ICE is still breaking laws and killing people

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.

To view and share this email as a webpage, click here
_

ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas, officials say

In another case of ICE officers running roughshod over any semblance of accountability, an agent without a bodycam shot a man doing food delivery for DoorDash. The victim, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, has been to the hospital twice and still has the bullet lodged in his body. His lawyer reports that he has lost the use of his left arm, but ICE will not release him from custody. Despite multiple drivers for their company being the target of anti-immigrant violence, DoorDash has remained silent, not even offering corporate template condolences, let alone the clear protection that is required.

One thing we all can and should do right away: delete your DoorDash account.
_

ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding thousands of detainees who are subject to so-called “final” deportation orders via its detainee locator system. (NOTE: the orders are only “final” if the detainee has no lawyer to contest it.)

ICE removed those detainees from its online detainee locator system on Sept. 15, according to three current and former (anonymous) ICE officials.The move represents a stark departure from previous practice. They did not publicize the move and in a statement issued to the AP, the agency did not confirm or deny it. The statement said detainees with final removal orders were being prioritized for deportation, even as ICE faces a “historic number of injunctions” from courts stopping individual removals.

Many of those with final removal orders are facing removal to third-party countries. Their disappearance in ICE’s system will make legal challenges harder, lawyers said.
_

ICE detains record number of pregnant people, "lost count" of miscarriages

ICE continues to be as callous and cruel as it can to the most vulnerable of populations. Though the headline says ICE “lost count” of how many miscarriages had happened to people in detention, what it really did is just stop counting. The Guardian reports that in a year when ICE has arrested more pregnant adults and teenagers than ever before, it has no data for how many miscarriages have happened under their watch. In addition, the Guardian reports that for those who do suffer what can often be a psychological as well as physical horror, ICE facilities give little to no medical care.

The cruelty of neglecting pregnant people before, during, and after their pregnancies when safer, more sanitary, more humane care is readily available should go down in history alongside other mass crimes.
_

Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals

They are detained in terrible conditions for months, though their only crime is seeking asylum in the United States. Many have lived in this country for decades.

They are taken swiftly from detention in shackles, loaded into vans, then planes. They are not told where they are going, and when they resist getting onto the plane, they are placed in full body restraints. Throughout the long flight, the guards refuse to answer their questions about their destination. Finally, on landing, they see that they are being deported to the Central African Republic. They don’t speak the language there and have no connections with anyone in the country. The US State Department warns against travel to this country. Terrified of their new location and fearing that their torment at the hands of ICE is not over, they stay inside as much as possible, often subject to extortion and assault when they leave the rough quarters where they are housed.

Conceived of by reigning inquisitor Steven Miller as a way to discourage migration, the practice of “third country removal” puts those transported in this manner at grave risk. To date, at least 5,000 people have experienced this nightmare. Some of those removed fled homelands that criminalize their very existence as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In the midst of this nightmare, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found the program to be unlawful because it violates due process rights. This decision echoed earlier efforts by US District Judge Brian Murphy to halt the program, which were interdicted by the Supreme Court.

The current administration barters foreign aid for the willingness of countries in the global south to accept third party removals. There is no provision for the long-term residency of those relocated this way.

NOTE: No one gets deported across oceans without the complicity of airlines, which rake in our taxpayer dollars to transport and punish people. Protesting and sanctioning the companies that profit from this misery is an important component of our current work. See Gillian Brockell’s work for coverage and for potential actions to take.
_

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to hear challenge to Badar Khan Suri’s case

According to the ACLU’s press release about this case, Dr. Badar Khan Suri describes himself as a “small but consistent voice for the inalienable rights of oppressed people facing occupation and inhumane practices.” This is the modest self-description of a person who has been facing harassment and detention by the current administration for at least a year. According to the ACLU, “the only justification for Dr. Suri’s arrest remains his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights and his family ties to Gaza.” In other words, the Trump administration is once again using immigration enforcement to silence speech it doesn’t like.

According to the Georgetown Voice (linked above), Dr. Suri’s case could set far-reaching precedent in terms of how people like him may respond to detention and harassment by the federal government. The Supreme Court will have a chance to uphold the age-old universal right to habeas corpus (i.e., not being detained indefinitely without a charge). Or it might support the current administration in its assault on the First Amendment. This case bears watching closely.
_

States, cities sue over Trump rule seeking to deny green cards to immigrants using public benefits

Two separate lawsuits--one by a coalition of states’ Attorneys General, one by a coalition of cities--are suing the current federal administration over yet another arbitrary, probably illegal, definitely cruel and capricious rule. In this one, immigrants seeking green cards who also receive benefits from public assistance would have to choose between the two. Letitia James, AG of New York state and leader of the state-level suit, summarized the case in a press conference: “This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled.”
_

People in MA can participate in a direct action to pressure Hanscom to stop hosting deportation flights: https://deicehanscom.org/
Support the Adelanto bond fund to help bond people out of the ICE detention center in Adelanto, CA: https://support.cluejustice.org/1DVwBUJ6P0WFcbNRt_Rqbw2
–

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.
_

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for next week’s roundup, drop us a line at neveragainaction@gmail.com.