego.
Stay tuned for more on this developing situation.
Other Stories to Watch
A group of Venezuelans who were almost sent to El Salvador before an overnight Supreme Court decision in April blocked their flight has been trying to get the public's attention about their plight since then, as I wrote for Capital & Main last week. After the men spelled out SOS for a Reuters drone, ICE transferred them from Bluebonnet Detention Center to Prairieland Detention Center, both in Texas. At Prairieland, the men have been in ICE's version of solitary confinement, where they have less access to communication with the outside world. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court issued another order in mid-May blocking the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelans as the case proceeds through the lower courts.
An official at a Texas immigration detention center called Montgomery Processing Center was charged last week with choking a detainee while the person was in handcuffs, according to the Washington Post.
A New York Times investigation revealed the administration's inner debate over the fate of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who had won protection from deportation to that country but was sent there anyway by the Trump administration.
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with canceling parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who entered under a Biden-era program. That means roughly half a million immigrants just lost permission to be in the country — and their work permits — according to Politico.
The Border Patrol in San Diego told Telemundo that agents will no longer take people to the local port of entry to deport them. They will instead fly the deportees to Mexico City.
The Intercept reported that as many as 19 countries are in talks with or have agreed to receive people who are not their citizens in order to help the U.S. remove more people.
The Trump administration has stopped doing interviews for student visas at U.S. embassies, saying that it's revamping the vetting process, CBS reported. The BBC spoke with students who said they regret applying to U.S. schools.
Immigration officials are showing up at homes, schools and shelters to pay unexpected visits to children who arrived at the border without their parents or guardians, according to the New York Times. Though officials call these “wellness checks,” the visits are instilling fear among children and their families.
The Department of Homeland Security announced that a charter flight brought 64 people who agreed to self-deport to Honduras and Colombia in mid-May.
As the Trump administration debates the ability of noncitizens to use habeus corpus petitions to get out of detention, one attorney in San Diego has managed to use the procedure to help a San Diego woman reunite with her family, according to KPBS.
The administration has begun charging fines to undocumented immigrants, including a woman who received a $1.8 million bill, according to Reuters.