Latest news with #O-J-M
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge orders release of migrant trans woman held in male section of ICE facility
A Mexican transgender migrant seeking asylum in the U.S. after allegedly being abducted and raped by cartel members has been ordered released from an all-male Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility by a federal judge on due process grounds. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio, a President Joe Biden appointee, ordered the migrant released from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, ruling that the asylum seeker had been deprived of liberty without proper procedural safeguards. The migrant, a 24-year-old transgender woman identified as "O-J-M" in court documents, was arrested outside a Portland courtroom last month and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. Federal Judge Orders Mexican Migrant Seeking Asylum To Be Released By Ice The nonprofit Innovation Law Lab, whose attorneys represent O-J-M, welcomed the move and decried the fact O-J-M was being held at a man's facility. "President Trump's anti-transgender executive order forced her into a men's facility, and into solitary confinement for her own safety, adding layers of cruelty to an already unconstitutional detention," a social media post by Innovation Law Lab reads. Read On The Fox News App "OJM was detained for over a month simply for legally seeking asylum. Seeking asylum is lawful, and a human right. This is a huge victory for our trans and immigrant communities in Oregon." O-J-M's attorneys said O-J-M was abducted and raped in Mexico because of gender identity and sexual orientation and was seeking asylum on those grounds. O-J-M was arrested in Portland's immigration court in early June after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss the asylum case. O-J-M was then transferred to an ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington and held there for over 40 days. But O-J-M's attorneys filed a habeas petition, a legal motion asking the court to review whether the detention was lawful, saying they were not aware of their client's location after O-J-M was taken into custody. Trump 'Working On' Deportation Exemptions For Illegal Farm And Hospitality Workers Under due process standards, especially in asylum cases, attorneys must be able to locate their client and ICE is required to notify or justify sudden detentions and transfers. In O-J-M's case, the judge found that ICE's failure to provide timely, specific information about the migrant's location and legal status violated fundamental procedural fairness. The judge had also demanded to know why it was deemed immediately necessary. One of the migrant's attorneys, Stephen Manning, of Immigrant Law Group, previously told Opb that O-J-M was processed into the Tacoma detention center, but he had not been granted access to her since her transfer. "They threatened to kill her because O-J-M is a transgender woman," her habeas petition states, per OPB. "Fearing for her life, she fled and sought asylum in the United States in September 2023." Manning told Willamette Weekly that his client had not committed a crime while in the U.S. O-J-M has regularly checked in at ICE offices as instructed. Oregon sanctuary laws prevent it from having long-term immigration detention facilities, and — aside from temporary holding cells at the Portland ICE office — the nearest immigration detention center is the Tacoma article source: Judge orders release of migrant trans woman held in male section of ICE facility Solve the daily Crossword
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Immigration officers step up courthouse arrests, fast tracking deportations
A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, "They will kill me if I go back to my country." A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers often masked arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called "expedited removal." President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. People are more likely to give up The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE (Immigation and Customs Enforcement) offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a non-recorded legal phone call for days. "It's an attempt to disappear people," said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. "If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases." O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is "manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings," said Isa Pea, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the US illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. "If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation," the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, "Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favour," and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. "I want my case to be analysed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed," the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim. "When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?" the man asked. "I can't answer that," the judge replied. "I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm." The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government did not drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. "Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders," he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they did not speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week so the government could put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning "seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient" because he could show he is afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man had not filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a "grossly untimely motion" to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation
SEATTLE (AP) — A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, 'They will kill me if I go back to my country.' A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — often masked — arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called 'expedited removal.' President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. 'People are more likely to give up' The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a nonrecorded legal phone call for days. 'It's an attempt to disappear people,' said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. 'If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases.' O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is 'manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings,' said Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the U.S. illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, "Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favor,' and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. 'I want my case to be analyzed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed,' the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim. 'When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?' the man asked. 'I can't answer that,' the judge replied. 'I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm.' The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government didn't drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. 'Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders,' he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they didn't speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week and put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning 'seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient' because he could show he's afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man hadn't filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a 'grossly untimely motion" to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody. ___ Rush reported from Portland, Oregon, and Brumback from Atlanta.
San Francisco Chronicle
11-06-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation
SEATTLE (AP) — A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, 'They will kill me if I go back to my country.' A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — often masked — arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called 'expedited removal.' President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. 'People are more likely to give up' The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a nonrecorded legal phone call for days. 'It's an attempt to disappear people,' said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. 'If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases.' O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is 'manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings,' said Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the U.S. illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, "Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favor,' and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. 'I want my case to be analyzed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed,' the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim. 'When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?' the man asked. 'I can't answer that,' the judge replied. 'I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm.' The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government didn't drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. 'Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders,' he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they didn't speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week and put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning 'seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient' because he could show he's afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man hadn't filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a 'grossly untimely motion" to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody.
Hamilton Spectator
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation
SEATTLE (AP) — A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, 'They will kill me if I go back to my country.' A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations . The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — often masked — arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called 'expedited removal.' President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. 'People are more likely to give up' The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a nonrecorded legal phone call for days. 'It's an attempt to disappear people,' said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. 'If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases.' O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is 'manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings,' said Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the U.S. illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, 'Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favor,' and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. 'I want my case to be analyzed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed,' the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim . 'When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?' the man asked. 'I can't answer that,' the judge replied. 'I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm.' The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government didn't drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. 'Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders,' he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they didn't speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week and put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning 'seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient' because he could show he's afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man hadn't filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a 'grossly untimely motion' to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody. ___ Rush reported from Portland, Oregon, and Brumback from Atlanta. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
