Us Immigration Crackdown

Columbia student arrested after ICE claims was seeking 'missing person'

A Columbia University student was arrested early Thursday by federal immigration agents who gained entry to a campus residence by claiming they were searching for a "missing person," according to her attorneys and the school's president. The student, Ellie Aghayeva, is a senior from Azerbaijan who is studying neuroscience and political science, her lawyers said. A self-described content creator, she frequently shares inspirational stories and tips about navigating college as an immigrant to her sizable social media audience. At around 7:00 am on Thursday morning, Aghayeva posted a message to her more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. "DHS illegally arrested me. Please help," she wrote, referring to the Department of Homeland Security. A photo accompanying the post appeared to show the backseat of a vehicle. In an emergency petition filed Thursday, attorneys for Aghayeva said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement entered her university-owned apartment in Manhattan early Thursday, .

US govt shutdown drags on as lawmakers deadlock over DHS oversight

Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise Sunday in their battle over oversight of federal immigration officers that has led to a pause in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. A partial government shutdown began Saturday after congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump's team failed to reach a deal on legislation to fund the department through September. Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted after the fatal shootings of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis last month. Congress is on recess until Feb. 23, and both sides appear dug into their positions. The impasse affects agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, US Coast Guard, the Secret Service, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Customs and Border Protection. The work at ICE and CBP goes on unabated because Trump's tax and spending cut law from 20

Only 'small' security force to stay in Minnesota, says Trump's border czar

White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that more than 1,000 immigration agents have left Minnesota's Twin Cities area and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead as part of the Trump administration's drawdown of its immigration enforcement surge. A "small" security force will stay for a short period to protect remaining immigration agents and will respond "when our agents are out and they get surrounded by agitators and things got out of control," Homan told CBS' "Face the Nation." He did not define "small". He also said agents will keep investigating fraud allegations as well as the anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a church service. "We already removed well over 1,000 people, and as of Monday, Tuesday, we'll remove several hundred more," Homan said. "We'll get back to the original footprint." Thousands of officers were sent to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's "Operation Metro Surge." The ...

ICE chief backs officers' actions before Congress after 2 protesters' death

Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended his agency's officers before Congress on Tuesday, standing behind their tactics and saying they would not be intimidated as they carry out the president's mass deportation plans. Lyons was one of the three heads of agencies implementing President Donald Trump's immigration agenda to testify in a hearing called after the shooting deaths of two Americans at the hands of federal officers. They faced fierce questioning from Democrats, and support from most Republicans, over how they are prosecuting immigration enforcement inside American cities. "Let me send a message to anyone who thinks they can intimidate us. You will fail," said Lyons, who blamed elected officials and protesters for escalating rhetoric that he said endangered his officers. Lyons, who at various points declined to comment directly on the killings of the two US citizens, said his officers would not be deterred. "We are only getting started,"

Democrats, White House trade offers as DHS shutdown deadline looms

Democrats have begun tentative talks with the White House on their demands for "dramatic" new restrictions on President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, trading offers just days before funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that Democrats had sent the White House their list of demands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement agencies. The White House said it had responded with a counterproposal. No details were immediately available. Time is running short, with another partial government shutdown threatening to begin Saturday. Among the Democrats' demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use-of-force standards and a stop to racial profiling. They say such changes are necessary after two protesters were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis last month. "Republicans, the clock is ticking," Schumer said on the ...

Mamdani ramps up NYC immigrant protections against Trump crackdown

The new measures formalise the "Trump-proofing" strategy Mamdani laid out in December, when he released a video urging undocumented immigrants to refuse entry to immigration enforcement agents

'No one should feel unsafe': Tim Cook flags immigration fear at Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is 'deeply distraught' over US immigration policy and vows to lobby lawmakers, while reassuring staff, including visa and DACA workers

DHS shutdown risk rises as Republicans rebuffs Democrats demands on ICE

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that demands made by Democrats for new restrictions on federal immigration officers are "unrealistic" and warned that the Department of Homeland Security will shut down next week if they do not work with Republicans and the White House. Democrats say they will not vote for a DHS spending bill when funding runs out unless there are changes at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement agencies in the wake of the fatal shootings of two protesters in Minneapolis last month. The Democratic leaders, SenChuck Schumer and Rep Hakeem Jeffries, released an expanded list of 10 detailed proposals on Wednesday night for restraining President Donald Trump's aggressive campaign of immigration enforcement. Among the demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use of force standards and a stop to racial profiling. Thune, R-S.D., said most of the demands are "very unrealistic

Judge blocks ICE from warrantless arrests in Oregon unless risk of escape

US immigration agents in Oregon must stop arresting people without warrants unless there's a likelihood of escape, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. US District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit targeting the Department of Homeland Security's practice of arresting immigrants they happen to come across while conducting ramped-up enforcement operations, which critics have described as "arrest first, justify later." Similar actions, including immigration agents entering private property without a warrant issued by a court, have drawn concern from civil rights groups across the country amid President Donald Trump's mass deportation efforts. In a memo last week, Todd Lyons, the acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, emphasised that agents should not make an arrest without an administrative arrest warrant issued by a supervisor unless they develop probable cause to believe the person is likely to escape from the ...

Capgemini to sell US subsidiary linked to ICE amid immigration backlash

French company Capgemini announced Sunday it is selling off its subsidiary that provides technology services to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during global scrutiny of ICE agents' tactics in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. France's government had pressured the company to be more transparent about its dealings with ICE, whose actions in Minneapolis in recent weeks have raised concern in France and other countries. The government's campaign against immigrants in Minnesota's capital has led to the fatal shootings of two US citizens at the hands of federal immigration officers. Capgemini said in a statement Sunday that it will immediately start the process of selling off its subsidiary Capgemini Government Solutions. It said the rules for working with US federal government agencies "did not allow the group to exercise appropriate control over certain aspects of the operations of this subsidiary to ensure alignment with the group's objectives." It didn't give

Minnesota crackdown: Judge orders release of 5 yr old, dad from detention

A judge on Saturday ordered the US to release a 5-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center where they were taken after being detained in a Minneapolis suburb last month. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack being surrounded by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers, sparked even more outcry about President Donald Trump's administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota. It also led to a protest at the family detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress. US District Judge Fred Biery, who was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, said in his ruling "the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children." A judge had previously ruled that the boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, could not be removed from the US, at least for now. Neighbors and school ...

US Coast Guard suspends search for missing crew of boat near Massachusetts

The search for survivors on a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts with seven aboard has been suspended, the US Coast Guard said Saturday. The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert was sent along with a body in the water and an empty life raft, the Coast Guard said. Crews covered about 1,000 square miles (2,589 square kilometers) using multiple aircraft, cutters and small boats over a 24-hour period. However, after consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard announced Saturday that it had determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted. Officials said there wasn't a mayday call from Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean on its way home to Gloucester, Massachusetts, America's oldest ...

Judge denies request to halt immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota

A federal judge says she won't halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds. Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It argues that the Department of Homeland Security is violating constitutional protections. State and local officials sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope. Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit "legally frivolous." Ruling looks at chances of lawsuit succeeding The ruling on the injunction focused on the argument by Minnesota officials that the federal government is violating the Constitution's 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government's powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states. In her ruling, the judge relied heavily on whether that argument was likely to ultimately succeed in ...

Feds to stay out of protests in Democratic-led cities unless asked: Trump

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has instructed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to intervene in protests occurring in cities led by Democrats unless local authorities ask for federal help amid mounting criticism of his administration's immigration crackdown. On his social media site, Trump posted that "under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help." He provided no further details on how his order would affect operations by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement and DHS personnel, or other federal agencies, but added: "We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists." Trump said that in addition to his instructions to Noem he had directed "ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal ...

Journalist Don Lemon charged with civil rights crimes in anti-ICE protest

The United Nations chief is warning that the world body faces "imminent financial collapse" unless its financial rules are overhauled or all 193 member nations pay their dues - a message likely directed at the United States and the billions it owes. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to all UN member nations obtained Friday by The Associated Press that cash for its regular operating budget could run out by July, which could dramatically affect its operations. "Either all member states honor their obligations to pay in full and on time - or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse," he said. While Guterres didn't name any country in the letter, which was reported earlier by Reuters, the financial crisis comes as the US, traditionally the largest donor, has not paid its mandatory dues to the United Nations. The US now owes USD 2.196 billion to the UN's regular budget, plus it will owe USD 767 million for

Trump admin plans to dial back ICE agents in Minnesota after protests

Tom Homan, Trump's 'border czar,' said that officials from Customs and Border Protection and ICE are working on a 'draw down plan' that hinges on cooperation from local, state and federal officials

'Time for deescalation' says Tim Cook after fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota

Apple CEO Tim Cook and other tech leaders speak out after a Border Patrol agent fatally shot a nurse in Minneapolis, as federal immigration actions face protests and court scrutiny

US sending ICE unit to Winter Olympics for security sparks concern in Italy

News that a unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be present during the upcoming Winter Games has set off concern and confusion in Italy, where people have expressed outrage at the inclusion of an agency that has dominated headlines for leading the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Homeland Security Investigations, a unit within ICE that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. HSI officers are separate from the ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there was no indication ERO officers were being sent to Italy. That distinction, however, wasn't immediately clear to local media Tuesday. Italy reacts to U.S. security deployment The reaction among some in Italy reflects not only a worsening perception abroad of the administration's tactics on immigration but also underscores a broader rift between the U.S. under

Several arrested in Manhattan during sit-in over immigration crackdown

Dozens of protesters were arrested Tuesday after they occupied the lobby of a Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan, accusing the hotel of housing federal immigration officers. A person who answered the phone at the hotel declined to comment. An email to Hilton's press office was not returned Tuesday night. It was not immediately clear if immigration officers were staying at the hotel, and Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that information would not be disclosed. The protest came as President Donald Trump's administration has been carrying out a massive immigration operation that has spurred widespread opposition and led to two deaths in Minneapolis this month. Hotel chains such as Hilton have sometimes struggled to navigate the conflict during the immigration crackdown and responding protests. Protesters packed into the small lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday, wearing shirts that read "Hilton houses ICE" and calling for the .

US appeals court blocks limits on ICE tactics against Minnesota protesters

A lawsuit filed in December alleged that federal officers violated the constitutional rights of six protesters, including boxing in a civilian's car and pointing a rifle inside