Immigrant activist: Detentions are 'psychological warfare'

A detained immigrant activist freed by a judge's ruling said today that US immigration officials are engaging in "psychological warfare" by targeting him and other activists for detention and deportation.
"When you look at who they're taking away, it is evident that activists and leaders are being picked up," Ravi Ragbir told The Associated Press. "We know that this is psychological warfare they're instituting against the community so that people will believe there is no hope."
Ragbir, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago who leads the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, a coalition of 150 faith-based pro-immigrant groups, was among a number of activists who have been detained in recent weeks as President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to deport people with criminal records.

A federal judge on Monday ordered authorities to immediately release Ragbir on the grounds he hadn't been given enough time to say goodbye to his family. US District Judge Katherine B. Forrest expressed "grave concern" over allegations he was targeted for deportation because of his political activities.
In a statement, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it "does not target unlawfully present aliens for arrest based on advocacy positions they hold or in retaliation for critical comments they make. Any suggestion to the contrary is irresponsible, speculative and inaccurate."
ICE denied that politics had anything to do with its efforts to remove Ragbir, who it labelled "an aggravated felon."

Ragbir was taken into custody on January 11 after a routine check-in with immigration officials in New York. He previously served 30 months in prison for wire fraud because of work he did for a crooked mortgage company. He said he has been given a deportation order for February 10 but has at least one pending court appeal before then.

The week before his arrest, another leader of the New Sanctuary Coalition, Jean Montrevil, was arrested in the street and deported to Haiti. Montrevil was sentenced to an 11-year prison sentence for selling cocaine.
ICE this month also detained the husband of an immigrant activist in Boulder, Colorado, who got media attention after seeking sanctuary from deportation in a church. An activist and unauthorised immigrant in Bellingham, Washington, also said she was put into deportation proceedings despite not having any criminal record.

On Monday, Forrest ruled Ragbir's sudden detention was "unnecessarily cruel" and ordered his release.
In a footnote, the judge wrote, "The Court also notes with grave concern the argument that petitioner has been targeted as a result of his speech and political advocacy on behalf of immigrants' rights and social justice.