Illegal Alien Wanted by ICE Arrested for Allegedly Abusing A Toddler After Chicago Ignored Detainer Request

An illegal alien arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a toddler would have been in federal custody had the Chicago Police Department in 2019 honored an immigration detainer on him and not release him back into the community.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer for Christopher Puente, 34-year-old Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally, with the Chicago Police Department in June 2019 upon his arrest for theft. However, that detainer request was ignored, and Puente has since been charged with sexually abusing a child, according to a press release by the agency.

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ICE ‘Ready’ to Apprehend and Deport One Million Illegal Immigrants

by Jason Hopkins   The acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the government is “ready” to identify, detain, and deport the illegal immigrants who have ignored court orders to leave the country. “They’re ready to just perform their mission, which is to go and find and detain and then deport the approximately one million people who have final removal orders,” Ken Cuccinelli said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Cuccinelli was referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency with the Department of Homeland Security that’s tasked with locating and deporting aliens living in the U.S. illegally. “Who among those will be targeted for this particular effort, or not,  is really just information kept within ICE at this point,” the acting USCIS director explained. Cuccinelli’s comments come after President Donald Trump announced — and then later scrapped — plans in June to conduct sweeping ICE raids across the country. The raids would’ve targeted major U.S. cities and roughly 2,000 undocumented immigrants who are disobeying deportation orders.  Trump, at the time, said the raids were postponed in order to work with Democrats on a solution to the immigration crisis, but other accusations make it unclear why exactly the raids were…

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Officials Accuse DHS Chief Kevin McAleenan of Personally Sabotaging President Trump’s Planned ICE Raids

by Jason Hopkins   Administration officials are accusing Homeland Security Acting Director Kevin McAleenan of sabotaging Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) deportation raids by leaking key details of the plan. President Donald Trump abruptly announced Saturday that he would delay plans for Sunday raids targeting around 2,000 illegal immigrants across the country. The president claimed the two-week hiatus would give the White House time to reach a consensus with Democrats on “asylum and loophole” issues at the southern border. However, senior administration officials say there is much more to the story. Current and former officials within the administration who spoke to the Washington Examiner and BuzzFeed are accusing McAleenan of ruining the Sunday operation by either personally releasing details of the plan or by having people in his staff do it for him. “I know he has not approved of this operation for months,” one source familiar with the matter said to the Washington Examiner. “The president wouldn’t leak that. ICE wouldn’t leak that. There’s only a few people involved in these discussions. … The only one who could have shared the details of those operations were [McAleenan]. Revealing details of the deportation raids, such as dates and locations, put ICE…

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Nearly 100 Indicted, 50 in Custody After ICE Uncovers Large-Scale Marriage Fraud Scheme

by Jason Hopkins   Fifty people have been arrested and 98 have been indicted after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) busted an enormous marriage fraud operation allegedly taking place in Vietnam and Houston. A months-long Homeland Security Investigations probe uncovered a criminal operation that enabled numerous foreign nationals to fraudulently obtain legal immigration status in the U.S., according to a Monday ICE press release. Under the alleged terms of conspiracy, immigrant beneficiaries would pay around $50,000 to $70,000 to get married and score permanent resident status. However, according to the indictment, the marriages were complete shams. The spouses typically met only briefly before they obtained their marriages licenses and did not live together after becoming a “married” couple. The criminal operation behind the marriages would go so far as to produce fake wedding albums and falsified tax, utility and employment information — all in an effort to convince U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to approve the forms. “These arrests mark the culmination of a comprehensive yearlong multi-agency investigation into one of the largest alleged marriage fraud conspiracies ever documented in the Houston area,” Special HSI Agent in Charge Mark Dawson, said in a Monday statement. “By working together with our partners…

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ICE Announces Plan to Stop ‘Fake Families’ and Child Smuggling at the Border

by Jason Hopkins   Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday that it is shifting its resources to deal with the influx of “fake families” arriving on the U.S-Mexico border. “Fake families are being formed to cross our border and avoid detention. ICE [Homeland Security Investigations] is working with [Customs and Border Protection] to stop individuals, networks and organizations facilitating child smuggling and document fraud to illegally enter the U.S.,” ICE tweeted on Monday. Fake families are being formed to cross our border and avoid detention. ICE #HSI is working with @CBP to stop individuals, networks and organizations facilitating child smuggling and document fraud to illegally enter the U.S. — ICE (@ICEgov) April 29, 2019 The agency went on to write that it is moving experts to the border to investigate child smuggling, and it will be using science data to “dismantle” the child trafficking rings employed by human smugglers working in Central American and Mexico. The announcement came on the same day as a media appearance by the agency’s acting director. “What we’re currently doing is surging resources from ICE’s Homeland Security investigations to the border. We’re sending human trafficking experts, document fraud experts, forensic interviewers, victim assistance specialists, because our first…

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Kevin McAleenan, the Upcoming Leader of Homeland Security

by Jason Hopkins   Kirstjen Nielsen will officially vacate her position atop the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, leaving Kevin McAleenan as the acting head. President Donald Trump, frustrated over the growing immigration crisis on the U.S. southern border, accepted Nielsen’s resignation after meeting with her at the White House on Sunday. The president went on to announce that McAleenan, the current commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will be taking over her position in an acting capacity. Who is McAleenan and how will he likely manage the surge of illegal migrant crisis? The soon-to-be DHS secretary touts nearly two decades of experience working in immigration enforcement. A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, McAleenan worked for some time as an attorney in California. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, however, prompted him to apply for the FBI, but he ended up working in what is now CBP. He quickly moved up the ranks under both the Bush and Obama administrations. McAleenan was the port director for the Los Angeles International Airport and he served as the executive director of CBP’s antiterrorism office. He was appointed by former President Barack Obama as deputy commissioner of CBP in 2014, and he was awarded the…

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California Sanctuary Laws Allowed Illegal Immigrant Who Tried to Kill a Cop Remain in the US, ICE Claims

by Jason Hopkins   Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials claim a deadly shootout between an illegal immigrant and a sheriff’s deputy could have been prevented if California sanctuary laws allowed them to do their job. A deadly shootout on Sunday took place between a cop and a Mexican national. During a routine traffic stop in Napa County, California, Javier Hernandez Morales, 48, attempted to shoot Napa County Sheriff’s Deputy Riley Jarecki. Jarecki was able to maneuver away and return fire, killing Hernandez Morales at the scene. Footage of the shootout was captured on the deputy sheriff’s body camera. Hernandez Morales, who had been living in the U.S. illegally, was no stranger to law enforcement. He had been deported back to his home country of Mexico twice in 2007 and once more in 2010. However, since that time, local law enforcement officials refused to work with ICE on deporting him again, despite various crimes. ICE lodged four different detainers for Hernandez Morales relating to battery of a peace officer, suspicion of driving while intoxicated, selling liquor to a minor and probation violations. The detainers, according to ICE, were sent to Napa County Jail in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and anther was issued to Sonoma County Jail in…

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Gillibrand: I Never Meant Abolish ICE When I Said ‘Abolish ICE’

by Molly Prince   Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York stated Wednesday that her calls to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were misconstrued, claiming that despite saying “we need to abolish ICE,” she believes America still needs an agency that will fulfill the goals that ICE was created to achieve. Claiming that the agency has strayed from its intended duties, Gillibrand argued that ICE in its current form should be eliminated, but that a new agency should replace it that will execute the same mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and investigating criminal activity of foreign nationals residing within the country. “Give [ICE] a new name and a new directive,” Gillibrand told The Post-Star‘s editorial board. Gillibrand recommended that the government “reimagine” the agency, however, her office did not respond to requests from The Daily Caller News Foundation to clarify what her proposed agency would look like and how it would differ from ICE’s current form. The New York senator said that she does not support open borders, and she agrees with ICE’s mission, but claims President Donald Trump and his administration have ruined the reputation of the agency by cracking down on immigrants who illegally cross the border.…

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Thirteen Illegal Immigrants Indicted After ICE Detained Over 100 at Ohio Company

ICE arrest

by Neetu Chandak   Thirteen illegal immigrants were indicted for immigration-related offenses Wednesday as a result of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arresting more than 100 workers at a Ohio food company in June. The 13 were indicted on charges of providing false statements of citizenship and presenting fake forms of identification, like driver’s licenses and social security cards, according to Cleveland.com on Thursday. The individuals allegedly provided false information to be eligible for employment opportunities in the U.S. Eleven were from Guatemala and two were from Mexico with ages ranging between 18 and 46 years old, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio reported Thursday. ICE arrested 146 people at Fresh Mark, a meat supplier, in the Salem and Massillon locations, according to Cleveland.com. Those arrested primarily originated from Guatemala and were arrested because authorities believed them to be in the U.S. illegally. Over “80 were detained for immigration proceedings and about 40 remain in custody, according to an ICE spokeswoman,” reported The Vindicator. The ICE spokeswoman added that many of the detainees were released for health and family concerns while volunteers said some entered the U.S. legally, but did not have proper documentation at the time of arrest, according to The…

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Dept. of Homeland Security Agents Conduct Massive Worksite Raid In Two States, Arrest Business Owners For Employing Illegal Aliens

ICE arrest

by Will Racke   Federal agents conducted a multi-state worksite raid at several Midwestern agricultural businesses on Wednesday, arresting more than 100 people including owners and supervisors who allegedly conspired to employ illegal aliens at the expense of American workers. Homeland Security Investigations — the investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — led the operation against at least 11 companies in Nebraska and Minnesota, the Grand Island Independent reported. Along with more than 130 suspected illegal workers, agents arrested 14 business owners and managers for allegedly using bogus social security numbers to build a workforce of underpaid, exploitable illegal immigrants. Three other people involved in the scheme were also indicted but not taken into custody during the operation. The operation was one of the largest worksite raids in HSI’s 15-year history, according to Tracy Cormier, the special agent-in-charge of the agency’s St. Paul field office, which covers Minnesota and Nebraska. “I would say the amount of criminal warrants that are being executed will be one of the largest for HSI,” Cormier said, according to the Associated Press. “I’m not aware of a bigger one.” Wednesday’s operation is notable because is targeted business ownership and management, not just illegal workers. Two of HSI’s…

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ICE Arrests Illegal Immigrant Sex Offender After NC Local Custody Released Him While On A Detainer Order

ICE Arrest

by Neetu Chandak   Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested an illegal immigrant and sex offender Monday who was released by North Carolina jail even though he was on an immigrant detainer. Mexican national Udiel Aguilar-Castellanos, 44, pleaded guilty for two counts of sexual battery on June 27, ICE reported Wednesday. ICE filed an immigration detainer on Aguilar-Castellanos in Sept. 17 when he was first charged for the sex crimes. Local officials, however, released Aguilar-Castellanos from Orange County custody on June 27 without informing ICE officials. “When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders onto the streets it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety,” ERO Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Gallagher said according to the ICE press report. The victim was an 11-year old girl, according to the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry reported by CBS 17. ICE found out about Aguilar-Castellano’s release after he registered as a sex offender, as part of his plea agreement, on July 11. “Nearly 90 percent of all foreign nationals taken into ICE custody this year were targeted following their criminal arrest,” Gallagher said. “Despite efforts by certain groups to misrepresent this reality, the fact is ICE continues to focus its enforcement…

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Portland Food Cart That Helps The Homeless Shut Down After Alleged Harassment From Occupy ICE Protesters

Portland food truck

by Neetu Chandak   A Portland non-profit food cart was shut down after the owners faced alleged harassment from Occupy ICE protesters Friday. The Happy Camper Food Cart, founded by Scott and Julie Hakes in 2017, raised funds to help the homeless through the project Operation Off The Grid. The stand was across the street from the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building, where protesters have held demonstrations since June. “Unfortunately over the last month, we have been threatened and verbally attacked for not backing the immigration agenda at the DHS location and wanting to stay neutral and serve all who are hungry,” said the The Happy Camper Food Cart Facebook post on July 20. It started when one of the protesters yelled at his daughter with a mega-horn because they thought the daughter was making fun of them. The daughter is overheard saying, “Do you hear them? They think I am laughing at them,” in video footage provided to KATU2 by Scott. “They’re constantly cussing at her and screaming at her,” Scott said to KATU2. “She finally had enough. She called me up on the phone, crying. I said ‘Breanna, shut the doors, we’re done.’” The protesters threatened to burn down the cart “at least three…

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Protests, Polls, and Hysteria: Steve Gill Talks About the Failing Narrative of the Democrats on ICE and How Swing Voters Really Feel About It

Steve Gill

On Monday’s Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, conservative pundit and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill reflected on the Democrat’s failing political strategy in regards to ICE and what polls really prove about majority of the parties base. “We talked a little bit today some of the other polls – including The Tennessee Star Poll. Well, the new national poll is also revealing when it comes to what’s happening out in the rest of the world,” Gill said. He continued: Over the weekend we saw a lot of these protest rallies across Tennessee and across the country as the left wing ‘hystericals’ were absolutely pitching a hissy-fit over the Donald Trump plan to deport and detain illegal immigrants. Now, they’re trying to play this game of saying we should abolish ICE – the immigration and customs enforcement agency – and have completely open borders, so everybody can come into our country and presumably get on welfare, and suck away our jobs, and well, destroy our country. The bottom line as we talked earlier today is that Mexico is about to see a flood of Mexicans coming across our border with their new President who is…

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Arrest of 114 Illegal Immigrant Workers in Ohio Has Landscapers Worried Over Immigration Raids

Landscape Worker

Landscaping businesses that are facing a severe labor shortage and increased demand for services are sweating over the federal government’s June 5 arrest of 114 illegal immigrant workers in Ohio, the Associated Press reported. People in the industry believe the raids will make it tougher to persuade Congress to allow more foreign workers into America for seasonal jobs. “I believe most of us are doing things the right way, but every company is going to be worried that they’re going to be raided,” said Joe Drake, who runs JFD Landscapes in Chardon, Ohio. Drake spent the past week in Chicago meeting with other seasonal employers to create a strategy to persuade Congress to ease restrictions on H2-B temporary visas. This year, a federal lottery for the first time determined which employers would get their allotment, initially capped at 66,000 workers until the Department of Homeland Security announced it would allow another 15,000 additional visas. The agents carried out raids at two separate locations of Corso’s Flower and Garden Center — one in Sandusky and the other in Castalia, The Tennessee Star reported last week. It was one of the largest such stings in years. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it…

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Over One Hundred Suspected Undocumented Workers Arrested in Ohio

ICE arrest

U.S. immigration agents raided two Ohio garden stores Tuesday and arrested 114 workers believed to be undocumented immigrants for alleged identity theft. It was the largest such sting by Homeland Security and immigration agents in recent years. The agents carried out raids at two separate locations of Corso’s Flower and Garden Center — one in Sandusky and the other in Castalia. Along with the arrests, agents carried out boxes of what a spokesman called “a lot of documentary evidence” from one of the stores. The investigation into Corso’s began in October when agents arrested a woman that they called a “document vendor” — someone who sells stolen identity documents to legal and illegal would-be workers. The suspected vendor led investigators to Corso’s. Immigration investigator Steve Francis said some of the documents in Corso’s files included the Social Security numbers of dead people. Corso’s is not facing any criminal charges but is still under investigation. Francis said the garden center chain was obviously unaware it was hiring workers with falsified documents. “If you are a legitimate business, you have nothing to be concerned about,” Francis said. “But if you are harboring or hiring illegal aliens, you will be identified, arrested and…

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Twenty-Two Men, Half Now in ICE Custody, Indicted in Brentwood Human Trafficking Sting

Human Trafficking

Twenty-two men, half of whom are now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have been indicted in an undercover human trafficking sting in Brentwood. The operation was carried out by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the Brentwood Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the office of 21st District Attorney General Kim Helper. A Williamson County grand jury on Monday returned mostly felony indictments against the 22 men, who were attempting to buy illicit sex from minors. “Unfortunately, the results of this joint operation demonstrate the need for continued vigilance for signs of human trafficking in our communities,” Helper said in a news release issued by the TBI Thursday. “The fact that so many men were willing to engage in sexual activity with who they believed to be a 14- and 16-year-old is shocking. Our office will continue to vigorously pursue and prosecute individuals involved in any form of human trafficking.” As part of the sting in early October, two female TBI agents posed as individuals offering sex on Backpage.com. They identified themselves as 14 and 16 years old in text or phone conversations that followed. Men who traveled to meet with them for sex despite the ages…

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Protest Against Enhanced ICE Enforcement In Shelby County Includes Vulgarity, Wild Claims

  A small group of protesters stood outside a detention facility in West Tennessee on Saturday to voice their anger about immigration officials carrying out deportation orders. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been stepping up enforcement in Shelby County as part of an effort to carry out final orders of removal. Officials are targeting those with criminal histories and suspected gang ties. A Facebook page promoting the protest featured a photo of a button reading “Chinga la migra,” which means “F*** the border patrol.” A Memphis group called Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz (Communities United in One Voice) was involved in organizing the protest. Yuleiny Escobar, who was with the group Saturday at the detention center in Mason in Tipton County, told WMC Action News 5 that people in the immigrant community are “terrified.” “We’re here to show our loved ones inside that we are also resisting outside,” she said. On her Facebook page Monday morning, Escobar said illegal immigrants detained at the facility are being mistreated. “They are starving them and breaking them inside those walls,” Escobar wrote, though without providing any details to support her assertion. Protester Joe Murphy said Saturday, “I don’t believe in treating people the way they are being treated.…

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ICE Steps Up Immigration Enforcement In Shelby County

ICE arrest

  Federal immigration agents are stepping up enforcement in Shelby County and facing a backlash from activists. The push by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is part of an effort to target individuals who have been issued final orders of removal. However, a statement released by ICE notes that no one who enters the country illegally is immune from immigration enforcement. Thomas Byrd, an ICE spokesman in New Orleans, issued the following statement: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently conducting a surge operation focused on the identification and arrest of family units, adults who entered the U.S. as unaccompanied alien children (UAC), and UACs who are at least 16 years old and have criminal histories and/or suspected gang ties. All of the targeted individuals have been issued a final order of removal by a federal immigration judge, and have no appeals or motions to re-open their case before the nation’s immigration courts. Attempting to unlawfully enter the United States as a family unit or UAC does not protect individuals from being subject to the immigration laws of this country. As DHS Secretary Kelly and Acting ICE Director Homan have stated repeatedly, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of…

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Knox County Sheriff’s Office Now Part of 287(g) Program to Strengthen Immigration Enforcement

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office has formally entered into an agreement with federal immigration officials that will allow deputies to perform some of the duties of immigration officers after undergoing training. The agreement is part of the 287(g) program, which is strongly opposed by activist groups such as the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). Knox County is the only agency in Tennessee currently participating in the program, which was authorized by a 1996 federal statute. President Trump supports the program and has revived it after it was scaled back under former President Obama. The number of participating agencies has been growing. Currently, 45 law enforcement agencies in 18 states are involved. Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones signed the Knox County agreement June 13 and an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed June 15. The agreement is good through June 2019. Acting on a request from ICE, Jones had asked for, and received, letters of recommendation from Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. After completing their training, deputies in Knox County chosen for the program will have the delegated authority to interrogate suspected illegal immigrants detained by law enforcement, collect evidence and process paperwork. They…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Slams ICE Agents Trying To Enforce Court Orders of Removal

Tennessee Star

  Nashville Mayor Megan Barry wrote a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week strongly criticizing agents for what she views as inappropriate enforcement of immigration laws, despite the fact that the individuals the agency sought were subject to final orders of removal issued by an immigration court. “Over the past few days, we have heard disturbing reports of members of our community being stopped, questioned, and even harassed as part of an increased effort to enforce deportation orders for individuals who had previously been convicted of criminal activity,” Barry wrote in her letter Tuesday, which was published by WSMV Channel 4. The letter was addressed to an ICE community relations officer in New Orleans. Barry’s complaints centered around enforcement efforts among Kurdish immigrants, many of whom are from Iraq. She said she saw a video in which a “Kurdish-American citizen” was “being stopped and questioned by an ICE official for no apparent reason.” Barry took issue with the word “Police” on the officer’s vest. “Our Metro Nashville Police Department has gone to great lengths in building relationships with our New American community in order to promote public safety,” Barry wrote. “This effort can be undermined when ICE agents…

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