Free Republic

When Donald Trump won the presidency in November, Shawn Moran’s border patrol colleagues high-fived and hugged each other. “There was a real sense that we were going to be able to do our jobs again,” said Moran, vice president at National Border Patrol Council. “That turned out to be true.” Border Patrol and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents complained for years that then-President Barack Obama constrained their ability to fulfill their mission. Trump campaigned on a promise that he would unleash them — and vowed to make large-scale deportation of undocumented immigrants a priority. This won Trump the endorsement of...

Lawmakers representing Hispanic communities across the country are demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security following a series of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that led to hundreds of arrests in multiple states last week — so far, the elected officials say, they aren’t getting them. On Tuesday, ICE’s acting director, Thomas Homan, cancelled a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in which he was to provide details on the more than 680 people arrested across the country last week and explain the guidance given to his agents in conducting the operations. ICE had described the...

Some are questioning the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are handling arrests in Fairfax County after at least two men were arrested near a church shelter. Oscar Ramirez said he had just left the hypothermia shelter at Rising Hope Mission Church on Russell Road in Alexandria, Virginia, when about a dozen ICE agents surround him and other Latino men. "'Stop right there. Stop right there. Stop right there. Stay by the wall, where we can see your hands,'" the agents said, according to Ramirez. The group of men had left the shelter about 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8...

A meeting between congressional Hispanic Democrats and the Trump administration's top immigration enforcement officer was canceled abruptly Tuesday in the wake of national immigration raids that have roiled Latino leaders. Thomas Homan, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Tuesday that he would not be attending the meeting, according to CHC aides. CHC Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) and Homan had a phone call at 2 p.m. to discuss the cancellation. The CHC is expected to hold a press conference later Tuesday. Homan's office said it had received too...

Bill O’Reilly said tonight that the press’ dishonesty may have reached a peak in their coverage of the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in “smearing” President Trump. ... He said he didn’t see much coverage mentioning criminals being targeted and said, “That’s not press bias, that’s blatant dishonesty.” He also took note of how there wasn’t this kind of outrage after the raids that took place under President Obama. {..snip..}

RUSH: I want to get to some of this immigration news because I firmly believe that immigration remains ballgame in terms of the future of the United States remaining the nation it was founded to be. Immigration is the primary reason Donald Trump was elected. It remains a focal point for people that support and voted for Trump, and that executive order… Trump supporters are livid about this in every which way. The media’s not changing minds among Trump supporters on that executive order. They’re angry at the judiciary, as they should be.And these ICE raids that are happening? People...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer released the following statement demanding that immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) release information about the raids that happened this past week:"Reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeted non-violent immigrant families over the past week are deeply disturbing. Undocumented immigrants live in fear, and they are confused and scared.““I am troubled by the lack of transparency and potential due process violations surrounding ICE’s most recent enforcement actions. That is why I’m calling on ICE to release information about the location of the raids and details of the people who were arrested.”“Targeting law-abiding innocent...

Homeland Security netted more than 680 immigrants in a new series of raids, Secretary John F. Kelly said Monday, saying they were standard enforcement actions that generally nabbed serious criminals. Three quarters of those arrested in the raids — the first major announced action under President Trump — had criminal convictions, Mr. Kelly said. He was responding to claims of immigrant-rights advocates, who said the administration was spreading fear by targeting rank-and-file illegal immigrants who have generally stayed out of serious trouble with the law, save for living and working here illegally.

For most of last week, immigration enforcement agents carried out routine operations to detain and deport illegal aliens.But there is nothing "routine" about America in the age of Donald Trump. After a few businesses and homes were raided, illegal-alien advocates sent out panicked emails warning about immigration-enforcement officials "rounding up" those in the country illegally—most of whom had criminal records and had already been ordered deported from the U.S.According to Pew Research, there are about 1.4 million illegals in southern California. The 5-day ICE raids netted exactly 160 of them. This is hardly a "round-up" or a "sweep." But...

Immigration agents seize felons including gang members, drug dealers, and child molesters U.S. immigration officials arrested an MS-13 gang member, a cocaine trafficker, and a child molester during a series of raids in at least six states last week. The raids, targeting illegal immigrants with additional felonies, are part of the first large-scale enforcement operation since President Donald Trump took office. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they targeted known criminals and arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants in what they called an “enforcement surge” that began Feb. 6 and took place in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and the Carolinas. ICE arrested approximately 200...

“Human smuggling is a profitable enterprise for the cartels,” said Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak. “Border Patrol agents and law enforcement partners in Joint Targeting Teams search out such offenders. Our agency will continue to utilize a wide array of enforcement components to combat these trans-national criminal organizations at every level.” On Feb. 7, Border Patrol agents, assisted by officers from Maverick County Sheriff’s Office, located a house near the downtown region of Eagle Pass that was suspected of being used to temporarily harbor smuggled immigrants. As law enforcement officials approached, a man was...

Following an intense week of sweeps across the country that nabbed hundreds of undocumented immigrants in at least seven states, authorities on Friday tried to downplay those actions as “routine.” Don’t believe them. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen, who according to The Washington Post “dislikes the term ‘raids,’ and prefers to say authorities are conducting ‘targeted enforcement actions,’” said the sweeps were “routine” and targeted mostly hardened criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official David Marin echoed that line, calling the raids “surge operations” that target “people in this country illegally who have criminal convictions,” according to NPR....

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are fighting back against false reports of checkpoints and sweeps during the ongoing operation targeting criminal (ICE) aliens. “Reports of ICE checkpoints and sweeps are false, dangerous and irresponsible,” ICE officials wrote in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “These reports create mass panic and put communities and law enforcement personnel in unnecessary danger. Any groups falsely reporting such activities are doing a disservice to those they claim to support.” Media outlets have been reporting statements by community activists that appear to be aimed at instilling fear and false information about the ICE’s...

© Greg Nash The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is requesting a meeting with U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials over recent raids on undocumented immigrants. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), who chairs the caucus, sent a letter to ICE asking for “an open and candid discussion” on the enforcement changes, saying the raids "have struck fear in the hearts of the immigrant community.” “It is critical that we meet with you in person immediately to discuss the impact these raids have had on our communities as well as obtain clarifying guidance on how ICE policies will differ from...

Elizabeth Theiss, president of Stop the Magnet, a political action committee that supports the enforcement of deporting undocumented immigrants, said she was happy to hear the news of the raids on Saturday. "We're thrilled to see that our laws are being enforced," Theiss said. "We feel like finally after a decade of screaming, we are seeing some action. It's just an unusual thing to see politicians do what they promised to do." She believes that removing undocumented immigrants from the country will make the country safer for future generations. "I hope that it continues and we get to see it...

PHOENIX — A Mexican man wanted for kidnapping in the State of Sinaloa, Mexico, was deported by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Sebastian Medina-Cuabras, aka Carlos Lopez-Barraza, 39,was transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico's Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO officers at the Nogales (Arizona) DeConcini Port of Entry. According to the arrest warrant issued by Mexican authorities, Medina-Cuabras is wanted for a kidnapping where he and three other individuals organized, prepared and executed a ransom plot in August 1999. Details of the Mexican...

U.S. immigration authorities launched a series of raids, traffic stops and checkpoints in at least half a dozen states across the country on Thursday and Friday, sweeping up an unknown number of undocumented immigrants, immigration lawyers and advocates said. The raids, which appeared to target scores of undocumented immigrants, including those without criminal records, mark the first largescale episode of immigration enforcement inside the United States since President Trump’s Jan. 26 order to crack down on the estimated 11 million immigrants living here illegally.

ICE Raids Begin In Southern California Immigration authorities have arrested 160 illegal immigrants so far throughout Southern California over the last few days. ABC7 reports “U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said the “targeted enforcement operation” resulted in arrests of about 150 who had criminal histories. Of the other 10, five had been ordered deported or had been deported in the past.”

Several towns, cities and counties around the nation are caving to President Trump's threat to pull funding, and abandoning their "sanctuary" pledges to shield illegal immigrants from federal authorities. Dayton, Ohio, dropped a policy that restricted the city’s cooperation with immigration officials pursuing illegal immigrants arrested for misdemeanors or felony property crimes, according to the Dayton Daily News. Police Chief Richard Biehl said federal authorities will no longer be impeded by the city when pursuing illegal immigrants being held by his department. Other communities that have dropped policies of shielding illegal immigrant suspects from Immigration and Customs Enforcement include Miami-Dade...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Advocacy groups say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are rounding up people in large numbers around the country as part of stepped-up enforcement under President Donald Trump. They say a roundup in Southern California was especially heavy-handed and cite arrests in places such as Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Texas and North Carolina that have rattled immigrants. The government says it's simply enforcing the laws and conducting routine enforcement targeting immigrants in the country illegally with criminal records. Authorities say it's no different than what happened during the Obama years on a regular basis. The truth...