DHS releases immigrants to shelters it threatened to prosecute for aiding immigrants
SWinxy, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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Trump administration releases people to shelters it threatened to prosecute for aiding immigrants
Consistency, logic, and morality have never been hallmarks of Trump’s administration. So it should surprise no one that as part of his promised fascist immigration crackdown, ICE has continued to send immigrants to the very shelters that received threatening letters from FEMA (an agency housed under the Department of Homeland Security, along with ICE) accusing them of potential ‘illegal activity’ conducted at said shelters along the US-Mexico border.
Two things are true at once: the same slapdash approach that defines the Trump Administration writ large crops up in their core project, the detention and deportation machine. And, the evil machine is causing harm on a massive scale.
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A Bronx high schooler showed up for a routine immigration court date. ICE was waiting.
A new terror tactic ICE has deployed recently has agents targeting immigrants for deportation during routine court hearings. This is what happened to Dylan, a Bronx high school student who fled Venezuela, survived a kidnapping by a cartel, and applied for asylum. Dylan obtained a work permit and driver’s permit, began working as a delivery cyclist, enrolled in a school catering to new arrivals, and was helping to raise his younger siblings as his mom worked multiple jobs.
Dylan’s family, peers, and the staff at his school are reeling from his abduction. His mother, Raiza, fears for his well being. Dylan was undergoing testing for chronic stomach issues at the time of his abduction and has not received any medical care since being detained. Over the course of one week, Dylan has been transferred between four states, effectively preventing his lawyers from getting in touch with him.
This newest, widespread ICE tactic works like this: when individuals show up for routine, required immigration hearings, government lawyers request that the judge drop deportation proceedings. Individuals are not informed that their asylum claims will be dropped as well in the process, leaving them without any protection when the government then immediately turns around to initiate “expedited removal” processes and arrest the person on the spot. It’s a cruel, malicious attack against the immigration system as a whole. While local courts are made into ICE danger zones, deportation orders also result from failing to show up for these scheduled court dates.
Action item: search “court accompaniment for immigrants” in your area. There may be a group who can train you to be active in solidarity with your neighbors and provide protection and allyship as they navigate a hostile court system.
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McIver case presents stumbling blocks for Trump DOJ
As the current administration doubles down on its pursuit of authoritarian control, it has brought its first charges against a sitting member of congress by alleging that Democratic representative Lauren McIver “assaulted” law enforcement agents during the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside of the Delaney Hall ICE facility May 9. As part of a delegation that were prevented from performing a routine check of the facilities, McIver took part in surrounding Baraka, attempting to prevent his arrest.
While charges against Mayor Baraka have been dropped, the federal government is pursuing assault charges against McIver, accusing her of “elbowing” officers. Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY), a former federal prosecutor, characterized the charges as “embarrassing,” saying: “It is so clear that there’s no intent to inflict any physical harm or do anything with the necessary criminal intent. She’s in a scrum and is just trying to protect herself. And even if she did use her forearm to push an agent as part of a scrum, it would never, ever be charged against an average bystander, and certainly not against an elected official who has a constitutional right to be there.”
Cosecha and Pax Christi USA are both great organizations to support who are involved in this struggle in an ongoing way.
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Judge accuses Trump administration of creating chaos for immigrants held in Djibouti
The Trump Administration judicial crisis continues, this week involving immigrants deported to Djibouti who had not been given enough time to contest their deportations. This is the latest written order from Judge Brian Murphy of the district court of Massachusetts, who is considering holding administration officials in contempt of court.
Judge Murphy cited UN Human Rights law as well as a lack of due process as the main reasons for his ruling. The President has asked the supreme court to weigh in on this matter, as he wants to make it legally easier to deport immigrants to countries that are not their country of origin. We’ll be following this story as it develops.
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GEO Group sued for negligence after death of an immigrant placed in its care
GEO Group is a publicly-traded company that makes money for its shareholders by owning and operating prisons and detention facilities. Put more simply, it’s a company that profits off of human misery. They have appeared in this newsletter from time to time, always in stories involving humans being subjected to inhumane conditions and horrific treatment.
Martin Vargas Arellano was being held in a GEO-run prison in California. Under this for-profit prison company’s oversight, he contracted COVID-19 and died after a series of resulting complications. A recent lawsuit has been filed holding GEO responsible for this death due to gross negligence (that is, they didn’t care that a human whose well-being they were responsible for might die on their watch). This is a major case and potentially a major step in holding private prison contractors responsible when they harm people through profit-driven negligence. And, apparently, the plaintiffs keep needing to officially amend their complaint because the process of discovery has been uncovering so much material to use against GEO.
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The newsletter will be on hiatus next week in honor of Shavuot. We recommend registering for Rabbis for Ceasefire’s event, which we are excited to co-sponsor: “Revealing Liberation: The Torah of Solidarity.”
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Actions you can take right now:
Support Never Again Action’s organizing by making a donation today. You can make a tax deductible donation via our fiscal sponsor at this link, or you can donate directly to our 501(c)(4) organization at this link.
New: Join Action Network in urging your representatives to block the administration’s devastating attacks on immigrants by rejecting funding for enforcement, detention, and deportation throughout this year’s appropriations process. Join their letter-writing campaign here.
This Shavuot 5785, join Rabbis for Ceasefire, The American Council for Judaism, and partner organizations (including NAA) for the second annual Global Tikkun Leyl, a 26-hour virtual teach-in. Together, we will demonstrate the global Jewish solidarity with Palestine, deepen relationships across continents, and develop shared analyses, songs, interpretations of texts, and beyond to illuminate our path to liberation. Check out the full schedule of presentations and register at rabbis4ceasefire.com/shavuot2025.
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If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for next week’s roundup, drop us a line at neveragainaction@gmail.com.