All articles tagged with #immigration detention
Federal immigration agents are intercepting individuals immediately after judges order their release from detention in Minnesota. Attorneys describe this as a 'bait-and-switch' tactic where detainees are handed their belongings at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building only to be recaptured by waiting agents. This strategy follows the end of Operation Metro Surge and aims to fulfill deportation quotas despite court orders.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan food delivery driver, underwent surgery on October 1 to remove a bullet lodged in his back. He was shot by an ICE officer in Austin on September 20 and remained in federal custody for 11 days before the procedure. Garces Perez faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of assaulting a federal officer, while his legal team and Democratic lawmakers criticize the delay in medical care and the lack of body camera footage from the shooting officer.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to review the Trump administration's policy of mandatory detention for immigrants challenging deportation, a move that follows conflicting lower court rulings. This legal development coincides with a turbulent midterm campaign season, marked by the White House excluding CNN from presidential travel, the president's repeated false claims about opponents, and rising immigration detention numbers.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan DoorDash driver, faces a federal habeas corpus hearing in San Antonio on September 30. He remains detained in Pearsall with a bullet lodged in his back, a fractured clavicle, and partial paralysis. While his attorneys demand immediate surgery and release, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserts he is receiving comprehensive care. Protests continue in Austin and Pearsall, with organizers demanding the removal of the bullet and an end to ICE operations.
The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to hear a new case, Genalo v. D.C., to resolve a circuit split regarding bond hearings for criminal noncitizens. This move replaces Genalo v. Black, which was dismissed as moot after New York Governor Kathy Hochul pardoned the central detainee. Solicitor General John Sauer requested the Court intervene before the Second Circuit rules, aiming to establish a uniform national standard for when prolonged detention triggers due process rights.
A Venezuelan man shot by an ICE officer in Austin was hospitalized with paralysis on the left side and later kept in federal detention even after a bullet remained lodged near his spine. His lawyers filed a federal lawsuit seeking his immediate release and to block deportation, arguing he should be allowed to pursue a U visa as a crime victim and that his detention violates due process. DHS has described him as in stable condition and pending removal, while supporters and lawmakers push for transparency, video footage, and an independent investigation.
A Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report found that Florida’s controversial immigration detention center, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz, violated federal and state standards by housing detainees in cramped metal cages, providing limited water, showers, and recreation, and even using cages as punishment. The $1 billion facility closed in June amid lawsuits and ongoing questions about oversight, funding, and the state’s role in detention operations, while officials defended the program and federal oversight was questioned.
A DHS Office of Inspector General report found that the shuttered Florida detention center nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz' kept migrants in small outdoor cages of about 18 square feet for stretches up to nearly two hours as a 'calming' measure, while failing to meet hygiene, medical, food and safety standards. A total of 79 detainees were held there from July 2025 to January 2026. The facility was run by Florida authorities (not federal officials) with federal funding, and authorities indicated it would close as a temporary measure, drawing sharp criticism from civil rights groups and watchdogs.
The family of North Carolina pastor Gabriel Johnson, who suffered a stroke while in ICE custody and was moved to Texas, has finally been allowed to visit him as they press for his release so he can begin rehabilitation, while raising questions about medical care and treatment access within the federal detention system.
A U.S. appeals court (the 2nd Circuit) overturned a lower-court ruling that had ordered the release of Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention, saying the case should be handled in immigration court. The decision does not automatically re-arrest him, and the ACLU says there is no legal basis to deport or detain him while the appeals proceed. Mahdawi can seek a full-court rehearing or petition the Supreme Court, as the case remains tied to the administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism.
An off-duty Geo Group employee at an Aurora, Colorado ICE processing center shot a protester after demonstrators blocked the entrance, injuring a woman with a non-life-threatening wound. The 42-year-old suspect, Brandon Booth, was arrested on charges including attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault; Geo Group placed him on unpaid administrative leave as authorities investigate amid ongoing protests and concerns about detainee conditions at the facility.
Seven active measles cases at the Florence Detention Center complex in Arizona have prompted quarantines, halted movement inside the facility, and suspension of non-legal visits as ICE works to contain the outbreak; DHS says detainees are receiving medical care and that there are no confirmed cases at Eloy or the Florence Staging Facility, but advocates say detainees still face limited access to legal services and healthcare, underscoring a broader rise in measles cases nationwide amid waning vaccination rates.
During a Father’s Day protest outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, a demonstrator waving an upside-down American flag was hit by a red Dodge Challenger and was not seriously injured, according to the protesters. Ice officers pepper-sprayed demonstrators soon after the collision. The anti-ICE group Visible Brigade alleged the driver was an employee of the GEO Group, though this has not been confirmed, as activists continued their protest demanding detainees be released and the facility closed.
Residents of Social Circle, Georgia mobilized against a plan to convert a warehouse into what would have been one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers, part of a broader push under May 2024- era DHS policy changes. After local lawsuits, political pressure, and ongoing controversy, DHS reportedly canceled the project, though officials have not provided a written confirmation, and the town awaits whether the site will be sold to a private buyer or repurposed for another use.
A New York judge found Brad Lander not guilty of misdemeanor charges tied to a September attempt to inspect conditions at a Manhattan immigration detention facility; Lander and about 75 others were arrested at 26 Federal Plaza after seeking access to detention conditions following a federal judge's order to improve them. He had previously been arrested at a federal courthouse and is running to represent New York's 10th congressional district.