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Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘I want Daddy.' As ICE detains parents, children are left behind.
'I don't want birthday,' Jhon said. 'I want Daddy.' Across Massachusetts, thousands of immigrants — many with no criminal record — have been detained by immigration officials. In May alone, Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Left behind are their children, some too young to understand what has happened. Advertisement There is no publicly available data on how many parents have been arrested in recent months, or how many children have had a parent detained by ICE. Almost 30,000 US citizen children in Massachusetts live with at least one undocumented parent, according to a report from the For the families of Advertisement For a child, the disappearance of a parent can be psychologically crushing. Toledo holds hands with Damian (right) and Jhon as they leave Mass at St. Stephen Parish in Framingham. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Children in these situations can be prone to anxiety and depression, says Charles A. Nelson III, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. Having an attachment figure suddenly vanish can be 'really devastating to kids,' Nelson says, in part because they thrive on predictability and constancy. 'When we say 'taken away,' there's this mysterious black box that exists on the other side.' In interviews over the last several months, families across Massachusetts recounted how the lives of their children have been In New Bedford, a 1-year-old girl spent weeks this spring and summer looking out the window, waiting for her father, who is from Honduras and was detained for almost a month, to come home. In Framingham, a 4-year-old girl was left in the care of a family friend for days after her mother was suddenly detained, until her father could rush to the United States from Brazil. In Lynn, a 17-year-old girl watched four immigration officials in plainclothes arrest her father, who is from Guatemala, right outside their front door. Now she's afraid to leave the house. In these situations, federal officials ask parents if they want their children to be deported with them. If not, ICE will place the children 'with a safe person the parent designates,' Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement to the Globe. Twins Damian (right) and Jhon ride bikes around their kitchen. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff A family portrait shows Toledo and her husband, Nexan Asencio Corado, holding their twins. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff 'DHS takes its responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to ensure that children are safe and protected,' McLaughlin said. Advertisement Parents who are living here unlawfully can use a mobile application called CBP Home to 'We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live [the] American dream,' McLaughlin said. 'If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.' Jhon and Damian, the twin brothers in Milford, have spent almost two months without their dad. To make ends meet, Christina Toledo, their mother, has picked up extra shifts at her two jobs as a school bus driver and office manager. Toledo, like her boys, is a US citizen. She and her husband, Nexan Asencio Corado, had hoped they could normalize his status. He came in unauthorized about a decade ago from Guatemala, was arrested near the border and deported, and then returned. He eventually received an approved petition, through his marriage to Toledo, to begin the process toward lawful permanent residency, and had a pending application to stay here legally while the process moved forward. The couple have been together for almost a decade, and have been married for four years. Just after dawn on May 30, Asencio Corado was driving to his job in carpentry and framing. Immigration officers stopped his van. After he was pulled over, not far from their home, Asencio Corado ran back to the house — he was trying, his wife says, to tell her what was happening. They had been watching the news of recent arrests, and were worried that he could be apprehended without any notification to their family, which had happened in some cases. So they made a pact: If Asencio Corado thought he was in danger of being arrested, he would get as close to home as he could, to alert Toledo that he was being taken. Advertisement Toledo, 38, with Jhon (left) and Damian at home in Milford. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff And that's what happened on that Friday in late May, when Toledo heard a scuffle outside. Video footage of the arrest, which Toledo took on her cellphone, shows two masked immigration agents handcuffing her husband in the backyard. From an upstairs window, Toledo and the twins saw federal agents lead Asencio Corado to an unmarked car. 'Daddy,' Damian can be heard saying in the background of the video. 'Arrest, arrest.' Asencio Corado may face a losing battle to stay in the country under the Trump administration. DHS said in immigration court documents this year that he is not eligible for legal status since he reentered the country unlawfully, though they acknowledged he had no known criminal record. Officials at the detention center where her husband is being held told him that he would be deported, Toledo says. Still, she hopes that one day, her husband will be allowed to return home — and to his routine with their twins. 'I'm going to be sad for my whole life until you come back home, my love,' Toledo told him in a recent call, in a mixture of Spanish and English. 'I just miss you, mucho. ' 'Truly, I'm sorry,' Asencio Corado told her. 'I feel guilty because you got married to someone who is illegal.' Advertisement 'And it was the best decision of my life, don't you understand that?' Toledo replied. Damian (left) and Jhon at the kitchen window in June. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Before his arrest, the twins would take his coffee mug and lunchbox off his hands in the evenings — Toledo always had a meal prepared for him — after he came back from his job in construction; the family had just started their own residential framing business. They'd greet him with kisses and hugs. Both boys are crushed, but Jhon is especially attached to his father, Toledo says. Asencio Corado held him every night at bedtime, until he fell asleep in his arms. Since his father disappeared, Jhon has been acting out — stomping his feet, throwing his toys. Sometimes, he'll cry randomly while playing games with his brother. Out of nowhere, he'll say it over and over: Daddy. Toledo was born in the United States. Her father is from Ecuador and her mother is Puerto Rican. She has never been to Guatemala, and neither have the twins. If Asencio Corado is deported, she said, she might consider moving there, though the immigration process could take years. She doesn't want the boys to grow up without their father. S ome children, like Jhon and Damian, have spent weeks and weeks without one of their parents. Others have been separated from their sole caretakers. Last month at the Goodnow Brothers Elementary School in Marlborough, families gathered with balloons and flowers on the sidewalk outside the school, eager to celebrate their fifth-graders' graduation from elementary school. As the ceremony began, Luna Faltz was trying to hold back tears. She wore a necklace with charms of butterflies on it, which her grandmother had gotten her the day before. Her mother would usually paint her nails, but now they were bare. Advertisement Daiane Faltz, Luna's mother, was locked inside an immigration detention center in Karnes City, Texas, 2,000 miles away. Luna, 11, excelled at school; after arriving from Brazil about four years ago, she was already fluent in English, and she loved playing volleyball. In the last weeks of school, her mind kept wandering in class as she worried about her mother, who had been arrested by ICE on May 15 in Plymouth, and swiftly transferred to the detention facility in Texas. Luna, left, with a relative at her grandmother's home in Marlborough on June 6. Erin Clark/Globe Staff 'I had a hard day yesterday,' Luna said on a Friday just after school. 'I remembered my mom. I started crying.' Her teachers helped, encouraging her to take breaks, or play with a fidget toy when she got anxious. They offered extra hugs. Faltz is a single mother, and had Luna young. The two of them are extremely close; they had come to the United States from Brazil, fleeing domestic violence at home, the family said. They love girls' nights together, painting each other's nails, ordering food in their pajamas and watching Harry Potter. After her mother's arrest, Luna moved into her grandmother's apartment in Marlborough. Luna and her mother crossed the border without permission in 2021, according to records from DHS, but were first apprehended by immigration officials in Texas and expelled under Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration restriction. A few days later, they crossed into California and were again apprehended by immigration officials, but released on their own recognizance while they In 2024, Faltz was charged with operating a vehicle without a license. The charge was disposed of earlier this year after she paid her court fees, Marlborough District Court records show. According to her family, Faltz's license was suspended without her knowledge during that process; they later learned she missed a court date she didn't know she had. The notification had been sent to a former address. In May, Faltz was arrested by Plymouth police for driving with a suspended license, DHS said in an immigration court hearing last month. ICE took her into custody. Luna after her fifth-grade graduation ceremony in Marlborough. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Luna blows a kiss to her mother during a video call as her grandmother, Bianca, holds the phone. Erin Clark/Globe Staff So Faltz missed watching Luna parade around the school with her classmates at graduation, waving at their families; her daughter hugging her classmates and taking pictures with her teachers. Luna's grandmother, who stood near Luna and her classmates as each name was called, managed to get Faltz on a video call from detention, just in time to see her daughter walk up and get her certificate on the school's lawn. Luna's grandmother held up the phone so her daughter could see. Luna flashed a grin as she realized who was on the screen. As soon as the ceremony was over, Luna rushed over to talk to her mother. ' Te amo, ' Faltz told her daughter on the phone in Portuguese. ' Também te amo, ' Luna responded. Luna dove into her grandmother's arms and buried her head in her neck. All around them, other parents hugged their children. Faltz could only watch her daughter cry. Time on video calls is always limited. Luna lifted her head and blew her mother a kiss before the screen went dark. I n the next week, Luna fell into a familiar pattern. She had constant reminders of her mom; the background of her phone screen was a picture of the letter 'D' traced in the sand on a beach, a heart around it. 'D' for Daiane. On a Thursday, 10 days after Luna's graduation, she noticed her grandmother was behaving secretively, taking all of her phone calls in private. When bedtime wasn't enforced, Luna knew something was afoot. So her grandmother relented and told her the surprise: Her mom was coming home in the early hours of Friday morning. Faltz had been released on bail, for the hefty sum of $8,000. It was nearly 2 a.m., and Luna was wide awake, jittery with anticipation. 'One minute!' her grandmother told her in Portuguese as they glanced at her phone, tracking the progress of the Lyft making its way west from South Station. When the car arrived at their apartment complex, Luna took off running. Daiane Faltz collapses onto the couch with Luna. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Luna massages her mother's hand. Erin Clark/Globe Staff They flew to each other and hugged. Faltz kissed Luna's head, over and over, sobbing with relief. 'I can't believe it,' Faltz said. Faltz had taken five separate buses over more than 48 hours to make it home. Luna could not stop smiling. She held her mother's hand as Faltz described detention: the small cells, the lack of privacy, the inedible food. Luna took out a kit with beads to make her mother a bracelet. Her grandmother served carne ensopada, a Brazilian dish similar to beef stew. Luna braided Faltz's hair, and inspected her mother's new, bulky ankle monitor. Daiane still had a long road ahead of her; she had to fight the deportation case that the US government was taking up against her. But on that night, all that seemed to matter was that mother and daughter were finally together again. On a mattress on the living room floor, they curled up side by side and fell asleep. B ack in Milford, Jhon and Damian's dad has not come home. Asencio Corado is in a federal prison holding ICE detainees in Berlin, New Hampshire. An immigration judge denied his bond. Toledo was devastated. Toledo, who is Catholic, has been going to church more often since her husband's detainment, searching for comfort in God. On a recent Sunday in June, Toledo and the twins walked up to St. Stephen Parish in Framingham for the 12:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish. Jhon balked at going inside. 'We're going to go see the angels,' Toledo told Jhon. 'Come on, for Daddy.' Toledo and Jhon during Mass at St. Stephen Parish. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff He relented, and trotted ahead to catch up. During the service, Toledo closed her eyes in prayer as Damian sat on her lap, and Jhon nestled in next to her. She listened intently as the priest shared his sermon; in times of loneliness, and profound hardship, he said, parishioners should look to God for solace. The chattering of children were the only sounds breaking through the sermon. Jhon scanned the sanctuary walls, looking at paintings of scenes from the Bible, featuring men with beards and dark hair like his father's. He pointed. 'Daddy,' Jhon called out to them, breaking the hush of the Mass. 'Daddy. Daddy.' Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at
NDTV
19-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
"Nice Shirt": US Border Patrol Mocks Arrested Migrant Wearing American Flag T-Shirt
Washington: An illegal immigrant was arrested by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday in New York. But it wasn't just the arrest that caught attention. The T-shirt he was wearing stole the spotlight. The federal agency on X (formerly Twitter) said that they have arrested an illegal immigrant at the Peace Bridge in New York. CBP also mocked him for wearing a T-shirt featuring the American flag. "Nice shirt! But it doesn't erase the fact that you entered the country illegally, the agency wrote. Nice shirt! But it doesn't erase the fact that you entered the country illegally. CBP officers encountered this individual at the Peace Bridge in NY, he has multiple DUIs and a misdemeanor assault charge. Criminal illegal aliens have no place in the U.S. — CBP (@CBP) July 18, 2025 CBP further mentioned that the unidentified man also has a prior criminal history, including multiple DUI offences and a misdemeanour assault charge. The post concluded, "Criminal illegal aliens have no place in the US." The arrest comes weeks after US President Donald Trump said that more people should be deported, especially from areas like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. In a Truth Social post, he wrote, "I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort." The government has implemented a two-track plan, one focused on arrests and deportations, particularly of individuals with criminal records, and the other encouraging self-deportation through voluntary registration programs. The government has also introduced the CBP Home app, which allows migrants to notify authorities of their intention to depart the country. This means they can leave the country without facing arrest or detention. In addition to this, the government assists eligible migrants in booking flights and offers a $1,000 exit bonus. Last week, the federal agency arrested 361 illegal immigrants during raids at two marijuana farms in Southern California, according to the New York Post.
NBC News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Some immigrants want to self-deport but they're hitting roadblocks and confusion
The Trump administration has been urging immigrants without legal immigration status to self-deport, with video and radio messages by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem telling them: "Leave now — if you don't, we will find you and deport you." But a number of immigrants and their attorneys told Noticias Telemundo that they're not getting the documents and the guidance they need, and haven't been able to leave. 'I felt sad, honestly,' Jairo Sequeira said about his failed attempt to return to his home country of Nicaragua. He said he tried to self-deport at the end of May and filled out the voluntary departure form through the CBP Home app. Sequeira was turned away, he said, because he didn't have a Nicaraguan passport, which was taken when he surrendered in 2021 to immigration authorities in El Paso, Texas, after entering the U.S. 'I never thought that would happen at the airport,' said Sequeira, whose suitcase still has a Nicaragua-bound sticker. 'I was always in touch [with my family], telling them, 'I'll arrive at such and such a time,' excited.' After using the CBP Home app, he received an email, which he showed Noticias Telemundo. 'Thank you for submitting your intention to depart the United States voluntarily. Your submission has been confirmed,' it said. Sequeira printed it out and took with him on his trip three days later. He traveled from Georgia to Texas to catch a plane to Nicaragua. But when he arrived at the gate, an airline employee told him he couldn't fly without his Nicaraguan passport. Sequeira explained that both his passport and Nicaraguan national identity card were taken by U.S. immigration authorities. Though he showed the agent the CBP Home email he got, he wasn't allowed to fly home. In response to questions from Noticias Telemundo, a Department of Homeland Security official stated in an e-mail that 'tens of thousands of immigrants' have used the CBP Home app to self-deport. They didn't provide an exact number or answer specific questions about the process. Announced in early March, CBP Home is part of the Project Homecoming program, through which the Trump administration offers undocumented immigrants two options: leave voluntarily with the promise of government support and financial assistance, or 'stay and face the process." Sequeira said that when he decided to self-deport, he asked a community organization in Atlanta, Georgia, for help filling out the form on the CBP Home app. Sequeira doesn't know if the person in Atlanta who helped him fill out the information indicated online that Sequeira needed help with his passport and ID. With his own savings, he bought the plane ticket home. Sequeira said he didn't know how to recover the documents he gave to officials at the border and added that, at least until July 8, he had tried to get his passport replaced through attorneys in Nicaragua. But the attorneys back home asked Sequeira for his national identity card, which was also taken when he entered the country, he said. Noticias Telemundo contacted United Airlines — the airline Sequeira was supposed to travel on — but in a brief email response, the company referred questions to Customs and Border Protection. CBP then referred Noticias Telemundo to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not respond to specific questions. In an email, it indicated that foreign nationals seeking voluntary departure 'through the CBP Home application may be eligible to receive financial assistance for their departure.' They also stated that, if requested, the U.S. government will assist them in booking tickets and/or obtaining necessary travel documents. DHS did not explain what this assistance entails nor what happens to immigrants whose passports were withheld by U.S. immigration authorities or who have been unable to renew or replace their identification documents. The DHS official also did not respond to questions about how many people have registered to self-deport and are waiting to return to their countries. According to information on the app's website, those who register on the app are assigned a departure date approximately 21 days after signing up. However, it's unclear what happens if an immigrant decides to leave before that deadline, or how long the process may take. In early May, Trump directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to take the necessary actions to facilitate 'the rapid departure' of those who 'do not have a valid travel document from their country of citizenship or nationality or who wish to travel to any other country willing to accept their entry." Regarding a $1,000 'exit bonus,' DHS states on its website that immigrants will receive it after confirming they have left the U.S. and landed in another country. It also says that a bank account is not required and that 'the delivery method will vary depending on the guidelines and regulations of the specific country.' 'I want to go to Nicaragua' Titza Escobar didn't know how to self-deport, but believed that if she turned herself in at a police station in Miami, Florida, she would be sent back to her home country of Nicaragua. Escobar said she sought help from different places, including the police, a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services center and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, but didn't get the assistance she needed. 'There are many people who don't want to leave, but when I wanted to leave, they didn't take me,' said Escobar, who is originally from an Indigenous community in the Nicaraguan Caribbean and whose native language is Miskito. Escobar said she was told she needed documents to be able to leave the country, but the 29-year-old mother of three children has never had documents nor a passport. Escobar was crying outside the ICE field office in the city of Miramar when a group of activists found her and were able to provide help. 'She was completely in a situation of extreme vulnerability. She didn't have a single dollar; she spent her last bit of money paying someone to take her to Miramar,' said Karla de Anda, an activist with The Right to Freedom Network who, along with María Bilbao of the American Friends Service Committee in Florida, provided Escobar with food and temporary shelter and also assisted her in completing the application form at CBP Home. Bilbao accompanied Escobar to the Nicaraguan consulate in Miami — one of three remaining Nicaraguan consulates in the U.S. — where they agreed to help Escobar obtain safe passage home, after she told them she had suffered domestic abuse while in the U.S. and presented a police report detailing that her husband threatened to kill her. According to Bilbao, Escobar was told that a safe-conduct permit can take 15 days to obtain, a passport up to four months, and that it's a process immigrants must complete in person. Escobar is presently waiting to receive what she needs to return home. For some Nicaraguans, applying for a passport or renewal is no guarantee of obtaining one: independent media and human rights organizations have reported dozens of cases in which the process has been denied or indefinitely delayed within Nicaragua or at consulates abroad, especially for opponents of the current government and sometimes their families. For immigrants from countries like Venezuela — which doesn't have consulates in the U.S. after a severing of diplomatic relations — the situation is even more complex. 'People are distrustful' Christina Wilkes, an immigration attorney in Maryland and Washington, D.C., told Noticias Telemundo she had a client who wanted to self-deport but was 'terrified' of using the CBP Home app and of being deported before he could leave voluntarily, so he sold his business and bought his plane ticket to Mexico. Another client had a passport, but his wife and children, who are Venezuelan and have been in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, don't have passports. 'And that's the problem: you can't get Venezuelan passports in the United States,' Wilkes said, adding that her client will try to naturalize the children in the Dominican Republic, where he is originally from, and obtain documents from that country for them. The self-deportation process through CBP Home is very new and unclear, Wilkes said. 'I think that because people are distrustful; most of the people who are leaving are leaving quietly, and without using the app.' Unlike them, Juhany Pina used the app when she decided to self-deport. After a month of waiting for instructions, authorities assigned her a travel date, but she said they never called her again. Instead, the Venezuela native used her Mexican passport — she had lived there before coming to the U.S. — and managed to board a plane to Mexico in early July. Pina said she's part of a WhatsApp group with more than 100 members where immigrants like her share the setbacks they've experienced during the self-deportation process. 'We thought it would be a much faster process,' Pina said.
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Business Standard
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Self-deport or face detention with alligators, pythons: US warns migrants
A newly constructed immigration detention centre in the depths of the Florida Everglades, nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz', is all set to house hundreds of detainees. Florida officials said the first group of migrants will be brought in by bus over the next few days. The facility, located around 80 km west of Miami, sits in an area swarming with pythons and alligators. It has become a key part of the Trump administration's push to step up deportations and deter undocumented migration. 'If you (undocumented immigrants) don't self-deport, you may end up here,' South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem told the New York Post. 'And you may end up here and being processed, deported out of this country, and never get the chance to come back,' she added. Trump wants similar centres in more states On July 2, US President Donald Trump toured the detention facility and described it as a possible template for other immigration lockups across the country. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he'd like to see 'similar centres in really, many states,' and also floated the idea of using Florida National Guard members as immigration judges to speed up deportation hearings. 'Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet,' Trump said. During the visit, Trump also made a joke about the wildlife around the centre. 'We're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison,' he said, while mimicking a zigzag motion with his hand. 'Don't run in a straight line. Run like this. And you know what? Your chances go up about 1 per cent.' According to the University of Florida, the better option in the rare event of an alligator chase is simply to run straight and fast in one direction. While early estimates suggested the site could accommodate 5,000 people, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis clarified that the actual capacity would be closer to 3,000. Push for voluntary departure via mobile app As part of the broader crackdown, the Trump administration has repurposed a mobile app once used for scheduling asylum appointments. The app, now called CBP Home, allows undocumented migrants to submit an 'intent to depart'. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the feature offers a chance to leave voluntarily, which could help migrants avoid harsher penalties in the future. Daily fines for overstaying deportation orders The Department of Homeland Security has also revived a little-used law from 1996 that penalises individuals who fail to comply with deportation orders. 'If they don't, they will face the consequences. This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order,' DHS posted on X on April 11. The rule had been enforced briefly in 2018 and is now being brought back with the possibility of retroactive application for up to five years.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE Barbie Plots Rule Change to Fine Migrants Without Warning
The Trump administration is scrapping the waiting period for issuing fines to migrants who remain in the country without authorization. During his first term, President Donald Trump began issuing fines to undocumented immigrants who remained in the country illegally after 30 days. President Joe Biden later scrapped the fines, only for Republicans to bring them back once Trump returned to office. A federal report reveals plans for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to scrap the 30-day waiting limit entirely and to immediately issue fines to those found to be in violation of immigration laws, starting at $100-$500 per illegal entry and rising to $1,000 per day for those who fail to comply with removal orders, ABC News reported. The rule will be published in the Federal Register—the federal government's official rulebook, which contains agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices—on Friday. The new rules will apply to those residing in the United States illegally who ignore orders of removal or who fail to comply with a judge's voluntary departure order. 'DHS believes that the nature of the failure-to-depart and unlawful entry penalties supports the need for more streamlined procedures,' the report reads. 'The law doesn't enforce itself; there must be consequences for breaking it,' Assistant Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on Thursday. 'President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem are standing up for law and order and making our government more effective and efficient at enforcing the American people's immigration laws. Financial penalties like these are just one more reason why illegal aliens should use CBP Home to self-deport now before it's too late.' 'If they don't, they will face the consequences,' McLaughlin added. 'This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.' As of June, DHS has issued around 10,000 fine notifications, totalling around $3 billion. Those who self-deport using the Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) mobile app will have the fines against them waived, the agency report says. The Trump administration is also considering seizing the property of immigrants who fail to pay the fines, Reuters reports. Although the recipients of the fines are permitted to challenge them in court, the threat itself is intended to convince people to self-deport. 'Their point isn't really to enforce the law, it's to project fear in communities,' said Scott Shuchart, a former ICE policy official under Biden. The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
