All posts tagged "immigration"

Business booming for companies making ICE agent, Trump revenge piñatas: report

Piñata makers have been busy crafting a specific style of punchable candy-stuffed characters — ICE agents, LA Material reported.

After aggressive immigration sweeps under the Trump administration hit Southern California over the last year, ICE agents have become one of the most requested and popular piñatas in Los Angeles' Piñata District.

Karla Fuentes, who works at Navarro's Party Supply, told LA Material that the store got its first order for an ICE agent just a week after immigration officers flooded the city. After that, many other orders for the tissue paper and cardboard figures started rolling in.

"It takes the federal government 42 days to train an ICE agent," LA Material reported.

In July, that number is expected to rise to 71 days "after advocates, Democratic lawmakers, and former ICE officials publicly voiced concerns over the 'deficient, defective, and broken' training process."

"The piñata makers of Los Angeles can turn one around in less than a week," according to LA Material. "Strips of cardboard are cut to shape a figure; layer upon layer of newspaper is molded onto the shape to create a build; colorful tissue paper is slashed into shapes and shards that become an outfit and hair and Mod Podged on to bring the figure to life; then the face and other identifying elements — a crooked smile, a microphone, a soccer ball — are added until the piñata is ready."

The move follows a long cultural tradition.

"Political humor has long been a form of resistance and social commentary in Mexico," LA Material reported. "A piñata allows us to satirize, ridicule, and then beat the brakes off an effigy, a nonviolently violent act against an oppressive force."

Another particular piñata has remained popular for more than a decade.

"The Donald Trump piñata never goes out of style. More than 10 years after his first presidential run, the president remains a figure many would relish hitting with a stick," according to LA Material.

"There’s the Latino instinct," a piñata maker named Saavedra told LA Material. "You want to beat the crap out of something, so you take it out on a piñata."

Trump dealt 'shock' immigration defeat as fight barrels toward Supreme Court: legal expert

A sweeping defeat of Trump's immigration policies will likely end up in the Supreme Court, a legal expert flagged.

Last week, a federal judge in Rhode Island struck down four Trump policies that froze immigration benefits for nationals from 39 countries, attorney Rachel Cohen said on Legal AF. Cohen is now expecting that challenge to land in the Supreme Court.

"I would be shocked if it didn't go all the way up to the Supreme Court," Cohen said, referring to the case Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The administration entered final judgment earlier this week and has already filed a notice of appeal, Cohen added.

The Trump administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act with policies that froze asylum decisions, green cards, work permits, and naturalization for people from countries on Trump's travel-ban list, according to Cohen's description of a ruling by Chief Judge John McConnell.

"It actually is, I would say, one of the most sweeping kind of rebukes to the Trump administration when it comes to its attempts to target legal immigrants that we have seen thus far," Cohen said. "Trump has been attacking legal immigrants left and right by changing policies as much as possible."

Cohen also flagged a deeper problem with Trump's policies, grinding the important immigration process to a halt.

"If you're not even processing any of these applications, basically all that that arm of the government is doing is terrorizing people on the streets, snatching them up," Cohen said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS and ICE.

She also noted that congressional Republicans moved to increase the ICE budget by $70 billion over the next three years.

Trump cabinet secretary given slush fund through new immigration bill: report

A Trump cabinet secretary will have a slush fund of his own after the House passed a funding bill for immigration enforcement, according to reporting by Politico.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin will have $5 billion to "dole out at his discretion" after the House voted 214-212 to approve a $70 billion package, the report added.

The funding includes $65 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, adding to the $140 billion Republicans awarded to the two DHS agencies last year. The reconciliation package follows a congressional standoff that led to a months-long shutdown of DHS.

Politico noted that DHS agents, including ICE, are seeking judicial warrants to enter private residences and that Mullin refused to commit to following court orders. Immigration detention centers have also been accused of inhumane treatment, which Mullin dismissed, Politico added.

ICE agent arrested in Texas for shooting migrant and lying about it: report

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been arrested in Texas on charges related to his actions during President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

ICE agent Christian Castro was apprehended Friday by law enforcement officials from both states after the Hennepin County attorney’s office charged him with four counts of second-degree assault this month and another charge of filing a false police report, reported The New York Times.

The 52-year-old federal agent is accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant on Jan. 14 and lying about it.

Castro scuffled with migrant Alfredo Aljorna during an arrest attempt following a car chase, according to court documents, and prosecutors said he fired into the man's house after he broke loose and ran inside.

The gunshot wounded Aljorna's roommate Julio C. Sosa-Celis in the leg, but the officer told police after violent protests erupted in response to the shooting that three men had bludgeoned him with a shovel and broom, and he claimed to have fired his gun in fear for his life.

However, prosecutors reviewed police surveillance video that showed Castro was lying about the incident, and investigators dropped charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis.

'Unbelievably barbaric': Internet cringes at White House's anti-immigrant post

The White House posted an anti-immigrant video that's making people cringe or dismiss it as a distraction from Trump's real issues.

The official X account for the White House posted a video, which seems AI-generated, that shows a UFO lifting someone over a border wall and came with a link for ALIENS.GOV, which further attacked immigrants.

Commentators like podcaster Spencer Hakimian scoffed at it as an "Epstein Distraction." Legal expert Joyce Vance agreed, saying that a post "is a great way of distracting people from the fact that we still don't know what's in the Epstein Files."

Others were more taken aback. Influencer Jimmy Wong described it as "unbelievably barbaric."

Former Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont wrote, "Still looking for intelligent life in the White House."

In a Spanish-language post, journalist Leon Krauze wrote that the White House "sometimes becomes indescribable" and the post as more "intimidation against immigrants. As if the lives of millions of human beings were a (very bad) joke."

Trump DOJ's conduct during anti-ICE protest case shocks experts: 'Completely staggering'

Transcripts from the Department of Justice's prosecution of the "Broadview Six" anti-ICE protesters have left experts who read them shocked.

The Broadview Six were a group of protesters federally charged after demonstrating outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Illinois in 2025.

On Thursday, Judge April Perry, who presided over the case, ordered DOJ prosecutors to appear in court to explain their conduct before a grand jury when seeking an indictment. The DOJ's case came to a sudden end shortly after, when a U.S. Attorney dropped all charges days before a trial was set to begin.

According to transcripts from the Thursday hearing, Perry said that she had "never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior" that were displayed by DOJ prosecutors before a grand jury in 2025.

"I do believe deeply in the presumption of regularity and that most government attorneys are doing the best they can do to do the right thing," Perry said. "That trust has been broken."

"This is completely staggering," wrote Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow for the American Immigration Council, in reaction to Perry's comment about DOJ prosecutors breaking trust.

Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner noted that Perry mentioned a "potential" for "sanctions for prosecutorial misconduct and for potential ethical violations, including lack of candor."

'Tom Homan can shove it': NY lawmakers send defiant message with new ICE restrictions

New York lawmakers want the Trump administration to know they're not scared as they doubled down on restrictions for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a new report.

"Tom Homan can shove it," Democratic New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes told reporters in reference to Trump's border czar, according to reporting by Politico.

The remark is a defiant shot back at Homan, who called out New York at a border security expo earlier this month. Homan threatened to 'flood the zone' with ICE agents if the state passes legislation limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Gounardes joined with other New York Democratic lawmakers to approve a package of new restrictions on ICE operations in their state, Politico reported. Gov. Kathy Hochul backed the package, which passed the legislature on Thursday.

One of the new laws would even limit the NYPD and other local law enforcement from helping ICE with crowd control if it comes to New York to roll out operations like what was seen in Minnesota earlier this year, according to Politico.

Another law bans ICE agents, and federal and local law enforcement broadly, from wearing masks and creates a list of "sensitive" locations that ICE can't enter without a judicial warrant, Politico added.

DHS on the lookout for prankster who set up fake ICE tipline: report

The Department of Homeland Security is warning that a prankster set up a fake tipline to expose people who are trying to report immigrants.

Nashville-based comedian Ben Palmer set up a parody website where people could supposedly turn in immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to reporting by the Guardian.

DHS, which is the parent agency for ICE, has responded by issuing a "Be on the Lookout" alert for law enforcement nationwide. The Guardian reported that the DHS bulletin was posted by its Nashville field office in February.

Palmer has been exposing people who think they're handing over immigrants to ICE, which detains and deports undocumented immigrants. Videos with recordings of the calls "have garnered millions of views on TikTok and YouTube," according to the Guardian.

One of the videos features a kindergarten teacher trying to dime out one of her students' parents.

"They seem like nice people or whatever," the teacher said to Palmer on the call, according to reporting by the Washington Post. "But if they're taking up resources from our county, I'm not into illegal people being here."

The Washington Post added that Palmer's faux tip line has reeled in nearly 100 submissions from people trying to turn in their "neighbors, ex-lovers, Uber drivers, strangers they saw at the grocery store."

Palmer spoke to the Washington Post on the condition that it not name his website to keep the joke going. Other news outlets have followed suit.

According to the Guardian, the DHS bulletin doesn't mean an investigation is open on Palmer or that he could be arrested.

"This document is an internal memo shared for awareness purposes only," a DHS spokesperson told the Guardian.

"To be honest, for me, it's the best of both worlds," Palmer said, according to the Guardian. "I don't get arrested, but I still get to say the Department of Homeland Security created a document about me, which is...in my line of work, I always look at these things as more like certificates, badges of honor."

Fired Trump hardliner unloads on 'swamp creatures' blocking immigration crackdown

A fired Trump administration official and deportation hardliner is turning on his former employers, calling them "swamp creatures."

Former Border Patrol "commander-at-large" Greg Bovino slammed the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversaw his agency, while speaking with Megyn Kelly, in appearance flagged by The Daily Beast.

Kelly asked about the departure of immigration hardliners like himself and Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks from the Trump administration. Bovino praised Banks as a "fantastic" immigration hardliner, and suggested he was ousted by "snakes" in the Trump administration who pushed stories about him allegedly paying sex workers.

The Trump administration wanted to take a "softer" approach on immigration in the wake of two deaths during immigration crackdowns in Minneapolis in January, and wanted to oust "hardliners" like Banks, who resigned earlier this week, Bovino explained.

"That prostitution thing had been, that had been investigated many years ago, and he was cleared," Bovino said, adding that the story about Banks' prostitution allegations popping up as they're trying oust hardliners, "doesn't happen by chance. There's a lot of snakes, a lot of swamp creatures" still working in the administration and in the Department of Homeland Security.

"Before we go mass deportations, and before we return to hardline immigration, those snakes need to leave," Bovino said. "We're all no longer working for the Department of Homeland Security. We are all mass deportation hardliners....what does that tell you?"

He warned, "Careful, America, still some swamp creatures out there."

Trump expands deportation dragnet to snare new group of legal permanent residents

The Trump administration is going after a group of legal permanent residents in the United States, according a new report.

The Department of Homeland Security is looking to deport more than 50 green card holders, The New York Times reported. The agency has a "new unit dedicated to revetting thousands of immigrants with permanent residency across the country," and the group is looking into revoking green cards, according to data obtained by The Times.

"The creation of the unit also underscores how aggressively administrations are trying to root out immigrants they believe should be stripped of their legal status and removed from the country," The Times reported. "It is the latest sign that the administration is broadening its immigration crackdown beyond those living in the country illegally to those who have gained lawful status."

According to The Times report, while more than 50 green card holders are at risk of deportation, more than 500 green cards are currently under review by the new DHS unit, and nearly 3,000 have already been revetted.

The Trump administration wants to "screen green card holders suspected of committing fraud or posing threats," The Times added, noting that of the nearly 3,000 green cards reviewed so far, "internal figures show only about 2 percent of green card holders reviewed were deemed potentially deportable."