Every president in modern history has insisted that he’d do something about immigration policies, and every one has done things that ultimately harm vulnerable people seeking help from this country. The emboldened use of human rights abuses by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials under Trump, however, go beyond harmful and into Gestapo-like tactics.
And today huge thank yous to the extraordinary @ahilan_toolong and Gregorio Perez Cruz who fought and prevailed to establish suppression of illegally obtained evidence in a workplace raid.
— Stacy Tolchin (@TolchinImm) June 14, 2019
Mexican immigrant Gregoria Perez Cruz, who has lived in the United States for 15 years, was arrested during a raid in a Van Nuys, California factory on a warrant for eight people, none of which included him. ICE violated the terms of their arrest warrant by blocking exits, holding every employee of the factory captive, and refusing to allow them to use cell phones. As a result, the deportation order against Cruz was overturned by a federal court.
The Los Angeles Times reports that:
‘A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling in the case of a Mexican immigrant who was ordered removed after the raid, said the right to detain someone while executing a search warrant does not extend to a preconceived plan to conduct a raid aimed at arresting a large number of people.’
Week 63 has 134 not normal items.
The fabric of our country is changing at an alarming pace as Trump’s ICE is becoming increasingly active and emboldened, using Gestapo-type tactics to target immigrants living lawfully in our country. https://t.co/MFPlHbO9Xy
— Amy Siskind ?️? (@Amy_Siskind) January 28, 2018
Throughout Trump’s presidency, news reports have warned that the situation under Trump’s immigration policy, which has so far included taking small children and infants away from their families to be detained and packing facilities meant to detain 125 people with over 900, is becoming increasingly worse. The Van Nuys raid stunned the community and raised an outcry over the illegal arrest tactics.
‘The raid stemmed from a 2006 tip to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that Micro Solutions Enterprises, a manufacturer of printer cartridges, employed 200 to 300 immigrants who were in the country illegally.
‘Nearly two years later, agents obtained a search warrant to seize employment records at the factory.’
Numbers show ICE is using tougher tactics under #Trump, says report https://t.co/ZuJK6gDIRj via @nbcnews
— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) July 25, 2018
Trump does not seem to care much about breaking the law, and has appointed people in the Justice Department who believe the president cannot break the law no matter what he does, but the courts do still care. Cruz will be allowed to stay in the country for now, but his fate is uncertain since he admitted to ICE officials what his current citizenship status is.
Trump touts his administration's tactics in dealing with MS-13 gang members: "Our people from ICE and our Border Patrol people are much tougher than they are … They go in there, they grab them by the neck" https://t.co/COoQ1E2XRA
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 22, 2018
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
