Supreme Court rejects a lawsuit from states demanding that Biden administration boost deportations
The Supreme Court has rejected a Republican-led challenge to a Biden administration policy that prioritizes the deportation of immigrants who are deemed to pose the greatest risk to public safety or were picked up at the border.
Agents with Homeland Security team to wear body cameras
Agents with an investigative unit of the Department of Homeland Security will wear body cameras for the first time as part of a six-month pilot program that will focus on the costs and benefits of using the technology in federal law enforcement.
Trial to determine if GEO must pay detainees minimum wage
After nearly four years of litigation and pandemic-related delays, a trial is underway to determine whether the GEO Group must pay minimum wage to detainees who perform cooking, cleaning and other tasks at its Northwest immigration detention center in Washington state.
US reverts to targeted immigration enforcement under Biden
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON โ Immigration enforcement in the U.S. would be more targeted under President Joe Biden than under his predecessor, with authorities directed to focus on people in the country illegally who pose a threat, according to guidelines released Thursday. Under Biden, ICE would primarily apprehend and remove people who pose a threat to national security, committed crimes designated as โaggravatedโ felonies or recently crossed the border. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimated that 87% of noncitizens in the country without authorization would not be priorities for enforcement if Biden used the national security and public safety criteria as was done under Obama. AdThe national security category includes anyone suspected of involvement with terrorism or espionage. The public safety category applies to anyone convicted of a crime that involved their โactiveโ participation in gang activity or convicted of an aggravated felony.
US govt seizes over 10M phony N95 masks in COVID-19 probe
They have no utility whatsoever,โ Homeland Security Secretary Ali Mayorkas said of the fake masks. Homeland Security officials would not say which states the phony masks were sent to, but said criminal charges would be forthcoming. The company delivered some 2 billion N95 masks in 2020 as the pandemic intensified, but in the earlier months, when masks were in short supply, fraudsters took advantage. But phony masks have already made it to front-line workers in other cases. Over the past year there has been more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement resulting in the seizure of millions of fake masks.
Trump agreements seek to tie Biden's hands on immigration
The agreements say Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas are entitled to a 180-day consultation period before executive branch policy changes take effect. The Biden administration rejects that argument on grounds that immigration is solely the federal government's responsibility under the Constitution. The Trump administration, usually eager to trumpet immigration enforcement, stayed publicly quiet on the agreements, which were first reported by BuzzFeed News. It is our hope that the SAFE agreement will foster timely communications about any significant forthcoming policy changes. โFor our entire history, immigration policy has been understood to be the exclusive responsibility of the federal government,โ Legomsky said.
US agrees for now to stop deporting women who alleged abuse
HOUSTON โ The U.S. government has agreed temporarily not to deport detained immigrant women who have alleged being abused by a rural Georgia gynecologist, according to court papers filed Tuesday. Dozens of women have alleged that they were mistreated by Dr. Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist who was seeing patients from the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia. The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general is investigating as well. Several women say they have faced retaliation by immigration authorities for coming forward. Further investigations have found several examples of Amin performing surgeries on women who later said they didn't consent to the procedures or didn't fully understand them.
Body of man who died after being deported from Detroit to Iraq will return to Michigan
DETROIT - Jimmy Aldaoud, 41, grew up and spent his entire life in Metro Detroit. His death comes just two months after he was deported to Iraq. When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Aldaoud, his family said they didn't find out until weeks later that he had been deported to Iraq. U.S. Rep. Andy Levin on Friday announced that Aldaouds remains will be returned to the United States. Once the family learned of Aldaoud's death, Levin and his office worked to get his body returned to Michigan so the family could have a proper burial.
ICE detainee dies in Georgia while waiting to be deported
Arriago-Santoya died Wednesday afternoon at the Piedmont Midtown Medical Center in Columbus. "We have been raising the alarm about the horrific conditions at the Stewart Detention Center for many years," said Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director for Project South. An immigration detainer landed Arriago-Santoya in ICE custody on April 24. A judge ordered his deportation on June 6 and he had been in ICE custody "awaiting removal to his country of citizenship in accordance with that judicial removal order," ICE said. "Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a small fraction of the rate of the U.S. detained population as a whole."
Summer cyber safety tips
With the end of the school year days away, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is offering parents and young people some basic tips for online safety during the summer months. "We want to arm parents and young people with some very basic tips to keep them safe online. TIPS FOR PARENTS:Talk to children about Internet predators and whether they have ever been approached online. Let them know that online sexual exploitation of children is a crime and that it should be reported to law enforcement. Encourage them to report cyber bulling, not just when it happens to them but when they see others being bullied as well.