Trump’s top general just undercut his ‘invasion’ claims

One of the problems with making a series of brazen and hyperbolic claims is that it can be hard to keep everyone on your team on the same page. And few Trump administration claims have been as brazen as the idea that the Venezuelan government has engineered an invasion of gang members into the United States. This claim forms the basis of the administration’s controversial efforts to rapidly deport a bunch of people it claimed were members of the gang Tren de Aragua – without due process. But one of the central figures responsible for warding off such invasions apparently didn’t get the memo. ADVERTISING At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged that the United States isn’t currently facing such a threat. “I think at this point in time, I don’t see any foreign state-sponsored folks invading,” Caine said in response to Democratic questioning. This might sound like common sense; of course the United States isn’t currently under invasion by a foreign government. You’d probably have heard something about that on the news. But the administration has said – repeatedly and in court – that it has been. When Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport migrants without due process, that law required such a foreign “invasion” or “predatory incursion” to make his move legal. And Trump said that’s what was happening. “The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States,” reads the proclamation from Trump. It added that Tren de Aragua’s actions came “both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.” So the White House said Tren de Aragua was acting in concert with the Maduro regime to invade; Caine now says “state-sponsored folks” aren’t invading. Some flagged Caine’s comment as undermining Trump’s claims of a foreign “invasion” in Los Angeles. Trump has regularly applied that word to undocumented migrants. But the inconsistency is arguably more significant when it comes to Trump’s claims about the Venezuelan migrants. Perhaps the administration would argue that Trump has halted the invasion and it is no longer happening; Caine was speaking in the present tense. Caine did go on to cite others who might have different views. “But I’ll be mindful of the fact that there has been some border issues throughout time, and defer to DHS who handles the border along the nation’s contiguous outline,” he said. But if an invasion had been happening recently, it seems weird not to mention that. And if the invasion is over, that would seem to undercut the need to keep trying to use the Alien Enemies Act. The Department of Homeland Security is certainly not in the camp of no invasion. On Wednesday, DHS posted on Facebook an image with Uncle Sam that reads: “Report all foreign invaders” with a phone number for ICE. When asked about the image and whether the use of the term “foreign invaders” had been used previously, DHS pointed CNN to a number of posts from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller using terms like “invade” or “invaders” when referring to undocumented immigrants. Plenty of Trump administration figures have gone to bat for this claim. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said soon after Trump’s proclamation that Tren de Aragua gang members “have been sent here by the hostile Maduro regime in Venezuela.” Then-national security adviser Michael Waltz claimed Maduro was emptying his prisons “in a proxy manner to influence and attack the United States.” We soon learned that the intelligence community had concluded Venezuela had not directed the gang. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood by Trump’s claim. “Yes, that’s their assessment,” Rubio said last month about the intelligence community. “They’re wrong.” Trump administration border czar Tom Homan has said the gang was an “arm of the Maduro regime,” and that Maduro’s regime was “involved with sending thousands of Venezuelans to this country to unsettle it.” The question of Venezuela’s purported involvement actually hasn’t been dealt with much by the courts. A series of judges have moved to block the administration’s Alien Enemies Act gambit, but they’ve generally ruled that way because of the lack of an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” – without delving much into the more complex issue of whether such a thing might somehow have ties to Maduro’s government. One of the judges to rule in that fashion was a Trump appointee, US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. So the intelligence community and a bunch of judges – including a Trump-appointed one – have rebutted the claim the underlies this historic effort to set aside due process. And now, the man Trump installed as his top general seems to have undercut it too.

Appeals court allows Trump to keep National Guard in L.A. with Marines on the way

LOS ANGELES, June 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to maintain his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid protests over stepped-up immigration enforcement, temporarily pausing a lower court ruling that blocked the mobilization. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision does not mean that the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but it does leave command of the Guard with the president for now. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report This Ad Earlier on Thursday, San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that Trump's deployment of the Guard was unlawful. Breyer's 36-page ruling had ordered the National Guard to return to the control of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had brought the case. It was a short-lived victory for Newsom, as Breyer's order was paused about two and a half hours later. Asked for a comment, Newsom's press office referred to the governor's statement after the initial ruling, and noted that the appeals court put a temporary pause on the ruling but did not reverse it. "I'm confident, on the basis of the review of the 36 pages - absolutely it will stand," Newsom said of the district judge's order. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Sponsored by MerusCase Simplify Law Firm Operations with MerusCase Managing a labor and employment law firm is a complex practice that requires efficiency to succeed. Simplify your firm’s operations with MerusCase. Automate document management, set court rules-based calendaring, and easily file court forms all from one platform. Learn more about the benefits... Learn more Report This Ad Trump welcomed the ruling in a social media post on Friday. The three-judge appeals court panel consisted of two judges appointed by Trump in his first term and one judge who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden. The panel said it would hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider the merits of Breyer's order. The court's action, called an administrative stay, gives the appeals judges additional time to consider the Trump administration's request to block Breyer's order while litigation in the case continues. Trump summoned the National Guard on Saturday in response to protests that had broken out over immigration raids, then on Monday ordered the U.S. Marines to support the Guard. A battalion of 700 U.S. Marines is expected to arrive on Friday, marking an extraordinary use of military forces to support civilian police operations within the United States. The troops have stood guard at a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles where many of the protests have taken place in a show of solidarity for immigrants detained inside. The protests so far have been mostly peaceful, punctuated by incidents of violence, and restricted to a few city blocks. The Guard had also accompanied Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on operations to detain immigrants. In his ruling, Breyer wrote that the presence of the troops in the city was itself inflaming tensions with protesters - a contention made by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, among others -and depriving the state of the ability to use the Guard for other purposes. Item 1 of 25 Law enforcement officers stand guard outside MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), during a protest against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson [1/25]Law enforcement officers stand guard outside MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), during a protest against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab MAYOR WANTS ICE OUT OF L.A. Bass on Thursday called on ICE officers to stand down from the intensified series of raids that led to the protests, saying the local economy could be harmed as immigrants stayed home from work and school for fear of being snatched off the streets. "The peace that we need to have happen needs to begin in Washington, and we need to stop the raids," Bass told a press conference as supporters flanking her broke out in a chant of "Stop the raids." "Peace begins with ICE leaving Los Angeles," said Bass, who has imposed a nighttime curfew over one square mile (2.5 square km) of downtown L.A. Bass spoke after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to "liberate" Los Angeles at a press conference that was dramatically interrupted when federal agents dragged Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla out of the room, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him. The court battle and press conference scuffle underscored the political polarization generated by Trump's hardline approach to immigration enforcement and expansive use of presidential power. Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice. Democrats have said the use of military force was unnecessary and an example of Trump's authoritarianism. Americans are divided over Trump's decision to activate the military. A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 48% of respondents agreed with a statement that the president should "deploy the military to bring order to the streets" when protests turned violent, while 41% disagreed. Between the rulings, Newsom said the National Guard would be redeployed to its previous tasks, including border security, preparing for wildfires and countering drug smuggling. But the Trump administration immediately appealed the judge's order, calling Breyer's ruling "an extraordinary intrusion on the President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief." Trump justified the deployment of troops by characterizing the protests in Los Angeles as a "rebellion," but Breyer said in his temporary restraining order that the protests fell far short of that legal standard. "The Court is troubled by the implication inherent in Defendants' argument that protest against the federal government, a core civil liberty protected by the First Amendment, can justify a finding of rebellion," Breyer wrote. Trump on Friday reiterated his comments that if he had not ordered in the National Guard the city would be in flames, writing: "We saved L.A."

Immigration raid protests spread to more cities as Trump threatens additional deployments

curfew in downtown Los Angeles remains in effect and more than 350 protesters have been arrested there since the weekend. The National Guard said some troops may be deployed with immigration agents as well. Special correspondent Marcia Biggs reports from Los Angeles. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: Welcome to the "News Hour." A curfew in downtown Los Angeles remains in effect tonight. And hundreds of anti-ICE protesters have been arrested in Los Angeles and multiple cities this week. The National Guard said more troops could be deployed with immigration agents. That's as they continue their pursuit of undocumented immigrants. Amna Nawaz: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and more than two dozen other California mayors asked President Trump to end the sweeping immigration raids. But, today, they continued in California, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, among other places. In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson called President Trump a tyrant and authoritarian. The president's team defended his approach and warned that Guard troops could be deployed to other cities. Special correspondent Marcia Biggs continues our coverage tonight with this report. Marcia Biggs: From Atlanta, to New York City, where more than 80 people were arrested, and Chicago, where police clashed with demonstrators and several more were detained, to Texas, where police pinned protesters to the ground, and Governor Greg Abbott said he would deploy the National Guard ahead of a planned protest in San Antonio, across the country, anti-ICE protesters gathered in the streets in solidarity with those in Los Angeles. Yesterday in L.A., protesters continued marching against ongoing immigration raids. And the city's Mayor Karen Bass declared a curfew for parts of downtown beginning at 8:00 p.m. Last night, California Governor Gavin Newsom again condemned the administration's decision to send in the National Guard and the Marines. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA): This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived. Marcia Biggs: And, yesterday at Fort Bragg, President Trump claimed the protesters were paid insurrectionists. Donald Trump, President of the United States: These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries, but they don't carry the American flag. They only burn it. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. And that's what they are. A lot of those people were let in here by the Biden administration. Marcia Biggs: He vowed to keep the troops in L.A. — quote — "until there's peace." Downtown L.A. Vape and smoke shop owner Tony, who refused to give his last name, said he defended his business with pepper spray on Monday night after seeing looters breaking into neighboring stores. Tony, Los Angeles Business Owner: I'm an immigrant myself. I'm from Lebanon. I'm half-Armenian. And I have been here for 10 years. And I would never do something like that to another business. Destroying businesses and making us spend thousands of dollars boarding up businesses is not fair for us. Marcia Biggs: He supports having the National Guard on the streets to protect businesses. Tony: Where the protests are happening, it is peaceful, like at the building and stuff like that. But, usually, like, at night, late hours, people are starting to, like, start looting. I don't know if they were the protesters or they're just taking advantage of the chaos that it's creating. Marcia Biggs: But, last night, the curfew and heavy police presence seemed to keep looters at bay across downtown. Lifelong Angeleno Sarah Rascon says looting and violence are a small part of what's happened in recent days. Sarah Rascon, Los Angeles Resident: It's unfortunate that that's what's highly televised and that's not what's happening. You know, 99 percent of us are here for peaceful protest and demonstration, and they taint the movement. Marcia Biggs: She says she's here to show support for the city's immigrants. Sarah Rascon: I am here for all the abuelitas, all the people who are afraid, those that have been working for our communities, those who make up our economy, those who are doing the backbreaking work and can't be here. Marcia Biggs: In nearby Glendale, the city this week terminated a longstanding contract that allowed ICE to use its jail to temporarily hold undocumented immigrants. Ara Najarian, Mayor of Glendale, California: Here we are in Glendale offering them much more than a cold basement. We're offering them a clean, safe place where they can collect their thoughts, take care of their affairs, speak to attorneys, be fed, be washed, clean up. And we're taking that away from them. Marcia Biggs: Ara Najarian is Glendale's mayor. Ara Najarian: We clearly saw that we were on the target list and that made us very uncomfortable. As the leaders of Glendale, our primary goal is to keep our residents safe, our businesses safe, our property safe. We felt that continuing to have that contract, even though we felt we were doing nothing wrong and were being very humane in the process, would lead to the type of protests, the same type that we see in downtown L.A., to come to Glendale. Marcia Biggs: Najarian says the decision was difficult. Immigrant rights advocates praised the move. But the Department of Homeland Security said Glendale was standing with — quote — "criminal illegal aliens over American citizens." Ara Najarian: I really take offense at the characterization that I stand with illegal aliens and criminals. I believe that we should enforce our immigration laws. I think, when you're discussing these issues, they are very nuanced. It's not just black or white. We don't want to be an oppressive authoritarian city. We have a city of 50 percent immigrants. My parents are immigrants. Most of my family are immigrants from Armenia. We have got a huge Armenian population here, Korean, Latino, Central American. We don't want to be the big bad guy, but we saw that we were giving an opportunity for respite along this process that now those detainees do not have. (Singing) Marcia Biggs: Back in L.A. last night, thousands attended a vigil with faith leaders. Reverend Jaime Edwards-Acton was in the crowd. Rev. Jaime Edward-Action, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church: and If you're a daughter or son and your father was taken away, you're not just going to be grieving. You're going to be angry, right? You're going to be angry and you want justice. And so you're going to make that known. And so you're going to shout. You're going to scream. You're going to yell at people. But it's very few that take it beyond that, right? And so — and we're here to try to be — to show that alternative, right, that nonviolent alternative. Marcia Biggs: The crowd then marched to the federal complex nearby where the National Guard stood watch. Like in previous nights, there were some tense moments outside the federal complex here. Police had to block roads and even fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. The crowd eventually thinned. Protesters are back at it again today, but after a calmer night, there are some small signs of a return to normalcy with crews even out trying to clean up the graffiti in the area. But all of this is happening as we hear reports today of more ICE raids in various parts of the city — Amna. Amna Nawaz: Marcia Biggs reporting for us from Los Angeles tonight once again. Marcia, thank you. Well, for more now on how lawmakers are viewing the protests and the president's response, we're joined by congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins . So, Lisa, I know you have been speaking with members of Congress all day today. Let's start with the Republicans you have been speaking to. How are they viewing the president's actions? Lisa Desjardins : There is one overall theme for most Republicans. They support the president. They support the actions here. There is a small minority that has some questions about what's happening and maybe has an issue, has an issue with the Marines themselves. But the vast majority of Republicans here on Capitol Hill that we spoke to today support the president. And they say three specific things. One, they're telling us that they think the situation in Los Angeles was too volatile, too dangerous. And they have even pointed to past situations, in their opinion, to say that California was not going to get the situation under control. Number two, repeatedly, there is sort of a talking point, a messaging and a belief by these Republicans that President Trump did need to take action because his job is to protect Americans. Number three, and this is important, Amna, Republicans today, many of them repeated this idea to me, that the Marines are there only to protect federal buildings and federal personnel. So while they weren't saying this was a red line for them, this was something that made it easier for Republicans to support active-duty troops going into Los Angeles from President Trump. Now, we spoke to many Republicans today. I want to play a little bit of what some said, but many of them, while they're defending President Trump, were criticizing California Governor Gavin Newsom. So here's some of what we heard starting with a California Republican. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA): To be honest, my governors on the wrong side of history, like governors in the past who stood in the way of civil rights. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): I want to see rule of law. I mean, in the end, we can't rationalize or accept the violence and the burning of cars. So I guess I think the president's doing the right thing. Lisa Desjardins : Well, this has been the dominant thought, supporting the president from Republicans. I will say this conversation, this topic is not actually dominant itself on Capitol Hill. More members left and right seem to be focused on the president's budget bill. Amna Nawaz: Well, Lisa, you mentioned there a minority of Republicans who disagree with the federal response. Tell us who we're talking about there and what their criticism is. Lisa Desjardins : Right. We're talking about those who are speaking out publicly. There's a nuanced layer here, but let's talk about this small number of people who are questioning President Trump's actions. You can look at this right here. We talked to Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins today. She is someone who does not believe the president should send active-duty Marines into the sphere. She says that is a problem, especially with state-owned authority. The other one, Tony Gonzales, of Texas, he's someone who generally supports the president taking action here, but has called for the president to de-escalate what he's doing in Los Angeles. Now, what's interesting here is, Democrats, of course, they are united in terms of opposing what President Trump is doing and his actions. Here's some of what they have said. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA): This is not a rebellion. This is not an insurrection. These are demonstrators, only a small number of whom have engaged in violence. It's a very serious issue for every governor in every state if the president, on his own whim, decides to take command of a state's National Guard. Lisa Desjardins : Multiple Democratic sources stressed this point to me, saying, if Trump did this in a rural or red state, then Republicans might feel differently. Amna Nawaz: Lisa, before you go, I know you have some reporting on the rescissions package before Congress. What's the latest on that? Lisa Desjardins : Quickly, this is touch and go right now. This is our exclusive reporting, as far as I know, right now. We know of four House Republicans who are questioning the rescissions package. You can look at some pictures of them. These are generally moderate Republicans. They're questioning the rescissions package on two grounds, the public broadcasting cuts and also the cuts to PEPFAR, the program that tries to prevent and treat HIV across the world. Amna Nawaz: Lisa Desjardins , thank you very much. Lisa Desjardins : You're welcome.

Incensed House Democrats plan ICE funding war

House Democrats, incensed at being repeatedly denied access to ICE facilities, are warming to the idea of using the appropriations process to force policy changes at the agency if they retake Congress. Why it matters: ICE-focused protests and pressure from their grassroots are forcing Democrats to inch away from their instinctively defensive crouch on immigration. But there is internal division on how far to go. "You've got a situation where our base is demanding more and more of us every day," said one House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The lawmaker added that "a number of us have been told by constituents that we have to be willing to get shot" while trying to conduct oversight at ICE facilities and "be able to make news out of it." Many Democrats are still scarred by GOP attacks on the #AbolishICE movement and hesitant to take steps that appear to be aimed at dismantling or downsizing the agency. State of play: Just over the weekend, House Democrats in California and New York were refused access to ICE facilities in their respective states to perform checks on detained migrants. Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Norma Torres (D-Calif.) have alleged that ICE officials even sprayed "some type of irritant into the air to push us back." Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) is being prosecuted by the Justice Department for allegedly assaulting law enforcement — which she denies — during a visit to an ICE facility in her state during which she was initially refused entry. What they're saying: Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said he believes Democrats should "reassess the funding possibilities. Absolutely." He said of being denied access to an ICE facility this weekend: "They ask for money, right? And then ... I go there and they don't allow us to go and check out the facilities." Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), a member of Democratic leadership, told Axios, "Everybody's on board with the fact that what's going on right now is not right, and ... reform is needed." "This administration is ... rounding people up by mistake — they don't care," said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition. "We can't let that happen." Zoom in: Key Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee signaled that ICE is on the table as part of a broader effort to scrutinize Trump administration spending. "There will be a review of everything ... looking at what are the kinds of things we can do to get our government back on track," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the panel's ranking member. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee, told Axios: "We're going to look at all funding. ... What's happening right now is really bad." Between the lines: A clash is already brewing over how far to go — with some progressives eyeing actual funding cuts as moderate border hawks draw a bright red line in opposition to that idea. "Some of us would like to see it completely broken down ... I've been talking about reducing funding," said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized "hypocrisy" among Democrats, "where folks want to campaign against ICE when we're in the minority, but then when we're in the majority, we continue to funnel unfettered funds with absolutely no guardrails." Centrist Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a member of the Appropriations Committee, told Axios he is "sure there will be a push," but he "will not support reducing ICE" funding. The bottom line: Even centrists like Cuellar aren't ruling out supporting potential policy riders to appropriations bills to try to reform the agency. "It's a policy. The men and women, they're the same. It just depends what policy comes down," he told Axios. Ramirez, for her part, was clear-eyed that "you're not going to see an abolishing of ICE" even though "some of us might want that." "A number of us are introducing legislation even now to continue to talk about changing policy, specifically to ICE," she said. "I think you're going to see more people do the policy thing, more than the defunding parts of it."

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. Federal agents take someone into custody after an immigration court hearing outside immigration court, May 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) Federal agents take someone into custody after an immigration court hearing outside immigration court, May 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) ‘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. People gather outside immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, chanting with drums and holding up signs reading, “Free Them All Abolish ICE,” and “No to Deportations,” in solidarity with the protesters in Los Angeles voicing opposition to ICE arrests. (AP Photo/Martha Bellisle) People gather outside immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, chanting with drums and holding up signs reading, “Free Them All Abolish ICE,” and “No to Deportations,” in solidarity with the protesters in Los Angeles voicing opposition to ICE arrests. (AP Photo/Martha Bellisle) 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 federal agent holds handcuffs outside immigration court, May 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) A federal agent holds handcuffs outside immigration court, May 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) 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’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.

Democrats blast Trump’s travel ban, but legal challenges may be tough

President Donald Trump’s travel ban on 19 countries came under mounting criticism Thursday from congressional Democrats and at least one Republican, but legal experts predicted the order would be difficult to stop through challenges in court. Advocates for immigrants and some Democratic state attorneys general said they are examining the restrictions — including a full ban on travelers from 12 nations and a partial ban on those from seven others — for potential legal action. Federal courts blocked two versions of a travel ban during Trump’s first term before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a third revision in 2018 after more than a year of legal wrangling. At least one Republican elected official — Rep. Michael Lawler of New York — condemned the ban on Thursday, citing the humanitarian crisis in Haiti as a reason to remove it from the list. Legal analysts said the administration appeared to have applied lessons from the first term and crafted the new order in a way that makes it less susceptible to being blocked in federal court. The White House said the ban will include exceptions for legal permanent residents, refugees, current visa holders and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests. Follow Trump’s second term Follow “Because the Supreme Court did uphold the final, somewhat watered-down version of President Trump’s third Muslim ban, a legal challenge would face hurdles,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which sued over the travel ban in Trump’s first term. Mitchell said the new ban is “not as bad as it could have been” and suggested that advocates might have better success challenging the order on behalf of specific individuals rather than trying to stop it outright. Skip to end of carousel Trump presidency Follow live updates on the Trump administration. We’re tracking Trump’s progress on campaign promises and legal challenges to his executive orders and actions. End of carousel “I think we’re seeing a maturing of the Trump administration’s legal arguments,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, an Ohio State University law professor and the author of several books on immigration enforcement. “The executive order that the president issued yesterday reads like a carefully drafted and thought-out legal document. That’s different than the 2017 version, which read much more like a political statement or a long press release.” A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations, said the administration has been working on developing and refining the new ban since Trump signed an executive order directing national security agencies to assess security and terrorism risks posed by other countries. The restrictions, set to begin Monday, set off a scramble Thursday at U.S. consulates in the affected regions. Some officials said they were kept in the dark about the timing of the announcement and are awaiting additional guidance from the State Department. U.S. diplomats were instructed not to cancel previously scheduled appointments of applicants, according to an intra-agency cable obtained by The Washington Post. But they were told to deny any requests for expedited appointments or visa processing for those from affected countries. The presidential proclamation fully restricts the entry of individuals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also partially restricts the entry of travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Democrats denounced the travel ban as inhumane and unnecessary, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) calling Trump a “white-supremacist-in-chief” whose directive amounts to “a shameful expansion of his hateful Muslim and African ban from his first term.” Lawler became the first GOP House member to voice criticism, calling on the administration to remove Haiti from the list of countries facing a full ban. He said Haiti is confronting an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis” because of widespread violence. “We have a moral duty to help. Haitians cannot do it alone,” said Lawler, whose district includes Hudson Valley, which has a large population of Haitian immigrants. “This travel ban will only deepen the suffering of Haitians.” 1:41 Senators were divided on the effectiveness and legality of President Donald Trump's latest travel ban for 19 countries, which goes into effect June 9. (Video: Anna Liss-Roy/The Washington Post) Trump and senior administration officials defended the ban, citing national security concerns and saying the restrictions target countries that lack sufficient security vetting for issuing passports or whose citizens have high rates of overstaying their U.S. visas. In a video message announcing the travel ban Wednesday, the president cited the attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday that injured a dozen demonstrators marching in support of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. Federal authorities have charged an Egyptian immigrant and are seeking to deport his wife and children. Egypt is not under the travel ban. Some immigrant rights advocates accused Trump of trying to exploit the Boulder attack for political gain by announcing the travel ban just days later. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that the restrictions “can’t come soon enough.” When asked whether the firebombing attack in Boulder influenced the proclamation — and why Egypt was not included — he said: “Egypt is a country we work with very closely. They have things under control.” Trump said the travel ban list is subject to changes, noting that some countries could be removed if they improve security vetting of travelers and others could be added depending on circumstances. The Trump administration did not provide details about how many prospective travelers could be affected. Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, said his organization estimates that, based on federal data from fiscal 2023, about 25,000 people annually from the 19 countries would be denied family reunification visas under the ban. Anderson said an additional 100,000 B1 or B2 temporary visas for tourism or business, 10,000 student visas, and 2,400 J1 educational and cultural exchange visas would be denied each year. “The way it is crafted, the folks who really will be blocked are going to be family-sponsored and employment-sponsored immigrants,” he said. Many of the legal challenges brought against Trump’s first attempt at a travel ban, in 2017, hinged on discriminatory public comments he made about Muslims and arguments that the ban, in effect, was specifically targeting them for their religious beliefs. By the time the Supreme Court approved a third, substantially revised travel ban in 2018, North Korea and Venezuela had been added to the list, and the administration had made specific claims that allowing visitors from each of the included nations were detrimental to U.S. interests. Aziz Huq, a constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago, said Trump’s order on Wednesday showed clear signs that his administration had learned from its mistakes. “It’s plainly written in light of the [Supreme Court’s] previous ruling,” Huq said. “The decision from 2018 makes the exercise of this power more difficult to challenge than it was previously.” Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired Cornell University immigration law scholar, noted that the new ban includes specific rationales for each nation on the list and contains other measures that would probably shield the order from legal claims of arbitrariness, irrationality or discrimination. “They’ve clearly learned from their first go-rounds,” Yale-Loehr said. Still, he predicted, legal challenges would arise. For example, he said, advocacy groups might seek to pursue discrimination claims if the administration’s stated rationale for including a country in the ban also apply to nations not on the list.

Trump signs proclamation to ban travel from 12 countries

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday evening to ban travel from several countries to the US, citing security risks. The ban will fully restrict entry of nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan; Myanmar, also known as Burma; Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Haiti; Iran; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; and Yemen. People from seven countries will have partial restriction: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The proclamation includes exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories and individuals whose entry serves US national interests. The president made the final call on signing the proclamation after the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, according to a White House official. He was considering it beforehand, but Sunday’s assault put it into motion faster. The suspect in the attack, however, was an Egyptian national, and Egypt was not included on the list of banned countries. “President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X. “These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information,” she wrote. Trump said in a video posted Wednesday that new countries could be added to the travel ban as “threats emerge around the world.” “The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made. And likewise new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world, but we will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm and nothing will stop us from keeping America safe,” the president said. The proclamation takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on June 9, according to the White House. Wednesday’s proclamation comes less than five months after the president was inaugurated. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order directing cabinet members, including the secretary of state, to compile a list of countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” In his first term, Trump barred travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations from coming to the US, a policy that saw court challenges. The Supreme Court upheld the third version of Trump’s travel ban that was issued in 2017. It restricted entry in varying degrees from Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Venezuela. President Joe Biden ultimately repealed it when he took office in 2021. The barring of nationals from Afghanistan could impact Afghans who worked alongside the US during its two decades of war there. Tens of thousands of Afghans have already been caught in limbo due to other Trump administration executive orders suspending the US refugee admissions program and the suspension of foreign aid funding for flights of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders. The executive order says it provides an exemption for Afghan Special Immigrant Visas, but countless other vulnerable Afghans who do not qualify for the program are likely still at risk. Shawn Vandiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac, a leading US coalition of resettlement and veterans’ groups, said the travel ban “disproportionately affects families and individuals seeking lawful entry into the US.” The proclamation “is a strategic move, not a response to an immediate threat,” Vandiver said in a statement. The ban also sparked criticism from the governments of impacted countries. Venezuela’s Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace said on Wednesday that being in the US “is a big risk for anyone, not just Venezuelans.” “If you’re really that foolish, then go to the United States,” Diosdado Cabello said on government TV, Reuters news agency reported. Oxfam, meanwhile, warned that the proclamation “marks a chilling return to policies of fear, discrimination, and division.” The ban will deny entry to the US for individuals and families fleeing war and persecution, “forcing them to remain in dangerous conditions,” Abby Maxman, Oxfam America’s President and CEO, said in a statement.

US immigration officers ordered to arrest more people even without warrants

Senior US immigration officials over the weekend instructed rank-and-file officers to “turn the creative knob up to 11” when it comes to enforcement, including by interviewing and potentially arresting people they called “collaterals”, according to internal agency emails viewed by the Guardian. Officers were also urged to increase apprehensions and think up tactics to “push the envelope” one email said, with staff encouraged to come up with new ways of increasing arrests and suggesting them to superiors. “If it involves handcuffs on wrists, it’s probably worth pursuing,” another message said. yellow tape surrounds a crime scene Family of suspect in Colorado fire attack taken into custody of US immigration Read more The instructions not only mark a further harshening of attitude and language by the Trump administration in its efforts to fulfill election promises of “mass deportation” but also indicate another escalation in efforts, by being on the lookout for undocumented people whom officials may happen to encounter – here termed “collaterals” – while serving arrest warrants for others. The emails, sent by two top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials this past Saturday, instructed officers around the country to increase arrest numbers over the weekend. This followed the Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, and the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, pressing immigration officials last month to jack up immigration-related arrests to at least 3,000 people a day. One of the emails, written by Marcos Charles, the acting executive associate director of Ice’s enforcement and removal operations, instructs Ice officials to go after people they may coincidentally encounter. “All collaterals encounters [sic] need to be interviewed and anyone that is found to be amenable to removal needs to be arrested,” Charles wrote, also saying: “We need to turn up the creative knob up to 11 and push the envelope.” The email later added: “We complained for the last four years about not being allowed to do our job, and now the time has come for us to step up!” Experts explained that collateral arrests happen when Ice has a warrant to arrest a particular person or persons but when they arrive, they might encounter additional people, such as relatives or co-workers, and then arrest them as well. This despite not having additional warrants or necessarily any evidence of crimes. Being undocumented in the US is a civil offense, not criminal, so “collateral” arrests may oftentimes include people with no criminal backgrounds. Ice is typically required to have a warrant before they arrest someone. Although not illegal, the practice of collateral arrests without a warrant has been less common, due to heightened legal requirements. “I am extremely troubled by [the emails] for a number of reasons,” said Mark Fleming, associate director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). Fleming said the emails suggest an attempt by Ice to skirt the legal requirements for warrantless arrests. In 2022, a court settlement put in place some rules for Ice, requiring the agency to have warrants to justify an arrest. If officers did not have a warrant during a collateral arrest, Ice had to show probable cause to justify the arrest and detention. Notably, an officer had to document that a person was likely to escape before getting the additional warrant. The settlement terms ended in mid-May. But Fleming and the NIJC are challenging the Trump administration, claiming that the settlement should continue to protect people from warrantless arrests. They also accuse Ice of violating the settlement terms earlier this year when Ice officials unlawfully arrested a number of people without obtaining warrants, Fleming and the NIJC said, and then generating the warrant after the arrests. The emails obtained by the Guardian, Fleming said, shows that Ice “learned nothing from the litigation and the policy that resulted. It sure seems like there is an intention to once again violate both the statute but also the requirements for making warrantless arrests.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to This Week in Trumpland Free newsletter A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Another email reviewed by the Guardian was sent on Saturday by a senior longtime Ice official, Francisco Madrigal. “While the weekend is still young, please look at efforts to increase our arrests over these two days compared to our results from last weekend,” Madrigal wrote. “We know there are different dynamics to consider on Sats and Sundays, and many of you have been pushing what works and trying out new lines of effort as well. “If you’d like to run something up or if we can help give a push somewhere, please reach out. If it involves handcuffs on wrists, it’s probably worth pursuing,” Madrigal added. The Trump administration has roped in other federal agencies and further deputized local law enforcement officials as it pushes to widen its dragnet. Charles also asked officials, on the topic of collateral arrests and increased efforts, to “convey this to your local federal partners and teams”. The Department of Homeland Security responded that the Trump administration was pursuing “criminal illegal aliens”. “After four years of not being allowed to do their jobs, Ice officers are being empowered under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership to enforce the law and arrest illegal aliens,” the DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Although it may come as a shock to the Guardian that the Trump administration is arresting illegal aliens, this is not groundbreaking news, and it is exactly what the American people elected President Trump to do.” Michael Kagan, the director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, said the push to arrest people without warrants was a divergence from Obama- and Biden-era policies, during which Ice prioritized arresting people with criminal backgrounds. Under the first and current Trump administrations, “everyone can be a priority”, he said. “Collateral arrests are an outgrowth of that,” Kagan added, warning that they can open the door to abuses, including racial profiling and the arrest of US citizens. “It’s about immigration enforcement becoming indiscriminate and just targeting whoever they can get their hands on, rather than a more targeted approach.” You've read 5 articles this year. Your support helps independent media stand up for the truth. Save 30% off an annual Guardian subscription to enjoy fiercely independent, quality journalism for less. Article count on Why you can rely on the Guardian not to bow to Trump – or anyone I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask whether you could support the Guardian’s journalism as we face the unprecedented challenges of covering this administration. As Trump himself observed: “The first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” He’s not entirely wrong. Already, several large corporate-owned news organizations have settled multimillion-dollar lawsuits with the president in order to protect their business interests. Meanwhile, billionaires have intervened editorially in the news outlets they own to limit potentially unfavorable coverage of the president. The Guardian is different: we have no interest in being Donald Trump’s – or any politician’s – friend. Our allegiance as independent journalists is not to those in power but to the public. Whatever happens in the coming months and years, you can rely on the Guardian never to bow down to power, nor back down from truth.

College student's immigration detention highlights Dreamers' growing deportation risks

A traffic stop made in error upended the life of a 19-year-old woman who was born in Mexico and has lived in Georgia most of her life. It also shows the growing risks undocumented young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as Dreamers, face under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Ximena Arias-Cristobal is opening up about how being wrongly pulled over by police in the city of Dalton last month put her on immigration authorities' radar and made her susceptible to deportation. ADVERTISING "There’s no way to go back to how my life was before," Arias-Cristobal told NBC News during a virtual conversation with reporters on Tuesday. Arias-Cristobal has lived in the U.S. since she was 4 years old. “Georgia is my home,” she said. Ximena Arias-Cristobal. Ximena Arias-Cristobal says she "hopes to have a future here in the United States."Courtesy Eileen Cunha / NP Agency When Dalton police stopped Arias-Cristobal on May 5, they accused her of making an improper turn and driving without a valid driver’s license. A week later, all traffic-related charges against her were dropped after dashcam video of the traffic stop showed that the officer meant to stop another vehicle. Still, Arias-Cristobal spent two days in county jail and two and a half weeks at an immigration detention center in rural Georgia. Recommended U.S. news Boulder attack suspect appears in court as family remains in ICE detention Diddy on Trial 'Jane,' ex-girlfriend of Sean Combs, testifies feeling financially threatened into 'freak offs' Her case shows what nearly 2.5 million Dreamers living in the U.S. face as the Trump administration steps up the pace of deportations of immigrants who don’t have criminal charges or convictions, despite the president's campaign vows to prioritize the deportations of violent criminals. “Dreamers are under attack,” said Gaby Pacheco, president of TheDream.US, an organization helping Dreamers go to college. An athlete and a honor student, Arias-Cristobal attended Dalton public schools her whole life. Arias-Cristobal received a national scholarship from TheDream.US, which runs a highly regarded scholarship program for undocumented youth with financial needs. She’s pursuing a degree in finance and economics at Dalton State Community College. “We have thousands of Dreamers apply to TheDream.US, like Ximena. The reason why Ximena got this scholarship is because she was one of the best,” Pacheco said, adding that Arias-Cristobal demonstrated to be a good student at school, a member of the running team and active in her church and community. Two weeks ago, Arias-Cristobal was released on the minimal amount of bond possible under the law, $1,500. The Dalton police officer who arrested Arias-Cristobal resigned on May 23, two days after she was released from immigration detention.

ICE is helping normalize the eradication of due process

In Miami, Julio David Pérez Rodríguez, a Cuban national who last month went to his immigration hearing to seek his legal right to asylum, was arrested by plainclothes officers at an elevator, as first reported by Noticias Telemundo. “We’re coming to this country to seek freedom.... What is happening with this country?” he said in that moment. We’re coming to this country to seek freedom.... What is happening with this country? Julio David Pérez Rodríguez, a cuban asylum seeker detained by ICE As Suzanne Gamboa’s NBC News story from last week notes, “Pérez Rodríguez is one of dozens of immigrants caught in similar dragnets drawn in cities around the country since last week, as the reality of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation penetrates further into American families’ consciousness.” ADVERTISING In January, Stephanie Ali’s family met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in the New Orleans suburb where they lived. They were reportedly told they were not under arrest and not being deported, but would need to accompany agents to an immigration court hearing in Houston. Once in Houston, though, they weren’t taken to court, but put on a flight for the first leg of their deportation to Honduras. The 24-year-old woman, who’d been living in the U.S. since she was 10, told Verite News by phone that when she saw they were being led to another plane she got very scared. “Even just to think of it right now, I start to cry because it’s so horrible,” she said. ICE lying and using ruses is neither new nor illegal but we’re becoming increasingly aware of them now because the Trump administration is trying to deport people at an unprecedented scale. A new and aggressive “Operation at Large” plan is promising to detain at least 3,000 migrants daily. Immigrants are still told to trust the system: Show up for your hearing, obey notices, follow the orders and wait for your chance to do right. But what good is a system that pretends to offer protection but is designed to fail you? ICE agents have been waiting inside courthouses, ready to detain immigrants the moment their cases are resolved or purposely dismissed so they can be detained. If judges try to resist such tactics, they might be met with grand jury indictments, as in the case of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, who now faces charges of obstruction, impeding a federal department and concealing an undocumented individual from arrest. ICE arrest of high school student sends shock waves through Massachusetts 05:25 But not only have ICE agents been hiding out in courthouses, they’ve been hiding behind masks (which the new ICE head defends) and, according to some reports, sometimes wearing tattoos associated with white supremacists (which the Department of Homeland Security vehemently denies), these agents stop people in courthouses, on their way to work, on their way to church, on their way to high school volleyball practice. It no longer matters if you appear in court for your case, if you stay out of trouble, or if you follow the rules as the system asks you to. Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old high school student, was driving to volleyball practice this weekend in Milford, Massachusetts, when ICE agents pulled him over. They were looking for his father. It didn’t matter. Once agents realized he was undocumented, they took him, too. “Most Americans are NOT anti-immigrant; they’re just anti-chaos,” Immigration Hub Co-Executive Director Beatriz Lopez said in an email about what we are all seeing in real time. It no longer matters if you appear in court for your case, if you stay out of trouble, or if you follow the rules. So far, though, Trump is driving the chaos, and it shows no signs of slowing down. “When we go into the community and find others who are unlawfully here, we’re going to arrest them,” Patricia Hyde, Boston’s acting ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field director, said Monday. “He’s 18 years old and he’s illegally in this country. We had to go to Milford looking for someone else and if we come across someone else who is here illegally, we’re going to arrest them.” If you are undocumented, the Trump administration has determined that you are a criminal, no matter your status or situation. There is no way out. Full stop. More from MSNBC Daily Must reads from Today's list There's a silver lining for Democrats in Trump's broken promises Paul Waldman Trump's posting on Truth Social has spiraled out of control Zeeshan Aleem As of May 23, a NBC News tracker of ICE data notes that 48,674 migrants are currently detained. Just 30.6% of them have criminal convictions, 26.5% have pending criminal charges, 43.2% are listed with the vague “other immigration violator” label, and 9.9% are fast-tracked for deportation. Missouri town rallying behind beloved community member facing deportation 07:21 “The American people are already starting to recoil from Trump’s immigration agenda, including the way he’s weaponizing immigration as the ‘tip of the spear’ for a broader assault on core constitutional pillars such as due process and the separation of powers,” Vanessa Cárdenas, America’s Voice executive director, said in an email. She added, “Trump’s overreach and ugliness are moving us in the wrong direction on immigration, away from the real solutions America needs.” The fight for immigrants continues because giving up would mean accepting that this is all America will ever be. And giving up is something such activists refuse to do. The erosion of due process is a national crisis, but the Trump deportation machine keeps going and shows no sign of stopping. It is all normalized now. Courts, which once stood as symbols of fairness and protection, are now just another stage for people showing up expecting due process to have it denied.

Raids and revenge tips: Inside ICE's Puerto Rico deportation operation

No one knows exactly how many immigrants are living without legal status in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Rebecca González-Ramos, ICE's top investigator on the island, estimates it's about 20,000, and since January it's been her job to track down and deport every last one of them. "Our mandate," she said, "is 100 percent. So everybody that's in the United States, and in this case in Puerto Rico, without an immigration status, needs to be removed or deported." González is the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. HSI is Immigration and Customs Enforcement's intelligence office – one of dozens of HSI offices nationwide. She is the first woman to lead her office, responsible for investigating customs fraud, drug and weapons smuggling, and human trafficking. But since she assumed the role a few days after Donald Trump's return to the White House, her agents' number one priority has become finding immigrants to deport. Sponsor Message They've adopted more aggressive strategies than in past administrations. They're expanding surprise raids at hotels and construction sites, knocking on the doors of people with deportation orders, and questioning others on the street. She says they've asked Puerto Rico's department of motor vehicles to hand over the names and addresses of the roughly 6,000 people who got licenses under an immigrant-friendly law that extended driving privileges to people without legal status. They take informant tips from everyday citizens calling in to report on their neighbors. González-Ramos sat down for an interview with NPR in her San Juan office last week. She said to date ICE agents in Puerto Rico have arrested close to 500 immigrants for deportation in the four months since Trump returned to power. Fewer than 80 had criminal records, and among those who did, the single charge most had faced was for re-entering the United States after a prior deportation. Three-quarters of those arrested have been Dominican nationals. Dominicans have immigrated to Puerto Rico for decades, becoming part of the fabric of society as construction workers, domestic helpers, cooks, lawyers, professors, teachers and police officers. Recent raids have sent terror coursing through Dominican neighborhoods. González-Ramos's operations on the island offer a glimpse into how ICE offices nationwide are ramping up their surveillance, investigation and enforcement tactics to deliver on President Trump's mass deportation promises. Sponsor Message The interview has been edited for length and clarity. INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: NPR: Now that your mandate is to deport 100 percent of people here without status, do you have quotas? (Top Trump administration officials have said they have a national quota to arrest 3,000 immigrants without legal status daily). González-Ramos: No, we don't have quotas. We just have a mandate to execute our authorities and use our resources to enforce immigration. NPR: I want to talk about how you find people. What have you told your agents to do differently? What are they allowed to do now that they weren't allowed to do in the past? González-Ramos: Their authority has always been the same. We work a lot with intelligence and information received. We have a communication center here. We receive a lot of calls from individuals saying, hey, my neighbor that's present here illegally, or my ex-wife, you know. Those leads are worked by the intel group. We help identify the addresses of those individuals that already have final deportation orders. We're the investigative arm, we work on leads, we develop sources, we develop different information that comes, trying to first make sure that the information is good. We're not going to move forward on something just because it came in. What I've told my agents is that they need to make sure that they do everything by the law and treat everybody with dignity. NPR: Do they need warrants? Either judicial arrest warrants or administrative warrants? (An arrest warrant is issued by a judge and is required for an ICE agent to enter a home or other private space for an arrest. An administrative warrant is signed by an ICE official and directs an agent to detain someone, but does not authorize entry to a home or private space.) González-Ramos: Arrest warrants sometimes are necessary because, for example, we had an individual we had identified and he was inside his house and he didn't want to come out. So we had to get an arrest warrant. Sponsor Message NPR: What about when your agents are going into a neighborhood and there's a group of men and women on a street corner. Are you telling them it's okay to use their suspicion that someone might be in the country illegally to detain them now and ask questions later? González-Ramos: The way it works is if there's a group of people on a corner, the officers will go and then we'll ask them questions to determine alienage. And they'll say, "Yes, I'm a legal permanent resident," and we'll say, "Let me see your ID." And some of them have it with them. Some of them don't. I think now, these days, they all have it with them. And based on those answers is when we decide if we're going to detain them or not. NPR: It becomes very subjective. Agents going out and deciding who to question or to detain. I've spoken with a couple of Dominicans (with legal status) who've been detained and then released. Why is that happening? González-Ramos: It's going to depend on the situation we're in. The most important thing is our officers' safety. So, if I'm in a place where there's a lot of people surrounding us and it's a big operation, I cannot let you go and find your Legal Permanent Resident card. Because I don't know where you're going to go. I don't know if you're going to go to a car. I don't know what you have inside that car. That's why it's so important for them to have their identification with them. Anybody who has residency, they need to have that card with them. Even on the card, it says by law, when you're a legal permanent resident, you need to have your ID with you at all times. Sponsor Message NPR: What about a citizen? González-Ramos: I've never detained a citizen here. If it's a citizen, it's a citizen. NPR: What is the agent using to decide whether enough suspicion exists to detain someone? González-Ramos: The agent can justify his acts by different means. Reasonable suspicion. They had identified an individual that didn't have status right next to them. But those persons are not being detained. A person is being asked questions about their nationality. When you're detained is when I put the cuffs on and I put you in the van and I transport you to the facility to process you. And if you tell me you do have status, those are the first individuals that we're going to make sure that we check in the system so we can release them. We don't want to detain anyone that has a legal status in the U.S. NPR: But you're acknowledging that you are doing that, because if they've made it to the facility, you're checking them out there, not in the street. González-Ramos: Yeah. I have to transport you because you don't have your documents with you. There's no other way for me to determine that unless I check the system and I run your fingerprints. NPR: I've been speaking with people in the Dominican community who say they feel they're being targeted because they're Black and because they have Dominican accents. González-Ramos: I don't agree with that at all. That would be very irresponsible of us to intervene with individuals just because they have a Dominican accent. I want to say maybe 80 percent of the agents that I have are from Puerto Rico. So they know that a large number of our Dominican population are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. The majority are not here without status. There's been people detained from all sorts of countries. It's not just Dominicans. Most of them have been Dominicans because they are the highest population here from a foreign country (About 60 percent of Puerto Rico's foreign-born population is Dominican). Sponsor Message NPR: Are your agents as likely to question on the street a white person with a Puerto Rican accent? González-Ramos: If we are looking for an individual with a final order of deportation in a group of four, all four are going to be asked the questions. It doesn't matter if you have blue eyes and blonde hair, or if you have a Puerto Rican accent. Here in Puerto Rico, we're of all colors. Moving on accents and moving on people's color, first of all, it's illegal. And second of all, it's not the way HSI does business. We work based on intelligence and executing either arrest warrants or final orders of deportation. And everybody in that group is going to be asked, no matter how they look or how they sound. NPR: The driver's licenses (that Puerto Rico has given to about 6,000 immigrants without legal status). Did you request that list? González-Ramos: The Puerto Rico government is cooperating with us in anything that we ask them for. And we're asking for that in order to move forward with the mission. And we're waiting. NPR asked a spokeswoman for Puerto Rico's governor about this on Monday afternoon. She acknowledged receipt of the request. NPR will update the story if we receive an additional response. NPR: Your operation at La Concha Hotel in early May (in which 53 Dominican construction workers were arrested) -- how did you decide to go there that morning? González-Ramos: There was intelligence. And we moved forward with it. As part of all of our business inspections, we get a lot of intelligence from competitors, people that, you know, might have bid for that same contract and know that the individual that actually won the bid can do it because he's paying his workers less. A lot of revenge. I'm not saying that's what happened here. That's just an example. Sponsor Message NPR: These revenge tips – are you getting a lot of people now reporting people they don't like? González-Ramos: Yeah, we didn't used to get that. Now, I want to say we get around 10 to 12 calls a day in our communications center, and maybe five of those are immigration related. There's always somebody that it's like, there's a neighbor that they don't get along with, or an ex-husband, ex-wife, ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend. NPR: And your agents will go check it out? González-Ramos: Yeah, it's added to the leads. And if it's a valid lead, we'll move forward on it. Everything that comes through the tip line in regards to immigration, it's going to be a priority. NPR: Do you recognize the fear, the terror, that the people and communities that you're targeting for deportation feel? González-Ramos: I can definitely see where they can be concerned and worried. It's a change in somebody's life. But I don't see a reason for them to be scared or live in fear, because the message is very simple. If you do not have a status in the United States, you have to leave. They're not going to be mistreated. They have mechanisms to leave on their own. I see how they can be concerned. But afraid? Or to live in fear? I don't see a reason for that.

Trump blames immigration policy for Boulder attack

President Donald Trump blamed an attack in Boulder, Colorado, that injured at least eight people who were demonstrating in support of the release of Israeli hostages on lax U.S. immigration laws. In a post on Truth Social, Trump seized on the attack’s implications for immigration policy after a Department of Homeland Security official wrote in a social media post Monday morning the suspect in the attack had overstayed his visa and was in the country illegally. “He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly. He must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law,” Trump wrote. “This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland.” The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terror, with local authorities identifying the suspect as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman of Colorado Springs. Soliman, who was encountered on the scene, is in custody and has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to an FBI affidavit. According to the affidavit, Soliman said in an interview with federal and local law enforcement that he “wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead” and that he had been planning the attack for a year. J. Bishop Grewell, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, said in a press conference on Monday that when Soliman was interviewed about the attack, he told authorities, “he wanted them all to die. He had no regrets and he would go back and do it again.” “No one should ever be subjected to violence of any kind,” Grewell said. “But our laws recognize that such violence is particularly pernicious when somebody is targeted because of their race, their religion, or their national origin.” Many initial responses to the attack focused on its potential connection to antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war, but top Trump administration officials quickly began a discussion about immigration policy. According to DHS, the suspect entered the country on a B2 non-immigrant visa in August 2022 — filing an asylum claim the following month — and was authorized to stay until February 2023 but never left. The B2 non-immigrant visa allows foreign nationals to temporarily enter the country for tourism, pleasure or medical treatment. 📣 Want more POLITICO? Download our mobile app to save stories, get notifications and more. In iOS or Android. “This individual, this terrorist was allowed into this country by the previous administration, was foolishly given a tourism visa, and then was illegally allowed to stay,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday afternoon. “These individuals are going to be deported, and we’re not going to tolerate such violence in our country.” Eyewitness videos show a shirtless man holding what appear to be two Molotov cocktails and yelling “Free Palestine!” at a group of demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, and Israeli flags were seen on the ground after the attack. The Anti-Defamation League in a post on X described the demonstration as a “weekly meeting of Jewish community members to run/walk in support of the hostages kidnapped.” One of the organizers of the group had posted on social media raising awareness for the demonstration, saying that the group met in downtown Boulder every Sunday for a “weekly humanitarian walk.” FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted Sunday on X that the FBI was investigating a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder. “This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts,” Bongino posted. “We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard wrote in a social media post that the National Counterterrorism Center is working with the FBI on the investigation. The attack comes more than a week after two Israeli embassy staffers were shot to death outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.

Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record

Edition Date: 01/20/25. If the civil surgeon signs your form on or before July 2, 2025, you must use the 03/09/23 or the 01/20/25 edition. Starting July 3, 2025, USCIS will accept only the 01/20/25 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions. For more information, please visit our Forms Updates page.