Latest news with #ICEgov
San Francisco Chronicle
03-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
First immigration detainees arrive at Florida center in the Everglades
The first group of immigrants has arrived at a new detention center deep in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' a spokesperson for Republican state Attorney General James Uthmeier told The Associated Press. 'People are there,' Press Secretary Jae Williams said, though he didn't immediately provide further details on the number of detainees or when they arrived. 'Next stop: back to where they came from,' Uthmeier said on the X social media platform Wednesday. He's been credited as the architect behind the Everglades proposal. 'Stood up in record time under @GovRonDeSantis ' leadership & in coordination with @DHSgov & @ICEgov, Florida is proud to help facilitate @realDonaldTrump 's mission to enforce immigration law,' the account for the Florida Division of Emergency Management posted to the social media site X on Thursday. Requests for additional information from the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and FDEM, which is building the site, were not returned early Thursday afternoon. The facility, at an airport used for training, will have an initial capacity of about 3,000 detainees, DeSantis said. The center was built in eight days and features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel. Immigrants who are arrested by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal government's 287(g) program will be taken to the facility, according to an official in President Donald Trump's administration. The program is led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allows police officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation. The facility is expected to be expanded in 500 bed increments until it has an estimated 5,000 beds by early July. A group of Florida Democratic state lawmakers headed to the facility Thursday to conduct 'an official legislative site visit,' citing concerns about conditions for detainees and the awarding of millions of dollars in state contracts for the construction. 'As lawmakers, we have both the legal right and moral responsibility to inspect this site, demand answers, and expose this abuse before it becomes the national blueprint,' the legislators said in a joint statement ahead of the visit. Federal agencies signaled their opposition Thursday to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups seeking to halt operations at the detention center. Though Trump applauded the center during an official tour earlier this week, the filing on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security seemed to try to distance his administration from the facility, and said no federal money to date has been spent on it. 'DHS has not implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida's temporary detention center. Florida is constructing and operating the facility using state funds on state lands under state emergency authority and a preexisting general delegation of federal authority to implement immigration functions,' the U.S. filing says. Human rights advocates and Native American tribes have also protested against the center, contending it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system, would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred. It's also located at a place prone to frequent heavy rains, which caused some flooding in the tents Tuesday during a visit by President Donald Trump to mark its opening. State officials say the complex can withstand a Category 2 hurricane, which packs winds of between 96 and 110 mph (154 and 177 kph), and that contractors worked overnight to shore up areas where flooding occurred. According to images shared with the AP, overnight Wednesday, workers put up new signs labeled 'Alligator Alcatraz' along the sole highway leading to the site and outside the entrance of the airfield that has been known as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. State officials seized the county-owned land where the facility is located using emergency powers authorized by an executive order issued by the governor. DeSantis and other state officials say locating the facility in the rugged and remote Florida Everglades is meant as a deterrent — and naming it after the notorious federal prison of Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal conditions, is meant to send a message. It's another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scare tactics to try to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily. State and federal officials have touted the plans on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and 'guarded' by alligators wearing hats labeled 'ICE' for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility's name.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal authorities arrest Wisconsin judge over immigration battle
Federal authorities have arrested a Wisconsin-based judge amid an investigation into whether she tried to help a migrant lacking permanent legal status avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested Friday on charges connected to obstructing a proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent their arrest 'I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov,' Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote. 'No one is above the law.' Dugan's arrest marks an aggressive move by the administration on immigration enforcement and a major escalation in its battles with the courts, which have issued decisions pushing back on some of the administration's actions. FBI Director Kash Patel also referenced the arrest in a now-deleted social media post. 'Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,' Patel wrote. 'We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.' Patel added Flores Ruiz was later 'chased down … on foot' and is also in custody. Dugan has already been released and is set to have an arraignment hearing May 15. The FBI in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why Patel deleted his post. The FBI Field Office in Milwaukee also did not immediately respond to request for comment, nor did the U.S. Marshals. The Hill has left a message with Milwaukee County Courts Chief Judge Carl Ashley. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week that Flores Ruiz, a Mexican national, was arrested after being due in Dugan's courtroom on three misdemeanor counts of battery stemming from a fight with roommates. According to court documents, when Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials appeared at the courthouse April 18, they presented a warrant, but Dugan asked for more information and told them they would need to speak with the chief judge before carrying out an arrest. 'Judge Dugan became visibly angry, commented that the situation was 'absurd,' left the bench, and entered chambers. At the time, Flores-Ruiz was seated in the gallery of the courtroom,' according to an affidavit filed by the FBI. Officers then left to speak with the chief judge, which is when Dugan is accused of telling Flores Ruiz and his attorneys to leave through a side door used for the jury. 'The courtroom deputy then saw Judge Dugan get up and heard Judge Dugan say something like 'Wait, come with me.' Despite having been advised of the administrative warrant for the arrest of Flores-Ruiz, Judge Dugan then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the 'jury door, which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse.' The affidavit describes that as unusual, as 'defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.' The Journal Sentinel said it was the third time in recent months that ICE officials have come to the courthouse with arrest warrants. The FBI affidavit indicates Ashley, the chief judge, was crafting a policy to limit where immigration enforcement could be carried out at the courthouse. 'During their conversation, the Chief Judge stated he was working on a policy which would dictate locations within the courthouse where ICE could safely conduct enforcement actions. The Chief Judge emphasized that such actions should not take place in courtrooms or other private locations within the building. Deportation Officer A asked about whether enforcement actions could take place in the hallway,' the document states. Flores Ruiz was ultimately spotted by officials in the hallway, leading to the foot chase. Court records indicate multiple law enforcement agencies were all on hand to help with the arrest, with officials from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents present. Under the Biden administration, ICE was prohibited from making arrests in certain sensitive areas such as schools and churches. The Trump administration rescinded that memo and replaced it with a new one in January, outlining specific criteria for conducting immigration enforcement at courthouses. Updated at 1:03 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gallego rips Noem for rifle handling, deportations
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after she posed with a rifle in Phoenix amid the Trump administration's deportation crackdown. 'Human traffickers. Drug Smugglers. 18th Street Gang members,' Noem wrote in a post on the social media platform X. 'Spent the morning in Phoenix with our brave @ICEgov and Arizona law enforcement arresting these dirtbags and getting them off our streets.' Noem also shared a video of her holding a rifle and tactical gear standing alongside two law enforcement officers. The video and post were from a visit to Arizona, Gallego's homre state. Gallego, who is a Marine Corps veteran and served in Iraq, criticized Noem over the way she handled the gun in the video as well as the administration's continued deportations. '1. Close your ejection port,' Gallego said, referring to the rifle's cartridge ejection area. '2. If you have no rounds in the chamber why do you have a magazine inserted?' Gallego's post continued. '3. If you have rounds in the chamber or in the magazine why are you flagging the guy next to you?' he asked, noting that Noem in the video is pointing the barrel of the rifle in the direction of one of the law enforcement officer's head. '4. Stop deporting people without due process,' Gallego's post concluded. It's not the first time Noem has received criticism for her posts about deportations. After the Trump administration deported members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Noem visited the prison in El Salvador the members were held and recorded a video message. The Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Gallego rips Noem for rifle handling, deportations
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after she posed with a rifle in Phoenix amid the Trump administration's deportation crackdown. 'Human traffickers. Drug Smugglers. 18 th Street Gang members,' Noem wrote in a post on the social media platform X. 'Spent the morning in Phoenix with our brave @ICEgov and Arizona law enforcement arresting these dirtbags and getting them off our streets.' Noem also shared a video of her holding a rifle and tactical gear standing alongside two law enforcement officers. The video and post were from a visit to Arizona, Gallego's homre state. Gallego, who is a Marine Corps veteran and served in Iraq, criticized Noem over the way she handled the gun in the video as well as the administration's continued deportations. '1. Close your ejection port,' Gallego said, referring to the rifle's cartridge ejection area. '2. If you have no rounds in the chamber why do you have a magazine inserted?' Gallego's post continued. '3. If you have rounds in the chamber or in the magazine why are you flagging the guy next to you?' he asked, noting that Noem in the video is pointing the barrel of the rifle in the direction of one of the law enforcement officer's head. '4. Stop deporting people without due process,' Gallego's post concluded. It's not the first time Noem has received criticism for her posts about deportations. After the Trump administration deported members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Noem visited the prison in El Salvador the members were held and recorded a video message.
