Latest news with #ImmigrationCourt
GMA Network
12-07-2025
- GMA Network
Filipino green card holder nabbed after PH vacation has been released
Filipino green card holder Maximo Londonio, who was arrested by the US Customs and Border Protection at an airport in Seattle after a vacation in the Philippines due to a 2002 grand theft conviction, has been released. This was confirmed by the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, which said that Londonio was released on Saturday (Philippine time) after the Immigration Court granted the petition filed by his attorney to terminate the deportation process against him. 'The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco welcomes the decision of the Immigration Court in granting the petition of Mr. Maximo Londonio, Filipino national, for the termination of the immigration proceedings against him and ordering his release," said the Philippine Consulate. The Consulate said it closely monitored and supported Londonio's case to ensure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upheld his rights and followed due process. "Consulate representatives were present at the Northwest ICE Processing Center today to attend his hearing to provide support and monitor the outcome of his case," added the Philippine Consulate. Londonio was tearfully welcomed by his family as he walked out of the Northwest ICE Processing Center, shortly after the immigration judge issued the release order. 'The Consulate rejoices with his family for this favorable outcome and thanks the members of the community who strongly supported him during the entire period of his detention. The Consulate also thanks his lawyer for the very able legal representation provided for Mr. Londonio,' it added. The IAM Local 2202 Union, of which Londonio is a member, also welcomed the judge's decision. The union had supported and stood by him throughout his detention and legal battle. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
Daily Mail
24-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Remorseless criminal branded ‘dangerous sexual predator' was not sent back to Bangladesh after court ruled he was not a threat to public
A Bangladeshi sex offender branded a 'dangerous sexual predator' by the High Court was allowed to stay in Britain after the asylum court ruled he didn't pose a threat to the public. The asylum seeker carried out a 'violent' sexual assault on a young woman who was found crying and with ripped clothing having been attacked by him, an immigration court was told. The man in his late 20s - described as 'unremorseful and unreformed' - is also strongly suspected of carrying out a string of other sex attacks on strangers. And in 2023 the asylum seeker - who was granted anonymity - was also jailed for three years for being part of two major class A drugs gangs. The Home Office tried to deport him following his drugs conviction but he appealed the decision. In August 2024 the First-tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber allowed him to stay in the UK on international protection and human rights grounds. A judge concluded he had 'rebutted the presumption he is a danger to the community of the UK'. Now, however, the Upper Tribunal has ruled that the judge made mistakes in their decision by failing to conduct a proper risk assessment and has ordered that the case be re-heard. The Upper Tribunal was told that the Bangladeshi sexually assaulted the stranger in 2015 when he was aged 17, but sought to resist deportation on the grounds that he no longer poses a sufficient risk to the community. Details were shared about the attack in 2015 on the Isle of Dogs in East London in the tribunal's judgement. "The police were called by a third party as he had found a female who was half naked and stating that somebody had tried to rape her", the judgment said. "When police arrived they found the victim sitting on the floor near Mudchute Docklands Light Railway station. "She was crying and visibly shaken. Her top appeared to be ripped and she was holding her bra up with her hands. "The victim stated to the officer that the suspect had approached her nearby stating he was going to look after her as she was drunk. The judgment added that he told the woman he would walk her to a bus stop but instead took her into a park where he pushed her to the ground, pulled off her bra and sexually assaulted the woman. He was given an 18-month detention and training order. There were a spate of other attacks that the Met Police suspected him of being involved in, he has not, however been convicted of any of them. In 2019, the High Court said he remained a 'danger' during a judicial review. The Bangladeshi had by this stage launched an asylum claim. In 2023 the Bangladeshi was jailed for three years 'for his role in conspiring to supply significant quantities of class A drugs as part of an organised criminal enterprise'. It was heard that the First-tier Tribunal in 2024 had to rule whether he posed a 'danger to the community of the UK' as part of his asylum appeal. The judge at the hearing relied on evidence from an expert who 'overlooked' important details about his offending and stated: 'I am satisfied he has rebutted the presumption he is a danger to the community of the UK'. At the latest hearing, Upper Tribunal Judge Paul Lodato found that last year's decision was flawed. Judge Lodato said: the risk assessment which underpinned the finding 'involved errors of law." The judge added: "We are bound to conclude that the judge fell into legal error in her assessment of (the expert's) evidence. "There are palpable indications that (the expert) overlooked important parts of the overall evidential landscape before he came to the conclusion that the (Bangladeshi) presented only a low risk of reoffending.' The expert 'failed to see signs of (the Bangladeshi) downplaying his culpability for his offending', the judge said, 'and initially failed to apply his mind to a deeply concerning sequence of sexual attacks on female strangers' around the time of the 2015 attack. The judge said there were reasonable grounds to suspect the asylum seeker had committed some of the 'non-conviction offences'. Judge Lodato added: 'Not only did the judge who considered the risk posed by the (Bangladeshi) in 2024 fail to refer to these manifest gaps of reasoning in the expert's opinion evidence on which she relied so heavily, there was a yet further and more recent indication that (he) was not at all remorseful about his sexual offending in 2015." Judge Lodato said the First-tier Tribunal judge failed to appreciate the fact that in 2019 judicial findings showed the abuser was a 'dangerous sexual predator who was neither remorseful nor reformed'. The Bangladeshi's case will be re-heard at the First-tier Tribunal at a later date.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Could cost you your freedom': Immigration attorneys warn clients of ICE arrests at Memphis court
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — 'Abide by the law — but understand it could cost you your freedom.'That's the warning immigration attorneys are giving clients who show up for court in Shelby County. WREG has told you about the ICE agents who have shown up at the court, arresting people on the spot once their cases are disposed of. You wouldn't know the court was taking place at 80 Monroe Avenue, but most mornings and afternoons, Immigration Court is in full force on the 5th and 8th floors of the downtown Memphis building. Attorney says 8 arrested in immigration court Attorney Andrew Rankin has been representing clients here for years, but says recently, he has witnessed something never seen before. 'These pictures show what happens to people who are trying to do the right thing by showing up to their immigration hearing,' said Attorney Rankin. Eight people were detained on May 22. 'Taking away a single mother who doesn't even have a traffic ticket. There is no comparable in my professional career. I don't even know what I would compare this to if I tried,' said Rankin. Attempted arrest made in Nutbush was not immigration-related, says SCSO WREG sat in on Judge Russo's afternoon docket. The courtroom is small, and the defendants were brought in one at a time. Most don't speak English and have to use an interpreter. Many of their attorneys aren't in the courtroom and appear virtually. WREG didn't see anyone detained for the hour when in the courtroom. 'Most or almost all of the arrests are going to take place in the morning so that they can process them in Memphis around the lunchtime hour, maybe early afternoon, and then the transport comes to get them down to Louisiana,' said Rankin. He says judges are dismissing cases and telling defendants they are free to go. 'They exit the immediate courtroom, and then they're taken into custody, either just outside the door or in the hallway leading to the exit,' said Rankin. What to know about 'No Kings' protests against Trump's policies He says they are then taken off to an ICE office near the airport. Because there are no bed facilities in Memphis, the detainees have to be taken hours away to Louisiana, the closest detention center, where they restart the deportation proceedings. 'Restart your case under a different proceeding that allows us to get you out quicker, and that provides fewer rights for you to challenge what's going on,' said Rankin. We were told it happens quickly, and families can be left torn apart. One downtown worker witnessed it. 'And like a mom was crying as she was getting put in, and her kid and I assume her husband was shooed away,' said a witness. 'They know they know if you don't show up to court, you're going to get ordered deported. They don't need an attorney to tell you that they know that, but they also don't want to go to court and voluntarily cause their own arrest,' said Rankin. Man accused of carjacking WREG reporter arrested Attorneys said they are left in a quagmire as they advise their clients that they legally have to show up for their court date, but also alert them of the risks. 'You also have to advise them of the landscape right? The entire landscape,' said Matthew Orr, immigration attorney. 'I think that at the end of the day. An attorney's job is to help their client make informed decisions. It's not to make decisions for the client.' 'I am ethical. I advise people of what the law is. You know that that's my job. The law is that if you're ordered to show up for a hearing, you're ordered to show up for a hearing but, on the other hand, it would be disingenuous to look someone in the eyes and tell them that they're gonna go home and see their kids tonight,' said Orr. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security said this is a part of the new Trump Administration implementing the rule of law. Illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. in the last 2 years are subject to expedited removals. ICE is now following the law and placing them in that expedited removal process. Attorneys told WREG that ICE agents first started showing up at courts on the West Coast, and said this was a national rollout that has now made it to Memphis. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NYC mayoral candidate Scott Stringer plans zoning change to stop Trump from selling fed buildings
NEW YORK — Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer is proposing a new zoning designation to block President Donald Trump from auctioning off federal buildings to luxury developers, the Daily News has learned. The plan, dubbed Safeguarding Historic Infrastructure through Effective Land-use Defenses, or SHIELD, would create a new 'federal use' zoning category that would require any such deal to go through a lengthy public review, and it would give the City Council the ability to block it. 'As mayor, I will fight to protect our civic infrastructure, using all the tools at my disposal to protect it from Trump selling it to the highest bidder,' Stringer said in a statement. 'Under this new zoning rule, if Trump wants to hatch a scheme to line his or his cronies' pockets, he'll have to go through New Yorkers first.' There are just four buildings in New York that could be at risk and would fall under this federal policy, including the 41-story Javits Federal Office Building in lower Manhattan, which is home to Immigration Court and Immigration and Custom Enforcement's local field office. Stringer's proposal to take on this niche issue for the city would require a new text amendment to the city's zoning rules, which would itself require a months-long process in order to be put in place. A Stringer campaign spokesperson said the proposal is relatively uncontroversial, so it could be adopted more quickly, and that a prospective developer might be turned off by the idea of going through a long process. The Trump administration last month released, but then walked back a list of hundreds of buildings across the country that it was considering selling off. The administration has said it is continuing to identify government buildings that it potentially could put up for bids. Under the proposed new designation, the structures would gain a 'special use' condition on top of their underlying zoning. Then, if the feds tried to sell one of the properties, the developer would have to get a special permit from the City Planning Commission. That, in turn, would trigger the months-long Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, that goes through various levels of city government for approval, with the City Council getting the final say. Mayoral candidates running in the Democratic primary election have been eager to show how, if elected, they each would stand up to Trump's threats, with many pitching plans to counter Trump's threats to pull federal funding. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo faced early criticism for saying he'd be open to working with the president, and has since leveled more blows at Trump — although he's still facing backlash for taking donations from Trump allies.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer plans zoning change to stop Trump from selling fed buildings
Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer is proposing a new zoning designation to block President Trump from auctioning off federal buildings to luxury developers, the Daily News has learned. The plan, dubbed Safeguarding Historic Infrastructure through Effective Land-use Defenses, or SHIELD, would create a new 'federal use' zoning category that would require any such deal to go through a lengthy public review, and it would give the City Council the ability to block it. 'As mayor, I will fight to protect our civic infrastructure, using all the tools at my disposal to protect it from Trump selling it to the highest bidder,' Stringer said in a statement. 'Under this new zoning rule, if Trump wants to hatch a scheme to line his or his cronies' pockets, he'll have to go through New Yorkers first.' There are just four buildings in New York that could be at risk and would fall under this federal policy, including the 41-story Javits Federal Office Building in lower Manhattan, which is home to Immigration Court and Immigration and Custom Enforcement's local field office. Stringer's proposal to take on this niche issue for the city would require a new text amendment to the city's zoning rules, which would itself require a months-long process in order to be put in place. A Stringer campaign spokesperson said the proposal is relatively uncontroversial, so it could be adopted more quickly, and that a prospective developer might be turned off by the idea of going through a long process. The Trump administration last month released, but then walked back a list of hundreds of buildings across the country that it was considering selling off. The administration has said it is continuing to identify government buildings that it potentially could put up for bids. Under the proposed new designation, the structures would gain a 'special use' condition on top of their underlying zoning. Then, if the feds tried to sell one of the properties, the developer would have to get a special permit from the City Planning Commission. That, in turn, would trigger the months-long Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, that goes through various levels of city government for approval, with the City Council getting the final say. Mayoral candidates running in the Democratic primary election have been eager to show how, if elected, they each would stand up to Trump's threats, with many pitching plans to counter Trump's threats to pull federal funding. Former Governor Cuomo faced early criticism for saying he'd be open to working with the president, and has since leveled more blows at Trump — although he's still facing backlash for taking donations from Trump allies.
